Cans Cleverly Cloned - AIP Meeting |
July 27, 2005 |
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Posted by Michael Halley at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |
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The Macquarie Dictionary will need to consider changing the definition of a can once all of the technological innovations proffered at the July meeting of Australian Institute of Packaging arrive in the market place.
When experts from the paperboard, metal and plastics beverage packaging suppliers come to the same venue to expound the virtues of their products you should expect to come away with quite disparate views. Such was the case when Patrice Lesage Vice President of Sales at Sidel Solutions, Charles Vorrath Key Account Manager at Tetra Pak and David Houston General Manager Technical and Engineering Services at Amcor’s Rigid Packaging Group presented on behalf of the company and technology.
Somehow the words of a paradoxical song about skin seemed to draw the three materials closer together. Overall it was displayed that irrespective of the material used to form a beverage container it “helps to keep your insides in”. So it is innovation and technological rethinking [quote Patrice Lesage] that will differentiate the dissimilar types of materials and the products made from them.
The organisers were encouraged when a sell out crowd came along, particularly as Patrice Lesage had made a special trip from Thailand to address the meeting. He moved straight into the fray saying that when customers demand a major reduction in bottle costs it is not simply a matter of increasing machine speed. He stated “for a short period of time any machine can run very fast” but went on to explain that the solution to cost reduction and retention of quality will not be achieved by “turning up the wick”.
“...for a short period of time any machine can run very fast” - Patrice Lesage
Sidel Solutions
Sidel Solutions has invested 25 million Euro in technological rethinking in order to turn customer demands into reality. The company is now aiming for 2000 bottles per minute which is a long way from 400 achieved in 1978 when machines were running at 80% efficiency but had a thirty [30] minute change over time. Today they are regularly achieving 1600 bottles per minute with machine efficiency of 97% and a change over time of only three [3] minutes.
This has been brought about by the development of machines such as the SBO Universal [TM] which delivers a process guaranteed to customers’ specification with a commitment to quality at output rates of 1800 bottles per minute. In line with this cost down new blow moulding technologies focusing on optimum base cooling are delivering energy savings as high as 25%.
The company has girded its loins and has ten [10] new bottle base designs developed with patents pending, which will deliver lower base weights, large process windows at high speed, and air blowing technology for optimum stress cracking elimination and quick cooling.
So the gauntlet was dropped by the plastics container industry for the other materials to pick up or shy away from.
Tetra Pak “Protects what’s Good”
Charles Vorrath picked it up and said Tetra Pak “Protects what’s Good” and every year the equivalent use for every person on the planet is ten or eleven paperboard containers. Before reaching for the calculator the number is in excess of 100 billion and with mainland China consumers growing exponentially the record keeps being broken. Similar upsurge in sales as with plastics has been recorded by Tetra Pak since 1980 when only 20 million containers were sold.
Products filled into Tetra Pak containers are mainly beverages with dairy products running at 55% and juices together with still beverages accounting for 41%. The other 4% is made up of diverse products with Soy and Wine being stand out contents. In a global operation some products are geographically inclined such as wine in Europe which is experiencing major growth.
Again, Tetra Pak has a success story to tell about cost reduction and efficiency gains, but it is innovation that sets the scene for excitement. Who would have thought that a representative of Tetra Pak would talk about a package that contains no paper?
In Mexico a clear Tetra Wedge Aseptic® package is being sold! Another innovation, Tetra Wedge Aseptic® Microwaveable has no foil in the laminate can be put straight into the Microwave, whilst Tetra Recart ® is a retortable carton for vegetables, ready meals and products as far removed as pet food.
It was here that the definition of a can was in need of change, for mention was made of Carton Can® and it got more so. Tetra Top® for chilled products is a paperboard container with a bottle opening and is on sale in New Zealand with marked success. Carton Shot®, a 100 millilitre box with a screw top, Carton Cup® a tear top tub for yoghurt and ice-cream, and Carton Bottle® with sizes ranging from 100 ml to one litre are taking the joust up to the other Knights in the battle.
