Executive Interview - Ed Martin

1. Interview
A conversation with Ed Martin,
Business Development Manager,
Exal Corporation, Norwalk, CT/USA
AEROSOL EUROPE: Mr Mar- AEROSOL EUROPE: What are your tar-
tin, could you say a word about get markets?
your person? Ed Martin: We see some very interesting
Ed Martin: In a broad sense my role is to opportunities in the aerosol market. Alu-
help the company work better together minium has been the material of choice for
and create greater value. We have very personal care, cosmetic and fragrance
successful businesses on three continents aerosols and we do not see that changing.
and want to build on that momentum. We We now see much more interest in alu-
have our North American business, we minium aerosols from household products
have our European business, which is marketers. Their interest in aluminium is de-
Boxal, and we also have our operations in veloping for many of the same reasons
Argentina. My role is to create future op- that drove our growth over the past
portunities with new technology, new mar- decade. The ability to create great form
kets and new customers, across the entire and function with aluminium remains key.
business platform. Residing in North Amer- The marketing opportunity to create true er-
ica I also provide specific sales and mar- gonomic devices with a shaped containers
keting resources to the business there. and custom actuators cannot be over-
Ed Martin looked. Many of the more recent global
AEROSOL EUROPE: In a few words, aerosol success stories such as Unilever’s
could you give our readers an idea of your create innovative shaped aerosols con- Axe, P&G’s Febreze and many packages
product range? tainers. Shaped aerosols then quickly lead from L’Oreal have benefited from the syn-
Ed Martin: First, I would like to say that if to shaped beverage containers and full ergy of custom shaped containers and cus-
a product can be made using impact ex- body shaping. So, our current portfolio tom actuators.
trusion technology, Exal can make the evolved with a focus on improving con- I would also like to mention that the devel-
product. If you consider the entire Exal tainer form and function. I would like to opment of high definition dry offset print-
product range first and foremost you have add that while beverage bottles have be- ing is benefiting many marketers. It is a
our initial product, the aluminium aerosol come a larger part of our business mix over significant improvement that is allowing alu-
container. Everything else that we manu- the last few years the aerosol market minium container manufacturers to reach a
facture today evolved from learnings that clearly remains an extremely important high level of graphic reproduction, previ-
we gained from making impact extruded core business for Exal. ously available only with other substrates.
aluminium aerosol containers. Aluminium
aerosols evolved into threaded bottles for AEROSOL EUROPE: Will you be at the AEROSOL EUROPE: Which countries do
personal care products and other vertical Aerosol Forum in Paris next year? you supply with your products?
markets, including automotive. The Ed Martin: I am unsure of my schedule at Ed Martin: In the truest sense we do sup-
threaded bottles we developed for the au- the moment. I do know that as a company ply the world. We have operations in
tomotive industry taught us many things the Exal Group will definitely attend. Rep- North America, Europe and Latin America
about pushing the limitations of necking. resentatives from Boxal actively participate to support our primary markets. At times, to
That experience was a step that lead us to in the event. assist customers, we export from those lo-
AEROSOL EUROPE 16 Vol. 17, No. 12-2009

2. Interview
cations to other geographies around the AEROSOL EUROPE: Where do you see On top of that there is technical innovation
globe. If you consider the Exal operational potential for technical innovations, particu- in the area of environmental compliance
footprint we are the only aluminium con- larly in the aerosol industry? and stewardship. While all the design and
tainer manufacturer that operates on Ed Martin: I think, there is a balance decorating innovations get the much de-
three continents. Many of the major when you look at the aerosol package. served attention, our industry expends a
global marketers look at our geo- There is the science based rational analy- lot of resources dealing successfully with
graphic scope as a huge advantage sis. Can we do something to make the regulatory challenges as well. You are
for them. Consequently, they want to package more intriguing for marketers starting to see the development of powder
partner with us. They know we under- and consumers? Can we help marketers to coatings as an alternative to internal lin-
stand their needs and trust us as a create new products based on the custom ings. I believe, Europe is largely ahead of
steward of their global brands. We do designs, shaping or new dispensing North America in the area of sustainability.
