A home fragrance brand approached Fira with an ambitious concept: a three-colour ombré gradient finish on a 30cl candle vessel, using contrasting colours that would transition seamlessly from base to rim. The design had already been turned down by several other decoration facilities across the UK and Europe – none had the technical capability to produce it reliably.
Because Fira designs and builds its own spray-coating machinery, the team had something most competitors don’t – the ability to adapt their equipment to the specific demands of the job. Rather than trying to force the concept onto existing production setups, Fira’s engineers developed a bespoke mechanical solution that could deliver three distinct colour zones with controlled transitions on a compact vessel.
The customer-supplied glass introduced an additional complication. Variations in the mould – slight bulges at the base, inconsistencies at the lip – meant that the spray didn’t always behave uniformly. Where the glass deviated from true, the bottom colour could shadow into the top, or the upper tone could catch and pull around the rim. Fira engineered targeted counter-measures for each of these issues, refining the process until the finish was consistently clean.
Producing a single perfect sample is one thing. Reproducing it reliably at production speed across thousands of units is another challenge entirely. Fira’s approach is to sample under conditions as close to a production setting as possible – same machinery, same variables – so the gap between approval and volume output is as narrow as it can be.
Every parameter is documented: machine settings, colour formulations, curing temperatures and times. When production begins, the team works with an approved reference sample on the line at all times, continuously comparing output against the benchmark. With three colours and tight banding tolerances, even small drifts in spray throw at speed can push the gradient out of specification – so Fira’s operators adjust in real time, drawing on skill and experience to keep every unit within tolerance.
Fira delivered what no other UK or European facility could – a production-ready three-colour ombré finish on a compact candle vessel, with clean transitions and no visible banding. The project demonstrated the advantage of controlling the entire engineering chain in-house: when the standard approach doesn’t work, Fira can design a new one.
