How e-Liquid Companies Can Respond to New Production Demand After Disposable Vapes Are BANNED
The UK government has announced that they’re going to officially ban under 18s from using disposable vapes in the near future. This likely means that the e-Liquid market is going to see a huge increase in demand, as the vape market evolves. A big part of this response will be ramping up production as demand grows.
The rise and demise of disposable vapes
The e-Liquid and vape markets have been a big part of our history at Advanced Dynamics, since we’ve been able to help these companies ramp up their production – from automated 10ml liquid filling to cartoning the products so they’re shelf-ready. Tom Smith, our Managing Director, said…
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I think the rise of the disposables was a strange one for us. When the disposables market came around, it was almost as if the world was going against single-use plastic at the same time as demanding it.
I think the ban is great, in all honesty, for the UK e-Liquid market. I think it’s good that it’s been banned as it helps stop children getting addicted to vaping. It absolutely needed to happen because they’re so readily available, easy to use and then thrown away without anybody ever knowing.
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Ministers are said to be considering a prohibition on disposable vapes, following numerous appeals from local authorities, prominent paediatricians, and advocates for environmental sustainability. They are urging the government to enact legislation that would make the sale of such single-use devices unlawful, citing concerns related to both public health and the environment.
Back in July, Members of Parliament called on the government to implement regulations aimed at curbing the rise in youth consumption of these highly addictive products by addressing issues like packaging and marketing. With the release of a consultation document on October 12th, the government is now preparing to unveil its strategy for reorienting the vaping industry away from targeting children.
With this imminent pivot in the vaping industry, we’re going to see a drastic shift back to e-Liquids.
Before disposables, the market was already very large – the disposable segment just took a section of that existing market. Almost overnight, there was a reduction in the demand for bottled e-Liquids, so a lot of companies were forced to switch down that disposable route.
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A lot of conversations I’ve had with business owners is that they’ve never really liked the disposable market. They’ve never really understood it either, but felt that the business had to move in that direction.
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A lot of bottle filling equipment that’s out there in factories, that was bought for previous demand spikes and that has been surplus over the recent months, is now going to be used again to fill what will be a huge hole in production. As people transition from disposable vape pens back into the old traditional bottled e-Liquids and pens, we believe there will be a requirement for either new e-Liquid bottle filling equipment or repurposing and reprogramming existing equipment.
Is it as simple as replacing one machine with a faster one?
A lot of e-Liquid manufacturers respond to demand – i.e. if the market requires a slightly different version of the same thing, they’ll very quickly launch into that area. With this increase in demand, there’s going to effectively need to be overnight changes to operations. People are going to want to pivot their production in a matter of days.
Our FL-800D, which produces 50 filled, capped and tightened e-Liquid bottles per minute, will help a lot of e-Liquid manufacturers produce higher numbers of shelf-ready e-Liquid bottles from the same factory floor footprint. It’s the same size as other machines but faster.
What sort of lead times are available for new machine investments?
3-4 months is the norm so new equipment isn’t instantly available. At Advanced Dynamics though, we hold a lot of stock in our warehouse, so we’ve got filling machines, capping machines and labelling machines all essentially ready to go.
Some fully autonomous 10ml e-Liquid filling machines would be on a 3–4-month lead time. So, there is a chance to get quick machines for demand in the short-term, but the proper way of doing it, for the long-term, is with the FL-800D, and this takes a bit longer.
Warranty and maintenance on e-Liquid filling machines
For e-Liquid manufacturers that are looking further into the future, we offer the Advanced Partnership Programme that gives members five years peace of mind. All the equipment that we’ve ever supplied has come with a 12-month parts and labour cover, but now, for members of the programme, we’ve said that if they commit to the servicing of their equipment, we’ll back that up with a full 5-year guarantee.
Find out more about our partnership programme here.
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Find a partner that you can trust as this transition happens from disposable vapes back into bottles. Pick up a phone, whether it be us, whether it be anybody who supplies to the e-Liquid industry and ask questions. Speak to people who deal with e-Liquid packaging automation all the time. They can help.
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And when you’re ready to make that call, we’re here.