intend to aggressively expand our ge- ideas? There is also the emotional “Wow” North America is catching up and stake-
ographic foot print over the next few factor of aluminium packaging. Aluminium holders are committing significant re-
years. has created many great success stories re- sources to innovation focused on
cently and consumers connect well with sustainability. In the past the marketers
AEROSOL EUROPE: What about the East- the package. We believe that there is still were interested in sustainability, but not as
ern European countries, especially Russia? plenty “Wow” left in the aerosol package a top priority. That has changed over the
Ed Martin: Like many companies we see form. As mentioned much is going on with past few years in North America as retail-
a great future for Eastern Europe and we high definition printing. We are also see- ers are challenging marketers to deliver
have plans to be there. We recognize that ing interest in digital printing, which is start- continuous improvement in the area of sus-
we need to have meaningful operations in ing to emerge in rigid packaging. Of tainability. Marketers in turn are requiring
Eastern Europe to build on our geographic course, over the past ten years container packaging suppliers to assist them. We
presence. shaping has become very prevalent. Over look at the whole dynamic as an opportu-
Russia is interesting and the amount of busi- the next ten years full body shaped nity to innovate in a way that clearly ben-
ness investment being made there contin- aerosol containers should become much efits society.
ues to be impressive. more mainstream.
Wir sind Lohnhersteller und Partner führender internationaler Markenhersteller der Körperpflege- und Kosmetikindustrie.
Für unser Werk in Kematen in Tirol (Österreich) besetzen wir folgende Position:
Entwickler/in Bereich F&E Kosmetik
Zu Ihren Aufgaben zählen die Gestaltung von innovativen Konzepten und Pro- Ihr Profil:
dukten in Abstimmung mit dem Vertrieb, sowie die Mitarbeit an der Sorti- l Ausbildung als Chemie-Ingenieur/in, Chemotechniker/in oder Chemielabo-
mentsentwicklung. Bei der Umsetzung neuer Ideen bis hin zur Produktionsreife rant/in
(Scale up) fungieren Sie als wichtige Schnittstelle für alle daran beteiligten Ab- l 3 – 5 Jahre Berufserfahrung im Bereich Entwicklung von kosmetischen oder
teilungen. Sie sind verantwortlich für die Entwicklung von Rezepturen und die pharmazeutischen Produkten (idealerweise in der kosmetischen Industrie)
Auswahl der Rohstoffe unter Beachtung der qualitativen Anforderungen und wirt- l Erfahrung im Projektmanagement (Konzeption und Steuerung)
schaft-lichen Rahmenbedingungen. Ihr Ziel ist eine Verringerung der Einfüh- l Gute analytische Fähigkeiten und ausgeprägtes Prozessverständnis
rungszeiten für Neuprodukte, weiters die Optimierung von bestehenden Pro- l Sehr gute Englischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift
dukten und Produktions-verfahren. Die selbstständige Durchführung von l Hohes Maß an Kreativität
Produkttests und die Herstellung von Produktmustern runden Ihre Tätigkeit ab. l Kommunikationsstark, teamorientiert und eigenverantwortlich
Wenn Sie Interesse an dieser abwechslungsreichen Tätigkeit haben und gerne in einem, jungen dynamischen Team arbeiten,
dann freuen wir uns auf Ihre aussagekräftige Bewerbung.
Kemacos Full Filling Service GmbH, Christine Rettenbacher,
Bahnhofstraße 47, A-6175 Kematen in Tirol, Telefon: +43 5232 3131 411,
christine.rettenbacher@kemacos.com
www.kemacos.com
Vol. 17, No. 12-2009 AEROSOL EUROPE 17

3. Interview
AEROSOL EUROPE: The global economy package, so our ability to create effective now. I believe BoV dispensing systems have
crisis hit the bottom. How do you see the products is not diminished. That is one set a great future and improve the sustainabil-
economical development of 2010/2011? of skills. On the other hand we need to ity of some products.
