sa plastics, composites & rubber

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SA Plastics Composites + Rubber Technology is published six times a year and focuses on these industries in South

and southern Africa. We welcome news, articles, technical reports, information in general and photographs about

events and developments related to the plastics industry. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Views expressed are not necessar-ily those of the Plastics Converters Association, Institute of

Materials or Association of Rotational Moulders either.

Copyright: All rights reserved.ISSN number: 1684-2855 (ISDS Centre, Paris)

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Plastics Institute of Southern Africa

PET Plastic Recycling South Africa

Plastics Federation of SA

Association of Rotational Moulders of South Africa

Plastics Converters Association

Institute of Materials

Publisher: Martin Wells([email protected])

Editor: Tessa OHara([email protected])

Editorial assistant: Heather Peplow([email protected])

Financial manager: Lisa Mulligan([email protected])

Designer: Bronwen Moys Blinc Design([email protected])

THE problem of under-spec lm being supplied on reels continues to be an issue for lm manufacturers, with convertors operating to high standards fearing they are being purposefully confused with talk of weight, thickness, length and number.

Weight is the most consistent and reliable measure to use for plastic lm sales, according to some of South Africas major lm manufacturers who have battled long and hard over the years to settle on an equitable benchmark for the industry.

If lm manufacturers sell by weight, the retailer or customer can then take responsibility to measure the thickness and length of lms they buy, or the number of bags on the reel or in the stack.

The more outspoken protagonists for the weight benchmark say the have no con dence in regulatory au-thority (such as the National Regulator for Compulsory Speci cations, NRCS, which is a division of the SABS) or in customers (retailers) attempting to ensure a measure of conformity in products supplied.

What does the consumer really want? My guess is that three bits of information are vital: 1) hygiene (that the product has been stored/transported and put on retail shelves in conditions ensuring it is t for purpose); 2) that the weight/quantity/volume is correct; and 3) that the product is labelled correctly.

The above information allows me as a consumer to make informed choices as to quality/price and which brand to avoid or buy in future.

The solution seems simple: A roll of plastic with x/y/z dimensions should weigh xyz kg. If the mass per product were to be more promi-nent in the labelling and retailers and consumers more aware of this, it would have two consequences: mass is easy to measure and therefore makes it more dif cult to cheat; and, secondly, the consumer can decide whether 2kg of Company As plastic is as good/durable /strong as Com-pany Bs 2kg.

Twist of sandBEWARE as they say, a deal thats too good to be true. This can quite literally create problems where material purchases are concerned. We hear of a number of cases recently of convertors purchasing material at very attractive prices direct from the Far East. What seems to have hap-pened is that one or two containers arrive in ne form, whereas the next container unexpectedly contains bags of sand. How such shipments, incredibly, passed through customs without raising questions is anyones guess but the problem for the customers is to retrieve the lost funds, which can be for amounts of R400,000 or even more.

Ladders are dangerous, very dangerousFABLE has it that one shouldnt walk under a ladder, but its becom-ing apparent that its even more dangerous to be on a ladder. At least ve people in the industry have sustained serious injuries from falls off ladders over the past two years and thats just what weve heard. So, please, do not ascend a ladder unattended, and dont attempt anything heroic when elevated either it could be painful, and costly.

BY THE WAY . . .

Weight is the most consistent and reliable measure to use for plastic lm sales

IF YOU HAVE SOMET

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TO SAYLook at the b

right side: if you

have some gem of wisdo

m to

impart, please write to us

at

[email protected]

continues to rileUnder-spec lm

APRIL MAY 2013

Contents

www.ferromatik.com

ON THE COVER

A FERROMATIK Milacron hybrid F80 and an all-electric Elektron 50 injection moulding machines have been touring Europe since February this year, showing off the groups latest injection technology at stops Spain, Italy, Denmark and Britain. The tour is part of Ferro-matik Milacrons plan to augment its participa-tion at the K2013 show later this year. These childrens building blocks, shot weight 36g, are produced in a 20-cavity mould on the Elektron 50 machine. See page 62 for more information.

Find out more at www.saplastics.co.za

Volume 11 No 2

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INDUSTRY NEWSJ Bay composites focusses on automotive, aircraft parts!

Photovoltaic panel production starts in KZNManuchar opens Cape warehouseFirst Tech Group outlines strategy

Envirosan saves energy, increases capacityIndustry research project begins to show results

PLASTICSSA CONFERENCEPlastics industry at Future for Growth conference

PROPAKTop performances at Pro-Plas/Propak

AFRICAN MARINE DEBRIS SUMMITAfrican lessons to inspire local action

ASSOCIATION NEWSOpportunities in global mega trends for PVC

IOM3 celebrates its 21st

WORLDBorealis new European investments

DIARYEvents coming up in 2013

SPORTSA Duzi of a race 90

64

68

For more information please contact:Form Mould Services

24 Carter StreetDelporton

Krugersdorp, R.S.A Contact: Oliver Funk

Ph +27 83 263 0148email: [email protected]

www.mastip.com

small spacesmall partbig solution

MJ09 Nozzle System

IN A BRIEF brazen moment a few years ago, when it was becoming apparent that Buyisa-e-Bag was going nowhere and the Treasury was hijacking the funds from the bag levy, I suggested we hire a bus and head for Pretoria to toyi toyi at the of ces of, speci -cally, the departments of Finance and DEAT.

My reasoning was that we would have been more likely to get a favorable result for the industry. And, no, this didnt take place at a braai on a Saturday night: it was at an industry function with quite a number of the bigwigs present. Whats he on now? I could see various individuals thinking. But the simple fact of the matter is that the funds yielded by the bag levy since have grown signi cantly and the industry has not bene ted a jot.

An increase in the bag levy was proposed earlier this year in the Budget, from 4c to 6c per bag (a 50% increase), and has since been gazetted, so it is going to happen. This is not welcomed in the industry, which is not surprising. But whose responsibility is this scenario? Its nearly a decade since Buyisa came into being, say-ing all the right things: recycling, sustainability, creating jobs, empowering people you name it. Most of us will by now be aware that those words were mainly hollow.

Setting up a post-use collection and recycling model for an industry such as ours would be a dif cult task at the best of times. The people who were entrusted with the undertaking, while enthusiastic, were out of their depth. Its a BIG CHALLENGE for several reasons, not least that collection and recycling are expensive, and then nding uses for the resulting material is even more daunting.

Over here, common sense has since prevailed and I realize that one is not likely to get a good result out of protest in fact, the opposite may often occur. But the people involved (and this does not only affect the bag manufacturers) need to come up with a better solution for working with government, where we get a more prac-

COM

MEN

T

tical outcome. SARS has simply moved on and said that, 10 years later, its about time the bag levy was increased.

PlasticsSA, the bag manufacturing and recycling sector and the material suppliers need to put their heads together and possibly re oat Buyisa and start from scratch the main objective being to access the funds from the levy for use within the industry.

Read more about this on pages 6 and 7.

Industry survey: interesting resultsTHERES a lot of interest lately in determining the size of the industry, with little if any really accurate data available. But a start was made recently in a programme sponsored by the industrys training body MERSETA, and although a low response was achieved, the researchers found some inter-esting trends. The most relevant appear to be that there was higher than expected expendi-ture on R+D among the responding companies, and it was also noted that these companies were employing more young people than was anticipated.

Read about this on pages 18-20.

Top performance at Propak / Pro-PlasTHE quality of the exhibition stands at Propak Africa and Pro-Plas Expo in Johannesburg in March was outstanding. It wasnt just about looking good, however: it was about do-ing business and sealing contracts and orders, so congrats to all of the individuals who handled this so professionally! Read more about the shows on pages 28-38.

Higher than expected expenditure on R+D among responding companies who are also employing more young people than was anticipated

THIS ISSUE

4 APRIL / MAY 2013

Bag levy increase isbig challenge for industry

Martin Wells, Publisher

Funds need to be used within the industry

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Masterbatch SA creates, manufactures and supplies masterbatch, pigments and performance enhancing additives to the plastics industry.

Feel The Pressure 2012 by Neil Pauw of The Parlotones

6 APRIL / MAY 2013

Afripack group buys Polisak, share of Pouch DynamicsAFRIPACK group has been gathering momentum since its entry to the plastics industry in 2009 and gave notice of this with the purchase recently of PP woven bag manufacturer Polisak of Brits and a part share of Pouch Dynamics of Cape Town. Both companies are leaders in their respective elds.

Afripack has been manufacturing paper bags, particularly for cement packaging, since 1933, but the shift to woven PP bags for cement may have been partly behind its motivation to enter the exible (plastics) industry, which it accomplished in 2009 through the purchase of a number of Astrapak companies. PPC (Pretoria Portland Cement) is in fact one of the main shareholders in Afripack, which was up till 1996 known as Kohler Sacks.

