Every Machine
Every Day
Counter Pressure Filler
6 fill heads with fully mechanical seamer and genuine counter pressure fills on all 5 canning lines. Read more about the importance of counter pressure fills below in our Recommended Reading section.
CIP
Robust engineering allows our machines to endure long and effective CIP processes, including steam cleaning! Regular cleaning and preventative maintenance has allowed our machines to fill millions of cans for our customers.
Regular Audits
Our Quality Management System dictates regular audits to assure processes, equipment and workflows are all maintained to high standards.
Quality Checks
As a standard some of our mobile canning quality checks include video seam inspection (with detailed reports), seam tear downs, hot water pressure tests and date coding.
The Importance of
Quality Systems
We are passionate about quality and stresses the importance of a robust quality system from thorough cleaning and sanitising procedures to equipment maintenance and quality checks such as audits, video inspection of seams to manual seam analyses and tear downs.
We believe multiple redundancies will help us detect and correct potential issues before they are critical. Our point of difference when it comes to quality lies in the fact that we have worked hard in determining where problems arise so we can best prevent them or resolve them with minimum time down. We don’t want to know about the problem after it has started causing issues.
For every job we perform the following:
- Utilise a CODI canning system which uses an innovative counter pressure filling system rather than open air filling ensuring optimal pressure while reducing O2 through CO2 purging prior to filling the can.
- CIP including thorough sanitisation of the equipment prior to first fill and between different SKUs
- Regular audits to ensure processes, equipment and workflows are all maintained to high standards
- State of the art seam inspection equipment and teardowns with detailed reports
- Date coding
Recommended
Reading
ORDERING LABELS
ECC have labelled over 7 million cans. We have a labelled-can and dry-goods supply service and can assist in getting your beautiful labelled artwork onto your can and into your customers hands. Our online order form guides you through ordering process for: labels, cans, ends and Paktechs. The entire East Coast Canning supply team have the Typeform website link in their email signature, please add it to your bookmarks and place your order at least 3 weeks before your fill date.
We use a pressure sensitive labeller for full supply of pristine perfectly labelled cans, automation ensures your cans are packaged safely for transport. Labelled cans will then be delivered by our in-house drivers to your site. It’s recommended that you label cans when the amount of cans required is less that the minimum number for printed cans. We can label any size can, whether it’s a once off speciality or experimental drink or perhaps you wish to try a new revenue stream and give slim or sleek cans a try.
To ensure everything runs smoothly and to allow for changes it is best to send over final artwork 3 weeks before your fill date. The earlier the better, in some instances we are able to bundle your order and pass these saving back onto you! Win, win.
After quantity, one of the first questions we ask is what label material would you like. There are two material options: Silver PP or White PP. The follow up question is which laminate varnish: Matte or Gloss. You may wish to use Silver PP so you have some metallic elements coming through the label, or for a pearl finish to your can. We have a fancy little PDF displaying the difference and this is sent to all new customers.
Besides guiding you through the label process, we can also offer guidance on labels before they wrap your cans. We have seen plenty of labels in our time and have offered helpful advise on enhancing the design and reminding people to include those legal requirements. If you are wondering what mandatories need to go on a beer label head over to IBA Beer Labelling Guidelines. We have a PDF outlining the label specs required, this can then be passed onto your designer and they can then ensure your final artwork is supplied print-ready. If you need a can dieline – reach out! We can email one through.
An advantage of prelabelling cans is the reduction in wastage of both labels and filled labelled cans. Imaging filling a can with your beloved product and having to sell it in the taproom, or give it away as staffies because the label is askew, damaged, not perfect or damaged! Our dedicated labelling technician will catch these types of labels (and cans) and will only deliver pristine, perfectly labelled cans ready to fill. That’s how the seamer likes them, plus we want smooth sailing on fill day! We cover the cost of those labels/or cans damaged during the prelabelling process and always order a buffer of extra labels to ensure we supply your requested quantity. Labelling inline can split the filling technician’s focus and increases the risk of equipment failure and downtime when using an extra piece of machinery. This can result in a reduction in your filling quota on canning day. Whilst you may think you are saving by going direct and buying in bulk it is likely you are over ordering and will have extra labels sitting around. We can advise on label quantity and help with over ordering labels.
We have a great relationship with our printers and encourage the purchase of bulk label orders, Ordering for your next run and future label runs of the same SKU (SKU: a stock-keeping unit an example is Pale Ale or Lager) at the one time will reduce your per unit label cost. These savings are passed on to you!
