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Dec 2022

New Business and Compressed Air!

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In 2019, one of our representatives from the Trois-Rivières region in Quebec met an entrepreneur who would start a new business, Solucan.

This entrepreneur and his business partner wanted to start labeling cans. They launched the company Solucan, an identification company for beverage cans. Solucan describes itself as the first company in North America to offer the canned beverage industry a complete UV-FREE digital printing solution for flexible quantities. Solucan’s customers are offered prints with infinite customization possibilities, quickly modular orders, images of extraordinary precision, in a factory at the cutting edge of technology, where robotization and automation allow competitive operating costs.

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The aluminum canned beverage market is booming and they wanted to offer an innovative labeling solution: laser engraving rather than printing with colored inks on the can. Laser engraving on the aluminum container is an innovative process since it eliminates any risk of toxic contamination linked to the use of inks in the printing process. In food manufacturing, reducing risk with potential contaminants is vital. The other problem with traditional printing is that this process requires astronomical quantities to be used, i.e. more than 175,000 items of the same SKU/SKU.

To serve the market well, Solucan management has found a way to offer environmentally compliant cans in small quantities. The entrepreneurs acquired the laser engraving machine through Tonejet, a supplier located in Europe. This unique and innovative machine was the first sold in North America.

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Once established in their new building and this important equipment delivered, a compressed air network had to be installed. This is when the entrepreneurs contacted the Comairco team.

Our team helped them design an air network for their production and properly assess the compressors required to adequately meet demand.

Like arguably all new businesses, cost management was an important factor in equipment selection. Thus, in order to keep costs low, our team was able to find among our large inventory of used compressors, a Sullair compressor model S-Energy 1809e. This used model, in inventory, in excellent condition and with only one year of use, proved to be a perfect solution for this start-up business. An air dryer and a tank have been added to complete the set. Comairco also designed the entire plan of the air and ventilation network for the compressors, then a partner team installed it. Production began and quickly proved to be very profitable.

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The company had the wind in its sails! A year later, in 2020, sales were ten times more than estimated and we were already considering an expansion! The Comairco team was once again contacted to analyze the new compressed air needs of the future production line. Following the analyses, it was agreed that the current compressor was sufficient to support the future production demand. A new air network plan has been developed with our team.

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The business relationship between the customer and Comairco is therefore well established. He knows where to call when they have questions about their compressed air system. Once the compressed air network has been put into operation, our service team also takes care of the annual maintenance of the compressor, ensuring that it operates optimally. This allows entrepreneurs to fully focus on their production and business growth.

The future of this company is promising; the strong demand for this “greener” labeling solution is already making them consider expanding to the United States! If their plan materializes, they can count on the expertise of Comairco to support them in this important phase of their development; Comairco also has several branches in the northeast of the United States!

If you too are starting a business and looking for the ideal partner for your compressed air needs, contact the Comairco team, we are the solution!

To learn more about Solucan:

https://solucan.ca/

Technical service

Atlantic Compressed Air, a division of Comairco, offers an emergency and repair service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our technicians are available around the clock to perform maintenance or repairs on your compressed air equipment.

Find out more Camion Atlantic Compressed Air