SuperEnd debuted on Pepsi containers last year. Post-packaging pasteurization makes beer a more demanding application, and Labatt Interbrew North America became the first brewery to use SuperEnd when it converted packaging lines at six North American plants. More than 70 filling lines worldwide now are applying the ends.
End diameters for soft drinks and beer have steadily shrunk over the years, but each reduction entailed significant costs to retool fillers to handle the smaller size. Seamer wear parts such as chucks, rolls, knockout pads and cap pushers have to be replaced for SuperEnd, but the same high-cone machines that handle 202 ends can handle them. Each of Labatt’s five Canadian and one U.S. plant managed the SuperEnd conversion in one weekend.