Innovations 2024

Welcome to this year’s edition of Innovations, from The Canmaker magazine.

Longer-term readers of the magazine will know what to expect, but for those of you unfamiliar with Innovations, you’ll find the publication is broadly divided into
two sections.

The first half covers all the entries into The Cans of the Year Awards 2023, with particular focus on the winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze titles in each of the categories. Those categories encompass the full spectrum of rigid metal packaging, from beverage, aerosol and food cans, through to metal caps, lids, and prototypes that are currently working their way to market.

Whether you’re relatively new to metal packaging, or are a long-term member of the industry familiar with the state of the art, you’ll most likely be pretty impressed with the range of technologies currently being employed.

You’ll then, in the second half of Innovations, be able to read about the engineering developments that make possible the production of such impressive end results. Based on reports run in the previous

12 monthly issues of The Canmaker, it provides a guide to the latest systems available to canmakers to optimise and enhance their operations.

The Canmaker Innovations 2023

Welcome to Innovations 2023, presented by The Canmaker. It’s been a staple of the metal packaging industry for many years now – but if you’re not familiar with the publication, over the next 88 pages you’ll be introduced to some of the best metal packaging in production today, followed by an overview of some of the key canmaking equipment launched or updated in 2022.

The first half of Innovations is dedicated to The Canmaker Cans of the Year Awards, an annual competition to which we invite canmakers throughout the world to enter their most impressive cans. You’ll see entries from the full gamut of the metal packaging spectrum, covering beverage cans, aerosol cans, decorative promotional cans and beyond. The competition is free to enter, which means everyone gets a fair chance to showcase their canmaking prowess, and the results – which are displayed at The Canmaker Summit each year, as well as being covered on these pages – are a great advert for metal packaging.

If you’re inspired by what you see in Innovations and want to enter the Cans of the Year Awards 2023, you have until June to do so – just visit www.
cansoftheyear.com for more details.

Daniel Searle
Editor, The Canmaker

The Canmaker Innovations 2022

Welcome to Innovations 2022. If you’re already familiar with the publication, which runs as an annual companion to The Canmaker magazine, you’ll know that it serves as a summary of the two ends of the canmaking process: the machinery used to produce metal packaging, and the types of cans being manufactured using the latest technology.

The first half of Innovations is dedicated to entries into the 2021 Cans of the Year Awards. There were plenty of worthy winners and, as you’ll see, also many other entries that may have been edged out of the Gold, Silver and Bronze titles but still had lots to offer, whether that be in appearance, form, function, or composition.

In the second half of Innovations, we round up all the equipment and services for can manufacturing operations that we’ve covered in the previous 12 issues of The Canmaker. If you’re a canmaker looking to enhance your operations or replace a part of your canmaking line, you can browse the new technologies available; there are also auxiliary subjects such as consumables and services, all of which can help to improve efficiencies and expand your product portfolio.

In short, our aim is for Innovations to be both a good introduction to the canmaking industry for those not operating in the sector on a day-to-day basis, and a valuable summary of the latest trends and capabilities in the industry for those already involved.

And if you’re interested in being kept up-to-date on everything the canmaking industry has to offer and aren’t already a regular reader of The Canmaker, I’d like to direct you to our website – www.canmaker.com – and accompanying monthly magazine.

