In the late 1960s while technical director for composite cans with Owens-Illinois, John Morrison was part of the team that developed a line of safety-protected, full-panel, easy-open ends that included SafeRim® and DoubleSafe®. These easy-open ends transformed the rigid container industry be eliminating the need for can openers and delivering cut-finger protection for consumers. Major brands, first in the snack food and processed food industries and later in such diverse industries as tennis balls, embraced these game-changing ends.
While the United States and Japan embraced easy-open end technology, European markets lagged. In 1987, Morrison founded Automated Container Sales Corporation to market easy-open ends in Europe. By 1995, Automated Container was selling millions of loose ends across Europe and had expanded into 35 countries around the world. Its product portfolio also expanded to include more diameters, pour spouts and ends specifically to keep children safe. When John retired in the late 1990s, his son Bob Morrison was named president and maintained Automated Container’s leadership role. The company was acquired in 2021 by Gilpin when Bob Morrison retired.