Glass Industry News

EXCLUSIVE VERESCENCE INTERVIEW

, Verescence

 

Producing glass insulators for high-voltage electricity in addition to glass bottles and containers for luxury perfumery and cosmetics, Verescence’s plant in La Granja, Spain is one of the group’s most advanced in terms of CSR and robotisation. General Manager of Verescence Spain and a member of the Executive Committee of the Verescence Group, Bruno Portellano spoke exclusively to Glass Worldwide. The full version of this article appears in the Nov/Dec 2022 issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

GW: What is Verescence’s market position and current performance in Spain?

Verescence Spain represents 20% of Verescence’s overall turnover (in second place after France). We have something that characterises us, which is the double line of business: perfumery and cosmetics (the heart of activity) 60% and insulators 40%, which is a historical activity in the plant – the first insulator was manufactured in 1932.

GW: What is the history and current capabilities of your production facility in La Granja?

The glass tradition dates back more than 260 years with the construction of La Granja Palace. However, our most recent industrial history began in 1932 with the production of the first glass insulator. The current factory was built in 1957 and has always produced various glass products, specialising in perfumery containers since the beginning of the 80s and increasing its added value with the Decoration plant started in 2006, as the most recent activity.

Our current annual production capacity is around 200 million containers (over 24,000 tons) and more than three million insulators (over 11,000 tons).

GW: What products are manufactured there?

We manufacture two high-quality and sophisticated products. On the one hand, packaging for high-end perfumery and cosmetics, to which we add decorative finishes such as lacquering, silk-screening, hot stamping, as well as labelling and gluing of accessories.

Verescence La Granja is also the centre of excellence of the Group for the production of the Verescence Collection (standard bottles that can be customised by brands).

On the other hand, we manufacture high-quality and high-performance tempered glass plates for the electrical transformation and distribution industry, which we test and assemble in order to deliver them ready to be installed in transformation lines and plants.

GW: Typically, who are your main customers and how would you describe prevailing market conditions?

[Our] main beauty customers are major groups such as Natura (Avon), Puig, Revlon, Coty, LVMH, Chanel, L’Oréal… More than 100 million insulators manufactured by Verescence La Granja Insulators are installed in more than 100 countries.

GW: How many people work at the La Granja plant and what levels of expertise are employed?

As of 28 February, we have our own workforce of 452 people. In addition, there are a significant number of employees who come to the factory on a daily basis to provide services to the factory through contract work, such as security, cleaning, medical service, maintenance, forklift and lorry loading personnel. We also hire workforce through a temporary employment company, basically for production. Therefore, taking into account all of the above, we have an average of 650 people working at Verescence La Granja.

Regarding the levels of experience or knowledge, there are people who have been working in our plant for more than 30 years and whose know-how about the manufacture of glass containers for perfumery, insulators, maintenance of facilities, glass processing or how to handle the manufacturing lines, is very deep and crucial to achieve high-complexity and quality products. Glass is a challenging material to deal with; counting on people who have witnessed and managed similar problems, although never precisely the same for so many years, is fundamental for us.

Furthermore, we are continuously recruiting new people into the organisation, who, by working in parallel with the experts, [undergoing] ongoing training and internal promotion, acquire the necessary knowledge.

There are more than 100 university graduates and a very high number of people holding vocational training [at Verescence La Granja]. Moreover, we are an accredited training centre. This means that every year we [run] specific internal courses for Professionalism Certificates and other similar [qualifications], which provide our workers with internal training that can be recognised by external professional training courses. These certificates are awarded to employees who did not have any professional education or training when they joined the company. In 2021, more than 4,104 hours of training were provided at our glass school.

GW: In general, how important is the plant to the local community?

Verescence La Granja is the biggest company in Segovia [a historic city northwest of Madrid] and is one of the economic drivers of the region. The plant is of vital importance in the local community. In a town of around 5,000 inhabitants, having a company that generates both direct and indirect employment is essential. Not only are we providing jobs, we also contribute to the generation of wealth [in the region], as many of our suppliers are local. One of our objectives is helping suppliers to develop; it is part of our CSR strategy.