Daniel Searle
Editor – The Canmaker

The Canmaker innovations 2021

Reflecting on technological developments in canmaking over the past year is a reminder of how well the industry is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of the market. While 2020 has presented a greater challenge than usual, with the impact of coronavirus being felt across the globe, it has been one to which canmakers have risen with gusto. As pioneers in their field, the advancements recognised in The Canmaker magazine’s Innovations issue are a great indication of what to expect in the future. Innovations 2021 initially looks at the Gold winners in the Cans of the Year Awards, before moving on to those that took Silver and Bronze prizes. This time around, the coveted Can of the Year title went to Crown Packaging for its embossed speciality tin produced for Fishers Gin. At first glance, it appears to be a high-quality silky white can with blue and orange branding; but barely visible is the unusual finish that covers the majority of the surface. The beautifully crisp embossing reveals a stylised image of a fishing net. The overall quality and decoration of the can are impressive, and made it stand out as a clear winner. In the prototype category, judges were particularly spoilt for choice with an extremely high standard of entries. At a time when consumers are demanding more sustainable solutions, a can offering significant environmental benefits during production and through lightweighting won the Gold award. This was Toyo Seikan’s aluminium aTULC beverage can, which uses a base reforming process to enable a significant weight reduction while maintaining pressure performance and drop strength.
Each can featured in Innovations 2021is worthy of recognition in its own right. As these challenging times continue, it is now more important than ever to celebrate the achievements of canmakers around the world who are working tirelessly to keep the
industry moving onwards and upwards.

Kavitha Sivasubramaniam
Editor – The Canmaker

The Canmaker innovations 2020

Environmentally-conscious consumers are increasingly realising that aluminium and steel packaging offer many benefits, not least because of their infinite recyclability and the highest of recycling rates. Canmakers are in a strong position to exploit these requirements, but they must help their customers, the brand owners, with more innovation.

The Canmaker innovations 2019

Ball Corporation has won the Can of the Year 2018 award for a drinks can that is challenging the plastics water bottle market. The award was announced at a gala dinner held in October 2018 during The Canmaker Summit in Venice, Italy.

The Canmaker innovations 2018

Innovations first reviews the winners and shortlisted entries to the last edition of The Canmaker magazine Cans of the Year Awards, which have recognised and promoted the industry’s developments since 1996.

All the packaging featured in this catalogue is made from either steel or aluminium, which are both infinitely recyclable without losing their properties, and therefore remain a permanently available resource for the future. About 80 percent of the metal ever produced is still in use today.

There is no other packaging material that is as truly sustainable as metal. Steel and aluminium recycling rates remain the highest, ahead of plastics, glass and cartons.

In fact, the higher the scrutiny and demands on packaging, the more that metal shines as the solution that meets the needs of today’s society without jeopardising those of future generations.

Innovations also features products by equipment and service suppliers that help canmakers achieve higher efficiency and savings, and many of whom will be exhibiting at Cannex in Guangzhou, China, on 15-18 May 2018, where the Cans of the Year will be also showcased.

The winners of this year’s edition will then be announced at The Canmaker Summit in Venice, Italy, on 10 October 2018.

Innovations recognises the best in metal packaging and welcomes you to the fascinating world of cans – packaging with no equal using a material like no other.

The Canmaker innovations 2017

Metal is the packaging material with the lowest environmental impact. It is the only truly sustainable material thanks to being infinitely recyclable without losing its quality.

Unlike other materials, metal’s properties make it a permanently available resource whose recycling rates remain the highest in the world, ahead those of plastics, glass and cartons.

There is no other packaging that preserves and delivers a product with such minimal use of resources and waste as metal cans.

Cans also provide energy-free preservation throughout the supply chain, faster filling speeds, and the longest product shelf life.

In fact, the higher the scrutiny and demands on packaging, the more that metal shines as the solution that meets the needs of today’s society without jeopardising those of future generations.

 

The Canmaker Innovations 2016

Innovations is an annual review of the best in metal packaging and the technologies used to produce it around the world. It covers the latest in cans, bottles and closures, produced in steel and aluminium.

Highlight of this issue are the winners and short-listed entries to the annual Cans of the Year Awards, backed by The Canmaker, the leading magazine for the metal packaging industry worldwide. This competition has been showcasing the best metal packaging products since 1996, and the winners in 2015 offered new highs in creativity and innovation.

Innovations in Plastics Packaging 2016/17 (Digital)

For many, innovation manifests itself in new, creative ideas and different ways of presenting products across markets. In the packaging industry we see it along the entire value chain: Easier to process or more functional resins; more flexible and versatile converting equipment; and creative packaging designs that make life more convenient for consumers.

Please note this is a digital download product