In recent months, Noah’s Spring Water, Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer and Sixpoint Brewery also have added the DSG closure product to their packaging mix.
“We see tremendous opportunity for significant future growth with our Cap Can technology in beverage and food,” said Vicki Bachmann, marketing manager for DSG, a design, engineering and manufacturing company headquartered at 3003 South Tech Blvd. in Miamisburg.
Since its introduction in 2007, the number of DSG Cap Cans on the market has grown from 17.5 million to 220 million annually, she said.
DSG developed the Cap Can concept, including the forming process and equipment technology to manufacture the closure assembly, to allow can-makers to compete with resealable plastic bottles.
“Our idea was to come up with a reclosable can that would match up next to the plastic bottle and try to keep market share,” Bachmann said.
The technology helps aluminum and steel container manufacturers streamline production, reduce material costs and preserve investments in their existing can-making facilities by retrofitting the DSG system into their production line, she said.
For consumers, the Cap Can container is shatterproof and often allowed in many places where glass is not. It also is 100 percent recyclable, with recycled cans landing back on store shelves in as little as 60 days, making it more environmentally sustainable than plastic containers.
“Then you have the added benefit of being able to open it easily, reclose it and reseal it for later use, similar to what is offered in a plastic bottle,” Bachmann said. Cans also chill quicker and stay cold longer than plastic, she said.
DSG’s Cap Can differs from continuous-thread closures on bottles and cans because of its use of lug threads on a “dome” that marry with a cap, which makes it easy to open and close with a quarter-turn.
DSG collaborated with Actega, a German company, to develop the patented seal liner and seal lining process, which has allowed DSG to pursue new beverage categories such as beer and dairy products.
The DSG system permanently attaches a plastic seal liner to the product side of the cap, making it suitable for pasteurization, as well as hot or cold fill beverages. The seal liner also helps the container maintain freshness and be spill-proof when closed, Bachmann said.
Last year, the Rexam Monster Energy Drink beverage can using DSG’s Cap Can technology took first place in the Two-Piece Beverage category at the Canmaker Summit Cans of the Year Awards in Hong Kong.
DSG was started in 1992 by Henry “Hank” Bachmann, former president of Dayton Reliable Tool and Manufacturing Co. The latter firm, founded by the late Ermal “Ernie” Fraze, gave the world the pop-top beverage can. Hank’s son Brad Bachmann, Vicki’s husband, is now DSG’s president.
Vicki Bachmann declined to disclose annual revenues for the family-owned company, which employs about 20 workers.
DSG manufactures the closure systems for can-making companies in the U.S. and Latin America.
Bachmann said the recently added product lines are the result of coordinated efforts with Rexam PLC, a London, England-based company that is the primary manufacturer of the DSG Cap Can package. Rexam is the No. 2 beverage can maker in the U.S., with 14 can plants and two end plants across the nation, in addition to a plant in Mexico, according to the company’s website.
In a statement announcing the addition of Noah’s Spring Water, Rexam Beverage Can North America President Claude Marbach said the Cap Can “combines re-sealability with superior recyclability, making it the ideal choice for those looking for an alternative to traditional bottled water.”
California-based Noah’s Water already is planning to expand its use of Cap Cans into other flavors, in part because of an effort to ban bottled water in its home state, Bachmann said. Other states are looking to follow suit, “so we see a lot of opportunity with Cap Can and water in the future,” she said.
Currently, DSG is working to introduce a food can with reclosability and resealability features, as well as an aluminum bottle that uses the Cap Can technology. Last year, the food can design was honored at the Cans of the Year Awards with a bronze award in the Prototype category.
“We are continuing to work with food branding companies and with food can manufacturers to promote the use of this can, and certainly that award helped move it along,” Bachmann said.
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