JKM/YP/85 llth December 1978. Molins One-Piece H.L. Pack Notes on a Meeting held in Millbank on Monday, 4.th December 1978 Present: N.E. Willis (Project Leader) R.K. Beck C.B. Dodwell N. Foster P.H. Gannaway D.E. Lobb J.K. Milner 1. Consumer Tests in Malaysia The tests have been completed and the results received by Marketing Services. In a comparative test, conventional and one-piece Benson & Hedges 20s, Benson & Hedges 12s and State Express 10s packs viere tested- by consumers during both week-days and week-ends. The differences between the packs were not pointed out to the consumers. In another test, consumers were given one-piece packs only and shown, briefly and objectively, that they differed from conventional packs. Finally, packs returned from the consumer tests were examined physically by M.T.C. In the comparative tests, the conventional packs scored slightly higher, as might have been expected, but so did the cigarettes in them. This might be interp-reted as indicating little more than general conservatisr among consumers. on the other hand, when the one-piece pack was tested on its own it was viewed favourably in relation to conventional packs. The physical examination of used packs showed that the one-piece packs suffered slightly more damage than conventional ones, as had been found 'in the similar test carried out in GRDC a year ago. In all, the results were as good as might have been hoped and confirmed that, from a marketing aspect, tnere was no reason why the project should not proceed to the next -stage. Mr. Dodwell will write a short note to this C-D effect to Mr. Wright before the next M.P.D.C. meetin=. U-1 ON CID BATCo document for Legal Services : Health Canada 20 October 1999 P 2 - 2. Pack Development The fault inlierent in the basic Molin- pack design,. discovered during testing soon after the Molins one- piece packing machine had been installed in GRDC early in the year, necessitated a series of experimental modifications to the design of the pack involving the aid of Field's. An apparently successful solution has been found by making some design changes to the blank in the critical area around the corners of the oseudo inner frame and involving a novel way of holdi;g the lid shut after opening and reclosing. Patent protection for this feature is being sought. .. The re-designed pack has been produced on the machine during very brief test runs only and much longer runs will be needed to establish that it is a complete solution to 40 the problem. 3. Production Trial Machine made sample packs in both the -Brazilian 'HOLLYWOOD' and Malaysian 'BENSON AND HEDGES' design will be prepared for Mr. Willis to take to Mr. Roberts of UK&E when a potential market for the output of a - cigarettes production trial is discussed. The number c'L to be packed in this trial should be about 1-5 or 20 it million. 4. General The primary objective of the project is to establish I the concept of one-piece H.L. packs by prod-cing packs of the Molins type on a Molins machine. Once this has 01 been achieved, the principle should be applied to high speed packers, probably a Schmermund in the first instance. Mr. Beck will prepare a note on the prospects of one-. piece pack production on the various high speed machines. The advantages of the concept should be measured not only by the direct savings in material costs; there were also the simplifications to the packing process in general and, in particular, the reductions J-n machinery complexity and in demands on the operator to be considered. Jkj IVA~11JItq- t/U-7 To: Those present J.-K. Mill-n-er Dr. S.J. Green Dr. W.B. Fordyce ,,Dr. F. Haslam vDr. L.C.F. BlackQS BATCo document for Legal Services : Health Canada 20 October 1999 Mr. P.J.N. Roberts, N.E. Willis BAT (UK&E) Ltd.r Woking. IqEW/YP/85 8th December 1978. I wish to conf irm my telephone conversation which I had with your secretary this afternoon. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity of discussing how we can proceed with the one-Piece Pack trial which was referred to by Tony ElliDt in his memorandum of 8th February, copied to your and which I enclose for your reference. This matter is one which is due for discussion at the M.P.D.C. on 20th December and therefore I would welcome a meeting before that date. I do not anticipate that it should take very long. 0 N.E. Willis Enc. c:~) U-I (-.n ~10 r\D BATCo document for Legal Services: Health Canada 20 October 1999 One Piece Pack Consumer Tests in ',%Ialaysia 1. The Tests Consumer tests of one piece packs were carried out in Malaysia in July and August 1978. The one-piece packs were made up by hand by M.T.C., using printed blanks supplied by Millbank, for Benson & Hedges