At a cost of some EUR 10m, packaging manufacturer Groupe Pochet (Clichy / France; www.groupe-pochet.fr) has set up a plastics electroplating system at the plant operated by its Qualipac subsidiary in Aurillac / France. The new system replaces the older of the two existing electroplating lines while, at the same time, increasing overall capacity by 40%. Additional colour shades can now also be offered. The new system no longer uses hexavalent chromium and also saves water and energy. The investment forms part of the group's "Ambition 2023" expansion programme, which makes provision for overall investment of EUR 200m between 2015 and 2018.

The Aurillac facility, located around 100 km north of Toulouse, produces high-quality, injection-moulded packaging for the luxury cosmetics segment, including finishing and assembling. Its latest financial results show that the production facility, with its 750 employees, generated sales of around EUR 100m.

Groupe Pochet, which specialises in high-quality cosmetics packaging (see Plasteurope.com of 26.01.2018) not only owns Qualipac (plastics and aluminium) – with five plants in France and two in China – but also Pochet (glass cosmetics bottles), Solev (decoration) and Priminter (accessories) companies. Pochet group generates sales of almost EUR 500m overall and employs 4,500 people, including 3,000 in France. Its customers includes names such as Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Givenchy and Lancôme.