A sharp surge in retail orders for their hygiene and disinfectant products during the pandemic meant that Fabulosa were having to employ extra staff to run long shifts. With up to 14 staff members at a time managing the manual inserting and tightening of 50 bottles per minute, the ongoing shortage of manufacturing staff and pandemic restrictions were at risk of affecting the company’s overall output figures.

Realising that the manual process wasn’t sustainable, Fabulosa’s relationship with Holmach and Mengibar began following a positive referral in 2020. Armed with a full understanding of Fabulosa’s needs and expectations, we were able to offer a high-speed trigger capping solution to manage input from multiple filling lines, with production levels of up to 140 bottles per minute.

Working collaboratively, the preferred factory layout was finalised and the detailed technology specification was validated through rigid product testing using Fabulosa’s chosen bottles and triggers. Mengibar’s scalable solutions meant Fabulosa was able to make dynamic decisions throughout the build, adding a further four capping heads to meet the ongoing increase in demand.

Commissioned In June 2021, the completed Mengibar trigger capper and sorter was installed in the brand’s original Crewe based factory and has since been relocated to Fabulosa’s much larger site, giving them scope for continued growth.

Several months on and we returned to Fabulosa’s new factory to check in and see how things were going. We were welcomed by a very happy Jim Gilford, Engineering Manager. Jim is clearly a huge fan of the new technology that now enables capping of up to 140 bottles per minute, leading to production levels of more than double those of previous years.

With Mengibar’s focus on continuous improvements, Jim openly praised them by stating that he’s never taken delivery of a new piece of technology that he doesn’t want to change in some way and Mengibar is the exception to the rule.

He went on to say that there’s nothing that he would change to improve it. As well as significantly increasing productivity and reducing the labour involvement to the manual packing of direct mail orders, the new Mengibar technology has also led to a decrease in customer service complaints relating to loose caps.

For more information on Mengibar's filling and capping solutions, give us a call on 01780 749097 or email info@holmach.co.uk