Nampak wins international WorldStar Awards
Antalis SA distributor for UPM Raflatac
I
nnovation and differentiation are the key elements in
staying ahead in the increasingly competitive packaging
industry. Nampak, Africa’s largest packaging manufac-
turer, continues to offer innovative solutions for its cus-
tomers, demonstrating their commitment providing value
to and improving customer’s brands. This commitment
to innovation was recognized by the World Packaging
Organisation by winning several international WorldStar
packaging awards.
WorldStars are awarded to packages which have
already won recognition in a national competition. The
packages are compared by an expert panel of judges to
similar packages from around the world and winners are
based on consensus that a package is superior in its own
right, and better in its class in execution or innovation by
comparison.
Nampak won awards for the Poltek live bird crate,
Easy open easy pour Castle Lite can and Cadbury re-
sealable chocolate packaging.
Nampak Megapak, Africa’s leading manufacturer of
plastic trays, crates and drums won a WorldStar Award
for their improved version of the live bird crate designed
and manufactured for Poltek, the leading supplier and
manufacturer of poultry equipment in South Africa. The
re-designed crate is simpler, lighter, more space efficient
and environmentally friendly, as well as being designed
to take the best possible care of the birds during trans-
portation.
Using cutting edge computer modelling and perfor-
mance analysis, Megapak and Nampak R&D developed
a radically improved version of this 30 year old product,
delivering huge financial, logistical, functional and envi-
ronmental benefits.
The crate holds eight market weight (1.8kg) chickens.
The patented nesting design allows 2500 new crates to
be packed into a 40 foot container compared to 500 old
cratesgivingafivetimesbetterspaceutilisation,reducing
both transport costs and carbon footprint for transport by
80 percent.
The new crate (32 percent lighter than the old crate),
requires less resin and energy to produce contributing
even further to a reduced carbon footprint. The required
strength for the new crate is achieved through designing
for flexibility rather than rigidity. The new live bird crate
has a stacking top load physically tested at 500 kg before
anydeformationstarts,withstackingtoploadpeakingout
at 800kg. All parts are made from the 100 percent recy-
clable HDPE.
The clips which join the two halves together are
designed to be extremely strong, and are fully protected
from impact damage when the crate is assembled. The
two halves can be unclipped to enable better cleaning.
The flush fitting lid has no protrusions or screw ends and
theeasyunclippingofthesecratesmakescleaningeasier,
reducingtheriskofdisease.Thepatentedsidewalldesign
of the crate creates diamond shaped ventilation channels
between stacked crates. This is seen as a major improve-
ment by Poltek as it reduces stress and increases airflow
for poultry during transportation.
Nampak Flexible won the WorldStar award for their
re-sealable chocolate packaging. Nampak flexible was
selected as a strategic partner after undergoing a strin-
gent pre audit by Mondelez to determine their capability
in terms of delivering the necessary levels of functionality
and security in linewith international standards, resulting
in the delivery the world’s fastest Value-Added Flow Pack
(VAFP) converter approval and implementation to launch
the technology for the re-sealability of Cadbury DairyMilk
slabs.
The cold seal application along the fin of the tablet
allows the pack to be re-closed throughout. The offset
fin also ensures the consumer knows where and how to
open and re-seal, without tearing the material. This inno-
vation is in line with current local and global trends in the
market, indicating that consumers are constantly seeking
new experiences beyond the product.
The launch of the Cadbury Dairy Milk’s re-sealable
packaging was a multi-million Rand project, requiring
training, machine and process modifications that were
necessary to achieve the desired effect of improving the
visibility of the brand as well consumer convenience.
Nampak Bevcan won the WorldStar award for their
new cold rush, easy flow can developed for Castle Lite.
Over and above the attractive blue internal lining and the
thermochromic, temperature sensitive icon enhancing
the design; it now has a cold rush, easy flow aperture.
