Innovation 1 2 The future of packaging Innovation is at the heart of everything we do, from development and design to raw material reduction and energy efficiency. Ardagh is committed to pioneering new packaging products and manufacturing processes. Together with significant investment in research and development, this is how we maintain our leading global position. Ardagh’s investment in R&D is delivering results, particularly for our customers. Our wealth of knowledge, together with our expertise, has allowed us to explore exciting possibilities in design, shapes and textures. This has led to the creation of new consumer experiences and achieved high acclaim for our customers’ brands. Creative thinking agenda Our innovation programme harnesses the power of cross-functional teams from our key regions and business functions. This involves a collaborative effort across regional design centres, central technical services, operational excellence and quality teams, core innovation teams and Group R&D teams. Our focus is to be reactive as well as proactive and drive an innovation agenda across new product applications, process and sustainability improvements. The result is creative thinking throughout the organisation, from design to delivery, so each integral part of the business feels the benefit and our customers reap the rewards. Ensuring effective and efficient operations We continue to succeed in process innovation by focusing closely on three areas: lightweighting, down-gauging and operational excellence. Our aim is always to create efficiencies, as part of our own production processes and those of our customers. With glass bottle lightweighting, for instance, we succeed in retaining all of the product’s trademark dimensions, characteristics and strength. We also continue to refine metal packaging production methods, in order to down-gauge the material; making it thinner and lighter and therefore using less raw materials. With advanced analytical software, such as FEA (Finite Element Analysis), we can now model new container designs based on optimum weights, before production begins. Global recognition across our business Our ongoing commitment to innovation has provided global recognition for Ardagh Group, our customers and their products. We have won over 100 international awards, granted over 50 worldwide patents and over 100 intellectual property rights. This recognition ranges from product innovation and design to process innovation involving raw material reduction, energy saving initiatives and operational excellence across our facilities worldwide. Innovation within Ardagh is more than a process, it’s our culture Site Map