Bespoke printing technology for the cans

Label printing throughout cylindrical surface, with varied colors and special paints, makes aluminum can a package that combines custom design creation and large-scale production. Reached through differentiations of the Dry Offset printing system – – indirect.
Before 1963, when all beverage cans were still made of tinplate (steel), printing happens on flat metal sheet, and only after the can was formatted. From the production of the first aluminum cans, by Reynolds Metals Co., in the United States, is that the Dry offset system was developed, enabling the printing of all colors simultaneously on a single spin of 360 ᵒ, with increased speed and quality improvement.
"Aluminum can is printed in the shape of a Cup – not in a flat metal plate. This characteristic limits the printing technologies, since all or most of the equipment, such as flexo, developed and used today, consider the flat packing ", explains João André Villas-Boas, supervisor of label Development manufacturer of aluminum cans.
The improvement of equipment over the years, with improved quality and especially speed, allows the printing of aluminium can be a reference about the production scale, and a single piece of equipment arrives in print between 2000 to 2500 cans per minute to meet a world production exceeding 200 billion units per year.
In addition to this productive differential, the special effects application innovations are continuous, as supervisor of the Ball: "we work with printing on matte varnish, to give the impression that the can is freezing in the gondola; touch lacquer, which gives effect to the touch due to roughness in certain area of the can; UV ink, so that the can shine in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light; crômica term, ink that changes color when the drink is cold and ready for consumption; high definition, offering high quality photographic printing across the outside of the packaging. and DynamarkTM, which originated in Brazil and is the impression of multiple Arts per pallet of Tin ".
For Villas-Boas, the field of technology Dry Offset printing of cans is a challenge for printing equipment manufacturers, since it requires the development of a system to replace the current with the same level of quality and, mainly, high production capacity.