Ever wondered how that aluminum can you’re drinking out of is made? Here is an inside look at how this modern marvel is made:
- Cup Blanking and Drawing – Press punches out hundreds of cups per minute from huge coils of aluminum or steel
- Ironing and Doming – Cup is forced through a series of rings to iron out cans to full length and form bottom dome.
- Trimming – Cans are spun as cutting tool trims to length.
- Cleaning – Washer cycles hundreds of cans per minute through multiple cleaning stations.
- Printing and Varnishing – At printing station, cans are rolled against cylinder to print up to four colors simultaneously.
- Bottom Varnishing – Cans are conveyed past applicator that varnishes bottom.
- Baking – Cans wind through conveying system in oven to dry and set lithography.
- Inside Spraying – A protective specially compounded coating is applied to inside of cans.
- Baking – Trip through funnel oven bakes and cures inside coating.
- Necking In – Can necks are reduced at top to fit the designated end size.
- Flanging and Testing – Can rims are flanged for future double seaming of ends. Then, each can is mechanically tested for leakage. Finally, cans are automatically stacked in cartons or on pallets for shipment.