The White Knight for the traditional beverage can spurred his steed into battle and indicated that amongst the 7300 employees in 66 plants Amcor’s global business is second in sales world wide to Tetra Pak there are many smart people and smart solutions to keep the can from being canned or dropped in the can.
Amcor Rigid Packaging Group
Product Leadership and Innovation in concert with the customers in a trickle down process will be the driver to keep beverage cans on consumers’ want lists. Saying that most innovations come from additions or improvements to existing products David Houston also stated that innovation has always added to overall sales. But he went on to say that the company has a high investment in Research and Development but in addition the Rigid Packaging group uses licensing from around the world, and quoted Ball Metal® and Crown Cork & Seal ® for beverage cans, US Can® for aerosols and Impress® for food cans as being partners into the future.
“Most innovations come from additions or improvements to existing products” David Houston
Standard-shaped-slimline and special are words David used to describe the range of cans that are available and in every day use. In the end it is the end that has delivered cost savings and customer acceptance, with special decorations focused on consumer trends. Cans are available with a crinkle over-varnish, printed with fluorescent or thermocramotic inks or with coloured opening tabs as a matter of course.
The traditional can started its lessening of popularity around 1984 when Coca Cola hit the shelves with a shaped can which today is a little ho-hum. Heineken’s Keg Can was designed to increase sales and have done so with remarkable results, Jim Beam have just released a “barrel” shaped can aimed at boosting sales, but shaped cans are also the solution to counterfeiting.
In China it was determined that more than 40% of the aerosol WD 40 spray available in stores was counterfeit. The answer lay in a simple reshaping of the can which fortunately for the brand owner and Amcor’s technology partner, for shaped cans, Crown Cork & Seal (CC&S) is only possible on the CC&S technology. The simplicity comes from a technology where a regular can is manufactured and then blown into shape using know-how that allows for stretching of the metal but does not damage the internal lining.
Innovation in metal cans is such that aluminium bottles are being produced in Japan using technology that draws the body and irons the wall then necks down the open end to form the final bottle tread and shape. Although in its infancy the aluminium bottle is returning sales of three [3] billion units, which is a significant inroad into the thirty [30] billion can market.
David mentioned that the company has high hopes for screw cap closures (made by Amcor Closures) for wine bottles, where they target around half the market. [Amcor’s Glass division manufactures wine bottles] Versatal® a patented polymer coated steel that has the permeability of glass and the strength of steel is just one product that will carry the can well into the future.
So even though a bottle maybe a can, or a carton a bottle, or plastic a laminate on metal or board it should be noted that all are recyclable and some materials come from renewable resources.
Learn More
The Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] brings presenters of the calibre of those mentioned above in each East Coast capital every month and welcomes guests. Details of the AIP are contained at www.aipack.com.au
For more information about products mentioned view company web sites: -
- Amcor Rigid Packaging …. www.amcor.com
- Sidel Solutions …. www.sidel.com
- Tetra Pak …. www.tetrapak.com
Written by Michael B Halley, FAIP
Embracing New Technology Is Good Business and Good PR |
July 23, 2005 |
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Posted by Don Dunnington at 05:31 PM | Comments (0) |
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Wired Magazine (July 18) reports poker-playing robots have just completed the first World Poker Robot Championship. In commenting on the event in his blog, Online Public Relations Thoughts, PR consultant Jim Horton contrasted how at least one Las Vegas casino has embraced threatening technology, rather than trying to fight it the way the music industry fought file sharing. Horton wrote:
"In spite of talk about the need to change and to keep up with competition, most industry leaders don't like change. They want to freeze competition around a set of rules and play by those rules far into the future. The telephone industry worked exactly like [that] until deregulation.
Rapid technological change upsets economic models and injects mortal risk into the game of business. No wonder most industries would rather fight than switch."
And while Binion's, the Las Vegas casino that hosted the robot poker series, was largely motivated by the publicity, they also recognized that embracing new technology will eventually help grow their business.