We also offer colour sensing labelling. This technology uses our label sensor and machinery that tiggers the release of the label when it hits a particular dialled in colour on the can. This is great for lining up labels with a particular part of a printed branded can or utilising strip labelling. Recently we used this service to overlap outdated CDS information on printed cans, allowing them to be accepted into major retail liquor stores. There is a particular art to it and we would be happy to discuss in more detail if this is a service you require.
Our final tip on printing labels – get your artwork in early. But what if my ABV isn’t ready!? We hear this often and that’s ok this information can be added later in print production by the printers and before the label hits the press. Just send us the final artwork and let the printers proof up your label design and get things moving on their end. Another tip is try to be punctual in responding to artwork approval requests and if you have any questions, reach out, we have a dedicated supply team at HQ ready to respond promptly to your emails and queries.
ORDERING LABELS
ECC have labelled over 7 million cans. We have a labelled-can and dry-goods supply service and can assist in getting your beautiful labelled artwork onto your can and into your customers hands. Our online order form guides you through ordering process for: labels, cans, ends and Paktechs. The entire East Coast Canning supply team have the Typeform website link in their email signature, please add it to your bookmarks and place your order at least 3 weeks before your fill date.
We use a pressure sensitive labeller for full supply of pristine perfectly labelled cans, automation ensures your cans are packaged safely for transport. Labelled cans will then be delivered by our in-house drivers to your site. It’s recommended that you label cans when the amount of cans required is less that the minimum number for printed cans. We can label any size can, whether it’s a once off speciality or experimental drink or perhaps you wish to try a new revenue stream and give slim or sleek cans a try.
To ensure everything runs smoothly and to allow for changes it is best to send over final artwork 3 weeks before your fill date. The earlier the better, in some instances we are able to bundle your order and pass these saving back onto you! Win, win.
After quantity, one of the first questions we ask is what label material would you like. There are two material options: Silver PP or White PP. The follow up question is which laminate varnish: Matte or Gloss. You may wish to use Silver PP so you have some metallic elements coming through the label, or for a pearl finish to your can. We have a fancy little PDF displaying the difference and this is sent to all new customers.
Besides guiding you through the label process, we can also offer guidance on labels before they wrap your cans. We have seen plenty of labels in our time and have offered helpful advise on enhancing the design and reminding people to include those legal requirements. If you are wondering what mandatories need to go on a beer label head over to IBA Beer Labelling Guidelines. We have a PDF outlining the label specs required, this can then be passed onto your designer and they can then ensure your final artwork is supplied print-ready. If you need a can dieline – reach out! We can email one through.
An advantage of prelabelling cans is the reduction in wastage of both labels and filled labelled cans. Imaging filling a can with your beloved product and having to sell it in the taproom, or give it away as staffies because the label is askew, damaged, not perfect or damaged! Our dedicated labelling technician will catch these types of labels (and cans) and will only deliver pristine, perfectly labelled cans ready to fill. That’s how the seamer likes them, plus we want smooth sailing on fill day! We cover the cost of those labels/or cans damaged during the prelabelling process and always order a buffer of extra labels to ensure we supply your requested quantity. Labelling inline can split the filling technician’s focus and increases the risk of equipment failure and downtime when using an extra piece of machinery. This can result in a reduction in your filling quota on canning day. Whilst you may think you are saving by going direct and buying in bulk it is likely you are over ordering and will have extra labels sitting around. We can advise on label quantity and help with over ordering labels.
We have a great relationship with our printers and encourage the purchase of bulk label orders, Ordering for your next run and future label runs of the same SKU (SKU: a stock-keeping unit an example is Pale Ale or Lager) at the one time will reduce your per unit label cost. These savings are passed on to you!
We also offer colour sensing labelling. This technology uses our label sensor and machinery that tiggers the release of the label when it hits a particular dialled in colour on the can. This is great for lining up labels with a particular part of a printed branded can or utilising strip labelling. Recently we used this service to overlap outdated CDS information on printed cans, allowing them to be accepted into major retail liquor stores. There is a particular art to it and we would be happy to discuss in more detail if this is a service you require.
