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beverage can, and has been the object of both design and engineering creativity. During the forming process, the metal undergoes a series of transformations at remarkably high speeds exceeding 2000 ends per minute. “If the beverage can is a fast and highly technological entity, this is nothing compared to the end, which feature some of the best engineering in the business,” comments Bill Neilson. Recent tab designs such as the X1 from Stolle or JCat91 from DRT have yielded material consumption improvement, reducing gauge and progression, while maintaining the same opening behaviour. In addition, the tooling complexity has been reduced – so less maintenance and spare parts are required. such cans are on the market already,” remarks Mr van Dam. “However, in order to get the best effect from embossing, it is important to adapt the label to the embossed image. If this is not managed effectively, the whole visual effect disappears.” When it comes to innovation in shape, says Dan Abramowicz, the challenges can be financial as much as they are technological, since novelties are likely to require investment in equipment and additional metal. Shaping reduces the output and elevates costs and it is essential to have significant customer commitment to bring it to life. According to Bill Neilson however, in a marketplace thirsty for differentiation, the industry shows an agility and willingness to innovate in order to create new forms and more efficient production methods.TAB TECHNOLOGYAnother area of phenomenal technological achievement is the beverage can’s tab. The tab is a distinct component of the ‘THERE HAVE BEEN BIG CHANGES TO THE TAB... SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF THE BEVERAGE AS WELL AS ANTI-ROTATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND FINGER WELLS TO IMPROVE EASE OF OPENING’ 20 EUROPEAN CAN MARKET REPORT 2016 INNOVATION