Aerodynamics

The Canmaker
October 2007

With shorter lead times and lower mimimum volumes than metal decorating can offer, labelling technology from Impress offers more flexibility to aerosol cans. Daniel Searle reports

The consumer goods markets have become increasingly segmented. And as consumers expect a wider range of products more specifically tailored to their needs, so lower volumes of each are required. And that puts pressure on canmakers to produce smaller runs, with shorter lead times and more stringent just-in-time deliveries. That much we all know.

The impact of this is no greater than in metal decorating, where downtime is proportional to the number of label design changes. Canmakers have been meeting the challenge, but there is still a cut-off volume when a run is so small that it is uneconomic.

Alternatives using digitallyprinted labels for application to the can have been developed. But they have limitations in the aerosol can business, where it is necessary to run the filled and labelled cans through a high-temperature water bath for pressure testing.

Some aerosol fillers use roll-fed labels after filling and testing. But this approach also has its weaknesses, said Dominic Ebery, marketing manager at canmaker Impress, the largest aerosol can manufacturer in Europe.

"Firstly is quality - whilst much can be done with screen print and paper label printing it rarely has the quality and range of colours, that litho or flexo can give," said Ebery. "The second failing is that with both screen print and standard labelling the can decoration has to take place post water bath.

"This places the task of printing with the filler, adding complexity, time and investment costs to their business and requiring them to engage in an activity that is not part of their core competence."

To fill this gap, Impress introduced Flexidec last year after acquiring USC Europe, the company which originally conceived the process. Labels are printed using UV-curable inks and varnishes with either flexography or letterpress, which Impress contracts out to an undisclosed UK-based printer. These are then applied to the can using a receptive coating on the can body and a label adhesive. It enables a minimum order of 1,000 units, with a lead time of 14 days.

It's a similar process to the Decocan system, developed by German company Blechwarenfabrik Limburg, but with two key differences. Firstly, Decocan uses digitally-printed labels, although Ebery believes that the Flexidec labels have similar quality graphics. And secondly, Limburg currently has no plans to develop Decocan for aerosol cans, according to Mike Englander at UKbased Springfield Solutions, Limburg's Decocan partner company.

Flexidec could potentially be applied to any type of can, and Impress has already worked on applying the labels to paint cans, one of Decocan's primary applications. And as there's no water bath test involved when filling paint cans, a less resistant substrate can be used, lowering costs.

These options are yet to be taken up commercially, but the technology today is helping to control stock levels and to open new market sectors for aerosol products, such as those being used by Tetrosyl in the UK.

Using a labelling process, fillers are able to interchange cans produced in short and in long runs without any loss of print quality. The short runs are used to top up stocks which are running low at the end of a product's season, and to cover gaps caused by stock mismanagement.

And reduced lead times allow the aerosol can market to fit in with the 'just in time' supply model. The demand from the fillers'customers to supply finished aerosol products 'just in time'to reduce inventory is passed on to the component suppliers - which shorter runs can satisfy.

Short runs also suit the test marketing of new products. This reduces the risk of a successful product falling out of stock or conversely, excess inventory remaining after a product has been removed from the market.

Low volumes can also open up new market sectors. Some high-value niche products cannot justify the large volumes required to make an order economical, and without affordable short runs may never make it to the shop shelves.

Impress isn't concentrating solely on the advantages of shorter runs and lead times, though. The company is currently working on technology that will take advantage of the fact that Flexidec uses labels, rather than inks.

It plans to develop a range of labels which incorporate effects such as a holographic appearance, different feel, and even RFID tagging. "We hope to have some of these ready in months rather than years," said Ebery. "A 2008 launch isn't an unreasonable target."

Impress
t: +33 2 4348 5100