metal cap day &ndash the workshop that focuses on industryrelated technology, scenarios and prospects &ndash had no trouble attracting participants. this essential event saw the presentation of, among other machines, the allnew ptc 600 and a line for &lsquodeep&rsquo aluminium caps developed with friulibased firm bortolinkemo. in the afternoon there was a visit to the closures plant and lab and a demonstration of working machines, such as the revolutionary pma 24 l that makes fully pvcfree annular sealsno less than 123 specialised operators from 27 countries took part in metal cap day, the workshop that examines the new technology, latest scenarios and future outlook of the metal cap industry, jointly organised by sacmi imola and friulibased firm bortolinkemo. &ldquothe high number of participants&rdquo, pointed out giuseppe lesce, &ldquo manager of sacmi&rsquos closures & containers division, &ldquoshows the keen interest in the topic. this year we&rsquore celebrating the 95th anniversary of sacmi&rsquos founding and want to show everyone just how committed we are to customer satisfaction in the metal cap industry, where we&rsquove been doing business for over 50 years&rdquo.it was way back in 1952, in fact, that the first sacmi press for the manufacture of crown caps was built today. it&rsquos a market in which the imolabased group is the world leader in terms of installed machines over 1000 on five continents. and it&rsquos a project that continues to evolve &ndash as massimo gani, sales manager of sacmi closures, explained to the audience of international operators &ndash with the launch of the allnew ptc 600, a solution that &ldquoincorporates all the advantages of the previous range in terms of power and reliability but also boosts performance and flexibility thanks to exceptional design features and cuttingedge technology&rdquo.some statistics output up by 20 compared to the previous range, with the machine capable of achieving 231 pressing cycles per minute about 6,000 capsminute, and vibration down by 37, meaning less stress on materials and key machine parts.a more compact design, 30 less compressed air consumption and halved sound pressure noise levels complete the picture. further advantages include a metal sheet loading system that is fully automated and managed by dedicated servomotors and integration of the press with the cvs 3000 a vision system with high definition video cameras produced by sacmi&rsquos automation & inspection system division.more specifically, on the new ptc600, integration with the cvs means that the metal sheet picked from the magazine is repositioned correctly in the press and decoration alignment is executed within a minimal margin of error. the machineuser interface has also been completely renewed with a platform common to all sacmi solutions this combines userfriendliness, interoperability and comprehensive control of the production process.the crown cap enamel can be completed with a promotional code inkjet marker integrated on the pcm 500 that makes the seals on the caps and, lastly, there is the ccd 300, an innovative closure embossing solution where integration with the cvs3000 vision system ensures perfect embossingdecoration synchrony.from crown caps to metal caps, the industry is a vast one in which sacmi plays a leading role together with friulibased firm bortolinkemo. together, they offer a comprehensive solution of special interest for manufacturers of socalled &lsquodeep ropp caps&rsquo these are aluminium caps up to 60 mm high that are, in several countries &ndash from germany to south africa &ndash highly important on the alcoholic drinks market, especially wine. hence the showcasing of sacmi&rsquos new pmh 120, an innovative system for forming the seal directly inside the cap using a compression process the advantages of this machine, specially designed for this sector &ndash observed iacopo bianconcini, marketing manager of the sacmi closures division &ndash include outstanding productivity and flexibility with respect to insertion of traditional discs, plus the possibility of making a range of profiles and defining the most suitable solution together with the customer and the assistance of the sacmi technological lab.&ldquoteamwork with sacmi&rdquo, highlights mr. sain, managing director of bortolinkemo, &ldquois a consequence of having the same values and goals and a shared vision of the future&rdquo.the future, in fact, was the focus of metal cap day, which, after a morning dedicated to presenting various solutions in the packed sacmi meeting hall, continued with a visit to the plant. here, participants enjoyed an opportunity to see machines in action, from the allnew ptc 600 to the vision systems including the cat 300 for crown caps, the mvs for metal caps and lids and the innovative chs 3603d, specially developed for &lsquototal inspection&rsquo of &lsquodeep ropp&rsquo caps and the revolutionary pma 24 l.the latter is designed to make seals inside caps in the 33 82 mm size range it stands out on account of a special annular pellet extrusion system and its use of pvcfree materials. this gives advantages in terms of both energy and material savings and also improves product &lsquohealthiness&rsquo by lowering contamination with respect to the more commonly used pvcbased substances.in short, then, technical developments for a future that is, for sacmi, built on constant r&d investment &ndash 47 million euros in 2013 at group level, point out giuseppe lesce. with regard to caps, a central role is played by the closures laboratory, which this year obtained prestigious pepsi certification. it is here, in fact &ndash as visitors to metal cap day saw for themselves &ndash that solutions are assessed right from the design stage via lab tests performed according to protocols approved and certified by the industry&rsquos leading players.
