ORORA’S DIGITAL CAN LINE ARRIVING

The innovative digital can printing line that will send beverage packaging giant Orora into the short-run and promotional can printing market is arriving next month at its Dandenong plant.

The Israeli-manufactured Helio line is bound for Orora’s Dandenong facility, one of its four can plants in Australia, and where Orora currently decorates cans with traditional high-speed offset decoration processes.

The new digital line will be up and running by June. It will print onto varying can sizes and formats, with the high-speed Helio digital print capability, and strengthens significantly Orora’s position to meet the surging growth on-demand for beverage cans.

Orora has a $700m per annum can business in ANZ, of which 27 per cent are for alcoholic beverages, a number in decline, with 73 per cent no-alcoholic, a number which is growing thanks to the rising demand for energy drinks and kambucha-type drinks.

Orora’s Australasian Cans business achieved a 5.2 per cent increase in half year sales to $372.8m in the half year to 31 December, and a 6.4 per cent increase in EBIT to $49.4m. Volumes rose by just 1.1 per cent, which Orora said reflected “subdued” consumer spending. The Cans division accounts for around 35 per cent of Orora’s revenue.

Chris Smith, general manager Orora Beverage Cans, said the company’s analogue printing technology will be complemented by the digital print capability, which he said brings the benefits of quick turnaround from design to delivery, with the lead time required of printing plates eliminated. 

Smith said the Helio technology will provide greater operational flexibility, catering to smaller minimum quantities and reduced inventory overproduction. He is quick to point out that the technology's application is not limited to short runs. For instance, its ability to deliver infinite randomisation in sequence enables large-scale promotional activations. 

He said, “Our role in primary packaging is to help our brand owners engage the shopper at the point of purchase. Helio and the Velox solution will transform our ability to do this for our customer’s brands,” he said. “Once commissioned, what this means for our customers is that wait time will be significantly reduced in delivering a specific can size or label design for activities such as promotions, new products and limited-edition retail events. With no label set-up required and near-immediate supply, shorter, faster minimum runs can be accommodated, providing greater flexibility in product and campaign planning.”