Our final tip on printing labels – get your artwork in early. But what if my ABV isn’t ready!? We hear this often and that’s ok this information can be added later in print production by the printers and before the label hits the press. Just send us the final artwork and let the printers proof up your label design and get things moving on their end. Another tip is try to be punctual in responding to artwork approval requests and if you have any questions, reach out, we have a dedicated supply team at HQ ready to respond promptly to your emails and queries.
COUNTER PRESSURE FILLS
Filling with Counter Pressure isn’t easy. Codi Canning Systems have it sorted. We pressurise our cans to 3.5Bar – this ensures that CO2 remains in solution and your beverage is cradled and hugged by a nice big dose of PRESSURE. This pressure keeps your carbonated beverage calm, and stable.
Next – fill valves open and guess what happens!!!??? Bloody nothing! Haha!
Nothing happens because the filler bowl is pressurised to a slightly lower pressure, and you remember high school right?
So in order to make magic happen, CO2 is slowly release from the can, allowing your stable and loved product to fill the cans quickly but controllably.
Some more cool automated computer controlled stuff happens to provide the finishing touches like foam on product – but at the end of a very short but intense process we have high quality fills.
It is important to understand 2 things;
1) if a canning line pressurises cans to only slightly above FV or BBT pressure – it IS NOT COUNTER PRESSURE. It is a less stable form, that has the same problems as gravity filling, and often worse.
2) If a canning line doesn’t pressurise cans at all…. well… we all know those days are behind us…
We have five Codi Canning lines, that can fill all Australian can sizes. We service all of Australia, get in touch and tell us about your product!
COUNTER PRESSURE FILLS
Filling with Counter Pressure isn’t easy. Codi Canning Systems have it sorted. We pressurise our cans to 3.5Bar – this ensures that CO2 remains in solution and your beverage is cradled and hugged by a nice big dose of PRESSURE. This pressure keeps your carbonated beverage calm, and stable.
Next – fill valves open and guess what happens!!!??? Bloody nothing! Haha!
Nothing happens because the filler bowl is pressurised to a slightly lower pressure, and you remember high school right?
So in order to make magic happen, CO2 is slowly release from the can, allowing your stable and loved product to fill the cans quickly but controllably.
Some more cool automated computer controlled stuff happens to provide the finishing touches like foam on product – but at the end of a very short but intense process we have high quality fills.
It is important to understand 2 things;
1) if a canning line pressurises cans to only slightly above FV or BBT pressure – it IS NOT COUNTER PRESSURE. It is a less stable form, that has the same problems as gravity filling, and often worse.
2) If a canning line doesn’t pressurise cans at all…. well… we all know those days are behind us…
We have five Codi Canning lines, that can fill all Australian can sizes. We service all of Australia, get in touch and tell us about your product!
- Jim, Our National Operations Manager discusses the makes and breaks of a successful end product.
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE AND QUALITY
The makes and breaks of a successful end product. Our National Operations Manager Jim Elmer discusses the importance of a sound preventative maintenance and quality program on your end product.
Let’s face it, packaging is a pain. It is the least exciting bit of brewing, and if not done carefully can result in a low yield, oxidised product with a healthy dose of frustration thrown in for good measure!
Mobile canning, like all other manufacturing, has its ups and downs. It is a relatively new and niche industry designed to support the needs of what I would assert is one of the best industries in the world, craft beer production and distribution. Mobile canning provides opportunities for many craft breweries and beverage producers to package their products giving it longer shelf lives and changing the traditional offerings on bottle shop shelves. However, it is still a manufacturing process which comes with a host of machinery, and anyone who has worked intimately with machinery knows it needs regular upkeep to ensure performance. When everything is running smoothly, packaging is blissful and to be honest, quite repetitive!
Repetition is, in reality, the name of the packaging game: the more repetitive the action, the more cyclic the motions, the more harmonious (think glorious symphonies) the parts, the better the end product. This is our goal every day! This is a great goal to have, but also one that is not always attainable. A simple part failure can result in multi-day downtime, wasted product, and possible quality issues. This is where it matters how your product is packaged and who is behind the reigns.
What we do at East Coast Canning
At East Coast Canning we have discovered that there are two major factors that impact the quality of the end product: the first comes down to smart human resourcing (selection, retention, training etc). The second one, which is dependent on the first and just as vital is having a good preventative maintenance system in place. Through operation, machinery parts all slowly wear – that is just a fact of manufacturing. Bearings, cylinders, seals and tooling will all wear despite the best efforts to prevent failure.
