Local engineering firm celebrates 47 successful years

When Gus Egli arrived in South Africa from Switzerland, his personal vision evolved into an engineering powerhouse for the vertical, form, fill and seal (VFFS) packaging industry. Maryke Foulds tracks the company’s ongoing investment in a new custom-built facility, sound operating principles and quality processes.

To support the industrial food packaging sector, a company must understand local conditions. Hard-working and reliable machinery coupled to cost reduction is critical and Egli is constantly looking at new ways to improve equipment efficiency and drive down costs – while offering workable solutions.

South Africa’s F&B industry is faced with some unique challenges, including the politicisation of the industry and growing consumer and labour demands. Health and safety is a critical component of all operations and product and worker safety forms the cornerstone of a successful company. Equipment that can assist in product safety can no longer be viewed as a nice-to-have, but rather an essential part of day-to-day operations.

The food sector has been more fortunate than most under the strict regulations of COVID-19 and lockdown – especially producers of lower-end commoditised products. Higher-end and niche products are having a tougher time.

Producers must find a way to place greater value in the hands of consumers. With the contraction of the economy, the industry can expect consumers to have less disposable income and more products will be fighting for the same rand. Egli is committed to working with clients to find new ways to reduce cost and increase safety and accuracy in the workplace. “Our development work in improving the accuracy of our filling systems and our range of inline check-weighers and metal detection equipment, which forms part of our end-of-line solutions, has assisted our customers in reaching their goals,” a company spokesperson explains.

The packaging industry must remain flexible to keep abreast and ahead of the competition and the firm has incorporated format changes to offer the very latest to their customer base. Though most of Egli’s packaging equipment can operate with recyclable LLDPE substrates, there has to be a movement toward more re-usable, recyclable and bio-degradable packaging. A case in point is Coca-Cola's move to make its two-litre PET bottles reusable and it is hoped and expected that more initiatives like this are in the pipeline. Up to now there hasn’t been much local movement on new substrates and formats, but Egli can move quickly and adapt to whatever the market is demanding.

FAST FACT Egli has ….

· sold more than 1 000 VFFS packing machines

· 120 employees

· 5 700+ items held in stock

· stainless steel construction

TECHNOLOGY MATTERS

Egli’s inline baling machines are sought after as producers seek to further automate their packaging lines. Most producers have existing primary VFFS packaging equipment: Baling is an automatic extension of those packaging lines.

Equipment can be configured to bale most homogenously-shaped primary packs. Products can be baled in various configurations to capitalise on consumer demand and pallet optimisation.

Egli’s equipment has a loyal following in various industries such as rice, sugar and maize products and it supplies equipment to most major blue chip food producers in South Africa. They are reaping the reward for enhancing their product offering in these sectors. There are several unexpected benefits to using this technology. These include:

· Greater line productivity/automation

· Uniformed end products

· Labour savings

· Cost-saving over traditional secondary packaging i.e. boxes

· Transport cost reduction – more product per pallet

· Using the bale substrate for branding products.

The use of recyclable substrates in the baler material has a positive effect on carbon emissions, which is helpful in the move towards greener technology. This is a key developmental focus for the company and the focus of continual R&D in this area.

IN FOR THE LONG HAUL

Egli has deep roots in South Africa and relishes its long-term relationships and ability to offer new and technologically-sound solutions to clients.

“There are a limited amount of local packaging machinery 3 manufacturers left in South Africa. Many have chosen to become an agent for global principals. While many have been disinvesting in South Africa, we’ve invested in producing virtually all components in-house. This gives us better turnaround times, lower costs and greater control over quality.

DID YOU KNOW?

Egli exports equipment into subSaharan Africa. They are preferred suppliers in most countries of turnkey extruded maize snack lines and packaging equipment into the sugar industry. Units have been sold as far as Thailand and America.

“We can produce machinery that competes with imported equipment on all production aspects at prices the African food industry can afford. We also carry a huge inventory of spares, backed up with quality service from technical staff.

“We like to think of ourselves as an innovation company, and investment in our factory, production capabilities, quality levels and continuous improvement are just some of the ways we differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Our brand has been gaining traction over the past few years and thanks to our loyal customer base, we have built an enviable reputation. Our value and quality propositions are hard to ignore," a spokesperson for the company concludes. •

TECHNICAL DESIGN, ENGINEERING AND ASSEMBLY

With an in-house design team and CNC manufacturing equipment including laser cutters, Egli can cater to specific client modifications, create layout plans, confirm packaging material requirements and ensure that final packaging systems conform to requirements. The company carries an extensive range of spare parts. This minimises downtime when it comes to service or repair.