thin film of lacquer is injected into it
at the same time. But this, too, is
based on an entire world of technolo
gy. The lacquer must uniformly coat
the entire can wall; but it must not
transmit off-flavours to the product, it
has to be environmentally friendly,
and it must be able to withstand the
dents that may result from rough
handling at distribution centres, etc.
In that entire process from tinplate
to ready-to-use can there are of cour
se moments when things can go
wrong. And sometimes they do go
wrong. That is why Continental Can
Europe has installed electronic
inspection equipment at many points
in the process. Human skills are also
used to make measurings and checks
of both the product and the inspection
machines.
As a final check a camera is instal
led at the end of the conveyor belt -
just before the cans are palletised.
CCE's technicians have input all the
can's specifications into the computer
which is coupled to this camera. The
screen displays a black-and-white
image of a can with fixed grey tones. If
a can that is being checked deviates in
any way from those specifications, it is
immediately pushed off the conveyor
belt. The electronic camera checks
every can as to dents, wrinkles, colour
abnormalities, lacquering, etc.
Heineken
Heineken is known amongst its
suppliers for its high quality stand
ards. Does that make Heineken a
troublesome customer? 'No, I
wouldn't say that. You usually think a
customer is troublesome if you can't
live up to his quality requirements or
if his quality requirements are un
known or keep changing. Heineken's
packaging experts know their job and
we have agreements on the relevant
standards which we know we must
achieve.' Continental Can Europe is
working at the moment on quality
optimisation by installing systems
which should result in it being award
ed the ISO 9000 certificate. These sys
tems will give Heineken an insight
into how a certain order has been pro
duced and an assurance that the
quality standards are effectively guar
anteed by means of working proce
dures, inspections, etc.
Lids
The lids of the beer can are a story
all of their own. The technology for
producing a lid (technically known as
an 'end' in a three-piece can) differs
so much from that for cans that
Continental Can Europe has decided
to keep the two separate. Two facto
ries in Europe manufacture ends for
