C O M PA N Y F O C U S
Local engineering firm celebrates 47 successful years When Gus Egli arrived in South Africa from Switzerland, his personal vision evolved into an engineering powerhouse for the vertical, form, fill and seal (VFFS) packaging industry. Maryke Foulds tracks the company’s ongoing investment in a new custom-built facility, sound operating principles and quality processes.
T
o support the industrial food
The food sector has been more fortunate
packaging sector, a company must
than most under the strict regulations
understand local conditions. Hard-
of COVID-19 and lockdown – especially
working and reliable machinery coupled to
producers of lower-end commoditised
cost reduction is critical and Egli is constantly products. Higher-end and niche products are looking at new ways to improve equipment efficiency and drive down costs – while offering workable solutions. South Africa’s F&B industry is faced with
having a tougher time. Producers must find a way to place greater value in the hands of consumers. With the contraction of the economy, the industry can
FAST FACT Egli has …. · sold more than 1 000 VFFS packing machines · 120 employees · 5 700+ items held in stock · stainless steel construction
some unique challenges, including the
expect consumers to have less disposable
politicisation of the industry and growing
income and more products will be fighting
consumer and labour demands. Health
for the same rand. Egli is committed to
and safety is a critical component of all
working with clients to find new ways to
operations and product and worker safety
reduce cost and increase safety and accuracy
forms the cornerstone of a successful
in the workplace. “Our development work in
company. Equipment that can assist in
improving the accuracy of our filling systems
product safety can no longer be viewed as a
and our range of inline check-weighers and
TECHNOLOGY MATTERS
nice-to-have, but rather an essential part of
metal detection equipment, which forms part
day-to-day operations.
of our end-of-line solutions, has assisted our
Egli’s inline baling machines are sought
customers in reaching their goals,” a company spokesperson explains. The packaging industry must remain flexible to keep abreast and ahead of the competition and the firm has incorporated format changes to offer the very latest to their customer base. Though most of Egli’s packaging Feed conveyors offered as part of a line solution
equipment can operate with recyclable LLDPE substrates, there has to be a movement toward more re-usable, recyclable and bio-degradable packaging. A case in point is CocaCola's move to make its two-litre PET bottles reusable and it is hoped and expected that
more initiatives like this are in the pipeline. Up to now there hasn’t been much local movement on new substrates and formats, but Egli can move quickly and adapt to whatever the market is demanding.
after as producers seek to further automate their packaging lines. Most producers have existing primary VFFS packaging equipment: Baling is an automatic extension of those packaging lines. Equipment can be configured to bale most homogenously-shaped primary packs. Products can be baled in various configurations to capitalise on consumer demand and pallet optimisation. Egli’s equipment has a loyal following in various industries such as rice, sugar and maize products and it supplies equipment to most major blue chip food producers in South Africa. They are reaping the reward for enhancing their product offering in these sectors. There are several unexpected benefits to using this technology. These include: · Greater line productivity/automation · Uniformed end products · Labour savings · Cost-saving over traditional secondary packaging i.e. boxes · Transport cost reduction – more product per pallet · Using the bale substrate for branding products.
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Food Review | August 2020
