Proudly South African member, Coleus Packaging, showcased their new, state-of-the-art plant equipment and machinery at their Alrode factory in the east of Johannesburg, which was secured with a R200m capital investment, which entrenches the company’s position as the leading crown manufacturer in the world and provides the company with additional capacity to export to multiple markets in Africa.
The new plant equipment replaces the 30-year-old capital equipment that was constantly breaking down and hampering the world’s leading crown maker from driving efficiencies. The company supplies crowns to beverage conglomerates such as SAB, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, and Heineken.
The R200m capital investment secured a new coater and resizer line, as well as a new punching and lining machine that is manufactured by industrial plant and equipment manufacturer, SACMI.
Coleus Packaging managing director, Ian Victor, said the investment has ramped up the production capacity of the plant from around 8 billion crowns to 12 billion per annum.
“This investment has allowed us to bring the engineering and people costs down. It’s just an astronomical improvement. With the new printing machine that we will be installing next month, it adds an additional R100m in working capital, which brings our total investment to R300m,” said Victor.
Eustace Mashimbye, chief executive officer of Proudly South African, commented: “We are proud of the strides that Coleus has made to modernise its plant and improve its production capacity. For Proudly South African, this is not just a plant equipment upgrade, but an investment in the future of South Africa, a reaffirmation to localised production and an unwavering commitment to job creation and the ethos of economic self-reliance.”
Victor added that his company has partnered with a non-profit organisation called Fillers Love Foundation to build a multi-purpose centre in the heart of the newly established neighbourhood of Sky City in Ekurhuleni. This state-of-the-art facility will comprise of a sports arena and a community centre.
“Fillers has already acquired four hectares of ground in the centre of Sky City for this initiative. We expect construction on this project to commence soon. Our support of this initiative underpins our values of making a positive impact by investing in the communities we operate in,” said Victor.
