#332 - Metal decoration finds its digital moment with Dr Simon Daplyn and Phil Jackman from Sun Chemical

In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Dr Simon Daplyn and Phil Jackman of Sun Chemical about the fast-evolving world of metal decoration, direct-to-shape printing and the growing role of inkjet in can production.

The discussion begins by defining metal decoration, including the difference between three-piece and two-piece cans, and why each presents different production and decoration challenges. Phil explains how two-piece beverage cans are now becoming an important area for direct-to-shape inkjet, while three-piece applications continue to require specific ink and chemistry solutions.

Simon and Phil explore why the market is changing now. Consumer behaviour, SKU proliferation, craft beverages, functional drinks, limited editions, regional campaigns and shorter product life cycles are all creating new pressure on packaging supply chains. Digital print enables brands to reduce minimum order quantities, avoid excess inventory, respond quickly to trends and decorate cans much closer to the point of demand.

The episode also considers sustainability. With metal packaging gaining renewed attention because of its recyclability and circular potential, digital decoration offers further benefits by reducing waste, make-ready and obsolete stock.

Finally, Phil discusses Sun Chemical’s latest developments, including UV, low-migration UV and emerging aqueous ink technologies for metal decoration. These advances are designed to support a broader range of applications, including areas where traditional UV inkjet has limitations.

A timely conversation on why metal decoration may now be entering a new phase of digital growth.

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introductions

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to the latest episode of the Future Break Podcast. Marcus Timpson here, and I'm really happy to welcome back to the podcast Dr. Simon Daplin and Phil Jackman from Sun Chemical. I think it's the first time we've had you both on the podcast. So welcome back, gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you. Um the theme of this session is we're going to be talking about metal decoration. And we'll probably hear the word or the abbreviation metal deck throughout. So it's around metal decoration. And both these gentlemen have been around long enough to have have um been a key part of the the imprint show back in the day when we launched it and have been privy to and also driven a lot of the um innovation, at least in the chemistry world regarding ink development and so on. But I'd like to sort of uh ask Simon to give a little intro about himself and then Phil so we know who we're talking to, in case you haven't had the pleasure of hearing them speak before. So, Simon, give us a little introduction about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Yeah, thanks, Marcus. So I say my name is Simon Daplin. I've been working with Sun Chemical for close to six years now, um, having previously worked at a company called Sensient. Um so my role within the company is is looking after product management a little bit and and also the the marketing for the digital group. So covering a global territory across multiple um application areas, and of course, Sun Chemical being uh one of the leading uh ink suppliers, both conventional and and digitally uh around the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Yeah, and I know um you've got this fantastic picture and vista of different industries and adoption rates and so on with digital. So I'm gonna apply that in a more narrow fashion now for metal decoration. Phil, give us a little intro. I know that a particular focus you have within the business is metal decoration, so it's good that you've joined us. So, Phil, give us a bit of an intro about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Yeah, sure. So um my name's Phil Jackman. Um, I'm global product manager for digital at Sun Chemical, and I've been with Sun for lost count now, probably about 26 years or so. Um, the first half in brand protection and security printing. Um, a sort of a global role in that, uh, flying around the world and integrating clever bits of technology for brand owners' packaging, so all areas of print really, and also into security documents as well. So quite a widespread selection of sort of ink application techniques, some of which were Metal Deck at the time, to be honest. Um, and then the last half of my career has been uh very much focused on um inkjet um and deployment of which into various markets. So currently based in Midsummer Norton in the UK, where our RD for digital technology is is centred. And um, yeah, look at all new sort of emerging markets of inkjet, um, industrial print and and metal deck is part of that and direct to shape, for example. So yeah, pleasure to be with you again and uh look forward to the discussion.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Excellent. So I said at the beginning we're gonna be focusing on Metal Deck, but actually connected to that is director shape in a big way,