We have developed a system at East Coast Canning to monitor mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic systems to make sure that when parts a beginning to behave irregularly, we can swap them out. This includes ensuring the part is on hand before failure or breakdown occurs. We achieve this through routine auditing programs, tracking all quantitative values possible so that we can understand the health trends of each vital piece of machinery. We also have staff dedicated to monitoring these programs and keeping preventative maintenance programs in place and structured.
Predictive and preventative maintenance are the keys to success in packaging, and these practices translate into a better end product for customers. Faulty parts result in product risks, whether through seam integrity, foam characteristics, DO levels, can structural damage, date code issues, or overall presentation. With a solid maintenance program that includes preventative maintenance a packaging company will have less downtime per year, greater efficiency, and a higher quality finished product (just ask us, we have been tracking our systems and improvements!).
Why we do it
Over the last 4+ years of operations at East Coast Canning, we have seen over 20 million cans go through our canning lines. Being natural lovers of data and problem solving, all of this experience has been used to understand how and why different parts fail and what we can do to prevent it. Our collective experience has enabled us to figure out which parts we need to have on hand, which ones can be stored in our company HQ, and which we can source easily from reputable local suppliers. Having every single part to a machine on standby would be impractical and quite frankly a waste of money.
All of our data enables us to keep track and estimate when parts will need replacement ensuring we are ready with spares on hand prior to failure. Hyper critical parts have been identified and mostly kept on hand and monitored daily. The less critical parts are monitored on a weekly or monthly basis and the parts are either stored at our HQ or easily obtained by suppliers. Our experience has helped us streamline our processes making our jobs easier, customers happy after a smooth day of canning, and the best possible end product.
How it impacts quality
The saying goes, quality begets quality. We have observed that quality machinery produces a quality product as long as the following two factors are adhered to:
- Investing in the right machine for the right task
- Ensuring uptime through quality parts, quality training, and a strict maintenance program
The first is relatively simple to accomplish with thorough research and adequate finances. The second of these is much harder and more complicated than the first. Even if you have the right machine for the job, if it is not adequately maintained it will not be able to perform the job at hand in an efficient fashion. This shows in the end product.
If you are a customer you should be very interested in how a canning line is operated and if you are a canning line operator/owner you should be very concerned about your machine health and prevention of potential quality issues. The better the upkeep, the more consistent the seams on the cans, the longer the shelf life of the product, and the lower the wastage. One seemingly small failure can have the trickle-down effect which can cause the entire system to perform poorly, affecting the overall product rapidly.
Why it is not easy
If monitoring and ensuring quality was easy, there would be no need for articles like this; however, the harder things in life usually provide the best payoffs. Monitoring machinery takes experience, the right mindset, and somewhere to document any changes or quantitative takeaways. Without all three of these things, predictive and preventative maintenance won’t be nearly as effective.
There are always tough moments in any business where maintenance strategies don’t catch a failure and you still end up with downtime. However, these experiences are times to learn what to monitor better for next time, and what parts you really need to have on hand. Experience makes the whole process easier, and as production time grows, so does the budget which can be used for more spares and training. There is always room to improve and adapt, this is craft beer after all! Each facet strives to be evolving and learning to make the best beers AND the happiest customers!
Through proper maintenance strategies and training, the best beers will stay the best after they have been packaged. Any packaging comes with added challenges and hurdles, but if care is taken to monitor and ensure machine health regularly then the challenges become much more manageable, preventable and predictable. It is time to start thinking of craft canning lines as the pinnacle of process machinery and treat the lines with as much love as we treat the beers. With a quality mindset, a little love, some training, a spares budget, and a maintenance strategy, breweries and mobile canning companies can ensure that their packaging process runs smoothly and that they get the most out of their canning experience.
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE AND QUALITY
The makes and breaks of a successful end product. Our National Operations Manager Jim Elmer discusses the importance of a sound preventative maintenance and quality program on your end product.
Let’s face it, packaging is a pain. It is the least exciting bit of brewing, and if not done carefully can result in a low yield, oxidised product with a healthy dose of frustration thrown in for good measure!
Mobile canning, like all other manufacturing, has its ups and downs. It is a relatively new and niche industry designed to support the needs of what I would assert is one of the best industries in the world, craft beer production and distribution. Mobile canning provides opportunities for many craft breweries and beverage producers to package their products giving it longer shelf lives and changing the traditional offerings on bottle shop shelves. However, it is still a manufacturing process which comes with a host of machinery, and anyone who has worked intimately with machinery knows it needs regular upkeep to ensure performance. When everything is running smoothly, packaging is blissful and to be honest, quite repetitive!
