Our company is fully integrated to offer our customers better value
Unlike most companies in the sector, which outsource a significant amount of their work to external suppliers, Astro is vertically integrated: all production takes place at the Baldichieri d’Asti site, in keeping with our “all-in-one-site-production” philosophy.
This is a strategic choice that offers our customers considerable benefits:
Control of the supply chain means greater efficiency and flexibility
As we depend on external suppliers to a minimal extent, we manage most of the procurement chain internally. All plastic inserts are moulded at our dedicated Baldichieri unit and feed 100% of our aluminium closure production in the adjacent factory, making stock shortages or delays impossible. Similarly, our lithographic printing equipment is also manufactured in-house to ensure superior accuracy and promptness.
Economies of scale and cost control mean that we can offer our customers better prices.
By concentrating all production at one site, we can enjoy the economic benefits of economies of scale, resulting in lower per-unit costs. This, combined with the elimination of the mark-ups typically applied by external suppliers under outsourcing agreements, allows us to offer our customers the highest quality closure systems possible at prices that are absolutely competitive with those of the leaders in the sector.
Centralised quality control throughout the entire process means greater reliability and traceability.
Our Quality Control department controls the entire supply chain rather than just one stage of it, as is usually the case when work is outsourced. This enables us to apply our strict quality standards to every step of the process, giving our customers greater final value in the form of the utmost reliability of our products.
The Baldichieri production site
Having grown considerably over time in terms of equipment and space, it now consists of the following departments:
Plastic component moulding unit
Equipped with over 30 injection moulding machines, this department is responsible for the moulding of all the plastic parts used in Astro closures, such as liners, pourers, caps and overcaps, meeting 100% of the company’s requirements.
Aluminium closure production unit
Divided into the lithography, aluminium foil cutting, drawing, offset and hot foil coating, edging, assembly and maintenance departments. Production is managed by advanced ERP software and carried out using state-of-the-art smart machinery, equipped with advanced self-control functions and cameras for monitoring every process.
In-house graphics department
An Astro exclusive, the in-house graphics department designs and produces sketches to meet customer requirements, in full compliance with the bottle and label layout.
There is also a pre-printing and photogravure laboratory equipped with cutting-edge techniques to support the lithographic and offset department, which allows the printing systems to be created immediately in-house.
Quality Control unit
At Astro, control of the entire production process and traceability are top priorities.
All raw materials, which are checked upon arrival, are monitored at every stage, with fixed stations that provide control over the entire production process, obtaining the “history” of the capsule and the traceability of all components.
A sample is taken at the end of the process and part of it undergoes destructive testing while the other part is archived as a counter-sample (black box).
Finished product warehouse
Recently modernised and tripled in size, this warehouse is intended for the storage of finished products awaiting shipment. Astro operates in compliance with the “just in time” principle and exclusively to order, minimising, if not zeroing, stocks.