What Metal Decoration Means

SPEAKER_02 3:11

isn't it? But before we get to director shape, could you perhaps, Phil, define a bit about what is metal decoration in the context of this conversation?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Uh yeah, certainly. Um I I'm sort of no ultimate expert in it, but I'll spend a long enough time to pick up some of the jargon. So I'll try and explain some of the buzzwords that are thrown around so that any listeners can try and understand what we're talking about later on. But effectively they talk about three-piece and two-piece metal deck, and that's really sort of dictated by how the can is manufactured. So we'll start at three-piece, and effectively that's always printed flat onto a sheet. Traditionally, that's with an offset process, and that sheet is then cut and either rolled or bent into a tube shape onto which they attach a top and a bottom, which is where you get your three-piece definition from. It's got top, it's got sides, and it's got a bottom. Um, they can be packaging, it can be biscuit tins, it's but fundamentally that's the structure that dictates it being called three-piece. Um, but using the same print process from there, printing onto a flat sheet, sometimes the same print process can fall into other markets where you get a flat printed sheet and they'll form them into bottle caps or draw them into food tins like fish tins and sardines and etc. Um, and then two-piece is what we know as sort of the beverage industry, so you know, your soft drinks and your beers and things that you buy in a can. And that's called two-piece because it's effectively a cup with a lid. So there's only two pieces for that manufacturing process. And that's where the sort of direct-to-shape element kind of comes in because they're always printed as a sort of three-dimensional shape, not a flat sheet at that point. Um, so um they form them into a cup and they'll print onto them on rollers, um, traditionally with offset, but obviously that lends itself to direct-to-shape inkjet as well. So modern decoration techniques for two-piece beverage are starting to be done via uh inkjet techniques as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Yeah, and that um is a particular focus for today, isn't it? It's metal decoration, but actually with direct to shape and rewinding 10-15 years, like you say, direct to shape analog or offset has always been around. But um we're seeing more and more inkjet use now for director shape, and it seems to me to have been the last six to twelve months that it's risen back almost, phoenix-like, as a a key uh growth area for inkjet.

Why Direct To Shape Returns

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Give give us a feel for perhaps why that is, why that what why is that now that it's coming to the fore a little more than perhaps it was two or three years ago? Don't know whether that's Simon. You can sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

I mean I mean I think I think while the technology's existed for several years now and and and it's but it's been continually evolving and and becoming more optimized, I think the market from a consumer point of view has changed quite considerably in that time. And it's really those end markets that tend to drive adoption in areas like this. So especially in in metal decoration, the investment in tooling and stuff is quite high. And short run as we know it is a much bigger job in in metal decoration, I think, an average uh or what they consider a a short run is something like 15,000 meters, which is a pretty long run in in some other application areas, right? And so where where Inkjet is emerging, well, not not so much emerging, but being uh adopted in in a faster way is in end markets like beverage cans, as Phil mentioned, some of the personal care, um, household and industrial products like aerosols and cartridges, cylinders, and and then with uh with more and more promotional seasonal packaging um being used to commemorate sports events or limited editions, what you tend to get is a lot of um SKU churn, so lots of individual items, um less long runs of the same design and more um condensed runs of more bespoke areas, regional um churn, especially in the US. Um there's a lot of focus on having product that um reflects the time, if you like. So it could be around a sports event or a particular visual um brand value that that that's looking to be exploited, and those shorter life cycles of products, um, so newer proliferations coming out all the time. I think that obviously plays into the hands of of digital um and it suits the digital decoration techniques um that alongside more and more options, faster speeds, the ability to to print larger numbers of products um on a single system. I think the the kind of timing is, especially in the last couple of years, is really everything's kind of come together, both from the consumer kind of pull from the market, what the brands are looking to do, and what the technology is able to deliver.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Yeah, so and that's a great example, isn't it, where um you know, perhaps technological possibility or potential is truly aligning with consumer change and brand desire for those shorter runs or those more customized or limited edition and and so on. But has has the the technology over the period of time now, is it and the engineering and the chemistry and all of the aspects that we know are really critical and important, presumably that's improved over that period of time as well, has it, Bill?

