Rexam Personal Care opens new Innovation Center
Launched last month, the center will foster collaboration between Rexam and its customers to develop global packaging solutions; from the development of new packaging to retail displays.
The Buffalo Grove facility will focus on understanding the needs of both consumers and customers in order to spur innovation, and is designed to ‘encourage creativity and challenge conventional thinking.’
Understanding customers and consumers
According to Jill McCurdy, director of innovation at Rexam Personal Care and head of the center, ‘innovation’ can refer to several things, including a new formulation, a new twist on an existing product or a completely new design.
She told CosmeticsDesign.com USA that the facility will” create a special environment for customer collaborations, one that can house an energetic creative process across disciplines -- where global teams can meet, interact, simulate retail planograms, solve real packaging and product development challenges in a visual, exciting way,”
Furthermore, McCurdy claims that the activities at Buffalo Grove can be rolled out on a global scale which could lead to the creation of other Rexam Innovation Centers.
Located close to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the center’s proximity to transportation makes it easily accessible for the company’s North American customers.
Innovation now more important than ever
In establishing the facility, Rexam is underscoring its commitment to innovation, of which Eric Soubeiran, director of marketing and innovation at Rexam Personal Care, underlined the importance.
“Innovation drives our industry, now more than ever, given the volume of new product introductions, accelerated retail consolidation and the challenging economic environment consumers face,” he said in a statement.
However, he said that while innovation continues to be key at Rexam as it is seen as critical to the success of its customers, this view is not necessarily shared by every company.
“There are those in our industry who believe that, in difficult times, the prudent approach is to cut budgets on innovation. This is antithetical to our approach,” he explained.
