BOBST Plans Dual Events to Enhance Packaging in West Africa

Leading printing and packaging machinery manufacturer BOBST has planned two significant back-to-back events at the spectacular beachfront Landmark Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.

Organized by Mohamed Hassairi, Regional Marketing & Communications Manager BOBST Africa & Middle East and Turkey/Caucasus, both events will introduce some of the latest state-of-the-art solutions for fool-proof packaging.

Speaker Yannick Ulmann, International Sales Manager, will focus on the topic ‘Zero-fault packaging – myth or reality?’ at the first event scheduled on 10 September, 2024.

Quality is one of the biggest differentiators in the packaging industry. Other factors such as cost efficiency, sustainability, and lead times matter too, but ultimately if packaging fails the quality test, it can jeopardize a whole run, and a customer relationship with it. Packaging faults in some sectors, particularly pharmaceuticals and F&B can have significant consequences.

ACCUCHECK

But how can manufacturers maintain quality control in an increasingly competitive environment where margins are being squeezed and short runs with short lead times are becoming more common? With most companies unable to afford the luxury of quality control personnel carefully checking their packing process, the onus now lies on the manufacturer to provide completely fault-free packaging in short lead times. BOBST introduced ACCUCHECK in 2011, which has become a benchmark solution in the industry and a must-have for BOBST’s pharmaceutical customers in particular. BOBST has now developed an evolved version of its quality control system. The new ACCUCHECK is compatible with the latest generation machines. It carefully checks carton blanks for defects and guarantees complete quality consistency at high speeds. Inspection capabilities of ACCUCHECK are extremely comprehensive and include accurate colour measurement and text inspection, detecting any print defects. It also enables complete analysis of the substrate integrity and automatically ejects defective boxes.

The second event, to be held on 12 September, 2024, will focus on ‘Specialised High Barrier Metallized Process Solutions’, with Dennis Hughill, Regional Sales Director – Western Hemisphere as the speaker.

The global flexible packaging industry is undergoing a period of rapid change as all key players in the value chain address the growing demand for innovative, sustainable packaging solutions that meet increasingly complex regulatory and functional requirements.

BOBST is uniquely positioned in the packaging industry to be at the forefront of this transformation. The vacuum metallization-based barrier process solutions that have helped reinforce the position of BOBST as a key player in creating sustainable high barrier packaging solutions for the flex pack industry.

Vacuum Coating & Metallizing Process

This process adds a thin film of aluminium or other coating to a material. In principle, the process calls for evaporation of the coating material inside a vacuum chamber, after which it condenses onto a web of substrate as it passes through.

Paper and film metallizing is utilized in the packaging and decorative market segments. The barrier and decorative markets are noted for their wide variety of products from beverage labels to chip bags. Designed for wide web processing, BOBST vacuum coating and metallizing machinery is characterized by minimal downtime and superb quality at high speeds.

DarkNight

To meet increasingly demanding standards in the flexible packaging industry for barrier applications and products with longer shelf life, BOBST has developed DarkNight, a unique and innovative, cost effective process to produce high barrier metallized films. The DarkNight process is a major step forward in the journey to full aluminium foil replacement with high barrier metallized films. This move is largely driven by leading brand owners who want to reduce their aluminium foil consumption in order to reduce packaging cost but need a more consistent quality in their supply chain of metallized films.

BOBST and Nigeria

BOBST’s association with Nigeria dates back to 1994 when it first established a technical platform in the West African nation. In 2016, BOBST took a significant step forward by inaugurating its local entity in Lagos, a strategic move demonstrating the company’s commitment to being closer to its customers and partners and to elevate the packaging industry in West Africa, particularly Nigeria. The two events planned in September is a step further in boosting BOBST’s footprint in Nigeria and the rest of the region.