Refurbishment

More and more companies are turning to refurbishment of their canmaking machines and parts as a cost effective and efficient way of increasing the productivity of their lines. Our engineers work with the full range of CMB Engineering equipment, including some of our earliest models, as well as other manufacturers' machines. The scope of refurbishment can be tailored to suit your needs, with the end goal being to ensure every element is in optimal condition.

Using Refurbishment and Enhancement to Boost Productivity and Flexibility

As we age, routine physicals and check-ups with the doctor guide us toward treatments and supplements that we can take to keep our bodies going and improve our health.  Canmaking machines need care too, in order to keep them running healthily and to maximise return on the capital investment.  Can production technology is extremely robust and developed specifically to operate for decades, with no deterioration in operating efficiency, when regularly maintained.  A well-balanced regimen, including consistent maintenance and refurbishment, with a dose of enhancements and upgrades can extend machinery lifetime; ensuring optimum line performance and enhance speed and flexibility for output and efficiency gains.

Can manufacturers can enlist the advice of expert engineers to determine whether their machinery is in need of a refurbishment, or if upgrades are available.  As with human healthcare, prevention is always better than treatment; and can manufacturers know that implementing a preventative maintenance programmes will ensure their machines are always at their best.

Time for a Refurb?

Can manufacturers worldwide are striving to maximise production throughput while maintaining can quality, and keeping an eye on the bottom line.  More and more companies are turning to refurbishment of their machines and parts as a cost-effective and alternative way of maintaining the productivity of their lines.  The scope of refurbishment, tailored to a specific plant, line or machine with the end goal being to ensure every element is in the best possible condition; enabling the production of the highest quality product.  Refurbishments can vary from full machine rebuilds to specific component overhauls.  It is important however, to plan properly and implement such refurbishments to minimise disruption and downtime.

Something Old, Something New

Canmakers know that they need to be on their toes to provide packaging that meets ever-changing industry demands however, this does not necessarily require replacing an entire machine or line; it is possible to achieve a number of alterations or improvements through the enhancement or upgrade of existing equipment.  There are a number of key trends affecting the canmaking industry which can be met with equipment upgrades and enhancements; for example, with changing consumer needs and brand owner demands for increased product differentiation, new can sizes and shapes are becoming more popular globally.  In North America particularly, differentiation is a key concern.  This is  leading to a growing number of manufacturers focussing upon upgrading their equipment, in order to produce cans that stand out from the competition.

Meanwhile in Asia, raw material costs are a major concern, thus leading regional can manufacturers to frequently request conversion of their equipment to produce lighter-weight cans. In some instances, upgrading canmaking machinery with new features is an effective way of adapting production lines to these shifting conditions.  This can include the addition of components, such as an Internal Base Reforming (IBR) Unit, which further strengthens the dome of the can base.  An IBR allows the use of thinner coil stock to reduce the weight of cans, enabling manufacturers to use less material and minimise cost without affecting packaging integrity.

Seek Advice

Before a refurbishment or upgrade decision is made, it is important for manufacturers to assess the needs of their market and to discuss these with their equipment suppliers. This will determine how best to adapt their canmaking lines.  For ideal outcomes, suppliers should have engineering experts who can travel to customers’ manufacturing facilities to identify how to optimise production line performance, and minimise operating costs.  As well as guidance regarding the latest innovations to upgrade machinery, these engineers can also audit machinery to identify which, if any, components require additional maintenance or refurbishment to ensure optimal productivity.

To keep their machines healthy over the long-term, can manufacturers, in consultation with their machinery suppliers, should devise a maintenance and equipment auditing regimen.  Audits are designed to identify components such as rams, bearings and bushes that may need replacing to maintain product quality.  Many canmaking machines have been designed to allow the quick and efficient replacement of existing components with new parts to minimise downtime.  Manufacturers should be sure to enlist the assistance of their equipment suppliers to calculate the total cost of ownership of existing refurbished or updated machinery, in comparison with investment in new machinery, to make an informed decision.

Canmakers and their Machines: A lifelong Partnership

Well-maintained, productive can manufacturing equipment is critical to the success of a canmaking operation; and there are number of ways to bring the best out of their machinery.  In the same way that regular health checks can identify potential problems, providing insight into possible improvements and preventing bigger issues in the long term; regular maintenance and refurbishment can be a cost-effective solution that provides the manufacturer with higher efficiency and extended equipment life.  In addition, upgrading or enhancing existing machinery with new components can help canmakers meet the changing demands of their customers.  With the right care, provided by trusted experts, and the option of prescribing a little something extra when needs change, canmaking machinery will live longer, adapt where possible, and help manufacturers to prosper.

