In Merriam Webster’s dictionary, “mettle” means tenacity, courage or doing one’s best to resist opposition. Today’s packaging equipment suppliers are “proving their mettle” with machinery that fosters the hygienic canning and seaming of a diverse range of premium products with flexibility and shortened changeover times.
Barry Fenske, technical sales for the filling division at Krones Inc., notes that the diversity of cans in the market — slim and sleek cans, 7.5-ounce mini cans for carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) and multi-pack variety packs — have not impacted its Franklin, Wis.-based operations, but he points out that fillers that run one SKU at a time provide the best efficiency.