| BLOW MOLDER COMES TO PENNZOIL'S 'RESCUE
PVC Container companies create new
blow molding technology to provide Pennzoil with high-barrier
bottle for a gasoline substitute. Flexible spout and closures
complete package on an incredible timetable.
 |
| Pennzoil’s new Rescue product was launched
in a challenging coextruded half-gallon container
designed with a recessed cavity that holds a dispensing
neck attachment. |
Developing a custom container typically requires at least a year.
Not so for the new Rescue® container from Pennzoil-Quaker
State. Even though it breaks new ground in blow molding technology,
the container was completed in just six months, says blow-molding
consultant Ed Campbell, a veteran of Clorox who worked on the project.
The distinctive half-gallon bottle is coextrusion/blow-molded
of high-density polyethylene and fluorinated in the mold
for barrier properties by Airopak Corp. (Manchester,
PA). The flexible nozzle, secured in a bottle cavity
and covered with a pressure-sensitive label, comes from Marpac
Industries
(Kingston, NY). These two companies make up the Specialty
Products Div. of PVC Container Corp. (Eatontown, PA).
The product, marketed under Pennzoil's Roadside™ brand,
is called an emergency fuel additive. "It isn't
just a new product; it's a whole new product category," says
James Postl, president and COO of Pennzoil-Quaker State in
Houston. "It allays the primal fear of most motorists:
running out of fuel."
With a patent pending, the product is a highly refined additive
designed for when a car runs out of gasoline. Using the flexible
nozzle attached to the bottle, the product can be emptied
into a car's gas tank, and the car will be able to
go about 10 miles to find a gas station.
But Rescue is much safer than simply a highly flammable
spare tank of gas. It's formulated to have an exceptionally
high flash point so that it's combustible only when
exposed to the very high temperatures inside a motor. So
says Alice Crowder, senior marketing manager for Pennzoil-Quaker
State. That means it's safe, even rolling around in
a car trunk for, believe it or not, up to five years. "After
that," she says, "you just pour the product into
your gas tank, and, hopefully, buy another [bottle of Rescue]
for your car."
Lots of Safety
While the product formulation is noncombustible, Pennzoil
and its packaging partners worked very hard to make the
package equally safe for the consumer. And it was precisely
these packaging goals that made the package such a manufacturing
challenge.
 |
| Pennzoil's new Rescue product
was launched in a challenging coextruded half-gallon
container
(above) designed with a recessed cavity that holds a
dispensing neck attachment. |
First off, Pennzoil desperately wanted a container that looked
like the fill nozzle at a gasoline pump. That meant having a pouring
neck with a 60° angle. And the container had to sport the famous
Pennzoil yellow color. Instructions had to be provided on attractive
but durable p-s labels.
Second, the container had to be leak-free, nonrefillable and able
to withstand jostling around in a car trunk for up to five years.
Third, the container needed an easy-to-grip handle and had to
be easy to open.
Fourth, it needed a removable but child-resistant and leak-proof
cap.
Fifth, it had to incorporate a special neck and spout that would
be easy to attach and use but also be extremely difficult to remove
once attached to the bottle. It also had to accommodate the fill
tanks of gasoline-powered cars, trucks, vans and even motor homes.
When these requirements were established in January '99,
Pennzoil set its goal to introduce Rescue at an automotive trade
show last November. Crowder and fellow Pennzoil senior research
associate chemist Michael Howe spearheaded the project. Crowder
worked on the container design and consumer testing, while Howe
focused on product and package development.
However, the task of finding partners to provide the packaging
proved both difficult and time-consuming (see sidebar, right).
It wasn't until May that PVC Corp. and affiliates Airopak
and Marpac were on board.
