Candid (adj. truthful and straightforward; frank)

Joanne York, managing director, York Engineering Solutions

Posted on 12 December 2011 | No comments

York Engineering Solutions offers the can making industry a new choice for service and support, by providing an engineering base of skilled specialists in many different aspects of the business.

As we are a service solutions company to the can making industry, we currently have within our team engineers specialising in cuppers, bodymakers, Belvac trimmers, Belvac neckers, Pressco high speed vision and centrifugal separators.
I spent 18 years working for Belvac Europe and during that time I was commercial manager for 10 years. The majority of my responsibilities involved scheduling service engineers. I also worked as ISO quality manager during my time at the company.

I was made redundant following the closure of Belvac Europe’s UK office and decided to set up my own business. I’m now working beside my business partner and commercial director Eric Hall, whose proven business and service experience within the can making industry for over 20 years, complements the York Engineering Solutions product.

I’ve got to know many people over the last 18 years and the majority of them are still speaking to me, which is great.  Eric helped inspire me to set up this business. He reminded me of how many people I know in the can making business and how many people know me.

Someone recently said to me that once you work in the can making industry you stay in it. My father Alex Fieldwick worked for Metal Box for 39 years starting at the age of 15 when they had a large plant in Crawley.  He began as an apprentice tool maker before working his way up to commercial manager. He has been very supportive and encouraged me to set up my own business.

Engineering
We use a number of independent engineers. Some of them, either Eric or myself have known for a long time and others we’ve worked with over the years. Others have been recommended to us. We use engineers based in the UK, US and Spain and cover all aspects of the can
making business.

Since forming York Engineering Solutions we have received requests from companies asking us to put together training, service and maintenance packages. We have been in discussion with engineers so that we can fine tune everything and get the right package for the customer.

We have had a tremendous amount of interest, more than either myself or Eric could ever have expected. We have quoted for work in the UK, Europe and Asia.

The best term to describe the company is a one-stop engineering specialist shop for can makers. A customer can contact us and inform us that they have a maintenance day scheduled and that they need a specialist engineer. If an engineer is available, we can we provide them with a quote.  We are open and honest; unfortunately our engineers are not always available which is conveyed to the customer.

We aim to provide support for our customers as often as possible and understand one of the main reasons why people are coming to us is because they are losing faith with the big suppliers. We strive to provide a high level of customer service and our prices are competitive, as we believe it goes a long way to building and keeping a good relationship with the people we are speaking to on a daily basis.

The future
Going forward we’d like to be in a position where we have more engineers working with York Engineering Solutions. We are expanding the range of specialist services and we will be happy if we continue to grow steadily.

We’re already working with some of the world’s largest packaging companies which shows the level of support we have.

The amount of investment in the metal packaging industry shows it’s doing well even in this financial climate. Organisations do not invest if they don’t think there is going to be a return.

We have recently started receiving enquiries for spare parts and this is an area that we’re hoping to expand on. We would like to be seen as a friendly and approachable organisation and that our engineers take a great deal of pride in the work they do.

Steve Cook, chief technical officer, Dayton Systems Group (DSG)

Posted on 1 August 2011 | No comments

DSG is an engineering and technology leader, specialising in production tooling systems, products and services to meet the needs of the can industry. We are located in Miamisburg, Ohio, US.

The company was founded in 1993 and is well known for integrating its technology and numerous patents in bringing innovation and solutions to meet the needs of our customers and to expand the markets we service together on a global basis.

Among the broad array of speciality products that DSG offers are reclosable food and beverage can products, fully automatic, high efficiency bagging and palletizing systems for can ends, high speed shell and end conversion press tooling systems for easy-open-ends, high production vacuum cap tooling systems and high accuracy sheet feeding systems. DSG also offers machining and manufacturing services, engineering, technical support, training and field service.

I am chief technical officer and have been with DSG for 18 years. I am responsible for all technology at Dayton Systems Group. This includes product innovation, system innovation, design and engineering for products, tooling and systems. I interact with customers on all aspects of the technology from concept, quoting and scheduling, installation and service.

Consumer convenience

The continuing challenge for the metal packaging industry is to make the container more convenient for the consumer. Most of the innovation recently has been towards reducing the cost of the package and there has been little advancement towards consumer convenience. If you go to the grocery store today versus 30 years ago the can looks virtually the same.

This is why we are very excited about our new resealable/reclosable food can. Our Food Cap Can is an innovative, patented cap, and can design, utilising existing three-piece steel can technology, specifically engineered to replace full panel open ends, foil ends and sanitary ends eliminating the need for a mechanical can opener. Food Cap Can utilises standard can sizes, existing standard filling technology and existing seaming and/or capping technology, enabling high volume fillers of food products new opportunities in marketing and expansion of the can industry. The cap can be manufactured utilising litho or decorated sheets.

The DSG Food Cap Can is an easy and safe to open, resealable, tamper-evident closure that converts standard three-piece food cans into a lightweight, unbreakable counterpart to a standard glass jar. The opening force is much lower than a glass jar and the vacuum within the DSG Food Cap Can is not broken all at once the cap is rotated, unlike a conventional glass jar cap.