Verescence La Granja’s relationship with local institutions and organisations is also very important and we have always maintained close contact. During the Covid-19 crisis, in addition to donating glass bottles for hydroalcoholic gel packaging, as well as disposable protective equipment (masks, gowns, anti-spatter glasses) for hospitals and the Junta de Castilla y León governing and administrative body, we made our 3D printer available to produce components for protective masks donated to the local authorities.

Verescence La Granja also expressed its solidarity with those affected by the volcanic eruption of La Palma [on 19 September 2021] by donating essential PPE (helmets, gloves, yellow vests and FFP2 masks) to help the work of the emergency teams deployed on the island.

GW: What are the highlights of recent upgrades in La Granja as part of the company’s Excellence 2018 plan?

During the current year 2022 as well as since 2018 we have undertaken the various improvement actions specified in our Excellence Plan, of which the following have already been completed:

The rebuilding of a new, more energy efficient Perfumery and Cosmetics furnace with improved capability and glass quality.
 

Installation of a particulate and SOx filter for the reduction of emissions to a minimum.
 

Automatic greasing.
 

Complete modernisation of new cold glass lines with the most advanced optical inspection machines.
 

Implementation of new, faster and more efficient automatic decoration equipment in silk-screening.
 

Modernisation of new glass container moulding machines.

Improvement of working conditions, ergonomics and flows.

GW: What is the strategy for future investment and how does the ‘Verescence 2022 – Forming The Future’ strategy impact proceedings in La Granja?

Automation, robotisation, digitisation at the service of CSR and competitiveness is the strategy. For the past three years, the Verescence 2022 – Forming the Future strategic plan has guided Verescence’s strategy. Structured in five pillars centred around sustainability, it aims to make our Group the world reference in the sustainable beauty market, thanks to numerous investments that will accelerate our transformation to Industry 4.0 by continuing to automate and digitise our process so we can improve the working conditions of our employees and the industrial performance of our production sites.

Despite the Covid-19 crisis, we stayed the course, with notable advances at Verescence La Granja, such as:

2020: The integration of collaborative robots (cobots) which work alongside our teams and allow for the rapid and safe automation of a number of tedious and repetitive tasks, while maintaining a high degree of flexibility and preserving our know-how. Verescence La Granja was the pilot site of the Group for the development and standardisation of cobots.
 

2021: Automation of the insulator assembly line with investments in automatic robots.
 

2022: A new logistics centre positioned outside the production areas. We’ve invested €600,000 in this state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to centralise and digitise all logistics operations. It is accompanied by significant improvements: reduced risk of accidents by removing 90% of truck traffic in our factory, lower CO2 emissions by replacing 25% of our fleet of conventional diesel trucks with electric trucks, and construction of new quality workspaces for our shipping departments and also for the drivers of our transport service providers.

GW: How would you summarise Verescence’s sustainability strategy in La Granja?

Verescence has a three-pillar CSR strategy: ‘People First’, ‘Eco-solutions’ and ‘Act For Society’. Every year we publish a sustainability report on our website with all the [company’s] KPIs and CSR performance and all the initiatives that we put in place in our plant for each pillar.

Our Spanish production site is located in the municipality of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Castile and León – declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2013. Priority is therefore given to the safety and preservation of this protected ecosystem. For example, Verescence La Granja is collaborating with [global energy provider] Iberdrola in Spain for the supply of renewable energy through a long-term power purchase agreement, aiming at carbon-neutral electricity consumption. Since January 1, 2022, 80% of our electricity consumed in Spain has been of renewable origin guaranteed – a reduction of around 9,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Water is another key question in La Granja, which is why we are proud to announce that by the end of 2022 the facility should reach ‘dry plant’ level – i.e. a plant where water is withdrawn only for domestic needs – thanks to all the actions implemented during the last two years.

