the demand of squeeze tubes is likely to increase 4.8 on an annual basis to 1.1 billion by the end of 2014. this has been forecasted by the industry study done by freedonia group. the report, named &ldquotube & stick packaging&rdquo, was published in last may. prospects will be assisted by enhanced barrier properties in extruded plastic tubes, and bigger use of laminate tubes in appliances apart from toothpaste, the study anticipates. historically, foil laminate tubes have been acknowledge as the standard for oralcare products. extruded plastic tubes were all the time most often used for beauty products, lauded for their seamless structure and highend look. however, when it comes to tube types, at present, the lines drawn in between these two markets are getting faded. in recent times, laminate tubes have been applied more often by a broader range of products, including beauty and oral care. along with this, a lot of products are moving into foil polymer tubes. these tubes are a kind of laminate tube which offers a combination of features&mdashthe barrier capabilities of an aluminium tube, along with the ability to keep its contour without creasing, such as an extruded plastic tube. one exemplar is the &ldquobrilliant&rdquo polyfoil tube produced in the province in north america by plastube inc. www.plastube.com. polyfoil is an overextruded, innerseamed highbarrier tube which includes an aluminium substrate, offering the highquality stiff feel and a charisma of a seamless tube, says paul goodman, who is the president and ceo. doug jackson, who is the market manager, of north america, albéa www.albeagroup.com, mentioned that its exclusive aesthetic properties facilitate for a metalized and iridescent look, and affords remarkable shelf appeal. he further notes that, in massmarket stores, a lot of the personalcare brands have shifted into cosmetic laminate tubes. berry plastics is fulfilling the demands derived through the increase in popularity of laminate tubes. jerry ruud, who is the vice president, of sales and marketing department, at berry plastics www.berryplastics.com mentioned that laminates are an expanding area for them. they have also recently invested in a new press. jackson answered the question that why there is a rise in popularity of laminates. according to him, laminate tubes are a great combination of price and the facility to use various decorating options, particularly for graphics&mdashas well as the features of the laminate. ted sojourner is the vice president of tubes and laminates department at esselpropack americas www.esselpropack.com, notes numerous reasons for the increasing popularity of laminates. ted further said that many manufacturers are acknowledging laminate tubes due to its acquisition cost, improved barrier properties, and decoration capabilities, says sojourner. laminate tubes provide additional barrier protection for formulations that may include considerable quantities of essential oils or other ingredients, which, sometimes, react with plastic. however, for the large quantity of products, generally compatibility is not an issue. ruud says that graphic capabilities are generally the main reason why laminates are being selected more regularly as compared to plastic extruded tubes. jackson agrees to this point. he mentions that most of the formulations will be wellsuited with either laminate or extruded tubes, so the decorating choices will often become a deciding aspect while selecting a type of tube. on a laminate tube, a large quantity of decorating methods can be done as compared to an extruded tube. this is because of the polyfoilpoly laminate material is imprinted on while it is plane, before being twisted into a tube. labels are one more option for decorating purpose. on the other hand, imprinting on a tube is much more gainful than putting a label on a tube, according to ruud. the innovative foil polymer tube graphic capabilities were one of the main reasons why victoria&rsquos secret beauty selected a new kind of laminate tube for its new launch&mdash new foil polymer tube by world wide packaging, which the provider is calling &ldquofpt.&rdquo this brand was the initial company to use the tube that comes with a standard neck finish. a cartoon like image of a lady is imprinted to decorate the tube. on a traditional plastic extruded tube, it was not possible to print these special graphics,&rdquo mentions jeffrey m. hayet, who is the executive vice president of international sales at world wide packaging wwp www.wwpinc.com. in the brand&rsquos decision, the tube&rsquos barrier properties weren&rsquot a factor, he says. they were impressed due to the fact that it seems like metal. according to hayet, the silver colour of the tube couldn&rsquot be attained with any other kind of decorating processes, on any other kind of tube. even if, a traditional tube is wrapped in foil, it wouldn&rsquot work as there would be an empty space between the shoulder and head, he further explains. due to its structure, which is a blend of polymer and foil material, hayet calls this kind of laminate the &ldquorolls royce&rdquo of tubes. it provides the advantages of both aesthetics and functionality, he says. a custom cap, an industry first wwp is in the procedure of developing a custom and innovative cap for its tubes made up of foil polymer. a new product line by a hair care brand will be introduced in june in this kind of packaging. hayet further said that they are taking this valueadded, complex tube structure to yet another level. this tube will be the firstever custom, fliptop closure for a tube ever manufactured in the world. standard caps and head sizes have forever been typical for tubes. interexchanging head sizes with customdesigned caps have generally been too expensive, outstanding to the smaller size of the manufacturing runs that are the norm for tubes, as per the wwp. their goal was to search out a way to customize the cap at a cost where their customer could pay for bringing the new product line to market. wwp is a well known name for custom tooling in asia. he further explained that using their inhouse design and engineering capabilities, they have created a complex manufacturing system for custom closures and heads for their foil polymer tubes. they have also altered their machinery so that it can more economically do shorter runs, and pass on that savings to their clients. the custom cap meant for the soontointroduce hair care line carries the brand&rsquos logo, a swirl emblem. on a san round disc, this emblem was reproduced that was then metalized. onto the top of the injectionmolded, the discs will be snapped polypropylene caps. as the emblem is an individual piece and not injection molded with the cap, it gives a more defined appearance. &ldquoit seems to &lsquojump&rsquo off the cap,&rdquo he further added. &ldquoit&rsquos an ideal way for a brand to ensure the package stands out from other products on the supermarket shelf.&rdquo a neckless laminate montebello packaging is yet one more provider responding to the need for new kinds of laminate tubes with a design invention. the providers&rsquo new singledose laminate tube has an innovative feature&mdashit is neckless. meghann bennett is a marketing & sales coordinator at montebello packaging. meghann said that they are seeing a lot of companies looking forward at laminate tubes due to their barrier properties and cost benefits. instead of a cap, the tube of 1in. diameter has a hygiene seal. aimed at accommodating a long listing of active substances, high level of barrier properties of the laminate tubes allows its contents to preserve freshness&mdashsuitable for ingestible products. the lack of closure and neck makes sure that the weight of a tube is kept down, due to the applications of fewer materials, which is a good thing for any company looking out to meet sustainability necessities. at empty condition, it weighs about 50 less than the similar size tube with a conventional closure and neck,&rdquo mentions bennett. currently, the tube is being used for own private label nutraceutical supplement of montebello packaging, intuition, which were introduced in the fall of 2010. the tube has won the honour as the 2010 ted klein tube of the year. resolving the side seam concern contrasting extruded tubes, a side seam is there at laminate tubes&mdashan agreement breaker, some say, for applying this kind of tube for the premium beauty product. rudd mentioned that, as compared to many years ago, laminate tubes have become more acceptable, for a large variety of products. on the other hand, tubes with a side seam once were only tubes used to package toothpaste. at present, this is not the case. esselpropack is one provider of the tubes that has resolved this issue. &ldquoinviseam&rdquo is a tubing parameter developed by esselpropack so that a laminate tube will look a lot like an extruded tube, without a clear seam. the production method of suppliers makes it feasible for the overlap at the closure to be extremely thin. according to ruud, the take away message is that tubes are yet a preferred package. they&rsquore very portable, ready to be used as the product is always right at the orifice. tubes have an ease factor that&rsquos hard for other kinds of packages to beat. source of information httpwww.pmpnews.comarticlelaminatesrisenextlevel
