Pre-planning promotes perfect performance

Steven Pool (left), Nampak Liquid Regional Director Gauteng & Northern Province, and Project Manager Johan Crous, who ensured the trouble-free relocation of an entire facility.

Better product quality was the primary reason for the move, which took place in the last quarter of 2007.

Previously, the facility shared the Petpak manufacturing facility in Isando. However, the recent growth of the beverage market meant that both entities were experiencing constraints in terms of electricity supply and warehouse space.

As a result, Nampak Liquid was transporting and warehousing its products at its Industria site, and then re-transporting them according to their customer requirements. After quantifying the extent of this double handling on the quality of their products, specifically in terms of damage and waste, the decision was taken to construct a purpose-built manufacturing facility and warehouse for Nampak Liquid's PET department in Industria.

Since the new facility is designed to meet the precise requirements of the business, it's contributing to a more efficient operation and better product quality. In addition, all the supporting services are brand new, e.g. chillers, compressors, etc.

Under the expert leadership of Project Manager, Johan Crous, a total of seven machines were moved without losing a single day of production.

Johan says that from shipping to commissioning, it took an average of 2.5 days per machine. “Everything ran according to plan. It was a perfect example of how we are packaging excellence in project planning and efficiency.”

Nampak Liquid and Petpak are members of the Nampak Rigid Plastics Cluster. The former manufactures PET bottles for non-carbonated beverages, while Petpak serves the carbonated beverage market.