Ed Martin: We are an optimistic company. have the marketer community intrigued by In some cases marketer interest has been for-
I am cautiously optimistic about 2010 the aerosol package form. That requires a mula driven. We have also seen interest
being a good year for the aerosol industry different, but very valuable, set of skills. driven by the design aspects of aluminium.
and our business. In the United States we More recently our graphic and printing ca-
have seen a jobless economic recovery so AEROSOL EUROPE: What is Exal doing pabilities have created new interest.
far. To achieve full economic recovery I be- to meet the consumers’ demand for
lieve that US consumer spending has to “greener” aerosol products? AEROSOL EUROPE: To your opinion,
come back strong. I do not think consumer Ed Martin: Aluminium has a really good what challenges does our industry face in
spending will come back strong until con- story to tell in the area of sustainability. It is the future?
sumers see significant recovery in the job the most abundant metal on earth. It is the Ed Martin: The biggest challenge will be
market. From my perspective US economic third most abundant element in the earth’s to make sure that our businesses are strong
progress in 2011 will be a function of the crust after silicon and oxygen. So, we are financially. I think the aerosol package and
employment market. starting with a very sustainable raw mate- aluminium packaging are well valued by
rial. Aluminium is also 100%, infinitely re- the important marketers. A big challenge
AEROSOL EUROPE: What would you cyclable without a loss of physical for aluminium container manufacturers is
consider the most relevant issue which properties. 2/3 of all aluminium ever the level capital investment that is required
needs to be discussed in the aerosol indus- made is still in use today. In addition, Alu- to support growth. The equipment is ex-
try? minium has a high economic value and pensive and complex. That said, the busi-
Ed Martin: From my perspective the funds many municipal recycling programs nesses that are going to be successful are
biggest concern is whether the significant in North America. Today there are efforts the businesses that have the ability to con-
number of regulatory and legislative issues, underway to make sure that aluminium tinue to invest in the future. From my per-
that are getting a lot of attention, are going aerosols are recycled in North America. spective it is vitally important to make sure
hamper industry growth. We are fortunate Exal is taking a leadership role in that ef- that marketers are enamoured with our
in the USA to have a premier trade associ- fort. The key to aluminium’s sustainability is products. Marketers that value our new
ation, the Consumer Specialty Products As- recycling. It takes 5 % of the energy to cre- product offerings are the marketers that will
sociation (CSPA), that takes a leadership ate recycled aluminium as it does to make purchase them and support our invest-
role in addressing legislative and regula- the same amount of virgin aluminium. ments. As mentioned above we can’t let
tory challenges at the federal, state, local Therefore, it is very important that con- regulatory challenges derail our growth
and international level. I am most familiar sumers understand the value of recycling opportunities. While we need to work with
with the regulatory challenges in the USA, aluminium aerosol containers. Outside of government and non-government agencies
which like Europe and other geographies, our recycling efforts we are always seek- to make sure that sound science prevails,
are ongoing. Consistent with the past ing more sustainable energy options, inter- our mantra needs to be profitable growth.
much of the activity involves the State of nal linings, coatings, inks and lubricants.
California. Unfortunately, California is also AEROSOL EUROPE: When you are not
struggling financially so that creates addi- AEROSOL EUROPE: Do you see any working for Exal, what are you doing for
tional complexity. I believe the momentum growth markets for aerosols today and in leisure time activities?
of regulatory environment requires a lot of the future? Ed Martin: Being in Ft. Lauderdale re-
industry time, talent and treasure to be fo- Ed Martin: We do. The market place in minds me of my collegiate years when I
cused on being defensive. North America had a strong rise in demand spent time doing twice a day training at the
So while having a good defense is impor- from 2003 to 2006 fueled by growth in alu- International Swimming Hall Fame
tant, as an industry, I believe we also need minium aerosol containers. The market was (ISHOF). The ISHOF is just a short walk
to remain dedicated to being proactive then flat for a few years. We are starting to from the site of the CSPA Annual Meeting.
and growing the industry. At the end of the see some marketers that have traditionally I have not changed too much since that
day the marketing community needs to see used other types of packaging now consid- time. Today, I enjoy almost any activity as-
value in the aerosol package form or they ering the aerosol form. Their interest has sociated with the water like scuba diving,
will not create new aerosol products. The been driven by the overall value of the sailing, fishing, attempting to surf, etc. I am
world of fast moving consumer goods is a aerosol package. Bag on Valve (BoV) Sun fortunate that wife Sandra enjoys doing the
meritocracy. Ultimately, the consumer picks care was a fabulous market that emerged same.
a package form because it delivers more in North America. It went from a business
value than other package forms. that did not exist at the beginning of the AEROSOL EUROPE: Mr Martin, thank
It is a narrow path. We need to defend the decade to about 120 Million units annually you very much for this interview. ■
AEROSOL EUROPE 18 Vol. 17, No. 12-2009