Cyclone C4+ with Tonejet Can Primer digital decoration system installed at Solucan.

New Cyclone C4+ featuring new Tonejet Can Primer system, installed to meet increased demand for no minimum order can printing in both 12 and 16oz formats 

Tonejet, manufacturer of advanced electro-static drop-on-demand inkjet digital print engines, today announces the installation of a new Cyclone C4+ with Tonejet Can Primer digital decoration system at Solucan in North America.

As the world’s first customer for Tonejet’s Cyclone C4 direct-to-pack digital beverage can printer, in 2019, the Quebec can printing specialist revolutionised the Canadian market for production of high quality, cost effective can printing with no minimum run length. The addition of the new Tonejet Cyclone C4+, used for decoration of can formats up to 16oz (500ml), will support huge demand from local craft brewers and beverage producers for 100% recyclable direct printed cans in short runs. Solucan’s second-generation Cyclone also includes a host of new features including a new bright white-primer providing stand out colour contrast on either brite or white blank cans. Unlike competing UV inkjet systems, Tonejet’s equipment prints onto cans from any source without any pre-cleaning or other treatment being required.

Sebastien Baril, President at Solucan, comments: “Market reaction to our Tonejet technology has been phenomenal. Customers routinely tell us how affordable and sustainable it is to produce cans in short runs, featuring stunning print quality and full personalised/variable data. This technology is - transforming their businesses and driving growth.”

“The second Tonejet production line has provided everything we were looking for – can format flexibility as well as the ability to increase our overall capacity. Added to which, the new bright-white primer has been revolutionary. With recent shortages of white blanks, the new primer enables us to produce our own within the Cyclone system itself, eliminating the time and costs associated with sourcing and cleaning cans. A second machine also means that production can continue on both 12oz and 16oz formats simultaneously,” said Sebastien Baril.

Utilising a longer variant of Tonejet’s unique electrostatic printhead, the Cyclone C4+ has been upgraded with a new user interface, simplified ink refills and active adaptable can handling to permit rapid changeovers in a variety of can sizes. Equipped with the Tonejet Can Primer digital decoration system - a new bright white-primer - Solucan can now offer customers high contrast images with brighter whites and stand out colours in a range of can sizes.

Rob Day, CEO at Tonejet said: “We are so pleased to have the new Cyclone C4+ at Solucan, and to see their business continue to grow in both volume and variety. The upgrades provided with our new Cyclone C4+ enable Sebastien and his team to produce top quality cans in 12 and 16oz formats simultaneously, increasing efficiency and productivity – truly game changing. We believe that the Cyclone system is the future of can printing, and we are excited to see how it will transform the beverage industry in years to come.”