Verescence La Granja has maintained its EcoVadis Platinum medal in 2022 with a score of 83/100. This is the highest level of distinction awarded by EcoVadis, the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings.

GW: What importance do you put on recycling in the regions served?

Together with atmospheric emissions, waste generation is one of the main environmental aspects of the glass industry. Verescence La Granja has been working on continuously improving its waste management, achieving 96% of recycling in 2021 as part of the Verescence Group’s CSR policy.

We also conducted a study on which decorated cullet could be recycled in our own furnace, allowing us to start recycling in-house lacquered glass with water-based paint or decorated with organic inks and hot stamping. This approach enables us to reduce the amount of coloured cullet sold and to increase the amount of cullet recycled internally, leading to savings in terms of natural gas, CO2 emissions and transport. This is a clear example of how taking an eco-friendly approach to design and decoration affects the recyclability of the product.

In 2021 Verescence La Granja started to take part in the circular economy by integrating 20% post-consumer recycled [PCR] cullet into our perfumery furnace. This new composition, named ‘Infinite Glass 20’ has replaced extra flint glass and became our new standard. This makes it possible to meet consumer expectations in terms of sustainability, to meet the eco-design objectives of brands, and finally to reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (5% lower emissions) while limiting our impact on natural resources.

In the insulator business, we have made the ‘Environmental Product Declaration’ and we inform our customers how to recycle the insulators at the end of their life.

GW: What strategy is Verescence adopting for increased digitalisation in La Granja?

As part of the digitisation of our operations, we will improve the management of our industrial performance by implementing a new generation MES (Manufacturing Execution System) software solution that collects all the production data (quality, productivity and yield) in real time.

GW: What specific measures are you taking to control energy, raw materials and other production costs?

Verescence La Granja was ISO 50001-certified in 2021. Also, we have furnaces with heat regenerators to be efficient in energy consumption. The use of PCR cullet has decreased the [amount of] raw material needed and CO2 emissions produced.

GW: How can suppliers of plant, equipment, materials and services contribute better towards improving manufacturing processes and helping Verescence reach its goals?

We involve all our suppliers in our sustainable development approach in order to contribute to the improvement of CSR performance throughout our value chain. For example, to reduce supply times for our customers, eliminate unnecessary transport costs and reduce waste by ensuring better quality control, we integrated the sorting activity of our partner Macanse at our La Granja site in 2021. This initiative (called ‘Door to Door’) had already been introduced in Mers-les-Bains (France) in 2014.

GW: What do you consider to be key to a successful relationship with such suppliers?

A good relationship with strategic suppliers requires at least the following:

Effective Communication: Two-way communication is fundamental for building a win-win relationship between the two parties.
 

Respect: Considering the needs and opinions of the other side is key in building any relationship; it is necessary to learn from the other to build a mutually beneficial partnership that lasts over time.
 

Transparency: sharing information, intentions and objectives.
 

Honesty: being rigorous in the fulfilment of each party’s commitments.

Trust: in the other party to make the relationship long-lasting.
 

Flexibility: Being prepared to adapt to changes proposed by the other party that may bring improvements.
 

Innovation: To look for innovative ways of working and solving problems together.

GW: What are the benefits of being part of a global operation with further facilities in France and USA?

While having the autonomy necessary for our agility in order to support customers locally, being part of a global operation help us gain complementary expertise through cross-regions best-practice sharing. Benchmarking is a common practice between our sites to improve the performance of our processes and spread innovations. Regular inter-site exchanges take place, whether it involves assistance in delicate situations or with the start-up of new equipment, such as the deployment of hot stamping in Spain in 2020, helped by the expertise of our French teams. It’s also an opportunity to encourage international mobility to support our strategy and send Verescence experts for training.

GW: How would you summarise the opportunities and challenges Verescence faces in Spain?

With the rise in energy prices and major supply chain disruptions in recent months, we need to continue to adapt our business and build our resilience so that we can maintain our operations and supply chain at a high level.

, © Verescence

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