S.F. 20s, Benson & Hedges S.F. 12s, and State Express 10s. The tests were designed to cover both the performance of the one-piece pack in actual usage by the consumer, and consumer attitudes towards this pack. To cover fully the aspects of consumer attitudes, two series of tests were undertaken: in one series of tests smokers were given cigarettes to smoke In both one piece and conventional HL packs, but no reference was made, in placing the packs, to any difference in con- struction between them. These differences they were left to discover for themselves. Two packs of the one piece, and two packs of the conven- tional HL were placed with each smoker. in the other series of tests smokers were given cigarettes to smoke in the one-piece pack only, and the difference in construction was pointed out to them. Each smoker was given two one- piece packs. The tests covered both weekday and week-end usage. Used packs were recovered from smokers 'who took part in the test and subjected by M.T.C. to an assessment of the extent of wear and tear. The packs used were:- One-piece packs B&H 20s B&H 12s all in compact layout S.E.10s kz> 01% (_~4 \.œD BATCo document for Legal Services : Health Canada 20 October 1999 2 - Conventional HL (in the paired comparison series) B&H 20s foilboard 254 GSM compact.layoui B&H 12s foilboard 254 GSM not compact layout S.E.10s Iggesund board 220 GSM not compact layout 2. Consumer Test Results In the paired comparison test of one-piece versus conventional HL packs the reaction of consumers was obtained 0 in terms of spontaneous likes and dislikes, ratings of the cigarettes for their smoking characteristics, ratings of the packs for protection given, how well the lids worked, also overall ratings of the packs, overall ratings of the ciga- rettes and preference between the packs and cigarettes together. The results of these tests showed that the two pack con- structions and the cigarettes they contained were perceived to be the same in most respects. Smokers of B&H 20s may have been very slightly less favourable, but not to a statistically significant extent. In the tests in which the difference in construction was pointed out, in a factual manner, the reactions were more favourable to the one-piece pack. These covered spontaneous likes-and dislikes, ratings of the pack for the protection given, how well the Iñds worked, the condition of the cigarettes, overall ratings of the packs and of the cigarettes, and atti- tudes to the possible introduction of such a pack. Nearly two- thirds of the smokers in this series of tests (65%) said they would be pleased by the introduction of such a pack, 27% said it would make no difference, and only 9% said they would not welcome it. This response was found in all three groups - Smokers of B&H 20s, B&H 12s, and S.E. 10s. There may of course be an element of novelty, but even so this response is encouraging. 3. The Physical Examination of Used Packs This examination was carried out by M.T.C. on a sample of -paLcks recovex-ed from smokers in the tests. The criteria used were derived from a pilot test of usage and subsequent examination carried out in GR&DC, Southampton earlier in the yeax--. ('-T-1 U-7 0~\ L^j '--0 BATCo document for Legal Services : Health Canada 20 October 1999 - 3 B&H S.F. 20s The returned one-piece packs were rated rather less well in this examination than the conventional HL for the rigidity of the front panel, the degree of crushing of the packi the tightness of fit of the lid, the amount of tearing of the hInge, and the measurement of the gap between lid and body. B&H S.F. 12s. The one-piece packs in the 12s version were also rated rather less well than the conventional HL, except in respect of the amount of tearing of the hinge where the one-piece performed better. S.E.F.K. 10s This version of the one-piece pack was rated pretty much on a par with the conventional HL, except for a slightly higher degree of crushing. Conclusions Though the present one-piece pack does not have quite the same mechanical strength as the conventional HL, and in some versions does not stand up to the wear and tear of usage quite so well, the results of the two series of consumer tests indicate that the one-piece pack stands up to usage to a degree acceptable to the smoker. Consumer attitudes to such a pack in I~lalaysia are not unfavouxable and there are good grounds for proceeding to the evaluation of machine-made packs. f . f .C.B. Dod-well Distribution P.L. Short Esq. G.J. Siddall. Esq. Mrs. E. Rodnight N.E. Willis Esq. D.E. Lobb Esq. J.K. Milner Esq. Vo' Q-D R.K. Beck Esq. N. Foster Esq. CBD/KN ON 6th December 1978 (_^4 BATCo document for Legal Services: Health Canada 20 October 1999,