Designed as an alternative to traditional offset solutions, DMD incorporates twenty years of SACMI expertise in developing single-pass digital printers. Key advantages include outstandingly flexible production control and changeovers. The version showcased at the international Metpack fair will be combined with the exclusive ECLIPSIM DECO inspection system, the first such solution on the market

SACMI DMD is the digital alternative to metal sheet offset decoration. It is designed to streamline logistics while maximizing customization, small lot efficiency and environmental sustainability.

So how is all this achieved? Drawing on SACMI’s extensive know-how and experience in digital printing, the DMD (Digital Metal Decoration) single-pass digital printer is designed to decorate the metal sheets typically used to form containers for the industrial and food sectors.

Its key feature is digital decoration control, at output rates as high as 2,500 sheets/hour. This offers an effective response to the trend towards ever-smaller batches and the burgeoning demand for customization, delivering a flexibility that would be impossible with rigid ‘analogue’ decoration systems (which generally offer very high speeds but long changeover times).

Already a firm favorite with leading players just months after its launch, the SACMI solution on show at Metpack 2023 delivers an effective minimum resolution of 600 dpi, allowing for highly detailed decoration. And to allow special effects, the DMD printer comes complete with a digital channel dedicated to full-frame or selective coating. Incorporating all the usual SACMI design features, the DMD is the result of many years’ experience, gained from installing over 1000 machines worldwide: machines synonymous with reliability and guaranteed digital printing quality.

Key plus-points on the version at the fair include integration of the DMD with the ECLIPSIM DECO lithographed metal sheet inspection system, which was developed by the SACMI Rigid Packaging Computer Vision Division. Thanks to AI and the enhanced software/hardware system, ECLIPSIM DECO runs accurate yet ultra-high-speed checks on the decorated sheet, detecting even the slightest deviations (tone-color, black specks, contamination and specific printing process defects).

With DMD and ECLIPSIM (the latter is also available with the exclusive new Classy AI interface), SACMI has developed the first complete solution on the market, one that offers exciting prospects in terms of sustainability. With installed electrical power about half that of an offset printing system and drastically simplified logistics (less warehouse stock, just-in-time production), this takes manufacturers another step closer to a true smart factory. Moreover, it highlights SACMI's role as a leading producer of dedicated, integrated vision systems for every single primary rigid packaging product/process.

Visit us at Metpack 2023 (2-6 May, Messe Essen), booth n. HALL1 1C28

Latest solution encapsulates the SACMI philosophy of building vision systems around customer needs. Modular, flexible, user-friendly solutions with zero risk of error and easy integration on existing lines.

SACMI provides the most complete range of metal vision systems on the market, delivering highly product-specific inspection solutions that, thanks to a shared software platform, are interoperable. What’s more, ‘intelligent’ Classy AI control now makes them revolutionary from an ease-of-use perspective.

 
The complete range.
Modular and flexible, fast and precise: SACMI has now enhanced all its systems in terms of both technology and scope. Alongside Eclipsim DecoDigital for the inspection of lithographed metal sheets - this year proposed in combination with the DMD digital decorator - SACMI provides a complete range of systems. These are designed to inspect the inside, outside and seams of food cans (iCan, CanCheck360), the interior and exterior of twist-off caps (DecoCap360 and LuggedCap360), and the decoration and necks of beverage cans (ELIOSCAN and iCan Beverage). Last but not least comes the all-in-one MetalSight solution.

The new MetalSight all-in-one platform
Designed around the customer’s needs, Metalsight encapsulates SACMI's approach to metal inspection vision systems. A highly modular structure means Metalsight users can easily switch from one can format to another or to lids and twist-offs simply by replacing the illuminator so it matches the desired format.

Fast, precise height adjustment. MetalSight has the key advantage of a motor-driven illuminator, allowing fast yet precise adjustment of the on-product illumination height controlled by the inspection recipe. The system increases inspection efficiency and reliability, prevents human error and ensures perfect repeatability of checks.

Simple and Compact. Metalsight also has the advantage of a compact, integrated all-in-one structure. All electronic components are housed in a single compartment mounted directly on the device, eliminating the need for an electrical cabinet and an external PC. Smart design minimizes the required factory floor space and streamlines system management and maintenance.

Beyond modularity. What does ‘modular’ actually mean... and what advantages does it bring? The ‘module’ architecture of the image capture system delivers greater flexibility during changeovers or when an additional inspection station is needed. In other words, the only modification relative to the specific product to be inspected concerns ‘image capture’: the mechanical framework and control panel remain exactly the same. Moreover, Metalsight replaces heavy, bulky, floor-mounted electrical panels and PCs units with small, light modules that can be integrated onto existing lines with ease.

The checks. MetalSight runs comprehensive checks on the product:

ü  Lugged caps: functional checks on internal panel (curl, lugs, liner and central panel); checks on external decoration (presence-absence of decoration, color plane registration errors, color variations, contamination, black specks, scratches, stains)

ü  Cans: flange, side wall, weld line and bottom inspection

ü  Lid: curl, compound, shoulder and central panel inspection

ü  Easy Open lids: presence and position of tab, rivet defects, presence of post-repair coating, shoulder and panel inspection.

Visit us at Metpack 2023 (May 2.6, Messe Essen), hall 1, stand 1C28

Modular, flexible and user-friendly, with zero risk of error and easy integration on existing lines.

SACMI provides the most comprehensive range of metal vision systems on the market, delivering highly product-specific inspection solutions that, thanks to a shared software platform, are interoperable. What’s more, ‘intelligent’ Classy AI control now makes them revolutionary from an ease-of-use perspective.