We recently saw a similar effect, but in reverse order, at K-Tron when we introduced the Bulk Solids Pump (BSP). This is a feeder unlike anything that has come before, and in this case the technology was embraced foremost for the sake of pushing feeder technology forward. The PR that followed BSP's introduction was an added bonus. On the day the BSP announcement was published in the Powder and Bulk Dot Com Newsletter, we saw an unprecidented jump in traffic on ktron.com. Since then BSP has been featured on magazine covers and has help propel K-Tron in winning numerous awards.
Is there a technology out there that's going to alter your business? Certainly the Internet, from e-mail to the World Wide Web, demonstrated that some technologies impact the way we all do business. Will blogs and RSS also have revolutionary consequences for us all? It could be harmful to the future of your business (and to your ability to promote your business) to bet against it.
Don Dunnington
Salina Vortex Breaks Ground On New Facility |
July 19, 2005 |
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Posted by Kevin Peterson at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) |
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I wanted to update everyone on the progress of our new building. Salina Vortex Corporation broke ground on a new facility June 14 at 1725 Vortex Avenue in the Salina Airport Industrial Complex. Here is a rendering of what the new building will look like when it is finished.
The new building will double the size of the current building. The facilitity will allow Salina Vortex to increase production capacity and improve manufacturing capabilities to meet increasing domestic and export sale.
Salina Vortex is a manufacturer of slide gates, diverter valves and iris valves used in dry-bulk material handling. Companies throughout the world depend on Salina Vortex valves to control or divert the flow of a variety of products from food and minerals to plastics and pharmaceuticals.
The new facility is scheduled for completion by the spring of 2006. At that time, Salina Vortex will re-locate its offices and production to the new 16-acre campus.
Kevin Peterson
Director of Marketing
Welcome to Your Process Engineers' Tree House |
July 18, 2005 |
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Posted by Don Dunnington at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) |
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The idea to do a weblog for process engineers started with an interview at IAOCblog.com, hosted by the International Association of Online Communicators. It was in a Q&A with Joe Taylor, during IAOC's first week of blogging devoted to discussions about industrial companies.
We talked about how his two industrial websites PowderandBulk.com and WaterandWastewater.com have helped form a sense of community among his regular visitors, and I asked him if any of his regulars had sought to further the community spirit. He replied:
"Some of the regulars have suggested that we should build a tree house or start a club. There is a feeling among process engineers dealing with bulk solids that they don't have a way to congregate with their peers. There is no professional society focused on their field. Who knows, maybe a weblog could help serve that end."
So here's the tree. It's pretty bare right now, but you've got the tools to start building this community any way you want. Whether you are a designer of conveying systems, a user of process equipment, or a maker of bulk materials handling equipment, here is a place where you can tell us about what you do, how you do it and how it might be done better.
There are two ways you can add your own thoughts: You can comment on posts by others, and you can contact me, your moderator, to become an "author," which means you can be master of your own content. There are no dues for this club and you can subscribe for free to receive our feeds in your RSS news reader (learn more here about RSS) or subscribe to our email alerts.
If you need to get an RSS reader, try Bloglines or Newsgator. Both offer a number of ways to subscribe to and view your weblogs, including a personalized "my blogs" web page.
Of course like any voluntary association, the value your find here will be proportional to the effort you put into it. Become a regular reader, and you'll know a lot more about your industry and how your peers are solving similar problems. Comment on the thoughts posted by others, and you will become a more involved member of the community. Offer to post your own content, and you will come to be viewed as a leader in your community.
And while we want this club to serve your professional needs as process engineers, in the spirit of a true "tree house" we also want you to have some fun. Our "Gone Fish'n" section lets you share your favorite pass times and interests. We also know our readers are travel widely, for business and pleasure, and you're invited to share your favorite restaurants and travel tips or experiences.
For those attending the major trade shows, we invite you to vote on the best hotels and restaurants (and the best bargains) in the convention city and post your reviews.
