Building brands through innovative packaging

Boxal is Europes’ leading manufacturer of monobloc aluminium beverage bottles for all drinks and beverages .
Part of the EXAL Group since May 2004, forming the world’s premier aluminium aerosol and bottles manufacturer with a global capacity of 1,5 billion units out of 4 container production facilities in Europe, United States and Argentina. Boxal offers an extensive range of integrated packaging services to marketers.

As well as safely containing a myriad of fillings – from flavouring syrups to wine and soft drinks – modern aluminium bottles play a vital role on the store shelf, influencing purchasing decisions and reinforcing brand identity. Leading container manufacturer EXAL Group works with some of the biggest names in the food and beverage industries to realise their packaging visions. Its know-how has helped customers such as Anheuser- Busch, Coca Cola or Teisseire to create high shelf impact for their brands.

EXAL Group latest innovation, full body shaping of a monobloc aluminium containers, offering unrivalled creative possibilities for marketers scooped a major award, the 2005 Can of the Year at the Can Makers Summit. These latest technologies enable the production of iconic metal bottles supporting brands efforts to maximise their “image de marque”.

Innovative tradition
Boxal can trace its history back to 1929 when the firm Fabrique d’Emballages Métalliques (EMF) was founded at Fribourg in Switzerland. Boxal is recognised as a pioneer in metal can innovation throughout the last half century having brought to the markets decisive technological innovations.
Until the last decade, Boxal was known primarily as a manufacturer of aluminium cans for aerosols. But that all changed with a major milestone for the company and the industry – the development of the world’s first two-piece tinplate aerosol can announcing now the first tinplate monobloc aerosol can. With a robust and diversified portfolio of products and technologies Boxal stays ahead in the race to meet decisive consumer demands such as safety , environment, convenience and aesthetics,

High shelf impact
Product differentiation is a driving force behind EXAL Group product developments. Now food and beverage firms can package their leading premium brands in tailor-made shaped metal bottles that strengthen the brand personality and can give customers a product that is easier to grip and handle. Product development at EXAL Group is an ongoing dynamic process. EXAL Group is an enabler, a facilitator With its expertise in the industrial manufacturing of metal containers it has the responsibility to develop the industrial know-how to have technical and industrial solutions ready for its customers
High definition offset printing in up to seven colours and a wide range of print effect combinations are the essential complement to the shaping techniques. It is able to give a free rein to customer’s creative ideas for boosting packaging impact with a comprehensive range of finishes that includes brushed, textured or speckled bases and shiny, matt or tactile Touch effect.

Global reach
EXAL Group manufactures more than 1 billion units per year generating a turn-over that topped 200 million € in 2005. In Europe, with a staff of 660, Boxal has 21 fully automated production lines at its production facilities in Beaurepaire, France and Veenendaal in the Netherlands. It also manufactures aluminium slugs at a third site at Belfaux in Switzerland.
Major recent investments have included dedicated beverage bottle lines including full body shaping capabilities, post-washing and rinsing devices, as well as robotic palletising and a new production line for two-piece tin-plate aerosol cans with world’s first high speed printing line able to print up to 400 cans per minute in continuous offset A new waste water treatment facility has also been installed as part of an initiative to achieve ISO 14000 certification. The company is ISO 9001 and 9002 certified. Important investments in production lines and new processes are planned in the coming months to boost efficiency and capabilities in all plants.

Total package
EXAL Group has its own dedicated research and development centre for both product and process development. Working hand in glove with customers and anticipating market trends has kept EXAL Group at the leading edge, Mr Bettinger, Sales Director says. “We work very closely with our customers, multinationals with whom we have long lasting partnerships. To some extent we are integrated with their packaging development teams.”
He adds: “We work on a very open project basis with our customers. We tend to integrate development processes with them at a very early stage. Our position is to offer global know-how in container manufacturing integrating all aspects of design shaping and decorating. Our mission is to make the necessary technical and industrial developments to be able to answer our customer’s specific demands.

Future trends
EXAL Group strategy for the future is to continue focusing on bringing innovative developments to its key markets : pharma-cosmetics and food and beverage.
Consolidating its leading position by increasing capacities and leading edge process innovations to meet the sharp economic and environmental challenges of the metal packaging industry.
The EXAL Group premium aluminium beverage bottle offers immense decoration and shaping possibilities as well as answering precisely key concerns of the beverage marketers like safety, environment, consumer convenience and mobility.
The aluminium bottle is indeed unbreakable, light weight thus reducing transportation costs and environmental impact, fully recyclable and compatible with a wide range of accessories for varied consumption occasions.
To face the great challenges of the worlds beverage markets EXAL Group is developing exclusive can making processes such as C2C ( Coil-to-Can ) with high speed/high output lines integrating state-of-the art digital printing technologies and full shape forming stations. C2C will also enable to reduce even further the bottles weight offering efficient packaging solution for mass market products too. Thus, the future for premium aluminium bottles looks bright with high resolution graphics and custom shapes to satisfy consumer creative needs. Leading beverage manufacturers have already recognised the higher value of the attention-grabbing value of the EXAL Group aluminium bottles to gain new markets shares and attract increasingly demanding consumers.