PVC's team approach
"We knew immediately that we needed to pull in the resources
of at least three of our companies," remembers Phillip Friedman,
president and CEO of parent company PVC Container Corp. "We
quickly assembled our own team from three companies: packaging
experts from PVC Container for overall package design; manufacturing
experts from Airopak for blow-molding and fluorination experience;
and our cap and filler development people at Marpac. "
 |
| At Airopak, worker Sherrie Anderson
manually inserts nozzles into the special recessed cavity
molded into the bottle. |
To obtain the benefits of fluorination, HDPE was chosen for the
material, but a single layer couldn't be used because of
the distinctive Pennzoil color. "To obtain a good, consistent
barrier with fluorination, the gas must only come in contact with
natural, virgin resin," explains Howe. "If you expose
a pigmented layer to the gas, it could discolor the pigment. Or,
more likely, the colorant wouldn't permit the formation of
a consistent barrier layer. That's true for any modification
to the virgin resin."
Thus, Airopak determined the bottle would be produced on a Model
502D coextrusion blow molder from Bekum (Williamston, MI). In the
end, Airopak blows a pigmented HDPE/natural virgin HDPE bottle,
the outer layer being 20 mils thick. While in the mold, the bottle
is actually blown with a fluorine-nitrogen gas mixture instead
of air. Those chemicals react with the interior HDPE to form a
continuous barrier layer to protect the chemical formulation. Earlier,
Pennzoil had recognized that use of a post-fluorination process
could affect the surface and the color of the container. For more
on the blow-molding challenges, see "The art and the angles" sidebar,
below.
Custom closure, too
While Airopak and PVC Container were working on the blow-molding
issues, Pennzoil was sourcing the closures from Rexam (Evansville,
IN). A child-resistant polypropylene cap was selected for
the primary container, but Rexam had to develop a special closure
for
the spout.
It had to have a hole in it to accept the flexible spout
manufactured by Marpac. The closure company engineered the
primary cap to be
child-resistant, while the spout closure had to be removal-resistant.
However, Pennzoil found that the flexible neck and spout from
Marpac was too large, so it had to be made smaller. Even
more important, a locking device had to be designed so it could
be incorporated
into the spout closure from Rexam.
Next was the issue of delivery
of the neck and spout. Team Rescue did not want it to be
simply taped or banded to the container.
The design of the container had to incorporate a place
to hold and secure the spout to the bottle. However, the possibility
of
an indented area in the sidewall of the bottle had the
potential
to create blow-molding problems.
Finally, a recessed cavity was created for the spout, and a p-s
label was placed over the opening once the spout was in place.
This meant the spout could not be removed without tearing the label
covering the opening.
Lot's of testing
While all of the technical details were being addressed, Crowder
and the marketing department did a considerable amount of consumer
testing. "We tested the concept, the name, the advertising
and even the pricing levels," she says. "In the automotive
industry, we move pretty quickly. "
 |
| Pennzoil’s new Rescue product was launched
in a challenging coextruded half-gallon container designed
with a recessed cavity that holds a dispensing neck attachment. |
At Airopak, the spouts from Marpac are manually snapped into the
indented area of the container, and containers are shipped to Pennzoil's
packaging facility at Highlands, TX, for filling, capping and labeling.
While samples were available for the automotive exhibition in November,
filled bottles moved into distribution in December.
Promotion started in December. "We began with a 60-second
infomercial on cable television, and we tested various stations
and times," Crowder says. "A traditional 30-second
commercial began to run in February, and later we added radio and
print advertising."
The response has been strong, she says. Business Week magazine
named Rescue one of the best products of the year, Crowder crows,
and it also was featured on an Oprah Winfrey show early in the
year. "People are amazed by the product. We've gained
excellent distribution and very good product movement. It's
sold to all outlets that sell auto supplies," she adds. The
suggested retail price is $14.99.
"What impressed us was that PVC Container and its affiliate
companies could visualize what we were looking for right at the
outset," says Howe. "Even when confronted with a situation
it had never experienced before, the suppliers' team got
the job done no matter the obstacles. And giving kudos to our own
people, the job was done on time and on target." (AO)
See sidebar article...Tough to find suppliers
See sidebar article...The art and the angles
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