The priority is to keep downtime to a minimum

We work closely with customers to ensure you are getting the most out of your machines, and that each part is working efficiently for as long as possible.  Many components in your machinery can be successfully refurbished and reworked, and then returned to you fully refurbished, at a lower cost than buying a new part Die Set.  With our highly experienced engineers, you can extend the life of components from the full range of machinery, produced by CMB Engineering.

We thoroughly inspect parts, on arrival at our Shipley headquarters, in order to identify the exact needs of each individual component, and inform our customer of the work required, cost and expected delivery times.  Once approved, we issue the parts and dispatch the improved components to the customer as quickly as possible.

Components for refurbishment or reworking include:

  • Clutches and Brakes
  • Bodymaker Crankshafts
  • Quills
  • Main Bearings
  • Primary Connecting Rods
  • Guides
  • Primary and Secondary Housings
  • Front Hold Down Front Pistons
  • Air Spring Housing
  • Beader Carrier End Plates
  • Yoke Slides
  • Jackshaft
  • Pushrod
  • Beading Rails

Upgrade your existing Bodymakers

We can upgrade your existing Bodymakers so you can benefit from the technological improvements seen on the latest 5000 Bodymakers.  Moving from distributed pneumatic pressure switches and solenoids to a purpose designed and built Beeland Block system, which incorporates all equipment in one compact housing, offers the following benefits:

  • Incorporates fewer connections, leading to fewer leakage points.
  • All components are surface mounted providing the ability to remove components without having to remove piping and fittings.
  • The block itself is screen printed to allow for component identity along with the CMB Engineering part number for easy identification and replacement.
  • Can include the removal of all on-board mounted hydraulic components to the new power pack, freeing up space on the machine for ease of maintenance and access for changing filters and other components.
  • The power pack incorporates its own clean sump, heaters (having been removed from the Bodymaker sump), double pump conversion and large capacity secondary filter, water removal filters and heaters as well as the heat exchanger.

Further enhancements available from the refurbishment of your Bodymakers include an advanced design incorporating the tilted toolpack.  This provides easier access for the removal of tooling, combined with the advantage of having positive hydraulic clamping of the dies, due to the way the coolant is supplied to the toolpack area.

To find out about other possible improvements to your Bodymakers; or to discuss your refurbishment needs in more detail, contact our expert Engineering team.

We can rebuild and update your Trimmers

The machine rebuild includes a complete strip down, clean, inspection and re-paint, and as part of the refurbishment package we will replace all bearings, seals, ‘O’ rings and gaskets as well as overhaul parts.  Any worn or damaged parts that are found during inspection will also be replaced.

Rebuilding your trimmers also facilitates the inclusion of any upgrades from the manufacturer that have been developed since the time of original build.  These can include improved guard packages and revised discharge guide layouts.

Refurbishment is also an opportunity to implement enhancements that can improve performance and efficiency.  For example, the replacement of micro switches (on the belt brake, infeed jam and discharge jam) with sensors, to provide better detection and common stock holding across machines.

With increased demand for greater variety in can sizes, we also offer conversions from standard to multi-can height machines.  This involves changing the machine base and the main shaft of the machine for larger versions to enable this increase in flexibility.

Our expert team can refurbish a range of Rotary Machines from the CMB Engineering back catalogue to ensure these machines continue to run at their best.  Refurbishment can be undertaken on site at your plant, or at our headquarters in Shipley.  We offer refurbishment packages for 160, 210 and 240 machines, with the option of either one, three or six year overhaul packages available.

Refurbish and Enhance your Die Sets

The CMB Engineering procedure for refurbishing die sets is designed to provide a comprehensive overhaul in as short a timeframe as possible, to ensure minimal downtime for our customers.  To begin with, our refurbishment team establishes the Die Set type and manufacturer, providing a quote for the standard package of replacement components along with any additional parts identified as needing to be replaced or enhanced.  Upon delivery to our headquarters in Shipley, UK, the Die Set is cleaned, stripped down and audited, and our team will consult with you on any additional work or time required to get the Die Set back to optimum working condition.

Following the agreed refurbishment and any additional enhancements specified, the completed Die Set is commissioned in order to ensure it is achieving the correct cutting performance before dispatch.  Our customers are always welcome to attend this testing stage to ensure complete satisfaction with the end result, before the Die Set is sent back.  Each refurbished Die Set is supplied with full documentation including an audit report and a paper cut, as a detailed record of the work that has been completed.