Crown Holdings
 | |
| Type | Public (NYSE: CCK) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Packaging |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Key people | John W. Conway, Chairman of the board and CEO, Timothy J. Donahue, President and COO, Thomas A. Kelly SVP and CFO |
| Products | Aerosol Packaging, Beverage Packaging, Food Packaging, Metal Closures, and Speciality Packaging |
| Revenue |
 US$8.5B (FY 2012)[1] |
| Operating income |
US$826M (FY 2010)[2] |
| Net income |
US$658M (FY 2012)[1] |
| Total assets | US$7.5B (FY 2012)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 123M (FY 2012)[1] |
| Employees | 21,900 |
| Website | www.crowncork.com |
Crown Holdings Incorporated, formerly Crown Cork & Seal Company, is an American company that makes metal beverage and food cans, metal aerosol containers, metal closures and speciality packing. Founded in 1892, it is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has 149 plants around the world.[3] As of December 2012, Crown is present in 41 counties and employs 21,900 people.[3] It claims to manufacture one out of every five beverage cans used in the world, and one out of every three food cans used in North America and Europe. The company is ranked No. 296 in Fortune 500 list for 2012 and is number one in the packaging and container industry for the same list.[4]
Company history
William Painter, an American of British descent, invented the crown cap for bottled carbonated beverages in 1891, and obtained patents 468.226 and 468.258 for it on February 2, 1892. He founded his own manufacturing business, the Crown Cork and Seal Company, in Baltimore and set out on a campaign to convince bottlers that his cap was the right cap for them to use on their products. By 1898, he had created a foot-powered crowner device to sell to bottlers and retailers so that they could seal the bottles with his caps quickly and easily. This helped to drive acceptance of his bottle caps rather quickly around the world. By 1906, Crown had opened manufacturing plants in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. To address market changes after World War I and prohibition Crown then focused heavily on soft drinks.
In 1927, after the merger with New Process Cork Company, Crown Cork and Seal Company, Inc. was established in New York City. Crown Cork International Corporation was established in the subsequent year in order to assist subsidiaries engaged in bottle crown and other cork business outside the United States.
By the 1930s Crown was selling half of the world’s supply of bottle caps. Crown entered the tin can business in 1936 with the purchase of the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia, which led to the creation of the Crowntainer; a funnel-shaped beer can, the following year.[5]
During World War II Crown launched war products such as the Kork-N-Seal, the Pour-N-Seal and the Merit Seal, as well as gas mask canisters. For the next decade the company further diversified its products.
John Connelly took over presidency of the company and moved the headquarters from Baltimore to Philadelphia in the late 1950s. Crown saw the potential of the soft drink market and began to invest in equipment to meet the needs of the producers.
On the year of the millennium, Crown launched the first major breakthrough technology for the beverage end in almost 20 years. The SuperEnd beverage can lid uses 10% less metal for the production of the beverage lids and led the way for the lightweighting of can lids.[6]
In 2003, Crown restructured as a public holding company. In 2005 and 2006 Crown exited the plastics industry with the sale of its Global plastic Closure business and the sale of Cosmetics packaging business respectively.[5]
In 2007 Crown launched the Easylift for food cans. The following year it introduced EarthSafe for aerosolpackaging. New technologies were launched in 2010 with Crown's 360 End and in 2011 with the Orbit closure.[5]
Regions served
- Americas Division: Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, and serves North, Central and South America, with 46 plants and 5,600 employees which produce aerosol, beverage, food and speciality packaging, as well as metal closures.[7]
- European Division: Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and serves Europe, Africa and the Middle East with 71 plants and 11,200 employees which produce aerosol, beverage, food and speciality packaging, as well as metal closures.[8]
- Asia Pacific Division: Headquartered in Singapore, and serves Asia Pacific with 32 plants, 4,300 employees with aerosol, beverage, and food packaging, as well as metalclosures.[9]
Businesses served
- Drinks: Aluminum and steel beverage cans, crowns, metal closures, promotional tabs, shaped containers and speaciality containers.[10]
- Food: Aerosol containers, easy-open ends, food containers, metal closures and speciality containers.[11]
- Health & Beauty: Aerosol containers, high-impact decoration and finishes and speciality containers.[12]
- Household & Industrial: Aerosol containers, high-impact decorations, shaped containers and speciality containers.[13]
Technologies
- SuperEnd: Launched in 2000, this beverage can lid uses 10% less metal in production than standard beverage can lids.[14]
- PeelSeam: Launched in 2001, this closure consists of a thin, flexible panel is heat-sealed to a ridged steel or aluminum ring used for food packaging.[15]
- Easylift: Launched in 2007, this closure was specifically designed to allow for more finger access under the tab of food cans, making them easier to open.[16]
- Pictoris: Launched in 2007, this high quality print has a separation technique and high resolution plates which allow for improved dot spacing creating high print reproduction of complex images such as fine text, faces and fruits.[17]
- EarthSafe: Launched in 2008, this aerosol dispensing system replaced hydrocarbons with compressed air as the propellant. Its valve technology allows for full product evacuation while having consistent flow rates.[18]
- 360 End: Launched in 2010, this full aperture beverage can lid allows for the entire lid to be removed, turning the can into a separate drinking vessel.[19]
- Orbit: Launched in 2011, this closure is twiceas easy to open compared to standard twist-off closures due to reduced torque.[20]
- HoloCrown: Launched in 2011, this technology allows for holographic images to be stamped directly on to speciality packaging as a means of decoration.[21]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Crown Annual Report 2012
- ↑ Crown Cork & Seal Company (CCK) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 About Crown
- ↑ , Industry ranking.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 , History timeline.
- ↑ Vault Editors (2007). Vault Guide to the Top Manufacturing Employers, 2007. New York: Vault Inc. p. 114. ISBN 1-58131-405-1.
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/about/about_americas.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/about/about_europe.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/about/about_asia.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/market_drinks.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/market_food.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/market_health_beauty.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/market_industrial.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/beverage_can_offerings_products_ends.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/food_offerings_ends_peelable.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/food_offerings_ends_easylift.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/beverage_can_offerings_innovation_printing.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/aerosol_packaging_earthsafe.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/about/about_history.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/products_services/orbit_closure.php
- ↑ http://www.crowncork.com/innovation/technology-timeline.php/4