Repetition is, in reality, the name of the packaging game: the more repetitive the action, the more cyclic the motions, the more harmonious (think glorious symphonies) the parts, the better the end product. This is our goal every day! This is a great goal to have, but also one that is not always attainable. A simple part failure can result in multi-day downtime, wasted product, and possible quality issues. This is where it matters how your product is packaged and who is behind the reigns.
What we do at East Coast Canning
At East Coast Canning we have discovered that there are two major factors that impact the quality of the end product: the first comes down to smart human resourcing (selection, retention, training etc). The second one, which is dependent on the first and just as vital is having a good preventative maintenance system in place. Through operation, machinery parts all slowly wear – that is just a fact of manufacturing. Bearings, cylinders, seals and tooling will all wear despite the best efforts to prevent failure.
We have developed a system at East Coast Canning to monitor mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic systems to make sure that when parts a beginning to behave irregularly, we can swap them out. This includes ensuring the part is on hand before failure or breakdown occurs. We achieve this through routine auditing programs, tracking all quantitative values possible so that we can understand the health trends of each vital piece of machinery. We also have staff dedicated to monitoring these programs and keeping preventative maintenance programs in place and structured.
Predictive and preventative maintenance are the keys to success in packaging, and these practices translate into a better end product for customers. Faulty parts result in product risks, whether through seam integrity, foam characteristics, DO levels, can structural damage, date code issues, or overall presentation. With a solid maintenance program that includes preventative maintenance a packaging company will have less downtime per year, greater efficiency, and a higher quality finished product (just ask us, we have been tracking our systems and improvements!).
Why we do it
Over the last 4+ years of operations at East Coast Canning, we have seen over 20 million cans go through our canning lines. Being natural lovers of data and problem solving, all of this experience has been used to understand how and why different parts fail and what we can do to prevent it. Our collective experience has enabled us to figure out which parts we need to have on hand, which ones can be stored in our company HQ, and which we can source easily from reputable local suppliers. Having every single part to a machine on standby would be impractical and quite frankly a waste of money.
All of our data enables us to keep track and estimate when parts will need replacement ensuring we are ready with spares on hand prior to failure. Hyper critical parts have been identified and mostly kept on hand and monitored daily. The less critical parts are monitored on a weekly or monthly basis and the parts are either stored at our HQ or easily obtained by suppliers. Our experience has helped us streamline our processes making our jobs easier, customers happy after a smooth day of canning, and the best possible end product.
How it impacts quality
The saying goes, quality begets quality. We have observed that quality machinery produces a quality product as long as the following two factors are adhered to:
- Investing in the right machine for the right task
- Ensuring uptime through quality parts, quality training, and a strict maintenance program
The first is relatively simple to accomplish with thorough research and adequate finances. The second of these is much harder and more complicated than the first. Even if you have the right machine for the job, if it is not adequately maintained it will not be able to perform the job at hand in an efficient fashion. This shows in the end product.
If you are a customer you should be very interested in how a canning line is operated and if you are a canning line operator/owner you should be very concerned about your machine health and prevention of potential quality issues. The better the upkeep, the more consistent the seams on the cans, the longer the shelf life of the product, and the lower the wastage. One seemingly small failure can have the trickle-down effect which can cause the entire system to perform poorly, affecting the overall product rapidly.
Why it is not easy
If monitoring and ensuring quality was easy, there would be no need for articles like this; however, the harder things in life usually provide the best payoffs. Monitoring machinery takes experience, the right mindset, and somewhere to document any changes or quantitative takeaways. Without all three of these things, predictive and preventative maintenance won’t be nearly as effective.
There are always tough moments in any business where maintenance strategies don’t catch a failure and you still end up with downtime. However, these experiences are times to learn what to monitor better for next time, and what parts you really need to have on hand. Experience makes the whole process easier, and as production time grows, so does the budget which can be used for more spares and training. There is always room to improve and adapt, this is craft beer after all! Each facet strives to be evolving and learning to make the best beers AND the happiest customers!