Polisak, based in Brits to the west of Pretoria, is one of southern Africas leading manufacturers of woven PP bags with printing and laminating capabilities. It operates some of the most sophisticated woven bag making equipment available.

Pouch Dynamics manufactures quad sealed pouches, which means that the pouches are made from a single web with all four panels in register and with only one critical seal. It is able to make heavy-duty bags up to 20kgs. The company in Capricorn Park near Muizenberg also offers high standard printing.

The Afripack exibles group trades as Afripack Consumer Flexibles (ACF).www.afripack.co.za

Haitian opens SA of ceHAITIAN of China, whose injection moulding machines have been very popular in South Africa, has opened its own of ce in the country. Haitian Huayuan South Africa Machinery, based in Spartan, Johannesburg, offers direct machine sales as well as a spare parts and technical back-up service to all Haitian customers in southern Africa. The company decided to open its own of ce after the contract with its previous local agent, GF Plastic Machinery Services, expired in August 2012. The Haitian machines were among the rst injection moulding machines from China to become popular in South Africa, combing a good balance between technology, reliability, price and back-up with price and reliability being the main criteria. Haitian SA, phone 011 974 1127

JUST BRIEFLY

Polar starts cap printing lineNew specialised machine is up and runningPOLAR Plastics of Johannesburg has just commissioned a new cap printing machine and is offering this service to its closure customers countrywide.

What started as a request from one of its customers to brand caps led Mike

and the Polar team on a search for solutions, and they eventually opted for a sys-tem from PSG of China.

The machine can print up to 20,000 caps an hour and print up to four colours.

The investment further expands Polars capabilities in the new 28mm (1810) bev-erage closure market.

Established in 1996, Polar special-ises in plastic screw-on closures for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, mineral water, beverage and general purpose liquid sec-tors. It manufactures closures from 20-48mm diameter.

Mike Vor-ster of Polar Plastics in Robertville, Johannes-burg, with the new machine which can print up to 20,000 caps an hour

www.polarplastics.co.za

TEL: 011 674 2987

creates tough challenge for industryQuandary is whether to dispute proposal or start new recycling venture

THE pending and unexpected increase in the plastic bag levy is creating an unwelcome and dif cult challenge for the industry.

The quandary the industry now faces is whether to dispute the proposal and try to prevent the implementation of the increase, or bide its time and possibly regroup and attempt to restart a new recycling venture where Buyisa-e-Bag so disappointingly failed.

The increase in the bag levy was sneaked in almost surreptitiously in the Budget in February, and SARS has since had the proposed increase gazetted. Funds from the levy did initially ow back

into the industry after the formation of Buyisa in 2004, but mismanagement and indecision led to the failure of the initiative. Buyisa was wound up in mid-2011.

The levy payments have continued since that time, but the total funds generated are apparently not ring-fenced by the Treasury and hence there is uncertainty about how much has accrued and, in fact, even where the funds are. High and possibly wild esti-mates about the amounts that have been generated from the bag levy circulate in the industry, but even if its just R25-million a year, such funds could be used very ef-fectively to drive industry programmes and generate better services for businesses in the industry.

When asked recently, PlasticsSA direc-

Bag levy increase

APRIL / MAY 2013 7

INDUSTRY NEWS

www.huhtamaki.co.za

[email protected]

J Bay composites specialist focusses on automotive, aircraft partsArno Seyfert of Custom Works/Com-posite Engineering of Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape has been involved in composite construction since his youth in Germany. After moving to J Bay, a global surf hotspot, he at rst became involved in windsurf board design and construction, but since then has moved into the high-tech composites market, focusing on the automotive sector and the formula racing and rally areas in particular. He has been involved fulltime in this area since 1998. Manufactur-ing technologies used include infusion, prepreg and autoclave curing. Here we see Arno with an infused 900g carbon bre door panel for a rally car. Custom Works has also built parts such as wheel arches, nose cones and aerofoils for rac-ing vehicles, one of the toughest testing grounds for composite parts. Arno keeps up to date with technology by attending

international composite shows and semi-nars. Custom Works also serves customers in the aircraft/engineering/mining industries with specialized tubing, housings, wear resistant, non-corrosive and non-magnetic parts. These are areas where a high level of expertise is required, so production runs tend to be specialised and short.

CUSTOM WORKS, PHONE 042 293 3944

Huhtamaki to close Cape plastics factoryHUHTAMAKI is to close its plastic extrusion and thermoforming factory in Epping, Cape Town. This continues the rationalization of the Finnish groups activities in South Africa. A large portion of the Cape factorys customer base is also in Gauteng, which was a factor in the decision. About 50 permanent employees are affected by the closure. Equipment from the Epping plant is to be shifted to the main Huhtamaki site in Springs, where the group is consolidating operations and in fact expanding output. Huhtamaki remains committed to its core customers and the South African market, said group MD Richard Trickett.

Huhtamaki sold its tubs injection moulding business to Polyoak group a few years ago.

Sutherland jnr starts service companyAFTER more than 15 years involved in the servicing and rebuilding of moulding machines, Stuart Sutherland has opened his own company, SCS Plastics & Services, in Johannesburg.

Stuart joined the top machine company PMS Plastics in Boksburg in 1997 and gained a wealth of experience over the years under the mentorship of PMS proprietor Philip Maye. He is now recognised as a highly quali ed service technician, offering a wide range of services to the industry.

His father, John Sutherland, is very proud of the fact that Stuart is keeping the family name alive and well in the industry. Stuarts grandfather, Jimmy Sutherland, was one of the pioneers of the injection moulding and tool making business in South Africa.

SCS is based in Kempton Park near the airport but services machines throughout Gauteng.

STUART CAN BE CONTACTED ON 083 626 1791

Like grandfather, like father, like son Stuart Sutherland is following in the footsteps of both his father, John, and his grandfather, the late great Jimmy Sutherland

tor Anton Hanekom was keeping his cards covered, but its understood that he and his team have been coordinating a response from the bag makers. The lm and bag sector is probably the largest in terms of tonnage in the local plastics industry with more than a 25% share of the estimated 1.3 million tons of polymer converted in the country annually. Not all the lm extrusion businesses make bags, but the percent-age of tonnage that goes into bags is nevertheless signi cant. A further compli-cation is that only shopping type bags are affected by the levy.

People in the industry are indignant about the proposed increase, since its felt that the funds yielded have not been used for any of the projects for which the levy

was intended nearly a decade ago. In the interim, however, a number of other sectors of the industry have developed material speci c management structures, including PETCO, PolyCo and the PSPC (Polystyrene Packaging Council).

The local plastics industry has come a long way since the rst discussions took place around the issue of carrier bags and visible plastics litter. Since then, various specialised polymer groups were formed within the industry to address and promote the recycling of all forms of plastic (not only plastic carrier bags) in a way that is environmentally responsible and sustainable, said Hanekom at the time, adding that the decision to dissolve Buyisa-e-Bag in 2011 was the rst step in the right direction that will hopefully end with government allowing industry to responsibly manage its own waste.

The proposed levy hence comes in spite of the many industry initiatives since, and failure to dissuade SARS may put pressure on the industry to come up with a variation on Buyisa.

Its a daunting challenge: although plastics consumption and litter scenarios differ in countries around the world, developing an effective and sustain-able entity for collection and recycling in South Africa could potentially be a world rst.

The often used phrase Plastics dont litter, people do is starting to wear thin, as plastic products are now so widely used that theyre interwoven with modern society. Scenes such as this at a school would be less common if the industry managed more clean-ups itself

www.customworks.co.za

8 APRIL / MAY 2013

JUST BRIEFLY

ARCHITECTS, engineers, contractors and university students alike can all bene t from the new Product and Technical CD that has been launched by DPI Plastics a leading manufacturer of water reticula-tion, drainage and pipe- tting systems in South Africa.

The DPI Plastics 2013 Product and Technical CD, which was launched in Feb-ruary, contains comprehensive informa-tion, including; a 48-page pressure pipe and a 28-page sewer design guideline manual, ow and friction loss charts and

building tting computer aided draft (CAD) drawings.

DPI Plastics marketing manager Martine Goodchild explains that the 2013 Product and Technical CD, which is avail-able nationwide free of charge, serves as a user friendly and value added product for a wide variety of users.

The CAD drawings stored on the CD include examples of; sewer ttings, gutter ttings, waste ttings and soil and vent ttings. The pressure pipe and sewer de-sign guideline manuals include additional

DPI Plastics launches 2013 Product & Technical CD

International recognition for students pop-up yoghurt cupSTELLENBOSCH University (SU) Food Science student Sarah Erasmus eye-catching design of a collapsible plastic cup in which to mix instant yoghurt was placed among the top 13 entrees in the interna-tional Student WorldStar packaging design competition.