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Um yes, I mean jet technology on the whole, you know, it it does sort of evolve over time and it does you know aim to improve and optimise everything it does, both from the print process but also the you know the end application process as well. But certainly just looking at the Metal Deck applications, and I'll make them plural, because there's always a niche within a niche, um, certain different segments of that industry. Um and is good at trying to extract the most value within certain areas of that in where the deployment is successful. So although the technology has evolved, I don't think particularly it's been you know the a sudden evolution or revolution that's engaged that's suddenly made it really become a hot topic recently because the technology's broadly been available for quite some time, as we just mentioned. It's

Decentralised Printing For Beverage Cans

SPEAKER_01 9:38

really about trying to find um areas where the most value can be extracted. Uh, and certainly for for two piece, um the beverage cans. Um traditionally, the the printing always used to be done at the manufacturer's site. I mean, the the the can manufacturer's site, so they would supply fully finished, fully decorated cans to people to fill them with their chosen beverage. Um, what Inkjet has provided really is like a decentralized print process there. So the can manufacturers supply, you know, an unprinted can, they're either just silver or base coated with a white, and they're decorated at a much later stage, much closer to the consumption of or the need for supply of the decorated and printed cans. So it's a much leaner supply chain, much quicker to you know respond to um changes in you know the environment in terms of you know any sports resorts, or you could really print on demand what you need without having mountains and warehouses full of pre-printed cans, you could literally just sort of print and supply on demand. So that decentralized print for beverage has been really good. And it coincides really well with the craft brewery business. You know, that's blown up in the last 10 years, and you know, 20 years ago we all drank about four different brands of beer, and now there's 30 in one pub that you go in sometimes. So the amount of SKUs required in the the beer industry, for example, is you know many X times what it used to be. So there's a a change in not just the technology, but also the you know the the market needs have evolved and and really pulled the desire for digital print to be you know more um utilized recently. So that's that's really good.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Yeah, and and it's it's fascinating what you're saying there. It sounds to me like that perhaps the manufacturing strategy's changed within certain sectors to to meet that kind of or to enable that agility to respond quickly and to changes at the consumer end and what is the shop floor. Because I think it's become more certainly been locked down, like you say, more of proliferation of SKUs. Craft beer is an example, but it's also been a a kind of upsurge in functional drinks, hasn't there, as well, like um protein drinks or energy drinks or or different drinks that do slightly different things, not alcoholic, but that are uh valuable and have value and a high premium to pay. So it's it's quite interesting observing.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Exactly. I mean, brands are always looking to evolve and to differentiate, and you know, even the soft drinks market, that would just mean different flavours. You know, a particular brand might have had one flavor in the past, and now they've got so many different permutations and combinations of flavours and can sizes, and you know, really trying to engage with consumers, which is um you know that sort of differentiation is what all the brands are trying to do these days. So it sort of really lends itself to digital print as well at that point.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Yeah, absolutely. I could see the value also in terms of experimentation for certain ranges or certain ideas that that the digital enables that without it disrupting the core product, you can play on the side with digital and and and like you say respond. Because I assume that you know they're still using drive set for big runs, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Of course. I mean, all analog, you know, print processes are pretty much here to stay for those long runs. I mean, they are so good at what they do, you know, they've been honed over many decades. So it's not a like a replacement strategy at this point. It's really just trying to do something different and trying to sort of help the either the print processes be more efficient at the shorter run length, or help the brand owners do something wonderful and different, do a trial run, do a you know a short run special, or respond quickly to you know sports or social media events or whatever, and really just try to have some sort of dynamic element at the sort of with the cutting edge of the more strategic end, but the the bulk runs, you know, that for sure, they're gonna be conventional for a very, very long time.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, yeah. Simon, do you want to add something?