Through proper maintenance strategies and training, the best beers will stay the best after they have been packaged. Any packaging comes with added challenges and hurdles, but if care is taken to monitor and ensure machine health regularly then the challenges become much more manageable, preventable and predictable. It is time to start thinking of craft canning lines as the pinnacle of process machinery and treat the lines with as much love as we treat the beers. With a quality mindset, a little love, some training, a spares budget, and a maintenance strategy, breweries and mobile canning companies can ensure that their packaging process runs smoothly and that they get the most out of their canning experience.
Can Storage Best Practises
On almost every packaging run there will be challenges that can occur, whether small or large. Even though some of these challenges can be unavoidable and will have to be dealt with on the day, there are also many things that we can control…
During packaging runs so much focus and time goes into the quality of the fills, seams, fobbing etc. (and rightly so). With all this focus elsewhere, people can forget about one of the most important aspect of the canning run… the cans.
No matter how good the beer is, how clean the machine and hoses are, how perfect the fobbing is, if the cans have been exposed to dirt/ dust or have been mistreated it can result in a poor product.
In this post we are aiming to provide information on what we have found are the best ways to properly store and protect your cans for the next canning run. We will also have a look at storage and movement of lids as they are the final piece of the puzzle to a good canning run.
What can you do to help ensure we give ourselves the best opportunity to have a successful packaging run…?
To kick things off let’s start with what we do at the end of the run: wrapping up the pallets. This is one of the most crucial aspect of can storage in your brewery, poorly wrapped pallets will cause all sorts of headaches down the line.
The biggest issue when wrapping up pallets after a run is when you have half a layer left when the run has finished. It is always best to finish on a full layer so that the pallet can be tightly wrapped up and won’t allow any gaps in the cardboard slip sheets, creating a gap for any nasties to make their way in towards the cans. We understand that this is not always possible or the preferred option on a canning run, no-one wants to leave half a layer worth of beer in a tank if they don’t have to.
Depending on how many cans are left on a layer will decide what the best course of action will be for wrapping up the pallet.
- If there is only a small amount of cans left on the layer it can be worthwhile putting the cans into some cases and taping them up so they can be used at a later date.
- If the layer is mostly full then it can be pretty easy to move the cans around so that they are predominately towards the edges which always helps with being able to tightly wrap the pallet up!
- Alternatively, the last half a layer or so of product can be kegged and sold behind the bar.
The best way of wrapping up the pallet is to put a nice clean slip sheet on top of the final layer of cans, then fold up the plastic wrap on all four sides and tape with some packaging tape. After this it’s advisable to also put on one of the plastic collars on top of the pallet and tape this down. This will help hold down both the slip sheet and the plastic wrap (especially if it gets a bit windy around while the cans are being stored).
Storing cans at your facility:
On ECC runs our crew will be the ones to wrap up the leftover pallets, however something that is in control of the brewery staff is the storing of the pallets between runs. Here are some tips to help ensure your cans remain in the best condition possible for future packaging runs.
- Always keep your cans indoors! Wind, rain, dust etc have all played havoc on cans in the past. Even if the pallet has been properly wrapped, there is still a chance of nasties getting in when exposed to the elements. Especially rain which can soak through the slip sheets and work its way down into the cans.
- Stacking: When stacking cans always remember to put a partially used pallet on top of an unopened one. This will minimise the chance of any cans becoming damage from the weight of other pallet during storage.
- Location, location, location! Even if you do keep all cans inside the brewery there are still a number of things to keep in mind as to where you are keeping them.
- Keep them away from grain bins: having grain bins lying around near where your empty cans are is simply asking for disaster, as we all know grain bins attract all sorts of bugs, insects etc. So keep these as far away from each other as possible
- In the driest area possible: Aim to keep the stored pallets in an area where they will be least likely to get wet from everyday brewery cleaning, especially from chemical cleaning.
While we’re at it let’s not forget about the storage of lids. They are just as important as the cans and need to have care taken when storing them.
The storage of lids is, again, a crucial part in ensuring a smooth and high quality packaging run. The main thing to remember is that these lids can be very sensitive and fragile. This is not to say that the lid sleeve will break easily but rather that any small dent or bend in the lid can have dramatic impacts on quality of the finished can and also ability to run the machine without stopping.
Damaged lids usually occur due to poor handling can have one of two common outcomes:
- Get stuck in the chute, which means the machine has to stop while the lid is cleared out usually resulting in 5-7 cans having to be put aside due to high DO from sitting with beer exposed.