More than 230 entries from 17 countries were received for this international student competition, which is hosted by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO).

Although Sarahs idea was not placed under the top 3 ultimate winners, she received a spot along with entries from China and Sri Lanka in the Merit category. Two other South African students, Judy Kriel of Northwest University and Erick Strydom of the Central University of Tech-

nology, were also among the 10 students listed in this category.

Another SU student, Stephanie Bos-man, received a certi cate of acknowl-edgement for her design of recyclable dip packaging that can be reused to plant seedlings in.

For the past four years, Stellenbosch Food Science students have entered the Student Gold Pack competition of the Institute of Packaging South Africa (IPSA). Sarah received a gold medal at this local competition in 2012, while Stephanie re-ceived a silver award. They also quali ed for the international competition.

www.iopp.org/worldstarstudent

INDUSTRY NEWS

Sarah Erasmus eye-catching design of a collapsible plastic cup in which to mix instant yoghurt

Formeset group enters plastic packaging sectorPRINTING group Formeset has entered the plastics packaging business following its purchase of the assets of Polypak of Cape Town, which was liquidated last year. Polypak was, until its quite unexpected demise, a top manufacturer and supplier of a range of polyethylene and polypropylene bags, with high quality printing being its main value-add. Previous owner Sam Shaik engineered an MBO arrangement, which duly took place in 2010. A spiraling repayment schedule undermined activity, however, and the nancers pulled the plug early in 2012.

Formeset started as a small printing operation with a staff compliment of 20 in Beaconvale, Cape Town, in 1991. Today its a thriving empowerment success story, employing more than 800 people and competing with large previously advantaged printing groups as a quality service printing group and a leader in the printing industry. Formeset has scorched a path through the print sector over the past two decades, acquiring sole ownership or majority stakes in several other print businesses, including Printkor (printing division of PEP Stores, in 1996); Derek Butcher & Co (1997); Klem Lloyd (1999, now Formeset Johannesburg); Prism Digital Repro, a digital repro house (now Formeset Digital Tshwane, in 2001); and fact several other printing operations in the decade since.

The ex-Polypak extrusion and ancillary equipment is now operating from premises in Beaconvale too in a close to perfect t for the groups entry to the plastic packaging sector.www.formeset.co.za

Nampak invests R1.6 billion in beverage packagingNAMPAK will invest R1.6 billion in two of its core businesses which produce bottles and cans for the growing beverage market.

The rst project will see the company invest almost R1 billion in an additional furnace at its glass bottle business based at Roodekop, Germiston. The second project is an investment of almost R600 million to add aluminium beverage can capacity and convert existing lines from tinplate to aluminium.

APRIL / MAY 2013 9

information on solvent cement welding, modi cations to references of standards and an introduction to the code of ethics and conduct drawn up by SAPPMA.

The manual is ideally suited to design en-gineers, municipal engineers and contrac-tors installing piping systems, and serves as a one stop guide for all the relevant and comprehensive information relating to PVC pipes. The guidelines in the manuals cover the physical properties, design require-ments, chemical resistance, correct laying methods and advice on installation, in con-cise manuscripts that will bene t numerous industry players.

The CD also contains sections on environmental issues. The Product and Technical CD contains several tables of comparison that show power consumption, material ef ciency and pumping costs for various piping systems.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ORDER A COPY OF THE DPI PLASTICS PRODUCT AND TECHNICAL CD, EMAIL [email protected]

www.dpiplastics.co.za

THE rst photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing plant in KwaZulu-Natal has recently commenced production in New Germany.

ART Solar which is the only South African-owned photovoltaic (PV) panel manu-facturer specialises in the production of solar PV modules for the sustainable gen-eration of electrical power. The company is set to play a signi cant role in renewable energy, initially in South Africa, followed by the sub-Saharan market and the African continent.

ART Solar uses the latest PV technology to convert solar energy to electricity. By using this environmentally-friendly technology to generate electrical power, the company provides long-term solutions to the current and predicted electricity issues facing South Africa, said Dr Ronald Lange, chief operating of cer for ART Solar.

PV modules which use daylight to generate electricity are gaining popularity globally as a form of renewable energy that is clean, emission and noise-free, sustainable, safe and cost ef cient.

These modules are easy to install and require no maintenance, apart from oc-casional cleaning. Other important features are the 25-year guarantee offered by ART Solar and an estimated 40-year lifetime of the module. The company also offers a technical advisory and support service throughout the country.

The company has made a signi cant investment in the latest equipment from Swiss equipment manufacturer Meyer Burger Swiss Solar Systems and bene ts from shared technology with global PV specialists.

The photovoltaic cells are imported, while about half of the remainder of the compo-nents utilized are locally sourced.

PV modules, which adhere to stringent International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) speci cations, are certi ed at ART Solar by the leading and independent test institute TV Rheinland in Germany.

ART Solar plant The rst photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing plant in KwaZulu-Natal has recently been established in New Germany. PV modules provide a form of renewable energy that is clean, emission and noise-free, sustainable, safe and cost ef cient. The modules are easy to install and require no maintenance, apart from occasional cleaning

www.artsolar.net

Photovoltaic panelproduction starts in KZNART Solar gives SA market access to high quality locally manufactured PV panels

10 APRIL / MAY 2013

MANUCHAR www.manuchar.com

www.alfaplastik.com.trwww.ampacet.com

MANUCHAR group, the Belgian-international materials supply group, has recently opened a warehouse for polymer sales in Paardeneiland, Cape Town.

As a trading operation, Manuchar stocks a wide range of materials including mainly polyole ns from a wide group of international suppliers, with its focus being mainly on grades for speci c applications, rather than on particular brands.

The group is extending its service to the wider polymer market and was recently appointed the South African agent for Alfa Polimer of Turkey, an established supplier of engineering compounds (including PA6 and 6.6 and PBT) with an output of about 30 000 tons p/a.

Manuchar is also supplying the range of colour concentrates, additive masterbatches and processing aids from Ampacet, an American-international manufacturer. Materials from Ampacets operation in Belgium are being sold locally.

It has built up its polymers expertise in South Africa with a number of appointments

NAMPAK Liquid has achieved a steadily increasing recycling rate at major sports event such as the Two Oceans Marathon, where it supplies many of the items used by competitors and also manages clean-ups after the events.

The recent Two Oceans Marathon around the Cape Peninsula was especially successful in this respect. Several separate events were run concurrently at the Oceans, including a 56km ultra marathon, a 21km half marathon and a trail run on Table Mountain. With over 20,000 athletes

over the past year, notably those of Vishnu Colan in KZN and, most recently, Peter Rebello in Cape Town. Colan has been involved in polymers and masterbatch/additive supply to both the packaging and technical moulding sectors in Natal for the past 20 years. Rebello is a polymers specialist, with 35 years experience in the industry, who spent the early part of his career with Sasol Polymers.

opens Cape warehouseAhmet Abdulaziz and Peter Rebello in the new Manuchar warehouse in

Paardeneiland, close to the Cape Town harbour. A full range of polyole ns as

well as engineering plastics and colour masterbatch and additives are stocked

INDUSTRY NEWS

Group is agent for PA manufacturer Alfa of Turkey and additives supplier Ampacet

Nampak Liquid clean-upThe 110-strong clean-up team managed to collect over 20 tons of material following the Two Oceans events, including plastic and paper containers

competing, a lot of waste over 20,000kgs was generated, and thankfully collected afterwards by Nampak Liquid and its partner in the programme, the Sustainability division of Plastics|SA.

Nampak Liquid and Plastics|SA supported the extensive clean-up operations that form part of the events successful management strategy. In line with their commitments, Nampak Liquid supplied 136,000 250ml HDPE bottles and Plastics|SA employed 110 people to help clean the Chapmans Peak leg of the ultra marathon (Chapmans is a

marine conservation area).Other businesses in the Nampak group

were involved as well: Nampak Corrugated provided 1000 cardboard bins and Nampak Recycling spearheaded an awareness campaign to stop runners from littering along the 56km route.

All waste was sorted for recycling. According to Waste Plan, which is responsible for the events comprehensive waste management programme, the recycling rate has increased from 84% in 2010 to 88% in 2011 and 89% in 2012.

Manuchar, with its head of ce in Antwerp, supplies a logistics, distribution and nancing service to the polymers, steel and construction and chemicals/fertilizer as well as a variety of other commodity sectors. It also operates a large warehouse in Durban and is steadily ramping up its service to the polymer sector across southern Africa.