When Digital Beats Long Runs

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, no, I think I think what what's interesting is you know, the the the monsters in in this world, like the the big brands like Monster, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi's or all these big big companies, like for them, committing to a large inventory of of long run is is safe. There's there's no real risk in in that for them. But as we see the the dynamic changes you mentioned, lots of small uh new brands hit hitting the market, probably the conversation has moved a little bit from canning jet run to when is the right time or what's the right SKU to run digitally. And and part of that is is all around you know, some of the some of the economic and operational benefits in terms of not needing plates or cylinders or a commitment to that that you have to kind of spread across the cost, uh, especially in let's say limited editions or or maybe you're putting a trial out into the market of a specific packaging type, um the lack of minimum order quantity that's needed, but then things like um reduction in the inventory. So not having to pre-decorate uh thousands and thousands of cans um means there's less less less write-off from SKU changes. If something works or doesn't, you can quickly uh make uh make a change and support that kind of decentralized or regional production models that Phil was mentioning um earlier. So there's there's a number of kind of supply chain benefits that kind of exist for certain areas, including some of the big brands. It's I mean, they all have their little subcategory brands where where they're trying to compete against the small um startup brands for for shelf space or let's say digital space um in your online shopping carts. Um and design plays a big part in some consumer kind of choices and of what they're gonna buy, what what the can looks like or what the product kind of uh means to them. Um and so and have that having that ability to commit to long run for their best-selling products that that as Phil mentions, that that that will never change, um, or certainly certainly not in the short and medium term, um, but having that ability to be dynamic and and agile in in production of maybe uh short shorter runs, but with with the ability to kind of engage with the consumer in in a different way. Um that's all without mentioning things like variable data and the use of QR codes for competitions, traceability, compliance information, all that kind of stuff that that's coming in. And I think it's uh the two sit really nicely, as in other kind of packaging spaces now, where you've got a complementary technology really where digital and analog fit together to cover the whole range of of SPUs and market kind of deployment strategies that the brands may have.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, I can see as well, you know, you mentioned social media, but it made me think of a brand called Huel. If you heard that, but that that that was a disruptor and now it's been sold to a large and that came via social media, I believe, and really through podcasts and stuff like that. And it it's it's it's got out into the market, it's become a big uh deal, but it it's changing I I guess big digital and this kind of social landscape, social media landscape, um, like you say, the the the inkjet solution really plays to that, doesn't it? I mean, uh you can bring a product to market far quicker with far low risk and barriers to production, it suddenly opens a whole vista of opportunity both for established brands and disruptors. So it's quite significant, really. Where inkjet suddenly, like you say, 10, 15 years ago, because still could have done it then, but now all of these stars seem to be aligning, don't they?

Sustainability And The Shift To Metal

SPEAKER_00 17:43

The the the other thing that's really interesting in in those brand examples and a lot of small brands, their their brand purpose is usually a little bit different, and there's a lot of uh I'm gonna bring sustainability into it, but it's it's a thing, right? People want their brand to have that. And although metal packaging um and cans has as a fairly high to make one um from scratch is is quite um has quite uh a big footprint or whatever, it's very reusable. The the life cycle of a metal can is much higher than say uh a plastic alternative. And what you see is is really interesting. A lot of the new brands, like like you all, if you're if you're putting, let's say, uh a protein, something, even even water now, you see more and more options in metal packaging than plastic. And part partly that's the that's the discussion on ocean plastics and things that we've been having for many years now. But partly it's because of that increased potential for circularity or reuse of of uh of the can and the recyclability of it and the lifetime over several years that that material can be um regenerated and reused. And and that that is one of the reasons why metals in in terms of let's say the beverage market is becoming uh more and more popular when perhaps you'd seen the alternative 10 years ago where there was more and more plastic packaging, people moving from cans to bottles and plastic bottles in in certainly in the case of uh of soft drinks. And it's almost going in the opposite direction now, especially with some of these uh newer brand proliferations that are coming in. And I think that's that's an interesting part of it, um, as well as the other kind of sustainability benefits that we always mention in terms of you know the setup cost, the reduced waste, the potential to reduce the energy consumption, um, not overproducing, not having to kind of scrap um product at the end of production run because you you committed to a certain batch but but didn't need all of the product, all of those things obviously play into that sustainability argument as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Yeah, brilliant. And and um so it's an exciting space, and there's a lot going on in it, and it it seems to have, like I say, re-risen to the top of the agenda.

Metpack Updates And New Ink Chemistry

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Well, not far off, I believe you're gonna be at Metpack, right? Um, in particular, Phil. Any anything you might want to share regarding what Sun may be doing at MetPak or any thoughts about what might we might discover at Metpack from the general kind of event experience in terms of trends and developments?

