Visitors will also have access to industry speakers sharing their knowledge and expertise at the new free-to-attend seminars, which will be taking place daily in Hall 7. Over 20 speakers will be presenting across the four days of the show. Four separate industry conferences will also be running alongside Propak Africa, adding further opportunity for learning.
“We are really excited to introduce the new free-to-attend seminars at Propak Africa this year,” says Sven Smit, Event Director for Propak Africa. “The seminars will provide an additional platform where latest industry trends can be shared and important industry issues addressed. We are also excited about our new ‘every day a themed day’ initiative, where each day of the show will support a different theme. Day one will focus on new products, day two sustainability, day three skills development, and day four, a ‘local is lekker’ South African day. The seminar topics will be aligned with our themed days.”
Packaging 4.0 will be the first seminar topic that visitors can look forward to, which will be presented by Dean Floyd, Area Sales Manager, Factory Automation, Sales Region Africa at Pepperl+Fuchs. Whether described as Industry 4.0, a smart factory concept or expanding the Internet of Things to industrial applications), all these generally refer to the same thing: the networking and digitalisation of production. For manufacturers in all sectors, this topic represents a major challenge as well as a unique opportunity and this presentation will explore this in-depth.
Understanding how to create value to future proof your flexographic print business, will be the topic presented by Adriaan Cronje, Technical Packaging Specialist at National Kemtek Imaging Systems. In another talk, Romulo Leon, Head of Global Sales and Market Management at Mettler-Toledo in Germany will ask the question: “Are you on track for serialisation?” Other topics presented on the first day of the show will include ‘International flexible packaging trends and sustainability’ and the ‘digital revolution in roll labels’.
Day two of the show, sustainability day, opens with Plastics SA’s Executive Director Anton Hanekom discussing concerns around many so-called ‘plastic alternatives’ that are now flooding the market without having been properly evaluated. He will explore various options and talk about how Plastics SA is facilitating this process. Another topic to be discussed on day two is the examining of reasons behind South Africans not dedicating any or enough effort to recycling. Waste reduction vs waste disposal and how to reduce your carbon footprint is another important topic that will be explored.
Many other speakers will share important insight on a broad range of topics during the four days of the show. Other speakers will include Steve Thobela, CEO of Printing SA, Kishan Singh, National Educational Officer at the Institute of Packaging SA (IPSA), Bhekithemba Dlamini, Deputy Director, Agro Processing Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Coillard Ford, Provincial Manager: Gauteng North, Nedbank Business Banking, amongst many others.
Conferences alongside Propak Africa
The IPSA (Institute of Packaging SA) Think Tank will take place on 12 and 13 March with four separate workshops; two packaging workshops will take place each day. The first workshop will provide the latest information of how the industry, associations and companies are interacting with government directly related to legislation affecting packaging and the environment. The afternoon’s workshop will give delegates insight into everything they should know about the different types of plastics as both rigid and flexible packaging. The topic is aptly titled Plastic Packaging Unpacked.
The morning workshop on the Wednesday will deliver a Lean Six Sigma approach to quality management, unpacking the development of management systems, ISO certification schemes and the practical integration of Lean Six Sigma Black Belt principles into business processes for bottom line optimisation. The afternoon workshop will drill down on corrugated and paper board packaging and its versatility in widespread packaging applications.
The South Africa Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) has partnered with WWF-SA and Propak Africa to host a Design for Recycling workshop on 13 March. The day long workshop will offer hands on learning and engagement with technical experts to explore the technicalities of Design for Recycling.
A Printing SA and South African Institute of Printing (SAIP) Conference will also take place on 13 March and, on 14 March, valuable information will be shared at VDS Media’s Propak Africa Packaging Innovation and Sustainability Conference. Sustainability concerns and developments surrounding substrates and raw materials will be debated as well as how South Africa’s top retailers and brand owners are incorporating sustainable packaging formats into their packaging value chains.
Propak Africa and co-located shows FoodPro, Pro-Plas Expo, Print Expo and Pro-Label Africa will be taking place from 12-15 March at the Expo Centre in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
A Propak Africa App can be downloaded to keep visitors updated prior to and during the show. For further information and online visitor registration, visit www.propakafrica.co.za