No sweat!as Nampak, Plastics|SA clean up after OceansRate of recycling increases year on year

12 APRIL / MAY 2013

Lomotek stops production in GautengLOMOLD is to centralise the compounding activities of its Lomotek business in Cape Town and has consequently ceased production in Gauteng. CEO Pieter du Toit said Lomotek would continue to offer a milling service in Gauteng and also operate a depot from there. The switch was partly due to the expiry in March of its lease at the property it was using in Commercia, Midrand.

We have lots of space and extruding capacity open after we acquired the Plastamid manufacturing facilities in Cape Town, said Du Toit.

This will enable us to give a better quality service to our clients and use the excellent lab facilities in Cape Town to formulate enhanced rotational moulding grades that should make our clients more competitive in the marketplace. Lomold group has also made changes

to its manufacturing business in China, said Du Toit: We are thinking of moving the pallet manufacturing equipment, especially the moulds, to South Africa, as the 1200 x 1000mm pallet size that the mould delivers is the exact size we need in South Africa. With our Proplas recycling business next door to the pallet manufacturing facility, we could be offering an unbeatable proposition to the South African market place with outstanding pallets, using recycle and long glass bre and at a cost that competes favourably with new wooden pallets.

Penpak achieves global safety ratingPENINSULA Packaging (Penpak), the Cape Town-based subsidiary of the Astrapak Group, has received an A rating from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) at the rst attempt. This international standard assures Penpak customers consistent product quality and safety in the eld of plain and printed exible plastic packaging.

BRC Global Standards is a leading international safety and quality certi cation programme used by suppliers and retailers around the world to facilitate standardisation of quality, safety and operational criteria while providing assurance that manufacturers have ful lled obligatory legal requirements.

Penpak is the third Astrapak business to achieve BRC accreditation. The others are Knilam and Thermopac.

JUST BRIEFLY First Tech Groupoutlines strategy

First Tech is the owner of the plastic converting operations Flexicon, Gazelle Plastics and Ogatin as well as manu-facturing entities in related industries. Up until now, over the past two decades that is, First Tech Group (FTG) has been building and implementing its structures. Based on the vision of founders Andy Bertulis and Jeff Wiggill to create a dynamic, one-stop entity for a number of market sectors, First Tech has acquired the 18 market-leading businesses to form this major commercial and infrastructural group. About 5000 people are employed by the group companies.

By carefully identifying companies that have synergistic offerings with our exist-ing portfolio, we have been able to grow the group in a modular yet still strongly synergistic manner, said CEO Bertulis.

Its four focus divisions are Construc-tion, Manufacturing, Piping and Mass Distribution. The group has established a long-standing portfolio of blue chip clients in the mining and minerals, petrochemi-cal, power generation, oil and gas, rail,

HVAC (heating, ventilation air condition-ing), civil engineering/building/construc-tion, electrical, lighting, agricultural and information technology (IT) industries.

The First Tech Construction group of companies includes Energotec (installer of electrical solutions, primarily within the petrochemical industry); Celik Engineering (supply, fabrication and erection of various industrial piping and ttings, as well as related mechanical works); Flint Construction/Railcon (rail and civil engineering contractor); First Tech Corrosion (painting and sandblast-ing division); and Cosira (structural steel fabricator and erector).

The First Tech Group Manufacturing division includes First Tech Manufactur-ing (electrical and infrastructural prod-ucts); Wire Systems Technology (winding wire and electrical insulating materials); Barlec-Zenith (leading international and local electrical brands); Barlec-Zenith Panels (panels and switchboards); Europair (air distribution, air diffusion, air handling, air conditioning, and re

Industrial entity has extensive interests in plastics sector

TED Morawski of Eagle Plastics is putting lessons learned in the pultrusion environ-ment in Gauteng to good effect in the more relaxed environment of a farm near the Crags at Plettenberg Bay. Originally in-volved in the production of wooden ladders in a business started by his father in Johan-nesburg, their company began to make ladders in GRP in 1975, just a year after the process was developed in the USA. The companys range gradually expanded to include a variety of pultruded products, such as walkway grids and panels and in fact any complicated large components or structures which required reinforce-ment. The range was drastically simpli ed after the move to the coast, however, and

THE First Tech Group, which is the sole owner of 18 companies and operators of 19 production facilities around the country, recently celebrated its 20th year in operation with a launch function in Johannesburg at which it outlined its plans to become a major infrastructural supplier on the African continent.

variations of the pultrusion process have been evolved! In the process used here, the glass bre is rst saturated in polyester resin and then manually compressed into the mould. A coating of silica granules is applied nally to offer surface traction. The panels are used in thoroughfares or manufacturing environments, including elevated platforms or walkways, where drainage or visibility is required. Eagle Plastics also produces a series of pultruded pro les, among other reinforced products.

EAGLE PLASTICS, PHONE 083 285 9794

Eagle soars down to the sea

training on all levels, from labourers up to management.

In addition to formalised training programmes, we believe that knowl-edge sharing plays a large role in job succession. We add further impetus to the development of intellectual property through inter-company cooperation, said chairman Wiggill.

While we are proud of our roots and heritage as a South African company, we are proactively establishing a footprint in Africa. It is our intention to continue in-

protection products and components for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry); and Acrylic Art (lighting poles and light ttings).

First Tech Piping includes Flexicon Piping of Witbank, Gazelle Plastics (HDPE piping and ttings) and Sibanyoni.

The Mass Distribution division includes Ogatin (manufacturer of PVC conduit, PVC products, mini-trunking and accessories, as well as a distributor of PVC lm); R&D Metal works (luminaires); Switch Board Utilities (electrical enclo-sures) and Bari Lighting (metal spinning and the manufacture of industrial and com-mercial luminaires).

The Groups service divisions include First Travel; FT Global Logistics and First Tech Exports.

SABS certi cation, ISO accreditation and Level 3 BEE certi cation underline the Groups commitment to providing exemplary service to clients in a diversity of industries.

TrainingThe recent establishment of the Alex Rose-First Tech Group Training Academy allows the group to provide employees with both in-house and externally-sourced

First Tech Groups management team including John da Silva (CEO of Cosira), Marius Botes (CEO of First Tech Construction), Pieter de Frey (CEO of First Tech Piping), Andy Bertulis (CEO of the First Tech Group), Mike Imray (COO for Mass Distribution) and Andrew Leigh (divisional executive of First

Tech Manufacturing) at the function at the Forum in Newtown, Johannesburg in January

INDUSTRY NEWS

Jeff Wiggill, a merchant banker and chartered accountant, is chair-man of the group

Demonstrative Andy Bertulis has been one of the main catalysts behind the growth of the group. He com-pleted his apprentice-ship as an electri-cian in the United Kingdom in 1971 and has been involved in the electrical industry in South Africa since 1974, leading to the establishment of First Technology in 1992; he is now CEO of the group

www. rsttechgroup.co.za

creasing our penetration of pan-African countries. Further growth is planned for our group companies in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Bertulis.

The Group is growing its network through the identi cation and appoint-ment of distribution outlets in sub-Sa-haran Africa on an on-going basis.

APRIL / MAY 2013 13

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. - John W. Gardner

Our 4 divisions:s-ASTERBATCHs0IGMENTSs0ASTES05206#s,IQUIDS0/0%4

Excellence

consistencyin COLOUR

Contact us:www.performance.co.zaGAUTENG: Tel: + 27 11 961 2700 | Fax: + 27 11 961 2799 | Cnr. Koornhof & Essex Roads, Meadowdale Ext. 1, 1401 CAPE TOWN: Tel: + 27 21 928 2800 | Fax: + 27 21 931 9088 | 5 Linus Road, Beaconvale Industria, Parrow 7500 DURBAN: Tel: + 27 31 701 1202 | Fax: + 27 31 701 2296 | Reed Place Maxmead Ind. Park Unit 22, Pinetown 3620 EAST LONDON: Tel: + 27 43 736 2076 | Fax: + 27 43 736 2036 7 | Reitz Avenue, Green elds, East London

Colour Conversations: should you wish to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, please contact Lurika lurika.joubertcoloursystems.co.za

SONGWON Industrial Group has appointed Sun Ace South Africa as its exclusive distributor for the Sub-Saharan Africa region for its ranges of antioxidants, UVs (both Sabostab hindered amine light stabilizers and Songsorb ultraviolet light absorbers), one-pack systems (OPS), rubber chemicals, tin Intermediates, SAP and ink binders.

Sun Ace is part of a network of specialty additives and chemical manufacturing facilities and has of ces in the Asia Paci c, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Under the new agreement, Sun Ace will be responsible for the sales and distribution of Songwons products in the Sub-Saharan Africa region including West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory

Coast), Central Africa (Congo, Uganda), East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi) and Southern African (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa itself).