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Um, yeah, well, Sun's got a stand at Metpack, of course. Um, most of it is for our conventional business, um, but we have digital solutions there. We we could have the last iteration of Metpack as well. Um so we've got a few OEM partners demonstrating um digital print equipment with our inks in um at the show. Most of that's UV, um, but we're also going to be talking about some of our recently developed Aqueous solutions for metal decoration. It's not really launched yet. I mean, I think we've discussed it a little bit in some articles, and but it's really something that you want to start talking to with um ultimately brand owners and OEMs. Um and really the need for that is not just from the you know the getting close to fleet packaging. Obviously, there's so many benefits of having Aqueus technology, but it's really trying to fill in all the areas of um metal packaging that sometimes UV can't do. Um saying you know, you need to have the niches within the niches of of trying to find success in order for it to be successfully deployed. Um and UV is really good at what it does. I mean, you've got some low migration technology, obviously, there's a lot of food packaging requirements for metal. Um but the ink deposition layer of of of UV inkjet is you know much more than traditional offset, um, sometimes five or ten times the the film thickness versus a conventionally printed um metal article. Um but different can be good or bad. Um Obviously, uh you need to play to its strengths, and in in two-piece, UV and UV low migration works well, and you know, they can add structure and texture to the beverage cans, um, adding some matte and gloss elements, and these are all things that you can't do conventionally, so there's a real value add to this. Um, but then onto some of the three-piece applications, and particularly those drawn food tins that I mentioned before, like your your fish tins, for example. Um, you can't do that with UV. The the ink is literally too too thick and too soft, and you can't physically draw a printed flat sheet into a shaped article because the you know the ink just sort of basically squeeches out of the way. So it needs something that's thinner and it needs something that's harder and much more like the conventional um offset technology. So we've worked with um a resin supplier and got unique um resins developed and got exclusive rights to these. Uh, and effectively it's uh it's a cross-linking resin chemistry in the ink in conjunction with a reactive analog primer, and it does deliver what we wanted it to do. It's taken many years to get to this stage, so they're sort of thermally cross-linked, and then they become very hard and very thin, and they can be sort of bent and formed into the the cam shapes, much like they do with the offset. So, we're looking to really address that previously untapped niche within the metal deck market, trying to do something digitally that previously hasn't been done before. So, we're quite excited by this. It's very early days, but it's something we'd like to have discussions with OEMs and and brand owners as well, and trying to see really to try and flesh this up into something that is really really viable going forward. So we think now we've got pretty much all the pieces of digital technology required for any of the niche areas that are emerging, and even the ones that haven't yet emerged based on the the gaps that we saw, and we try and fill them with our digital technology. So we'll be quite pleased to talk to people about that as well. So UV for all applications, UV loan migration, and the emerging adoption of aqueous inks as well is it's very exciting.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Yeah, brilliant. It sounds uh both exciting in terms of what you're able to uh help with in terms of new potential for ink um in beverage cans and so on on it that um perfectly seems to be aligning with the consumer change in the market. So it's it's it feels like it's uh it's gonna be an exciting event and and an opportunity to learn a lot about the different different um technologies and uh perhaps perspectives at the event.

Final Thoughts And Closing

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Anything you might want to add, Simon, just as we kind of close, really?

SPEAKER_00 24:38

No, I think Phil's touched on it really well. I think what what we hope to provide now is is kind of a a solution within this market space where brands or or manufacturers of the of the packaging can be confident in terms of we're we're supporting their branding, brand evolution, supporting them with with with colour, the creativity, the ability to uh uh be agile and flexible um within their manufacturing processes to support any sustainability goals and to look at things like mitigating risk, as Phil mentioned, there's there's some processes that work really well with Inkjet, some that don't. We talk about UV and it's not just ink we're offering, it's it's primers, it's coatings, it's the full package to make sure that the product itself is compliant and it meets all of the needs of quite a demanding market space. And and so bringing those kind of elements together, if you like, is is really hopefully where we're positioning some chemical in the space and and and we look forward to having conversations and seeing the the market that's already growing kind of develop further and and and uh I think it's exciting times both in the directors shape and particularly in the metal decoration kind of arena for us.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Brilliant. Well, yeah, I'm looking forward to discovering more. So I appreciate you both joining us today. Um and uh yeah, wishing you a great Metpack and um continue with the um director shape revolution for metal decoration.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Thank you very much, Marcus Basel.