Matching can supply and demand

For a concern that's not a canmaker, UAE-based Can Ends FZE offers a surprising range of canmaking products to food and drinks manufacturers in the Middle East and North Africa, and increasingly so in Europe and South America.

Matching supply and demand is a vital part of the industry, and with order volumes getting smaller, canmakers need a way of finding wider markets and managing their stocks.

Latest development for Can Ends is to branch into two-piece beverage cans and ends, says director Rishab Gupta. "We are distribution company for others, starting in 2007 with all type of ends and then cans and components," he said at Metpack.

"We have a warehouse at Jebel Ali in UAE but to be closer to customers we have set up warehouses in Nigeria, India, where we have location in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, and the latest centres are in Brazil, and Europe, at Antwerp."

"Now we are providing a service for the two-piece plant in Colombo, Ceylon Beverage Can, exporting their cans to Africa and the Middle East."

Gupta says that the service provided involves inventory costs, warehousing and just-in-time delivery. "New and upcoming customers don't have the resources for large quantities, which is where we come in," he says. "There is almost no restriction to quantities- we go down to a pallet."

Then there are what Gupta calls "yesterday customers", who leave orders to the last minute. "We tell them there is no need to panic. We see this as a partnership, and that we are an extension of each company," he says.