The past and present of glass packaging industry After several years of difficult and slow growth and competition with other materials, the glass packaging industry is now coming out of the trough and returning to its former glory. In recent years, the growth rate of the glass packaging industry in the cosmetic crystal market is only 2%. The reason for the slow growth rate is the competition from other materials and the slow global economic growth, but now it seems that there is a trend of improvement. On the positive side, glass manufacturers benefit from the rapid growth of high-end skin care products and the large demand for glass products. In addition, glass manufacturers are seeking development opportunities and constantly updated product production processes from emerging markets. In fact, on the whole, although there are still competing materials in the professional line and perfume market, glass manufacturers are still optimistic about the prospects of the glass packaging industry and have not shown lack of confidence. Many people believe that these competing packaging materials cannot be compared with glass products in terms of attracting customers and expressing brands and crystal positions. BuShed Lingenberg, Director of Marketing and External Relations of Gerresheimer Group (glass manufacturer), said: “Perhaps countries have different preferences for glass products, but France, which dominates the cosmetics industry, is not so eager to accept plastic products.” However, chemical materials are professional and The cosmetics market is not without a foothold. In the United States, products manufactured by DuPont and Eastman Chemical Crystal have the same specific gravity as glass products and feel like glass. Some of these products have entered the perfume market. But Patrick Etahaubkrd, director of the North American Department of the Italian company, expressed doubts that plastic products can compete with glass products. She believes: “The real competition we can see is the outer packaging of the product. Plastic manufacturers think that customers will like their packaging style.” The glass packaging industry opens up new markets Opening up new markets will undoubtedly enable the business of the glass packaging industry to develop. For example, Sain Gobain Desjongueres (SGD) is a company seeking international development. It has established a number of companies in Europe and the Americas, and the company occupies a large market share in the world. . However, the company also encountered considerable difficulties two years ago, which led to the decision of the leadership to shut down a batch of glass melting furnaces. SGD is now preparing to develop itself in emerging markets. These markets include not only the markets it has entered into, such as Brazil, but also the markets that it has not entered into, such as Eastern Europe and Asia. SGD marketing director Therry LeGoff said: “As major brands are expanding new customers in this region, these brands also need glass suppliers.” Simply put, whether it is a supplier or a manufacturer, they must seek new customers when they expand into new markets, so glass manufacturers are no exception. Many people still believe that in the West, glass manufacturers have an advantage in glass products. But they insist that the glass products sold on the Chinese market are of lower quality than those on the European market. However, this advantage cannot be maintained forever. Therefore, Western glass manufacturers are now analyzing the competitive pressures they will face in the Chinese market. Asia is a market that Gerresheimer has not yet set foot in, but German companies will never turn their attention away from Asia. Lin-genberg firmly believes that: “Today, if you want to succeed, you must take the path of true globalization.” For glass manufacturers, innovation stimulates demand In the glass packaging industry, innovation is the key to bringing new business. For BormioliLuigi (BL), the recent success is due to the constant concentration of resources on product research and development. In order to produce perfume bottles with glass stoppers, the company improved the production machinery and equipment, and also reduced the production costs of the products. Last year, the company successively became the American Bond NO. 9 and France, the national Cartier perfume company produced a new style of perfume bottle; another development project is to make a comprehensive decoration around the glass bottle. This new technology enables manufacturers to produce multi-faceted glass bottles at the same time, without having to look like In the past, only one face was etched at a time. In fact, Etchaubard pointed out that this production process is so novel that no similar products can be found on the market. He also commented: “New technologies are always important things. We always find ways to showcase our products. In every 10 ideas we have, there is usually 1 idea that can be implemented.” BL also appeared. Strong growth momentum. In recent years, its business volume is estimated to have increased by 15%. The company is now building a glass melting furnace in Italy. At the same time, there is another report that there is a small glass manufacturer in Spain called A1-glass. The annual sales of glass containers is 6 million US dollars, of which 2 million US dollars are created by semi-automatic equipment that produces 1500 glass products in 8 hours. Yes, the $4 million was created by automatic equipment that can produce 200,000 sets of products every day’. The company’s marketing manager Albert commented: “Two years ago, sales declined, but a few months ago, the overall situation improved a lot. There are new orders every day. This is often the case. It will be set in stone.” Influenced by a company called “Rosier” Times, Alelas. The company invested in a new automatic blowing machine, and the company used this new technology to design a flower-like perfume bottle for the French cosmetic company. In this way, Albert predicts that as customers learn about this new technology, they will like this style of perfume bottle. With the continuous deepening of technological innovation, innovation is a factor that promotes market development. For cosmetics and professional products, its development prospects are very optimistic. It is also promising for the glass packaging industry.