Rexam BCA cans

Rexam BCA collaborated with Glucosamine Additives Beverage Plant Joint Juice at its can-making plant in Ohio to produce and print the company's 8-ounce cans. This size is more conducive to consumer use than previous 11-ounce glass bottles.

The new type of can, shown in the figure, is chunky and the neck punch shrinks, drawing on the pattern of the previous large glass bottle. The large image shows that the cans are transported on a multi-passage bed surface. The lubricant on the cans is washed off by a washing machine and processed on the external surface to prepare for printing.

Joint Juice Co., Ltd. in San Francisco is working with Rexam Beverage Cans Inc. in Chicago to produce a more consumer-friendly packaging can, which focuses on a glucosamine-enhanced health drink that combines juices. . This product is designed to provide healthy consumers with the daily required glucosamine - it is said to contribute to joint health, and the current packaging size has been reduced from the previous 11 oz glass bottle size to a convenient, chunky type 8 ounce aluminum cans.

United Juice claims that this ready-to-drink, can-drink beverage contains 1,500 mg of glucosamine needed for a full day to boost joint vitality. This new type of can is manufactured by Rexam BCA.

Rexam PLC has six very powerful departments, and Rexam BCA is one of them. The company has a beverage technology center, advanced pattern/printing board (GAPP) technology, extensive prepress experience, and a full suite of etching and paneling technologies. Rexam BCA has worked with a number of beverage manufacturers and, in the words of senior vice manager AL Boner, can provide real production, R&D, and engineering services. "We have an integrated operating technology and pilot production line that can be used together with users to set pattern deviations and selected color standards before mass production."

Easy-to-fit canister size

The new stretch calendered cans introduced by United Fruit Juices replace high-end, transparent glass bottles with beautiful shrink labels. Six groups are packaged in brightly colored SBS cartons, and cans are printed in four colors by the Rexam BCA Can Printing Center. Since the dose of glucosamine is taken once, the 8-ounce package is more convenient for consumers than the 11-ounce bottle.

The previous 11-ounce bottle was more expensive. Palumbo said: "The glass bottle is priced at $1.99, while the retail price of cans is about 99 cents, and the cost of a box of six cans is $5.99. In all respects, cans are cheaper. It is lighter in weight, Save on transportation costs and it is easy to store."

Small cans were introduced to the market in early 2003 and were used for the first batch of add-on beverages. The easy-to-retract cans are easy to recycle, maintain their carbonation effect and freshness for up to one year, and are not affected by environmental factors. They can be stored refrigerated or stored at room temperature. Jack Robertson, CEO of Union Juice, added: “Using aluminum cans is a natural step for us because we are looking for an attractive, economical, and changeable packaging. It is particularly useful for storage of bundled products, where earlier glass bottles simply couldn't be stacked well.Buyers of this nutritional product usually have large purchases at a time, such as buying one month at a time, in the form of earlier packaging, fundamentally Unable to achieve. Retailers can also continue to store, and to ensure product freshness and effectiveness."

The 8 oz. beverage has been adjusted for glucosamine concentrations. This product has three flavors (Lemon Iced Tea, Citrus Flavor, and Tropical Flavor). Canadian 7-UP filling companies also fill this product. The company now has a high-speed canning line that can fill 1,000 cans per minute.

Greg Brooke, Minister of Public Relations at Rexam BCA, added: “The 8 ounce cans are the fastest growing type. Overall, from 2003 to 2004, the growth rate of cans of this size exceeded 52%. We have found that the consumer hotspots of soft drink users are shifting to small packages, especially for children, and people prefer this small package product to the new brand product market, which allows the beverage seller to provide consumers with a fast tasting experience. Opportunities for various products, more vibrant goods on the shelves, and more diversified retail storage methods.

Advanced Technology Center

The joint juice 8 ounce can project started at the Rexam Beverage Technology Center. United Juice worked with Rexam BCA's technicians and set color standards for new cans using the Pattern/Plate Operation Center. The pattern/printing plate operations center often sets production standards for product trademarks. These standards are not only used by Rexam BCA's own canning plants in the United States, but are also used by other manufacturers. Brooke made this explanation: "Joint juices propose graphic requirements or existing artwork to the graphic/printing center, and GAPP formulates the exact deviation values ​​to be followed for the entire production system. Millions of aluminum cans, color and The pattern must be perfectly reproduced and the quality is exactly the same."
The Beverage Technology Center provides users with small-capacity beverage can production trials in its pilot production line. The production line includes shut-in/trimming machines and multicolor printing presses, enabling users to make large or small adjustments to the design before mass production. . "The pilot line offers users the opportunity to see the effects of their own labels," Bohner said. The beverage technology center integrated GAPP operation center, according to the requirements of the joint juice, to reproduce the pattern, use the computer to match the brand and color regulations, and has a full set of pre-printing, etching and printing plate services.