Dieter Morath, vice president for global sales for Songwon Industrial, said: We are committed to continuously improve the quality of service and security of supply to our customers. Choosing Sun Ace as our partner will allow us to increase the availability of both products and knowledge for our customers in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. This agreement recognizes the importance of this rapidly developing region and our customers will bene t from the expertise and extensive network that Sun Ace has established over the last two decades, which has been built on their values of quality, reliability, creativity and

commitment.Gary van Eyk, managing director of Sun

Ace South Africa, said: The demand for polymers and additives is being driven by a rapidly growing population in the region and the need to provide infrastructure, communications, housing, transportation, packaging and many more applications from local suppliers. The potential for growth is exceptional with the Sub-Saharan Africa region demonstrating robust progress. Together with Songwon we will be in a position to give excellent added value to our customers, providing a broad portfolio of globally proven solutions as well as providing a level of technical and commercial service.

saves energy, increases capacity

Envirosan moulds dry toiletEnvirosans Brian Lewis says the machines were commissioned in

March and are operating perfectly, have increased capacity and are paying for

themselves in improved energy savings

DURBAN-based Envirosan, which manufactures a range of sanitation systems, recently upped its injection moulding capacity and saved on energy simultaneously when it bought two new machines, Hiaxing 788 and 368 ton units, from MJH Machine Tools of New Germany.

Envirosans Brian Lewis says the machines were commissioned in March

and are operating perfectly, have increased capacity and are paying for themselves in improved energy savings.Envirosan uses the most technologically advanced injection moulding machinery and superior moulding techniques to manufacture its range of sanitation systems.

The new and improved technology is great and we are very happy with MJH and their great back-up service, adds Brian.

We are a customer-driven enterprise and go out of our way to nd the best and most cost effective solutions to respond to our clients needs, thus our investment in the MJH machines.

www.mjhmachinetools.com

www.envirosan.co.za

www.sunace.co.za

www.songwon.com

Sun Ace as distributor for Sub-Saharan regionSun Ace SA appointed agent for Songwon

The Sun Ace manufacturing and logistics centre in Jet Park, Johannesburg

Johannesburg-based Sun Ace now responsible for sales in west, east and southern Africa

Songwon appoints

APRIL / MAY 2013 15

Envirosan

INDUSTRY NEWS

16 APRIL / MAY 2013

THE AECI engineering polymers business Plastamid has been repositioned within the group and now falls under the Chem t business unit.

Based at AECIs Chempark site in Chloorkop, Johannesburg, Plastamid now forms one of three business units grouped in Chem t.

Its three years since Plastamid exited its Cape Town head of ce and plant, when the business sold its core compounding operation and completely downscaled to focus only on its specialist polymer and elastomer activities. (The closure by AECI group of its nylon technical bres and PET manufacturing entity SANS led to the discontinuation of Plastamids main source of cost-effective nylon 66 and PET feedstocks.) Just 10 of the more than 150 staff remained and Plastamid was then grouped with Industrial Urethanes at Chempark. It has since been deemed that the company would achieve better synergies within the Chem t business.

Surviving in the tough market conditions over the past few years suggests that Plastamids core activities and market relations are solid, leading Chem t MD Ryan Harrison to follow through on an offer for Plastamid to join his unit.

Plastamid takes on board the Polymer Additives division of Chem t and can now offer polymer stabiliser and ame retardant technologies from Chemtura and Buddenheim, lubricant technologies from Fine Organics and PVC stabilisation technologies from Galata, amongst others.

Plastamid business unit manager, Charles Goldman, said the change was good news for Plastamid: We are now able to share our extensive formulation knowledge and experience of polymer additive technologies with our clients. The response from the market has been overwhelmingly positive and heralds in an exciting period in the evolution of Plastamid.

Plastamid continues to supply a range of engineering polymers, polypropylene and ethylene copolymers, styrenic copolymers and TPEs. It is the agent for DuPont Performance Polymers, Teijin Chemicals, Formosa Chemicals, RTP Company, UBE Engineering Plastics, SK Chemicals and Milliken.

JUST BRIEFLY

After around 10 years in Bellville South, continued business growth made a move to bigger and better premises a necessity. The brand new factory custom designed for injection and stretch-blow moulding is tangible evidence of Boxmores position as a leader in the PET industry and their com-mitment to the Western Cape region. The site includes both production and warehous-ing facilities to reduce double handling and, having recently added a closures portfolio to their offering through the purchase of the MCGs plastic closures business in 2012, the new site will also serve as logistics base for the closures business.

Another standout feature of the move is that all 70 employees from the Bellville site chose to move with the company and relocated, so the business virtually achieved the change with regained momentum. Currently the site produces blown bottles for regional bottle customers and preforms for both the local and export markets, including multilayer barrier preforms.

Industrial entity has extensive interests in plastics sector

BOXMORE Packaging has consolidated its presence in the Western Cape with its move to a new, custom designed 9000m manufacturing plant in Somerset West.

Plastamid repositions within AECI

www.chem t.co.za

www.plastamid.co.za

In addition to the Cape Town facility, Box-more Packaging operates manufacturing facilities in Harrismith, Johannesburg, Port Louis, Mauritius with production in a new Lusaka site scheduled to start in May 2013.

www.boxmore.co.za

Boxmoremoves to muchbigger Cape site

Boxmore group has made a com-pletely fresh start

in the Western Cape and moved to a far larger site in Somerset West

Business Park, close to the N2

freeway

Many of the customers require labels; here we see Eugene Barnes, MD of Boxmore Cape, with the Krones labelling line

We know our readers wait in anticipation every 8 weeks to read their latest issue of SA Plastics and thats why weve decided to launch an e-newsletter. Well email the e-newsletter to all our readers

and advertisers in the time between each issue of the magazine keeping you up to date with the latest, relevant and useful news, opinion and comment. Watch your inbox the rst e-newsletter should be in soon!

SA Plastics own e-newsletter out soon!

Widest PET lms in SA to be produced; calendared PVC lms offer high consistency

INDUSTRY NEWS

production of PET, PVC lmsTRIOPLASTICS, which specialises in the supply of quality rigid lms and sheets for thermo and vacuum forming applications, mainly for pharmaceutical and food grade packaging as well as in stationary and box folding applications, is to commence local production of both PET and PVC sheet.

By adhering to the companys three strong pillars, Price, Quality and Service, Trioplas-tics has expanded steadily and now operates from a world class manufacturing facility in Cham-dor, Krugersdorp. Manufacturing locally will not only mean that Trioplastics will be able to produce a world class quality product at

competitive prices, but will also massively de-crease lead times for the products it supplies.

Established in 2007, Trioplastics has been successfully servicing the packaging industry through the supply of imported rigid plastic lms in roll form such as PVC and PET rolls.

It is to start a PVC cal-endaring plant in the near future, which will enable it to produce high-grade PVC lms.

The calendaring process results in a higher quality PVC product and allows for better gauge consis-tency as compared

to extrusion. Extruded PVC lms can have up to a 20% rejection rate, whereas the lms produced via the calendaring process reduces this rejection rate to a single percent.

APRIL / MAY 2013 17

Trioplastics to start

This waste minimization has resulted in calendared lms being preferred by local and international clients.

The new PET line will enable Trio to manufacture the widest PET lms available in South Africa, giving Trio the capability to match world-class quality standards previ-ously only found in imported lms.

The PET lm production facility will be able to produce roll width of up to 1.5m, unmatched in the current African supply of PET lms. The PET facility will focus on the production of high quality aPET, rPET, GAG and sheeting.

By manufacturing locally, Trioplastics is looking forward to servicing all the needs of existing and new clients with world-class lms.

www.trioplastics.co.za

By adhering to the companys three strong

pillars, Price, Quality and Service, Trioplastics has

expanded steadily and now operates from a world class

manufacturing facility in Chamdor, Krugersdorp.

18 APRIL / MAY 2013

The programme was commissioned by the Plastics Chamber at the MERSETA. The industrys training authority, the MERSETA appointed PlasticsSA to manage the project and it in turn appointed skills development specialists Chris Vor-werk and Fiona Farquharson, an educa-tion, training and skills development expert and research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, to conduct the research.

Other members of the team were Anton Hanekom (executive director of PlasticsSA) and Kirtida Bhana (training executive, PlasticsSA).

Only 62 companies completed the on-line survey, but the researchers identi ed some interesting trends.

Workshops were also held in the major centres. Par-ticipants discussed what factors were impacting on the future of their businesses and the industry, what they saw as key drivers for change in the industry and how this impacted on skills priorities.

Many interesting ndings came out of these workshops and the survey data and we will be reporting on these soon once the Plastics Chamber has accepted the report, said Vorwerk, who is leading the project.

