National Packaging Systems: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Product packaging serves a much greater purpose than simply being sturdy, reliable and secure in order to protect what is inside. This is its core function but the cover is very often the first time a consumer will be introduced to a product or idea and form their judgements – a key differentiator in competitive markets.

Safe, dependable packaging is without doubt the most failsafe way to ensure that consumers receive their wares in exactly the condition expected, ready to perform as desired, and offers an unmatched ability to inform, attract and retain both potential and already loyal buyers.

ROBUST INDUSTRY

While National Packaging Systems (NPS) is an undoubtedly global enterprise, the packaging markets of both South Africa and Africa in particular have long been identified as some of the most robust, with high growth assured by socio-economic factors and set to be further driven across the continent. According to Deloitte: “Demand [is] being driven by increased markets for consumer products, burgeoning individual incomes, an expanding population of youthful consumers and growing domestic economies – particularly those in East and West Africa.”

Smithers mirrored this outlook on a global scale as recently as 2019, estimating the total value of the packaging industry worldwide at $917 billion. Its comprehensive research, employed in its seminal publication The Future of Global Packaging to 2024, showed that packaging demand was set to grow steadily at 2.8% to reach a value of $1.05 trillion by 2024.

The robustness of the industry and its potential for seemingly untrammelled growth is thanks in no small part to its importance in the consumer products chain, in areas such as food and hygiene. With consumption of the goods largely independent of economic cycles it is a sector mercifully robust against prevailing conditions and uncertain times; a growing population and a greater reliance than ever on distance buying means that products will always be bought, shipped and delivered, requiring the right packaging to reach their destinations unscathed.

HISTORY OF INNOVATION

“Our vision is to be the preferred provider in innovative packaging solutions,” sets out NPS, the staunchly local manufacturers of packaging machines and auxiliary equipment in South Africa. In the nearly 40 years since its founding NPS has pushed itself to achieve continued growth in this complex and multi-faceted industry. It can now boast a highly technical and innovative product offering, one which is central to its rightful recognition internationally as a business with a reputation for excellence.

NPS has a long history of augmenting and improving its service offering, never content to allow itself to be surpassed in an industry which has left many behind. At its formation in 1983 its speciality lay in building vertical form, fill and seal machines for sachets, stick packs and pillow packs. This was supplemented with a comprehensive line of volumetric fillers, auger fillers, feeding systems and conveyors.

Come 1992 the original range of hydraulically operated models was transformed with the introduction of NPS’s own new pneumatic generation machines, using a belt drive pull down system. To this day the company’s machines are pneumatic and are also controlled via an inverter and a PLC. This means that speeds of up to 900 units per minute are achievable, depending on   various factors including the product, its weight and the packaging material employed.

Innovation in the machinery at the heart of the packaging process has been something of a staple aspect of the industry, with easy to changeover, multi-functional packaging equipment central to how most food manufacturers are improving production and meeting consumer demand. This is according to the 2017 Vision 2025 report, produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

Last time we caught up with NPS, CEO John Pelucci talked us through the importance of the company’s deep understanding of a machine’s requirements in giving it the edge over its many competitors. “We have a strong design team and we do a lot of design and development,” he explained. “We listen to our clients and their feedback about the machines – if they say that they don’t like a certain feature then we will remove it for the next design. We are always improving.”

As a result of its culture of non-stop improvement NPS machines can proudly offer cost savings, heightened efficiency and far superior speed to market for customers. These features are of paramount importance with NPS counting some of the world’s largest and most successful food giants among its clients.

“We are into many big brands including Unilever, Cadburys, Sasko and Tiger Brands, among others,” Pelucci told us. “We have been told that we are the biggest manufacturer of packaging machines in South Africa, and while a lot of our competition build just one or two machines but are agents for many others, we are the other way around entirely – we build 40 types of machine with 60 variants and are agents for just four.”

BESPOKE SOLUTIONS

“We are constantly involved in research and development, and our machines are very user friendly with minimal downtime and maintenance,” NPS sums up. “To the best of our knowledge, we are currently the only South African company that manufactures four side vertical sachet machines and three-sided stick pack machines that would otherwise have to be imported.

“Our equipment is well-known for its continued reliable service to the packaging industry. These hard-working machines are widely used to automatically pack amongst other things: sugar, rice, salt, peanuts, cereals, snacks, sweets, powders, liquids, fire lighters and even car components.”

While NPS has made in its name on the strength of its core line of machinery, among the more than 2500 projects it has under its belt to date is a burgeoning line of tailored solutions specifically delivering on individual needs. “We also specialise in bespoke systems,” the company states, “designed and manufactured to customers’ specific requirements and which are not accommodated by our standard range of machines.”

This was echoed by Pelucci’s description of a noteworthy project which had just been completed, for one of the largest companies in Africa. “The beauty of our machine is that normally if you buy a four-sided-seal sachet machine, and you want to increase from a 60mm wide sachet to a 70mm width, you’d have to buy a new machine,” he detailed. “With us, the company can now do anything between a 65mm and 120mm in the same machine.

“No other machine in the world is capable of this, and it offers huge cost savings to our customers and with only a 30-minute changeover between sizes.”

A PACKED FUTURE

“We see our mission as providing the world with user-friendly, purpose-built packaging solutions, effectively and efficiently,” NPS rounds off. “We aim to exceed customer expectations with integrity and honesty for the benefit of our stakeholders.” To realise these lofty ambitions, NPS seeks growth wherever it may be found in order to drive continued development throughout the organisation.

NPS recently demonstrated its faith in the future of the business with a bold move from a 1250m² premises to the current 3100m² factory, almost tripling the premises in order to allow for vast expansion. “We provide a subsidised canteen as well as a gym for our staff as we believe in a happy and healthy workforce,” NPS adds, and it is a compliment which has also expanded by 25% including qualified, semi-qualified, unskilled and sales people to cope with the extra client demand.

With installations completed throughout Africa, including in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and of course South Africa, NPS has secured a seemingly unmovable foothold across the continent, and its influence and presence look set to spread even further across the globe in years to come. “We are a well-known business on the content,” confirmed John Pelucci, “when it comes to salt or sugar packaging no one can touch us for speed – not even the big international players.

“We offer the full turnkey project from raw material coming into the finished product going out of the door,” he added, an approach which has seen this forward-thinking organisation become an example to follow, and an integral cog in its clients’ operations in territories the world over.