The new lift-and-twist, ‘easy pour’ end was developed
by Crown, Nampak Bevcan’s technical licence partner
and the specialised tooling was supplied by Stolle. The
opening of the can has a distinctive extended score line
on the left side of the rivet which allows for awider open-
ing allowing air to escape and for the contents of the can
to flow out faster and more smoothly – whether being
poured or sipped.
The easy-pour end is an innovative first in South Afri-
ca,providinganewexperienceintheopeningritualwhich
is elevated froma simple ‘pull tab’ action to the ‘flip, twist
and flow’ movement. Once open and ready for consump-
tion, the Castle Lite beer flows smoothly and more easily.
A
ntalis SouthAfrica (Pty) Limited has been a distribu-
tor of UPM Raflatac since March this year, follow-
ing talks between the two companies last year.
The agreement between Antalis and UPM Raflatac
makes perfect sense as Antalis is a leading distributor of
self adhesive sheet fed label paper in South Africa and
Raflatac is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of
self-adhesive label materials.
Label stock products are mainly used for consumer
product and industrial labelling in industries such as
food and beverage, pharmaceutical, retail and logistics.
Raflatac is a global operator with sales operations in 67
countries and production in 17 countries. It is the second
largest producer of pressure sensitive materials in the
Europe.
The distribution partnership between Antalis and
UPM Raflatac is a mutually beneficial one said Michael
Rushworth, Product Manager, Paper for Antalis. ‘Over the
past few years, Raflatac has been expanding its product
offering and presence in rapidly growing markets, while
for Antalis locally it made sense to make Raflatac a pre-
ferred supplier as the group is already a major supplier to
Antalis worldwide,’ he said.
UPMRaflatac is also a cost effective grade combined
with excellent quality and its overall marketing backup is
very good. ‘Throughout negotiations last year and since
starting our relationship, they have been tremendous and
their willingness to assist is phenomenal,’ he added.
UPM Raflatac views its presence in the South Afri-
can graphics and sheet market as a great opportunity.
Andoni Rodriguez, Marketing Manager Sheets, EMEA,
Area Sales Manager, Sheets Business: Africa and Latin
America said, ‘UPM Raflatac has a long partnership with
Antalis in Europe, and South Africa represents an exciting
step forward for all of us.’
He believes the relationship with Antalis will allow
UPM Raflatac’s sheets solutions to meet the needs of
printers and end-users for quality, reliability, innovation
and environmental performance in this high-demand
market.
‘We strive to become a perfect labelling solution
provider for the South African printers in their daily self-
adhesive labelling and are proud to put our 20 years of ex-
perience in the sheets business towork for them,’ he said.
Raflatac sheets come out of their Spanish plant in
Barcelona and their Polish mill outside Warsaw, with
most of the paper face sheets coming out of their own
mills. This is important, said Rushworth, as it means they
have control over the quality of their paper.
Raflatac’s chain-of-custody system tracks certified
material from the forest to the final label construction.
It provides third-party verification that the wood used in
labeling products originates from responsibly managed
forests. UPM takes part in all major forest certification
programs, including FSC and PEFC.
A holistic approach is followed when creating its
products and assessing the environmental impact of its
products through its in-house expertise, technology and
capabilities. It uses state-of-the–art production processes
and through the creation of new label products, has re-
duced its use of nonrenewable materials. It also treats
waste as a valuable resource.
It uses a framework it has developed to source raw
materials globally, which is based on the company’s code
of conduct and corporate responsibility principles.
Whether a gloss, matt, clear, opaque, textured, ho-
lographic, coloured or metallised visual effect product,
they are all suitable for all printing technologies, whether,
flexo, digital, high resolution and contrast, thermal or
other.
All its labeling for complex shapes and squeezable
packaging will remain useful for the lifetime of the la-
belled goods. Raflatac’s product are cost-efficient and
sustainableandmeetsallrelevant industryandregulatory
requirements in terms of safety.
Printed on 128 gsm Hi-Q Titan Gloss supplied by
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