Process innovations developed by Ball’s engineering and manufacturing teams have enriched customers’ abilities to ensure fresh and consistent taste in their product lines, ultimately mitigating and eliminating manufacturing-induced taste factors. Product innovations developed by Ball’s marketing teams have further distinguished customers’ brands by providing innovative, functional, and eye-catching containers for their products.

Ball’s innovation centers – in the United States and Germany – are ideally equipped to meet these customer needs by sharpening the focus of innovation efforts, maximizing efficiency and accelerating the pace of package development.

The Edmund F. Ball Technology & Innovation Center (BTIC) in Westminster, Colo., was originally dedicated in 1985, remodeled in 1997 and expanded in 2004 to accommodate the company’s metal and plastic packaging research labs and offices. The 73,000-square-foot facility centralizes our metal can product development services, offering the full strength of Ball’s innovation, engineering and research capabilities in one location. The new center allows us to integrate our new product development initiatives as well as support continuing technology advancements in existing processes and products.

The facility contains manufacturing lines dedicated to plastics and metals. A nearby three-dimensional printer punches out package prototypes of concepts, usually within a day, while an on-site production line mimics manufacturing and filling to see how containers perform.

Additional technology and innovation resources at the center include:

• Package design and rendering capabilities
• Environmental Room for testing products in the varying temperatures and humidities encountered in transport and regional sales
• A Failure Analysis team of forensic packaging experts to investigate consumer issues regarding packaging and product and identify root causes