Another key feature of the Food Cap Can is that the curl is on the outside of the cap, making it much stronger than current lug caps, enabling it to be retorted without requiring overriding pressure.

Other developments

DSG has developed a hydraforming process, which expands, embosses and debosses aluminium and steel cans, three-piece and D&I. Due to the gentle forming process of the hydraforming, the expansion percentage of the can or cylinder is greater than current punch and die expansion equipment. Unlike existing expansion or stretching equipment that require expanding segments which leave gaps or tooling marks in the can, DSG hydraforming process is smooth and conforming allowing for virtually infinite shapes and profiles in the can.

Also in development at DSG is the pasteurizable and retortable version of the beverage Cap Can container, for beverage categories including beer, juices, milk and nutritional drinks. Having passed internal testing at DSG, such as pressure testing and product process testing, the Cap Can beverage ends and caps will be tested by a can maker in the next few months.

Our major challenge for next year is to build filler and consumer interest and demand for our technology. The heightened filler and consumer interest, we believe, will increase the can maker’s confidence to invest in our technology. We will be increasing our efforts to expose our technology and development abilities to both the can maker and the end user. We have confidence that in 2012 several of our development programmes will come to fruition and we will be able to grow. Innovation is like most things in life, if you do not continue to develop, someone else will pass you by.

The Apeal of steel

Posted on 20 April 2011 | No comments

Evelyne Frauman, quality and environment manager, Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL).

For 25 years now, Apeal has demonstrated the advantages of steel for packaging as a reliable and sustainable packaging material. With a young and   dynamic team, Apeal will further develop its new and ambitious strategy. This strategy aims to establish that steel packaging is not only a highly performing packaging material, but has also to be considered as a permanent resource, because of its unique recyclability features.
Thanks to these overall performances and the growing demand of steel industry for recycled steel scrap for reuse in all kinds of applications, Apeal will further facilitate the optimal regulatory conditions for the manufacturing, marketing and recycling of steel for packaging.

Apeal also wants to develop a knowledge centre for steel for packaging in  Europe, monitoring legislation, providing technical knowhow, statistics and messaging. In other words, Apeal will become the reference in Europe for every question relating to steel for packaging.

I am a bioengineer specialised in environmental management. I have previously worked mainly in the humanitarian and development area with water and waste management and environmental project management with major organisations, including which the European Commission.

In Apeal, I am in charge of developing a knowledge centre for the technical matters of steel for packaging: environment, sustainability, life cycle inventory and analysis, recycling, food contacts/food safety, and all other technical questions that may arise. The idea is that Apeal becomes the European knowledge centre for steel for packaging, for our members as well as for our customers and consumers.

Working with can makers

Apeal represents and promotes steel for packaging. We work together with other packaging material representatives when common interests are involved. According to the environmental concerns of its members, Apeal wants to focus on the infinite recyclability of steel packaging, and demonstrate that steel is a permanent resource, a story that steel shares with the other major metal packaging material, aluminium. In this view, Apeal and the European Aluminium Association are collaborating under a new umbrella called Metal Packaging Europe (MPE). Its formation was agreed in Brussels at the end of May 2010 by executives from European Metal Packaging (Empac), Beverage Can Makers Europe, Apeal (the packaging steel manufacturers) and the European Aluminium Association.

On a day-to-day basis, Apeal collaborates with Empac and MPE. Indeed, can makers and producers of steel for packaging have of course a common interest in the development of the metal packaging market for beverages. Apeal will support certain initiatives made by the can making associations.

Steel Day

Apeal will organise a Steel Day on the Metal Plaza during the Interpack Fair in Düsseldorf. We will demonstrate in front of a public of professionals, the efficiency of steel for packaging in terms of sustainability and reliability.

We shall also be present at the Empac General Assembly in Edinburgh on June 9 where we will organise an interactive workshop for the can makers, our customers. With this workshop we want to familiarise them with the overall benefits of steel for packaging and also create participation and commitment from the can makers. This will allow them to better convince their clients to choose steel for packaging.

Steel is 100 per cent recyclable. Furthermore, the fact that steel is magnetic makes it the easiest and most economical material to sort and recover. Steel loses none of its strength or inherent qualities, which makes it infinitely recyclable. Well-established routes for collection and recovery of steel cans have ensured recycling excellence. In 2008, over 70 per cent of steel packaging in Europe has been recycled, and CO² emissions per tonne of steel produced are now 50 per cent lower than they were 40 years ago.

Steel making processes accept all kinds of used steel packaging, including drinks, food and paint cans, as well as aerosols – all of which can be recycled indefinitely into an unlimited range of new steel products without any loss of quality.

Knowledge centre

The metal packaging industry is aware of its importance to our planet as a resource using sector. We have always taken this responsibility seriously. Steel packaging has an excellent story to tell as the environmental credentials of the material are extraordinary and unique, meeting many of the essential criteria for packaging in the sustainability-conscious 21st century. I’m looking forward to further developing Apeal as the steel for packaging knowledge centre in Europe. I will also be involved in the calculation of the yearly recycling rates for steel for packaging for the European countries.

Apeal’s slogan summarises very well the message we want to spread about steel packaging: “protecting today, preserving tomorrow”.