 
The complete range.
Modular and flexible, fast and precise: SACMI has now enhanced all its systems in terms of both technology and scope. Alongside Eclipsim DecoDigital for the inspection of lithographed metal sheets - this year proposed in combination with the DMD digital decorator - SACMI provides a complete range of systems designed to inspect the inside, outside and seams of food cans (iCan, CanCheck360), the interior and exterior of twist-off caps (DecoCap360 and LuggedCap360), plus the decoration and necks on beverage cans (ELIOSCAN and iCan Beverage). And last but not least comes the all-in-one MetalSight solution.

Brain Unit, Power Unit
The new vision systems showcased at the fair feature a new electrical panel architecture; the previous heavy, bulky single panel has now been replaced with two modules called the Power Unit and the Brain Unit. Small and light, these can easily be placed underneath the production line without taking up additional floor space.

 
A specific solution for each product line
Metpack visitors will have the opportunity to see a range of inspection modules, each dedicated to a specific product line.

ü  Twist off line: DecoCap360 and LuggedCap360. In the twist off configuration the system allows functional checks on the internal panel (curling, lugs, liner and central panel) and on external decoration (presence-absence of decoration, color plane registration errors, color variations, contamination, black specks, scratches, stains). Additionally, the system can inspect both internal and external side walls.

ü  Food cans: MetalSight, CanCheck360. Flange, side wall and bottom inspection. With the standard checks performed by Metalsight, the main advantage is of the system is the motor-powered height adjustment of the illuminator (to match the container being inspected): this adjustment drive is controlled by the inspection recipe. To inspect external decoration or perform the new check on the seam that attaches the bottom to the walls, SACMI provides CanCheck360. Alternatively, CanCheck360 can be configured to inspect the decoration, whether lithograph or label.

o   Further checks?

ü  Lid lines: MetalSight. Curling, compound, shoulder and panel checks. On lid lines, MetalSight provides the key advantage of motor-powered illuminator height adjustment: this let you raise the Checkpoint to perform cleaning tasks and then restore the correct working position. All-in-one architecture means there is no longer an external electrical panel. Flexible configuration means MetalSight can easily be adapted to inspect lids with tabs, with membranes or formats such as 1/4 club, oval and so on. Thanks to the UV illumination module and Double Shot camera, MetalSight can also inspect post-repair coatings on easy open lids.

o   Further checks?

ü  Can lines: ELIOSCAN and iCan. Moving on to can lines, SACMI ELIOSCAN continues to be the leading external decoration inspection system while iCan remains the optimal solution for inspecting the inside and the neck, the critical can ‘mouth’ section.

Note that all solutions are available with the new Classy AI tool: this uses AI to promptly classify defects and provides the operator with the relative information via a user-friendly dashboard.

Visit us at Metpack 2023 (May 2-6, Messe Essen), hall 1, stand 1C28

ECLIPSIM DECO: guaranteed (and integrated) total quality

An ultra-high-speed and precision inspection solution, designed for use downstream from the new DMD digital decorator. The result: an integrated ecosystem for the manufacture and quality control of metal sheets used to package food, beverage and other products

The SACMI-developed ECLIPSIM DECO is designed to inspect lithographed metal sheets. Powerful and precise, it can inspect up to 7,000 sheets (as large as 1,200 mm) per hour and identify any type of defect with a precision of approximately 0.1 millimeters.

How it works. ECLIPSIM DECO – and ECLIPSIM COAT for coated metal sheets – is a powerful inspection system equipped with a linear color camera. The latter ‘photographs’ each transiting sheet, ensuring detection of even minimal defects, whether global (absence of color, color variation, color misalignment or incorrect lithography squaring with the sheet edge) or localized (ring marks, scratches, smudges, ink contamination, etc.).

Following the principles of colorimetric science, ECLIPSIM DECO analyses the color in the LAB area and can measure color deviations on the basis of the ∆E parameter. Using a complex lighting system designed to work with both gloss and matt finishes, ECLIPSIM DECO thus eliminates any distortion caused by varying surface reflectiveness.

Thanks to heavier-duty hardware and the next-gen CVS (Computer Vision Software), the system ensures outstanding performance and reliability.

The new Classy-AI interface. As of today, like all SACMI Computer Vision systems, ECLIPSIM DECO is also available with the new Classy-AI interface. Using Artificial Intelligence, it instantly classifies any defects and warns the operator via a user-friendly dashboard. This revolutionizes line management as it provides valuable information on the origin of any defects and their trends during production.

Integration with the decorating machine. Visitors to Metpack can look forward to seeing an integrated version, installed downstream from the new SACMI DMD digital decorator for metal sheets. Together, they form a complete ‘ecosystem’ - the first of its kind on the market - for the manufacture and all-round quality control of the sheets used to make metal packaging for food, beverage and other products.

The complete range. SACMI fields a comprehensive range of metal packaging inspection solutions. These include systems for food can interiors, exteriors and crimping (iCan, CanCheck360), for the inside and outside of twist-off caps (DecoCap360 and LuggedCap360), can decoration and interiors (ELIOSCAN and iCan Beverage) and the all-in-one METALSIGHT metal lid inspection system. Together with ECLIPSIM DECO, they provide levels of synergy and innovation that enable manufacturers to keep pace with fast-changing markets.

The result is the most complete range on the market, delivering highly product-specific inspection solutions that, thanks to a shared software platform, are interoperable. What’s more, ‘intelligent’ Classy AI control now makes then revolutionary from an ease-of-use perspective.

Visit us at Metpack 2023 (May 2-6, Messe Essen), HALL 1 _1C28