In July we had the pleasure to discuss with Mr. Josquin Peyceré, General Secretary of CETIE, about the future of the glass packaging and the particularities of our field of activity. In the interview here below, a première for Romania, you could discover CETIE`s vision regarding some issues concerning the winemakers (and not only).
Maybe not well known in Romania, CETIE is the worldwide organization in charge of creating and uniformizing the technical standards for the whole packaging environment. Thereby, the documentation issued by CETIE becomes a reference point for bottling and its complementary actions.
Possessing more than 20 years of experience acquired in this industry, whereby 14 years at Verallia (the first European manufacturer of glass bottles), Mr. Josquin Peyceré let us have an interesting perspective on the glass evolution as packaging material.
We hope the information here below will be useful to you.
Cetie goes further: In some cases, it standardizes a bottle mouth finish before it exists on the market, based on a need expressed by the field
S: In what way is the work provided by CETIE useful for producers in the industrial bottling sector?
Certain documents are drafted directly as practical operating procedures, which can be used by operators in the field or in customer / supplier relations.
They can be used (before) as training for people starting out in the field, and they can also be used in the case of litigation (after); in the latter case, as a “reference document for the profession”, legal experts can refer to them even if the manufacturers concerned do not use them: if I do not comply with the written best practices of my field and I create an important problem (complaint, consumer problem, withdrawal from the market etc.), I can be legally criticised for not applying these rules.
Other documents are technical specifications (bottle mouth finish standards for example, but also capsules), and allow all suppliers to harmonise their products. For example, since all glassmakers use the same BVS finish, recognized by the entire profession as defined in Cetie, bottlers know that they shall not have any problems using a capsule for a “BVS bottle”. But Cetie goes further: In some cases, it standardizes a bottle mouth finish before it exists on the market, based on a need expressed by the field. In this way, the different suppliers do not waste energy in developing their own solution by themselves. The whole field starts directly on the same basis.
S: How are the new research directions established within CETIE? Are these directions defined at the request of packaging field producers or users?
Cetie operates on the basis of several “permanent” working groups (Glass Quality or PET bottle mouth finishes etc.). Each of these groups has its own participants and addresses topics that appear to be useful in its field. It sets its priorities according to the interest and urgency of the subject in question for the field. Even when the subject is not directly required by users (bottlers, or brands), it is generally linked to a user need. Often, suppliers are aware of a need for improvement or harmonization before it becomes a problem for their customers.
One of the objectives of Cetie’s multi-business operation is precisely to be proactive in this way. When the subject is too complex to be treated within a “permanent” group, or when it requires participants from other horizons, then an “ad hoc” group is created, which shall last one to five years, time to exhaust the subject and publish the documents resulting from this group work.
The field of glass packaging evolves by constant “small” improvements on all areas
S: What are the innovations that should hold our attention in the near future regarding the glass bottle industry meant for non-sparkling (still) wines?
The field of glass packaging evolves by constant “small” improvements on all the plans, from the improvement of the melting of the glass (energy, environmental impact, control of characteristics of glass etc. …) until the palletization, passing naturally by improvements in glassblowing machines and automatic control machines. Most of these improvements, taken individually, do not represent a major technological breakthrough, but advance the glass bottle industry continuously.
In technological innovations, it is necessary to announce the hot laser marking of bottles, which, by a Data-matrix code engraved on the bottle at the end of the production line, allows a unit traceability of the bottle. Each individual bottle can, therefore, have its identification, which greatly improves any subsequent research in the event of difficulty, complaint or even consumer problem. Thanks to the dedicated working group, conducted in 2019 – 2020 at Cetie, this code is built to be perfectly unique: it is impossible to have two bottles in the world with the same code. The inscription on the bottle is a square of approximately 7 mm sides, made up of re-melted glass dots, so with no difference in color as compared to the rest of the bottle and very discreet.
Of course, this technical development, now reliable, is still expensive to implement and shall therefore not be available at once on all bottles on the market. Likewise, on the user side, this code can be used occasionally (by reading with a simple mobile phone), but, also, systematically, by installing readers at the bottling entrance, so as to record the code of each bottle ready to be filled, and possibly link this code to the process traceability elements of the bottling chain. Like any improvement in traceability systems, this progress indirectly strengthens food security.(see DT 40.00 to be published on this subject in September 2020, or the article published in Liquides & Conditionnement (Liquids & Bottling) no. 406)
S: Do you believe that technical training and updating the knowledge of Production Managers in the “Food and Beverages” field is a factor of success in Quality Management?
It is now common to say that Quality is “made” by Producers. But it is clear that the quality of the product and the confidence that we can have in food safety rest on those who are on the front line in the field and on their supervision. Production managers must, therefore, be aware of the challenges of their profession. In particular, they must remain vigilant on several levels: first, quality problems (including, of course, food safety) are primarily a matter of human attitudes and practices.
Of course, modern and efficient equipment is essential, but what is a key-element is the definition of the right procedures, their understanding and their compliance, as well as the good decision-making for each incident encountered, all this requiring a detailed understanding of bottling and its environment (bottles, corks, bacteriology, metrology, statistics, maintenance etc.). On the other hand, producers should keep in mind that a serious problem can happen with a series of small deviations, much like a traffic accident.
Consequently, while keeping a “field” spirit close to everyday life, they must be able to take a step back to constantly consider the worst of what could happen, and orient their decisions on this prudent basis, which is, sometimes, painful. This step back is helped in the field by the dialogue with the rest of the management (Quality, Management), but it is also encouraged by regular training of Production Managers. It is, indeed, a key factor in Quality Management!
This better control at a lower cost has a positive impact on consumers…without them even realizing it.
Do you believe that precautionary measures as well as strict compliance with standards have an impact on the end consumer`s consumption experience?
Compliance with standards has two major objectives.
- First of all, a standard is drafted by seeking the best solution, whether it is a technical specification, or a good control practice such as Cetie’s “DT” or “FS” sheets. Developed by a multidisciplinary group of experts, it, therefore, defines the best possible practice of the profession.
- Secondly, it aims for a harmonization. Sometimes, several practices or several solutions provide an equivalent level of quality; but the fact of choosing the practice of the profession among several ones favors the emergence of an identical practice or an identical technical choice among all the operators concerned. This simplifies the work of other operators from start to finish, which increases the likelihood of getting it right the first time.
Reference documents for the bottling industry, therefore, save time, money and energy, as well as improved consistency and safety of the manufactured product. This better control at a lower cost has a positive impact on consumers… without them realizing it.
