How it’s made: Packaging

How it’s made: Packaging 
I found that these six videos are incredibly as a student of industrial design because it shows an insight in the manufacturing side of materials that are used for  packaging, and gives designers an idea as to what kind of technology there is existing within these industries.

How it’s made: Aluminium Cans- hydrofluoric acid washes that they use to clean the cans, and the de-ionised water rinses. The different protective coatings are applied/ sprayed on the aluminium cans, both several layers inside and outside to prevent them from rotting due to the carbonated drinks-this I found was an interesting aspect of the aluminium-can making process. An advantage of aluminium cans is that they can be recycled continuously, an infinite amount of times, thus cutting out the step of mining and refinement of virgin aluminium.

How it’s made: Cardboard boxes- were invented through by accident through Robert Geers the basic structure of a corrugated board is a flute which is glued (glue: made out of water and starch so it does not contaminate food products) in between two flat sheets. These may vary in size and shape depending on what the box’s purpose. Recycled paper is used in the making process as it is not only more efficient and environmentally friendly but it is more malleable that ordinary paper.  The cut offs from the box’s net are sent back to the paper mill to be recycled and can be re-used six times over- I found this useful in sustaining and reducing the amount of materials used.

How it’s made: Glass Bottles- Glass can be made from completely natural materials that are abundant and also that glass is 100% recyclable (recycled glass is called collete) and making glass uses less energy when compared with plastic or metal--This I found, was an advatage over the other materials in the production method.  It is made with multiple raw materials such as limestone, silicastan and soda-ash. After the blow moulding process, the glass bottles are passed through a flaming belt, this process is conducted to prevent glass from shattering due to thermal shock, so they take longer to cool down--this was an interesting process in glass making.

How it’s made: Packaging Tubes- it is made through pieces of slug, the size of a 20c coin. It is mixed with a lubricant. It is compressed and sealed through rolls. Epoxy lacquer protective barrier between the aluminium and the content that will be in the tubes. this part made the packaging tubes more interesting and useful to my knowledge in future, if I ever needed to create tube packaging. It is then painted and dried for 7minutes. Another machine is used to screw the cap on the tubes and is checked by a worker for any flawed tubes (1 out of 500 are flawed).

How it’s made: Tetra Paks- these containers are lightweight and eco-friendly and can be kept for a year without it going bad.--the long-life materials is an advantage to many products used today. tetra pak containers are entirely recyclable even with the multiple layers inside such as: the plastic layer, the paper board and the foil with sometimes the plastic coating –which makes it leak proof. The first step of making them is printing then is applied on the cylinder printing press and can hold up to 6 colours, having able to print within minutes. It is then laminated to join the other materials together. The excess material is trimmed off, where another process is used to fold and store the content then delivered to market.

How it’s made: Plastic Bottles and Jars-   these are becoming increasingly more common as they are lightweight, cheap and easy to carry. I found this video, very interesting and one of the most useful ones as it is widely used in todays consumerist world.  Made from PET pallets and recycled PET, however for hygienic purposes, the recycled plastics are not used to make food content plastic bottles, only the left over plastic from the machines are used. The pallets are melted in a 600degrees Fahrenheit injection mould and cooled instantly by another machine—this makes the production process more efficient. The pre-form is taken to another machine to be blown moulding which creates 10000 bottles per hour. It later gets evaluated for compression pressure, durability and resistance.