In the actual printing process, the color difference can be corrected. The separators provided by United Juice are sent to specialized agencies for inspection. The separators are inspected and thoroughly inspected to see if there are small holes and the accuracy of the isolation. The pigments used were also selected and determined, and the center worked with pigment suppliers to determine the appropriate formula for the colors in each design.

Press-formed aluminum cans pass through a canning operation center and are then subjected to a series of drawing and forming processes to produce small-sized cans. The can body comes out of the printing process and undergoes varnish and ink baking. After the inside of the tank is sprayed, it goes through a second treatment.

Can making

Cans produced by the can making/printing center are sold to users all over the country. Lewis pointed out: "We are not only supplying to a certain area. If someone needs an 8-ounce can, we cooperate with them for production." The 8-oz production line is one of the three production lines in the factory, and the production line is placed from the ASC arms. At the beginning of the winding machine, the aluminum plates were unwound into blanks, and the blanks were ready for pressing and stretching. In the next step, the billets are sent to a 12-cavity press machine manufactured by Minster Machines. The aluminum plates are stamped into cups, which are then stretched and shaped to produce the desired shape of the can. These processes were performed by a can maker made by Sequa Can Machinery.

The 8 ounce cans were formed, drawn, and flattened during the canning process. The production process was the same as the production of the other two 12 oz cans production lines. The only difference was that the 8 oz cans consumed less metal. The can edges were trimmed to the right height with a Belvac Zrvin trimmer and the bottom of the can was formed with a ball maker. Scrap recycling.

The tank is then sent to the factory's multi-channel conveyor bed. The multi-channel conveyor bed transports the tank to a multi-stage washing system ready for printing. Although the tanks appear to be in contact with each other on a multi-channel conveyor, the tanks are actually evenly distributed over the air bed. The scrubber can clean the side of the can body after the formation and wash off the lubricant used in the front. Then the outer surface is chemically treated to improve the pigment adhesion and processability. Lewis said: "We try to keep them moving so that they don't fall down when passing through the scrubber. The chemical treatment is actually etching metal aluminum slightly to make the surface thicker and easier to print."

During the production process, various quality control inspection methods are used to monitor the dimensions, thickness, structural quality and other aspects of the tank. Lewis said: "These tests are not automated but are done by online workers."

The 8-ounce cans were sent to the Rutherford press, which was produced by Sequa, and the printer was able to print in one to six colors. After printing, a layer of wear-resistant varnish was applied to protect the paint from abrasion.

In the next step, the can body is removed from the printer spindle by the suction cup and transferred to the Ross oven to treat the varnish and the pigment. The Ross oven is produced by Ross Air Systems. The interior of the tank is coated with a shower to ensure that the beverage is not in contact with the aluminum. The so-called internal oven provided by Ross is then used to finalize the coating and external varnish. Operating temperature is 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

The last process is a hemming. The waxing of the can body first, the wax lubricates, and then the metal of the can body is bent to form the edge of the flange connected to the top of the can. The machine of this process is also manufactured by Rexam BCA.

Finally, the cans were sent to an automated Borden/Alcoa light detector to check each can for holes, cracks, and other flaws. The camera-based inspection system provided by Pressco technology allows analysis of the appearance of each tank to see if there are other problems with the tank, if any, it is rejected from the production line; if the tank passes the inspection, it is sent to the stacking area.

Stacking/stacking and strapping

The printed cans were palletized using one of Goldco Industrial's three professional palletizers to form 11,281 cans and 29 stories high. The palletizing machine has a processing speed of 10 åž›/hour, and is automatically stacked on the tray layer by layer. If required, the sampan plate can be raised to the height of the accumulating screed, and the staggered arms move all of the cans onto the sampan plate. For the purpose of achieving a compact fit, a thin layer of paper is inserted over each layer and each layer is finished in a square shape. Then the tray is lowered and the other tank is stacked until it is finished.

Lewis pointed out several advantages of the 8 oz cans: “The can bodies are short, so that more cans can be stacked on each platter and the amount of traffic is increased.” After the ramming tray is full, a top lid is buckled. Bundle with the Cyklop strapping machine to ensure greater safety. Since the standard bag has 21 layers, such a high bag will be very fragile if it encounters a sudden movement. In order to prevent this problem from appearing, the strapping machine immobilizes each bag and then bundles it with a plastic tape and tightens it. After the bag is packaged, the bag is delivered to the warehouse by a forklift. The warehouse can store 25 to 27 million cans.