Latest news and insights from Rockwood Glass
AI disrupts glass bottle manufacturing, triggering radical engineering evolution
Rockwood launched an ambitious custom bottle engineering program to close the gap between digital concepts and physical feasibility. Fueled by the rise of generative AI, the traditional model of bottle design and production is being radically redefined. Where premium spirits brands once relied on close consultation with glass manufacturers to engineer feasible custom bottles, marketers are now using AI to generate complex design concepts in seconds. The result is a wave of stunning but often unbuildable bottle designs.
Don’t skip the science! AI-generated bottle designs are rarely feasible for manufacturing.
AI can be a great tool for brainstorming creative bottle concepts, but it doesn’t take into account the technical realities of manufacturing. While the designs may look impressive on screen, AI doesn’t know how to balance the critical factors that make a bottle functional, durable, and cost-effective.
Hennessy still exploring bottling Cognac in China to mitigate tariff challenges
LVMH's Hennessy, a renowned producer of premium Cognac, has been exploring a strategic pilot project to bottle its popular VSOP and XO lines directly in China, aiming to produce an estimated 600,000 cases annually for the domestic market. Henri Berthe, CEO of Rockwood Bottling, a French-owned glass and ceramic bottling plant in China, highlights several benefits of filling in China: • Tariff avoidance: By importing bulk spirits and bottling them in a Chinese free trade zone, Cognac producers can bypass steep tariffs on finished products. • Cost savings: Local bottling reduces expenses by leveraging Chinese-made glass and packaging materials, yielding savings of up to 20%. • Market agility: Bottling within China enables producers to maintain ready-to-ship inventory, improving responsiveness to market demand.