Nampak, Africa’s largest packaging company, has invested more than R2.5 million in one of the world’s most modern scanning electron microscopes (SEM, [Status]). The investment was made at the end of last year and a number of benefits are already being realised, specifically in terms of cost-savings, efficiencies and customer service.

The SEM is housed at Nampak’s world-class Research and Development facility in Cape Town, where it forms part of the Corrosion and Surface Studies Laboratory. The general manager of Nampak Research and Development, Johan Visser, says that this is the third SEM that the facility has operated in its 63-year history. The last one was acquired in 1995, but massive advances in technology over the past 14 years made the upgrade necessary at this time.

A combination of state-of-the-art American and Japanese technology, the SEM was supplied by JEOL Limited, which is headquartered in Tokyo and is a leading global supplier of scientific instruments for research and development in a variety of fields, including forensics. When Nampak acquired the new microscope, it was the first one of its kind to be installed anywhere in the world! Nampak’s Johan Visser says that it’s certainly the most advanced locally. He estimates that there are approximately 20 SEMs in South Africa currently. These are located at academic institutions and government bodies, like the bureau of standards.

Although the SEM is fairly new to Nampak Research and Development, the facility is making good use of it, particularly in terms of solving challenges for Nampak divisions and their customers. It’s most regularly used in the areas of metals and glass, affording Nampak the means to identify the type and cause of rust, for instance, as well as how, where and when contamination occurred, either in terms of packaging material specifications or foreign matter found in packaged goods. In addition, it’s used to identify the reasons for machine part failures, and the corrosion or cracking occasionally associated with metal food and beverage cans.

As the new microscope enables Nampak Research and Development to investigate packaging defects in a scientific way, it helps remove the risk of potential claims, which could have a significant impact on the packaging company and its customers. In the past, findings by Nampak Research and Development have saved hundreds of millions of Rands.

Tankiso Thamahane, manager of Nampak’s Corrosion and Surface Studies Laboratory, says that the microscope has many special features.

Firstly, it’s able to magnify samples by 300 000 times their actual size. A standard laboratory microscope magnifies samples by 1 000 times their actual size.

Secondly, it can hold four different samples simultaneously, instead of just one, which was the case previously. What’s more, the sample chambers are larger and rotate at many angles.

Thirdly, liquid nitrogen is no longer required for operational purposes. As a result, Nampak Research and Development doesn’t have to have special conditions in place for handling the substance, contributing to improved cost-savings and user-friendliness.

Finally, a further R120 000 a year was saved because Nampak Research and Development doesn’t have to coat samples in liquid gold in order to make them conductive.

Presently, four Nampak Research and Development scientists are trained to operate the highly sophisticated microscope. Two will receive specialised training overseas shortly.

A key contributor to Nampak’s success as a market leader, Nampak Research and Development will continue to stay ahead of the technology curve in the interests of packaging excellence, adds Johan Visser.

Nampak Research and Development is widely regarded as the most advanced packaging science and technology facility in the southern hemisphere.
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