Canadian can printing specialist SoluCan has taken delivery of a second Tonejet Cyclone direct-to-can printing system.
SoluCan was established to offer the North American canned beverage industry a complete digital printing option with flexible quantities. Its 16,000sqft facility located at Trois-Rivières in Quebec, Canada housed the world’s first Tonejet Cyclone, as part of a pallet-to-pallet automated production chain. This includes depalletising, printing, curing and repalletising.
A second system has now been installed in response to increased demand for no MOQs for printing in both 12 and 16oz formats. The new Cyclone C4+ with Tonejet can primer digital decoration system will be used for decoration of can formats up to 16oz (500ml), and supports high demand from local craft brewers and beverage producers for 100% recyclable direct printed cans in short runs.
SoluCan’s second-generation Cyclone also includes a host of new features including a new bright white primer for standout colour contrast on either brite or white blank cans from any source. Utilising a longer variant of Tonejet’s electrostatic printhead, the Cyclone C4+ has been upgraded with a new user interface, simplified ink refills, and active adaptable can handling to permit rapid changeovers in a variety of can sizes.
SoluCan president Sebastien Baril commented, ‘Market reaction to our Tonejet technology has been phenomenal. Customers routinely tell us how affordable and sustainable it is to produce cans in short runs, featuring stunning print quality and full personalised/variable data. This technology is transforming their businesses and driving growth.
‘The second Tonejet production line has provided everything we were looking for – can format flexibility as well as the ability to increase our overall capacity. Added to which, the new bright white primer has been revolutionary. With recent shortages of white blanks, the new primer enables us to produce our own within the Cyclone system itself, eliminating the time and costs associated with sourcing and cleaning cans. A second machine also means that production can continue on both 12oz and 16oz formats simultaneously.’
Tonejet CEO Rob Day said, ‘We are so pleased to have the new Cyclone C4+ at Solucan, and to see its business continue to grow in both volume and variety. The upgrades provided with our new Cyclone C4+ enable Sebastien and his team to produce top quality cans in 12 and 16oz formats simultaneously, increasing efficiency and productivity; truly game changing.
‘We believe that the Cyclone system is the future of can printing, and we are excited to see how it will transform the beverage industry in years to come.’