The survey questions related to com-pany activities and employment data.

Purpose of the researchVorwerk explained that estimates of the number of people employed in the industry vary from 45 000-63 000 and little is known about industry demographics such as race, age, gender and disability, or about the skills pro le and needs of employees. Several jobs in the plastics industry are not adequately mapped to the Department of Higher Education and Trainings Organising Framework for Oc-cupations (OFO) and more needs to be understood about these jobs.

Interesting trends emergeTHE research programme aimed at establishing the size and shape of the plastics, rubber and associated industries had a low response but interesting trends have begun to emerge from the data.

Industry research projectINDUSTRY NEWS

Lastly, a forecasting dimension is needed in the industry: what does the future hold for the plastics industry in South Africa, in the light of challenges such as Chinese imports; global downsizing; the green economy; waste issues and the perceived lack of entrepreneurs and innovation?

The research consisted of two components: an on-line survey to collect the hard

data related to company and employee pro les; regional workshops to collect data

about perceived current strengths and weaknesses and future threats and opportunities.

Interesting trends discoveredOf the 62 com-panies which did participate, a surprisingly large number were smaller companies:

51,6% of companies employed between 1-49 people, 27,4% employed between 50-149 people, and 21% employed more than 150 people.

By far the largest proportion (58,1%) of the companies participating in the survey have been in business for 15 years and more.

This suggests that the survey data comes from companies that are reason-ably mature, with business processes that are well bedded down. The researchers could conclude that the data supplied by these companies should therefore have a higher degree of credibility.

Who does the industry employ?The overall racial distribution of the 62 participating companies is 51.85% African; 27.11% coloured; 13.25% white and 7.79% Indian, making up a total of 8 122 employees across the 62 participat-

Fiona Farquharson, an education, training and skills development expert and research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and skills development specialist Chris Vorwerk helped to con-duct the research

Two main surprises emerged: Contrary to

what many expected, the industry seems to have

become younger and more employees

are involved in R+D function than in HR and procurement

begins to show results

A lucky draw competi-tion was held to publicise the on-line survey, aimed

at encouraging busi-nesses to complete the

survey questionnaire. The winner was Clive Shea of CS & Associ-

ates, a consultant to the industry, who won an

iPAD. Here Clive accepts the iPAD from Bronwin Abrahams, client rela-tions manager for the

MERSETA in Cape Town and PlasticsSA director

Anton Hanekom was at the presentation

- passionate about the plastic industry.

Tel: +27 11 824 3103 - Fax: +27 11 824 6018 email: [email protected] - www.sescc.co.za Unit 1, 16 Davidson Place, Wadeville, 1428

German engineering making the difference

Latest Addition to the F-Series featuring a cube mould!

An ingenious twist top made from two components on a F 270 CUBE

Second generation on the all-electricELECTRON series!

ELECTRON 50 featuring a new design and all-new control panel making silicone pacifiers

A-PETwhere quality is action

ing companies. The gender balance in the sample was 72.63% males to 27.38% females.

What was something of a surprise was the age pro le of employees in the industry. Contrary to what many role players had ex-pected, the industry seems to have become younger. The old-timers seem to have retired or left the industry. These survey numbers have been informally con rmed by other industry managers.

The educational pro le of the industry shows very few people in the industry have post-Grade 12 quali cations; however, the majority of the workforce has at least a Grade 12 certi cate.

Employee numbers per business functionA total of 77,4% of the employees surveyed work in production, while 13,2% work in marketing, nance administration and man-agement, 5,65% in maintenance, 1,62% in research and product development, 1,27% in procurement and just 0,86% in human resources.

What did surprise researchers was the fact that there were more employees in the R+D function than in HR and procurement. This was signi cant also because of the high proportion of small companies in the survey.

The lack of comparative gures and the sample size gures are too small to draw rm conclusions. However, it does seem as if there is a greater focus on research and development than in the past. The regional workshops also re ected a greater focus on research and development, with several companies commenting on the importance of this function in pursuing new markets, better products and higher levels of quality.

ConclusionsMain observations drawn from the process include: the skewed age pro le in the industry

will have implications if older colleagues are used for mentoring, coaching and on-the-job training. Such individuals will be rare and become more so in the next ve to ten years; It suggests that management is younger

and possibly more open to new ventures, new initiatives and more collaborative work. The downside is that they may need to be exposed to a wider variety of dedicated skills development processes; it would also appear that there is a

greater reliance on networks of suppliers and service providers amongst convertors and fabricators;

The project actually involved a lot of discussion between researchers Vorwerk and Farquharson and respondents

INDUSTRY NEWS

nally, the education pro le of the industry has changed somewhat from the 1990s and early 2000s, where the owners or general managers of many companies were trained artisans, many of whom started their careers in the late 1960s and 1970s. This generation has retired and a new, more formally educated and younger generation of managers now seems to be at the helm.

The combination of factors points to the emergence of a different education and training climate, as well as a different management climate.

Possible scenarios for the plastics industry in the foreseeable futureThree scenarios emerged out of the discussions:

Scenario 1: Going down the plughole Lack of incentive to compete against cheap imports, resignation, no innova-tion or renewal, the industry slows down, factories close;

Scenario 2: The clogged highway Continue as we are, putting up with all the constraints, blockages, toll gates and wild drivers. Eventually this will become Scenario 1;

Scenario 3: The take-off: Provide an injection of something into the industry so that it starts growing again; new products; niche markets; export products blossom and industry booms again etc.

Scenario 2 probably best describes the current position of the industry. Given this state of affairs and given that the plastics industry doesnt want to slip into Scenario 1, it will get to the point where the players will have to make a choice: will they close their doors, or will they start to innovate? The industry as a whole is currently quite risk averse and if it wants to change it will have to start to take some risks in order to innovate.

Scenario 3 is considered as the only feasible option for survival, let alone growth. It would require a combination of interventions to shift from Scenario 2 to Scenario 3. Training has a key role to play, but not as it is currently conceptualised, implemented or incentivised.

Impact on skills developmentThe impact, in turn, of the key drivers on skills development would be as follows:

A shift from the short-course paradigm to an extended training period for new entrants in apprentice-style programmes. Change the current training paradigm to

encourage knowledge transfer outside of formal courses and a just-in-time focus. The development of a coherent strategy

and approach to attracting talent.

Growing disillusionment with formal educationEmbedded in and threaded through the participants stories was a growing disil-lusionment with formal education. Similarly, faith in the effectiveness of formal training is also clearly waning. Courses which are con-structed as hermetic packages result in little knowledge transfer or uptake. The fault for this does not necessarily lie with the training provider. Companies are also at fault by not encouraging the use and application of the knowledge gained.

There was a very clear sense amongst participants that training on-the-job plays a signi cant role in the development of their staff and their level of pro ciency. Their notion of training has been extended to include workplace learning.

The researchers proposed that the merSETA should not just look at formal training interventions, but also at new mod-els of learning and knowledge transfer. One such model, the 70:20:10 learning model has attracted much attention, where:

70 represents the learning obtained by experience and practice through tasks and assignments that stretch the learner 20 represents the learning obtained

through other people, role models, conver-sation, networks, re ecting on experiences 10 represents the learning from formal

programmes, books and on-line resources Adopting such a model and supporting

it with appropriate grants and programmes would require innovative changes to the current dispensation.

However, if the industry is to grow and provide more employment opportunities the challenge needs to be met head on!

The full report can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/ZDxSk8 APRIL / MAY 2013 21

Industry research projectContinued from 18

NEW injection moulding software released by SIGMA GmbH at Fakuma 2012 has drastically reduced times for simulation by means of entirely new solver technology and an innovative en-meshment concept. This makes it possible to use the simulation not only during the construction of a part, but also as a daily tool for troubleshooting on the production oor.

SIGMASOFTv5.0 reduces the calculation time up to 50% for thermoplastic applications and up to 80% for elastomeric ap-plications compared to the previous version. At the same time, all advantages regarding accuracy and user-friendliness of the 3D-simulation approach remain unchanged.

The decreased calculation times result from a new enmesh-ment concept, allowing the creation of unstructured, intelligent meshes. The re nement of these meshes is automatically im-proved in regions with complex thermal and ow conditions, such as boundaries or thin walls.

In regions with less interaction, as in the outer parts of the mould, the algorithm produces a coarser mesh. The user can thus create the meshes for complete moulds in a matter of minutes, without the need for further manual improvements. In this way, the productivity of the software increases, while the numeric complex-ity and the user effort are reduced.