- Make its way through and not seam properly causing leaking cans. This is the worst case scenario and what we are actively aiming to avoid through proper storage practices.
Keep these tips in mind next time you’re moving around a pallet of cans!
Can Storage Best Practises
On almost every packaging run there will be challenges that can occur, whether small or large. Even though some of these challenges can be unavoidable and will have to be dealt with on the day, there are also many things that we can control…
During packaging runs so much focus and time goes into the quality of the fills, seams, fobbing etc. (and rightly so). With all this focus elsewhere, people can forget about one of the most important aspect of the canning run… the cans.
No matter how good the beer is, how clean the machine and hoses are, how perfect the fobbing is, if the cans have been exposed to dirt/ dust or have been mistreated it can result in a poor product.
In this post we are aiming to provide information on what we have found are the best ways to properly store and protect your cans for the next canning run. We will also have a look at storage and movement of lids as they are the final piece of the puzzle to a good canning run.
What can you do to help ensure we give ourselves the best opportunity to have a successful packaging run…?
To kick things off let’s start with what we do at the end of the run: wrapping up the pallets. This is one of the most crucial aspect of can storage in your brewery, poorly wrapped pallets will cause all sorts of headaches down the line.
The biggest issue when wrapping up pallets after a run is when you have half a layer left when the run has finished. It is always best to finish on a full layer so that the pallet can be tightly wrapped up and won’t allow any gaps in the cardboard slip sheets, creating a gap for any nasties to make their way in towards the cans. We understand that this is not always possible or the preferred option on a canning run, no-one wants to leave half a layer worth of beer in a tank if they don’t have to.
Depending on how many cans are left on a layer will decide what the best course of action will be for wrapping up the pallet.
- If there is only a small amount of cans left on the layer it can be worthwhile putting the cans into some cases and taping them up so they can be used at a later date.
- If the layer is mostly full then it can be pretty easy to move the cans around so that they are predominately towards the edges which always helps with being able to tightly wrap the pallet up!
- Alternatively, the last half a layer or so of product can be kegged and sold behind the bar.
The best way of wrapping up the pallet is to put a nice clean slip sheet on top of the final layer of cans, then fold up the plastic wrap on all four sides and tape with some packaging tape. After this it’s advisable to also put on one of the plastic collars on top of the pallet and tape this down. This will help hold down both the slip sheet and the plastic wrap (especially if it gets a bit windy around while the cans are being stored).
Storing cans at your facility:
On ECC runs our crew will be the ones to wrap up the leftover pallets, however something that is in control of the brewery staff is the storing of the pallets between runs. Here are some tips to help ensure your cans remain in the best condition possible for future packaging runs.
- Always keep your cans indoors! Wind, rain, dust etc have all played havoc on cans in the past. Even if the pallet has been properly wrapped, there is still a chance of nasties getting in when exposed to the elements. Especially rain which can soak through the slip sheets and work its way down into the cans.
- Stacking: When stacking cans always remember to put a partially used pallet on top of an unopened one. This will minimise the chance of any cans becoming damage from the weight of other pallet during storage.
- Location, location, location! Even if you do keep all cans inside the brewery there are still a number of things to keep in mind as to where you are keeping them.
- Keep them away from grain bins: having grain bins lying around near where your empty cans are is simply asking for disaster, as we all know grain bins attract all sorts of bugs, insects etc. So keep these as far away from each other as possible
- In the driest area possible: Aim to keep the stored pallets in an area where they will be least likely to get wet from everyday brewery cleaning, especially from chemical cleaning.
While we’re at it let’s not forget about the storage of lids. They are just as important as the cans and need to have care taken when storing them.
The storage of lids is, again, a crucial part in ensuring a smooth and high quality packaging run. The main thing to remember is that these lids can be very sensitive and fragile. This is not to say that the lid sleeve will break easily but rather that any small dent or bend in the lid can have dramatic impacts on quality of the finished can and also ability to run the machine without stopping.
Damaged lids usually occur due to poor handling can have one of two common outcomes:
- Get stuck in the chute, which means the machine has to stop while the lid is cleared out usually resulting in 5-7 cans having to be put aside due to high DO from sitting with beer exposed.
- Make its way through and not seam properly causing leaking cans. This is the worst case scenario and what we are actively aiming to avoid through proper storage practices.
Keep these tips in mind next time you’re moving around a pallet of cans!
