Precedence must be given to assessing the production accuracy and stability in quality while choosing a reliable aluminum can producer. For example, Ball Corporation uses high-speed forming technology of stamping, producing 3,200 tanks per minute (as against the industry average of 2,500 tanks). The error in tank wall thickness is regulated at ±0.02mm (ISO 9001 standard requires ±0.05mm), and the tank leakage rate is only 0.003% (industry average is 0.015%). It passed the ASTM D642 test, and its 330ml can compressive strength reached a maximum of 310N (industry standard ≥280N), and the rolled edge sealing test of the can mouth showed that the leakage probability was ≤0.0005% (PepsiCo 2023 Quality Inspection report). Manufacturers should supply batch quality reports for a minimum of 12 months, with particular attention to dimensional variation (which should be ≤±0.1mm) and coating integrity (the residual concentration of bisphenol A should be ≤0.001ppm, while the EU standard is 0.05ppm).
Supply chain resilience is the prime focus. During the 2020 epidemic, Crown Holdings implemented the comprehensive network of 43 overseas manufacturing bases to shorten the delivery period to 14 days from the industry average of 21 days, and achieved a raw material traceability coverage rate of 99.8% with the blockchain trace system (data delay ≤0.5 seconds). During the exercise of conducting the assessment, the manufacturer’s stock of aluminum material (demand ≥3 months must be confirmed), the number of secondary suppliers (≥200 would be ideal), and the adjustment speed of the capacity (for example, to increase by 30% in 48 hours) must be confirmed. The case of Ardagh Group illustrates how its Mexican factory, with a dynamic scheduling model of manufacturing, increased its monthly manufacturing capacity to 340 million cans from 200 million cans (70% increase) in Red Bull’s emergency orders, and was able to attain a on-time delivery rate of 98.7%.
Sustainable production metrics cannot be ignored. The world’s most sophisticated aluminum can producers, such as Ball, using 100% recycled aluminum to produce its Infinity series has a 45% lower carbon footprint compared to traditional processes (SBTi certified), and a 94% water recycling rate of production (industry average is 78%). Three certifications need to be ascertained when making a decision: Aluminium Management Initiative (ASI) performance standard, ISO 14001 environmental management system, and the Carbon Trust standard. For instance, Toyo Seikan’s factory in Japan has reduced carbon emissions per ton of aluminium from 1.8 tons to 0.4 tons utilizing hydrogen energy smelting technology (utilizing 80% of hydrogen), and at the same time has gained A CDP water safety rating of A+ (industry average of B level).
Cost-effectiveness has to be calculated across the entire life cycle. Let’s use the 500ml standard can as an example. Ball’s light weight packaging (9.5g per can vs 11.2g industry norm) reduces transport cost per can by 0.002. For a yearly production of 1 billion cans, it will save 2 million. But careful assessment should be done of the mold manufacturing fee (approximately $500,000 – $800,000 per model), the MOQ (MOQ≥5 million cans can reduce the unit cost by 15%-20%), and the payment period (high-quality suppliers offer the payment period of 60-90 days). The Thai case of CanPack demonstrates that its regionalized production strategy (raw materials, manufacturing and filling within a 5-kilometer radius) has reduced logistics costs by 37% compared to cross-border procurement.
Digital capabilities determine the degree of control of risk. Key manufacturers such as Crown Holdings have launched AI visual inspection systems, inspection rate of 200ms/can (2 seconds/can for manual inspection), and accuracy rate of defect recognition as 99.98% (reduction in customer complaint rate by 63% in 2023). The manufacturer must be made compulsory to demonstrate the real-time monitoring interface of MES (Manufacturing Execution System). The key parameters are the OEE of the line (an overall equipment efficiency of ≥85% is considered optimum), energy use (≤0.9kWh/ 1,000 tanks), and the automatic reject rate of defective products (which should be ≥99.5%). Ball’s German factory shortened the new product development cycle to 45 days from 90 days and the trial production loss rate to 0.8% from 5% by applying digital twin technology.
The word-of-mouth among customers has to be quantifiably confirmed. Research of selection of leading brands: Coca-Cola has ordered its aluminum can maker through Ball for 60% in 15 consecutive years, for which its turnaround time for answering customer complaints stands at ≤4 hours (industry standard 24 hours) while new product prototype sampling precision gets up to ±0.05mm. It is recommended to undertake such on-site visits of the manufacturer’s top 5 customers’ production lines and collect information such as on-time delivery rate (should be ≥98%) and quality accidents rate (should be ≤0.1 times per million cans). For instance, Monster Energy has reduced the rate of counterfeiting from 0.07% to 0.0003% thanks to Ball’s patented anti-counterfeiting laser coding technology (traceable to the production line and shift).