The new solver technology signi cantly improves the simula-tion due to fully parallelized calculations. Instead of using 2 CPUs

Decreased calculation times from new enmeshment concept

established, revolutionary mould injection software

INDUSTRY NEWS

22 APRIL / MAY 2013

as a maximum, as in previous versions, in SIGMASOFT v 5.0 up to 8 CPUs can be used for calculating with an extension of the software license. In this way the current version of SIGMASOFT uses the full potential of the multi-core-technology, available in state-of-the-art computers.

The intelligent, unstructured meshes used in the new injection moulding simulation SIGMASOFT Version 5.0 are automatically re ned in regions where important thermal and rheological effects take place, and save elements in regions with less interaction

Tool to analyse all variablesThe new technology provides moulders with a tool to analyse all variables in the process. For instance, in the extremely challeng-ing eld of medical component manufacture, virtual reproduction of the injection moulding process using SIGMASOFT helps to organise the production as ef ciently as possible, minimising scrap and maintaining precision and quality all before the mould is actually built! In this way correction loops during tool making are avoided and the mould is produced faster.

Because all mould components and process times can be included in the calculation, even over several cycles, SIGMA-SOFT can also model the restart after a production time-out. Thus scrap after unexpected or scheduled interruptions can be signi cantly reduced, while at the same time a stable optimum for certi cation can be speci ed. www.sigmasoft.de

APRIL / MAY 2013 23

Figure 1 In SIGMASOFT the mould temperature can be displayed over several cycles. In the curve, a production time out after the ninth cycle is clearly visible. Here the temperature falls over 10C close to the cavity

The temperature in hot runner and parts during lling with SIGMASOFT

Figure 1 shows an interruption of the process after nine cycles in the curve. Here the mould temperature falls to 149 C near the cav-ity during the time-out. Four cycles after the interruption the mould is once more in a stable, thermal state and the produced parts can be used again.

AMETEX (PTY) LTD IS THE PARTNER FOR SIGMA AND MAGMA FOR BOTH SUB SAHARAN AFRICAN AND SOUTH AFRICA. EMAIL: [email protected], TEL: 011 914 2540

ROLE players and decision mak-ers in the South African plastics industry made use of the opportu-nity to air their views on matters re-lating to the growth of the industry, sustainability and recycling during the rst-ever, industry speci c con-ference held during Propak Africa in March. The one-day Plastics: The Future for Growth conference was hosted by Plastics|SA, the umbrella body for the local plastics industry and attracted more than 300 delegates.

According to Plastics|SA executive director, Anton Hanekom, the event drew participants from various sectors making up the local plastics industry.

Although the majority (36%) of the audi-ence were involved in the supply of raw materials, we had good representation from plastics converters (22%), recyclers (10%), machine suppliers (2%) and other interested sectors such as government, the media and the general public who were eager to learn more and participate in the discussions, said Hanekom.

Learning from international best practice Delivering the keynote address, Dr Wilfried Haensel, executive director of PlasticsEu-rope in Brussels, gave a presentation titled Plastics and the world we live in: Lessons Learnt, in which he focused on the plas-tics industry from a European perspective, although he pointed out that plastics is a global affair and there are sure to be similari-ties in the different regions.

Debate at Plastics|SA conference provides interesting insights

its say at Future for Growth conference

24

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/ M

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3PL ASTICS | SA CONFERENCE

Plastics industry has

The rest of the days discussions were focused around three topical debates which were moderated by celebrity, investigative journalists Freek Robinson, Jeremy Maggs and Ruda Landman. They excelled in guiding the discussions and ensuring that everybodys point of view was heard.

According to Hanekom, the panelists who were invited to participate in the debates were considered experts in their respective elds and didnt necessarily share the same points of view on topics relating to exports and imports, marketing the industry, sus-tainability and recycling, training and skills development.

We tried to take a brutal look at the is-sues that mostly affect our industry and the direction we are heading in by encouraging audience members to comment and vote in real-time on the issues that were being debated by the panel members on stage, added Hanekom.

Growing the South African plastics industryThe audience was quick to rise to the

occasion and did not hold back when asked to send in their views or suggestions. When asked what they felt would most grow the local plastics industry, 38% of the audience members felt that innovation, developing new products and technology would offer the most opportunities. Natural gas utilization and becoming competitive followed closely, along with the local industry and government supporting a culture of exports.

The areas that the audience felt offered the most growth potential in the local plastics industry was packaging (45%), followed by engineering, building and construction (24%) and transport and automotive (11%).

The audience members agreed that the South African plastics industry as a whole needs to become more original and innovative. There are a host of small companies making the same product. Industry should be thinking about how it can diversify and enter a more niche market with an original product. This will decrease competition and increase innovation, said the PlasticsSA chief.

Lights, camera, action! ... and for once television show host Jeremy Maggs, deprived of the mike, was at a loss for words

Of the three panels in action, the team assembled for the second debate, focused on What impacts plastic packaging?, drew the most interest from delegates, not surprisingly as it contained representatives of brand holders, retailers and convertors. The panel experts included (standing) Eddie van Os of Unilever, Charles Muller of Astrapak (since gone on his own) and Jeremy Mackintosh of Polyoak; and (seated) Andrew Marthinussen of PACSA (Packaging Council), TV personality Jeremy Maggs and Kiril Dimitrov of Woolworths

The Plastics|SA comprised Monique Holtzhausen-Hinds, Adri Spangenberg, Dianne Blumberg, Monya Vermaak and Anton Hanekom

Former Carte Blanche host Ruda Landman was the interviewer in one of the sessions, which included panel experts Annab Pretorius (SAPRO), Susan Dittke (EnviroSense), Prof Walter Focke (Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pretoria and director of the Institute for Applied Materials), Casper Durandt (Coca-Cola SA and chairman of PETCO) and Chandru Wadhwani, joint MD of Extrupet

Debate 1

Contact us:Further information on

attendance or participation may be obtained from

[email protected].

Goals of this summit Highlight the issue of marine debris on the shores of the African continent and nearby

Indian and Atlantic Ocean Islands To establish a network of organisations/individuals that focus on marine debris in Africa Showcase best practices to tackle the issue of marine debris

Summit OutlineDay 1: Marine Debris An International Problem

A growing problem in AfricaVenue: SANBI (SA National Biodiversity Institute)

Day 2: Solutions to Alleviate Marine Debris, Venue: SANBI Day 3: Rapid Beach Litter Assessment Training and Cleanup on Robben Island

Waves of Change: African Lessons to Inspire Local Action

6 8 June 2013 | CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

African Marine Debris Summit

www.plasticsinfo.co.zaThank you to our sponsors for their support!

26 APRIL / MAY 2013

ITS BEEN A LONG TIME since the industry in South Africa recognised its leaders and stalwarts, but this tradition of old was revived by Plastics|SA, hosts of the conference, when it hosted a cocktail function at the end of the days activities at which three awards for individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the local industry were presented.

CHAIRMANS AWARDBernard Mahl, commercial director of Safripol, the manufacturer of various HDPE and PP grades, received the Plastics|SA Chairmans Award for 2013. Bernhard has and continues to play a critical role in Plastics|SA. He has been on the Plastics|SA board and the execu-tive committee for many years, serving as chairperson and deputy chairperson. He also played a momentous role in the new vision and direction on which Plastics|SA, the industrys umbrella organisation, has now embarked.

Awards programme from the 1970s or was it 1870s revived

Philip de Weerdt, chairman of the PlasticsSA board, presented the Chairmans Award to Bernhard Mahl

of Safripol - right

Douw Steyn, director of the sustainability division of Plastics|SA, presented the Sustainability Award

to Jeremy Macintosh - far right

What impacts plastics packaging?The second debate of the day took a closer look at the issue of food packaging and what impacts it in the South African context.

Explains Hanekom: Packaging has come to symbolize the issue of waste in our modern day society. Looking at the issue of plastic packaging speci cally, we know that it ensures hygiene and reduces the risk of product wastage due to contamination, providing a physical barrier between a product and the external environment. Unfortunately, however, such convenience has come at an environmen-tal price and the rise in environmental con-sciousness in recent decades has brought the issue of packaging rmly under the spotlight.

When asked what role brand owners should play in plastic packaging, 51% of the audience members felt they had a responsibility to design the packaging with effective recycling in mind; and 32% felt the brand owner also had a responsibility to educate consumers about the recycla-bility and recycled content of its products.

It is clear that there is a great need to raise the pro le of the plastics industry and the work that is being done by brand own-ers and converters to ensure that plastics are manufactured in a way that is sustain-

able and environmentally responsible, said Hanekom.

Another hot topic that was discussed by the panel was the issue of bio-plastics and whether or not it had a real role to play as an alternative in the plastics packaging industry. The vast majority of the audience members felt that bio-plastics are not an option due to the high costs and the nega-tive impact that bio-plastics have on the recycling stream.

