Plastic cap closures for 750ml and 1000 ml in general are categories as T47 and T59 respectively depending upon the height of closure.T47 has the height of 47mm and T59 has the height of 59mm.
At the initial phase of launch in India T47 was much prevalent and T59 was rarely in demand. The basic NRV (Non Refillable Valve) remain same for both the variants. There is only change in body tube height. The assembly line was adjusted according to the height of either of 2 variants. The other components like over cap and NRV remain same for both the components.
To increase the demand of T59 at initial phase the prices were same for both the variants. This helped to utilize the capacity and mold of T59.Gradually the demand for T59 showed increased usage as the bottle with long caps has added value to the brand image.
The printing used in both the variants are Screen printing with better print quality and larger fonts. There are options for 2-3 colors combinations depending upon customer requirement. It is always advisable to prefer direct printing in T47 or T59 as compared to nip caps where reverse printing is encouraged. In India market we have only 2 types of variants in T47 and T59.Fabrizio Closures give twist open option whereas the all the other companies gives clockwise opening as most preferred option. Recently some company has introduced Tamper Evident closures with tear off as in case of nip caps. This can be seen as perception that company is giving additional protection to the closures T49 or T59.If we talk about Guala Closures or Torrent Closures both the companies has Tamper Evident ring which do get broken while cap is opened and is much difficult to reconstitute again for counterfieting.If we consider the twist opening there is little flaws that the joints can be glued or fixed to make it difficult to recognize if the closure was opened.
The advantage of Fabrizio Closures T47 or T58 is that it has additional protection against the pull out. There is additional layer of plastic inside the body tube which give additional advantage against pull out and leakages. It is hard to find any leakage or pull out problem in Fabrizio Closures. The other additional advantage is that Fabrizio Closures has larger body tube area which gives additional area to print the text matter. The visibility of brand do increase on the shelf.The disadvantage could be for customer who prefer combination of body tube and over cap in 2 color. In such case the body tube can be of different color from over cap. For example one can take black body tube with gold printing and over cap in gold to make the brand look more premium.
Hot foiling is more preferred in T47 and T59 as the surface area is more and strength of plastic is high as compared to nip caps. Brands can add value by preferring hot foiling with additional over cap to make it much distinct among the other brands. Printing cannot replace the hot foiling effect. Foils has its own advantage with its glow and shine to make the brand more acceptable.
NRV is most important component of T47 and T59.The over cap ribs and NRV ribs should synchronize to lock the closure completely without any gaps. The failure of this may lead to leakage and breaking of tamper evident ring. The critical junction between the tip of the closure should lock with the over cap so that over cap pull out is not possible. In general NRV consist of 3 or more components depending upon the pouring ease and locking to discourage the counterfeiting of liquor in hotels or pub. In general a NRV has upper body lower washer and a ball or plastic cone to enhance the locking to prevent the overflow even is bottle is kept tilted or inverted.
My much shocking experience was the NRV of AGI closures which was of single component with a ball as a stopper. If I have to analyze it is one of the best NRV design available in Indian market. I am no one to comment on the cap design and market acceptable. It do depend on customer to customer and market to market.
The basic trend has changed from combination of HDPE, LDPE, PS and polycarbonate to single use of HDPE for all the components in T47 and T59.The glass or plastic ball can be out sourced to save the time and machine cost. The plastic spindle used inside of ball has shape which can go down the the edge and lock the pourer completely. It is sometime advisable to outsource the NRV as Torrent procure from Spain and sometime back Guala also procured from different sources. The basic assembly of NRV is done separately before it go for final assembly.
In final assembly there are three components which involve Body Tube, NRV and Over Cap.They all are assembled together and high profile cameras are installed to check whether NRV is properly placed and no variants goes to customer without the NRV. The cutting or slitting is other delicate area which require inner cutting and outer slitting which leads to complete opening of overcap.
In some case the slitting provision is managed in molding itself. The best example for this type of closure is Axiom Closure. Axiom Closures has in build slitting which allows the overcap to open with slight twist and a band appears on opening which clearly indicates the bottle is already used or counterfeited.
Top embossing of company logo and text matter also give unique look to the overall packaging of brands.Composite caps are going to take up India market in future with multiple options as shown in picture below:
In short there are lot of choices permutation and combination that can be worked out in T47 and T59 which can give much better advanatage in making brand premium.
Mr. Ravi Shanker Pandey is currently working as General Manager in Ravi Enterprises (Star Closures).
He has 18 years of fruitful experience with small, medium and multinational companies in B2B, Direct Marketing and Distribution Network during the course of his assignment with companies. He has worked successfully in the Pharmaceuticals, Water Purifier, Dairy and Plastic Caps and Closures during the course of his carrier. He has successfully launched Ranbaxy in Urology, HUL in Water Purifier,TRU Milk in Dairy Industry, Alisha Torrent Closures in Plastic Caps and Closures.
He is working for last 5 years in Plastic Caps and Closures and successfully launched Torrent Closures and Star Closures. Alisha Torrent Closures has now production capacity of 80 million caps per month and is ranked 2nd after Guala Closures. Star Closures was initiated from scratch and within 3 year Star Closure is ranked 5th in market with a minimum machines and maximum output. Company is on expansion mode and coming year will launch T47 and T59 closures.
