Aerosol canmaking innovations – staying ahead of the game

Aerosol canmaking innovations – staying ahead of the game

This week, I’m heading to Packaging Innovations in Birmingham, UK. The exhibition brings together the great and good from the packaging industry, including steel, to celebrate creativity and inventiveness.

No one more embodies that spirit of ingenuity and innovation like DS Containers (DSC) – a startup founded in 2003 as a partnership between Daiwa Can Company and Bill Smith Sr. Embedded deep within the startup’s DNA is using laminated steel to produce two-piece aerosol cans. In fact, they are the only producer of laminated two-piece aerosol cans in the world.  

Creativity for aerosol cans

Early on, Illinois-based DS Containers worked closely with Tata Steel’s Research and Development team to optimise the company’s lines for Protact® laminated steel. DS Containers continues to source the vast majority of its laminated steel from Tata Steel, but what prompted them to opt for Protact?

To quote Matt Kuehn, Vice President – Sales, Marketing, and Technical Support - “we use white Protact, which is ideal for printing!”

DSC print directly onto the surface of the can, using dry offset printing. This is a mid-stream process, where the can is already in its cylindrical shape and the ink is applied to the surface, using up to eight different colours at a time. The team can achieve a photo-real finish through its laser-engraved printing plates. And with white Protact as the base, the printed colours really stand out from the crowd, catching the consumer’s eye.

Manufacturing flexibility

One of the main benefits of using laminated steels is the capability to set up a single in-line manufacturing process. From coil to can, DSC ensures it has an uninterrupted flow through the manufacturing line which creates a significantly more efficient process.

As a result, the company are able to offer customers both speed and flexibility. For instance, brand owners can realise new designs at a much quicker pace due to DSC’s short lead times - in fact just a fortnight compared to the industry standard of six to eight weeks.

They are also able to offer lower minimal order quantities – a minimum on 15,000 units compared to 50,000. This dexterity means that DS Containers can serve a wider customer pool presenting affordable and efficient production options to smaller and medium-sized businesses.

Innovation for sustainability

Working with laminated steel two-piece aerosol cans has additional environmental benefits. DSC’s two-piece process has eliminated the top dome (or cone) component, needed in three-piece canmaking. Their product has an integral dome which allows the can to be lighter in weight – up to 10 per cent compared to other three-piece varieties.

Using laminated steels, like Protact, allows DSC to eliminate the coating and the shearing steps needed in traditional D&I canmaking. Protact also reduces water consumption by removing canwashing stages, yet the lubricity of Tata Steel’s laminated steel enables the canmaker to build a deep drawn can.

Protact’s specialist polymer laminate also means that DSC have been able to remove solid born coatings or lacquers completely from the processing line. This has helped the company grow business in markets where there is a critical issue surrounding BPA in the food sector and ensures that the company remains future proof as no active chemicals are used at all in Protact’s polymer coating. 

So, what can DS Containers teach us about the importance of innovation?

Well since its launch in 2003, the company now has a significant share of the aerosol market in the States supplying many well-known brands and with over 200 employees DSC has recently expanded its new manufacturing facility to add debossing capabilities in 2017.   I think, if nothing else, DS Containers shows us that innovation must be at the heart of business and manufacturing – only this way, will we tackle the environmental and social challenges we face in the packaging world.