Are plastics sustainable?The third and nal debate took an in-depth look at the issue of plastics and sustain-ability. Meeting the needs of tomorrow is the foundation of the concept of sustain-able development, explained Hanekom.

Plastics represent one of the fastest growing categories of materials used and disposed of in our society. They play a major role in delivering and sustaining the quality, comfort and safety of modern lifestyles. The impressive ratio of cost to performance also means that people of all income groups can enjoy these bene ts. However, meeting the needs of society is not just about today, future generations also have the right to material and other bene ts.

Discussing the problems surrounding the issue of plastic waste disposal, 61%

of the audience members responded that they felt the answer should lie with im-proved waste management. 36% felt that there should be more recycling initiatives by local municipalities.

We feel that the rst industry confer-ence was a success, said Hanekom.

Delegates and panelists attending made it clear that it was a timely and much needed event. They appreciated being given the opportunity to participate in the discussions and voting on topics that directly affect them.

Although the panel members were unable to address many of the comments and questions that were sent through, Hanekom and the Plastics|SA team have given their assurance that these issues will be dealt with during the next year.

Some very valuable topics were raised which we would like to include as talking points in the next conference. Until that time, however, we will use our quarterly newsletters, website and green papers to focus attention on the issues that were raised and hopefully, provide answers to the questions at hand.

A special word of thanks to the generous sponsors who made the event possible, namely ColorMatrix, Engen Petroleum, PETCO, Polyoak Packaging, Polystyrene Packaging Council, Safripol and Sasol Polymers.

Debate 2

Debate 3

www.plasticsinfo.co.za

SUSTAINABILITY AWARDJeremy Mackintosh, managing director of Polyoak Packaging Group, received this important new award. Jeremy has played a crucial role since 2000 in the promotion and expansion of the recycling initiatives of the then Plastics Federation. He was also instru-mental in the establishment of the Sustain-ability Council and redirecting the strategy from being more recycling focussed to a more inclusive sustainability drive.

TRAINING AWARDRehau Polymers, an international group which

operates plants in East London and Port Elizabeth, manufacturing mainly for the automotive industry, received the Training Award for its on-going work in this area.Rehau has identi ed the need for the train-ing and development of their staff and also recognized the eagerness and enthusiasm of the learners to be part of the education programmes and learnerships.

Rehau has shown commitment, dedication and enthusiasm throughout the program and made it possible for their staff members to develop. Rehau is committed to training and development.

Recognising the industrys stars

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27 Chenik Street, Chamdor, KrugersdorpWE ARE BBBEE CERTIFIED

011 769 1347 | [email protected]

PVC Sheet Extrusion

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APRIL / MAY 2013 27

Opinion poll

Growth sectors Response from delegates to the question: In which sector do you see the highest potential for growth?

APPROXIMATELY 300 delegates attended the conference during Propak at Nasrec and were able to vote elec-tronically to questions posed on the stage screen. Some interesting trends emerged in the process.

This is how delegates responded to the question What role do brand owners play in plastics packaging?

Delegate breakdown Industry sec-tors represented at the conference showed a possibly disproportion-ately large number from the raw material supply side, but that may be because individuals in this sector take close interest in trends in the converting market and the plus is that they are quite likely in due course to inform customers

Bio-plastics Response to question: Do you think bio-plastics are an option?

Best opportunity for growth Response from delegates to the question: What will offer the most opportunity to achieve growth in the local industry?

Disposal issue Response to question: Where should we look for an answer to better plastic disposal?

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New Sysmetric agent Adex of Johannes-burg is the new agent for Israeli raw material feeding systems specialist Sysmetric. Here we see Sito Safran of Sysmetric anked by Nicholas and Paul Clark, the son and father team at Adex. Sysmetric also supplies control systems, management & data acquisition software www.sysmetric.com

Afripack-Pouch Dynamics ACF (Afripack Consumer Flexi-bles) had one of the busiest stands at Propak, which wasnt surprising since the group has been on the acquisition trail of late. Here we see Cliff Augustyn of Pouch Dynamics of Cape Town, in which ACF recently invested, and Cara Anderson of ACF Gauteng with some of the wide range of pouches (up to 20kgs) that ACF group now supplieswww.pouchdynamics.co.za www.afripack.co.za

Sheet show Brandon Davidson, Leo Chen and Dwayne Wilcocks of Sheet Plastics on their stand. The cardboard boxes in the background are produced from PP corrugated sheet produced by the Bloemfontein companywww.sheetplastic.co.za

PROPAK / PRO-PL AS EXPO

Propak, Pro-PlasWorld class stand presentation by exhibitors at packaging showcase

PROPAK Africa, the premier show for the plastics packaging sec-tor in southern Africa, provided convincing proof of the improved standards being achieved by both convertors and suppliers to the industry. Exhibition stands were on a par with anything youll see at shows around the world, but it wasnt just about fun and looks exhibitors were there to do busi-ness.

Many of the countrys top converting businesses participated in the Propak halls, and most of the suppliers were in the Pro-Plas Expo hall alongside. Propak also included the Print Expo, FoodPro and Pro-Label Africa events covering the highly competitive food processing, printing and labelling industries running simultaneously at the Expo Centre, Nasrec, Johannesburg, from 12-15 March.

Organised by Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, the exhibition attracted 13,010 local and international visitors interested in viewing the latest products, machinery, equipment, and consumables that the industry had to offer.

We tracked visitor attendance daily and saw that we were consistently up on numbers from the previous show in 2009, with exhibitors reporting interaction with high-level decision-makers. This translated

into many sales being made from the stands and additional sales leads generated for post-show follow-up, said Gary Corin, managing director of Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery.

This was good news for our 530 exhibitors who were using the exhibition as a platform to introduce their latest machinery, equipment, products and services, added Corin. Visitors were able to converse with the most progressive local and international companies and view latest global trends, innovative technology developments and new products launched to market.

Exhibitors successes at the showWe used Propak as a showcase for our products and as a branding exercise and weve had a positive experience here. Its a great platform and an opportunity to create and build relationships. We had a lot of decision makers coming through to our

stand and had some good inquiries, said Jeff Cawcutt, a director of equipment supplier Maritime Marketing.

To expose our products and to meet face to face with our

customers is why Cabletech chose to be at Propak, said Pierre Jurgens, managing director of Cabletech. Our objective was to service the industry and to showcase the quality of our products, mainly our machinery. We enjoyed a very positive response from the show. It was excellent, with top quality visitors and we picked up

some great leads.Corne Pretorius, technical manager

at Nissei ASB South Africa, said his company has been exhibiting at Propak for the past 14 years and uses the show to give support to the industry and to build existing company relationships.

We supply to the whole of Africa, especially eastern Africa, and have just opened an of ce in Nigeria. The show has

get bigger, better

Co-hosting of Propak Africa, Print Expo, Pro-Plas Expo,

Pro-Label Africa and FoodPro draws over

13,000 visitors

Plastichem business unit manager Elana de Goede, shows off one of the ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) pho-tovoltaic roof tiles which Plastichem featured as one of its three green living focuses during Propak. Designed for a total architectural integration, the Wegalux photovoltaic roof system is the ideal solution for historical districts and locations that require a minimal visual impact

Global co-op George Dimond (right) of Conti-nental Compounders of Durban and Julian Vital of Snetor Chimie of France chatted at Pro-Plas;

their stands were alongside. Snetor, which is a trading and logistics operation that is active in the chemicals and polymers business, and

Continental cooperate in some areas

Tsepiso Letiklane and Steven Bird of Hosaf hosted Cheri Scholtz and Lisa Parkes of PETCO on their impressive stand

Gordon Williams and Nick Weetman of Capture Flex of Pretoria visited Jeff Cawcutt of Maritime and Robbie Butschi of LIMAX to view the Malaysian built Gappa bag-making machine, exhibited on the Maritime stand

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been good for us with two sales made from our stand and we met new customers.

During the show, Rotocon announced the receipt of a purchase order from First Impression Labels, a converter in South Africa, for a Rotocontrol RSC 340mm web width vertical inspection slitter/rewinder nishing machine. This was the second Rotocontrol RSC nishing machine investment for First Impression Labels. The order was con rmed on the second day of Propak Africa by Vaughan Cumming, operations director of First Impression.

Pascal Aengenvoort, director of Rotocon, commented: The overall attendance at our

stand was exceptional and there has been considerable interest in the RSC nishing machine demonstration, in addition to MPS offset and exo printing.

Thunderbolts objective was to increase its pro le in packaging. Showcasing digital printing and its move into the packaging industry, Thunderbolt MD Peter van der Walt said We had a very positive response and had triple the inquiries that we had expected to receive, w

sa plastics, composites & rubber

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