Ishida’s acquisition of National Packaging Systems (NPS) in early 2024 is being showcased for the first time at Propak Africa 2025, bringing significant benefits to the African food and non-food industry.
Ishida will also present two innovations for the first time on the African continent:
Its award-winning QX-500 tray sealer and its newly launched Sentinel 5.0 remote production monitoring system.
Other highlights include examples from Ishida’s top selling multihead weigher and X-ray inspection system ranges, Ishida’s advanced snack food packing system, and four models from NPS’s proven range of filling and packaging solutions.
Based in Kwa-Zulu Natal, NPS has been for over 40 years a trusted name for designing and manufacturing high-performance filling and packaging equipment.
Melika Seiderer, Ishida’s GM for Africa: “Through this acquisition, African food and non-food businesses have now even better access to both NPS’s product range as well as Ishida’s world-class weighing, packing and quality control solutions”.
“The breadth and variety of our combined portfolio allows us to help businesses of every size to automate their packing lines, helping our customers to achieve increased throughput and efficiencies, enhanced quality, better reliability, excellent ROI as well as stronger service and support” continues Melika.
Award-Winning Traysealer
Winner of the 2023 PPMA Awards (Innovative Packaging Machinery category), the Ishida QX-500 tray sealer has been developed following detailed feedback from Ishida’s global customers and partners. The QX-500 delivers excellent seal quality, a 66% increase in cycle speed, a 44% reduction in weight, a 46% reduction in size and a 50% reduction in energy consumption, thus significantly reducing waste and delivering a real step change in productivity to help food companies meet their sustainability targets.
Sentinel 5.0 Production Monitoring System
Show-cased for the first time in Africa, Ishida’s Sentinel 5.0 remote production monitoring system is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and combines machine performance monitoring with comprehensive data capture to give food manufacturers a smart, consolidated and in-depth analysis of their entire food production line.
Sentinel 5.0 allows manufacturers to track and analyse real-time data across the production line, providing instant insights into performance, efficiency and potential bottlenecks.
Using AI, the system offers predictive analytics to help manufacturers to flag up potential issues before they arise. Sentinel 5.0 can connect and communicate with both Ishida and non-Ishida equipment and ‘learn’ how the food production line is operating. It can then offer data-driven performance improvement suggestions, such as alerting operators to machines that are not working at their maximum capability and the reasons why.
Four key NPS products on display
The 34S Vertical Form, Fill & Seal (VFFS) bagmaker for powders, granular products and liquids, is renowned for its efficiency and durability and available with customizable filling solutions for a large variety of packaging formats and -materials.
A multilane Vertical Sachet machine offers increased productivity by packaging multiple sachets simultaneously. Overmounted, servo-driven auger fillers ensure exact weight adjustments for each sachet, delivering unparalleled accuracy and consistency.
The semi-automatic A1 Auger Filler for powder offers reliable dosing and consistent powder flow for products such as milk powder, soups, spices, soya blends, cement or tile grout.
Last but not least, the semi-automatic Basculating Volumetric Filler for liquids and solid foods ensures accurate, efficient and reliable filling with consistent portion control.
Three Ishida multihead weigher models on show
Three multihead weighing solutions on display showcase Ishida’s versatility in providing high-performance, accurate weighing of free flowing, challenging and specialist applications that deliver a fast return on investment.
The 10-head CHW multihead is ideal for businesses who are looking to expand their production capacity and harness the benefits of automation. It can handle dry, free flowing products such as snacks, confectionery, cereals, biscuits and pasta, at speeds of up to 90 packs per minute.
The 6-head Fresh Food Weigher on show has been designed to handle very sticky fresh and bruise-sensitive products with maximum speed and efficiency while also being ideal for factories with height limitations.
The 14-head Screw Feeder Weigher allows the fast, fully automated weighing of meat, poultry, fish and seafood which cannot be moved by feeder vibration. Unique rotating corkscrews replace the traditionally used radial feed troughs to provide a consistent flow of product to the hoppers for the high-speed, efficient weighing of sticky fresh food.
Ishida iTPS Snack Food Packaging System
To help snacks companies maximise opportunities in a fast-growing market, the Ishida Atlas iTPS™ (Integrated Total Packaging System) provides the fastest and most accurate snack food packing system available in Africa. The space-saving Ishida multihead weigher and bagmaker combination is capable of packing speeds of 160 bags per minute for extruded snacks and 120 bags per minute for potato chips while achieving maximum packing line efficiency and minimum product and film waste.
Ishida Quality Control Solutions
With retailers and many export markets imposing stringent quality standards, Ishida has developed a range of advanced quality control systems to deliver the highest levels of food safety and compliance, to protect both the consumer and the manufacturer’s brand.
The Ishida IX-EN-4093-S X-ray inspection system on display offers manufactures a high-performance entry-level solution, delivering unrivalled foreign body detection and quality control. The machine can spot a large variety of contaminants such as aluminium, tin, glass, stone, hard rubber, dense plastic, Teflon, PVC, bones and shells at high inspection speeds. The IX-EN range incorporate the company’s advanced Genetic Algorithm (GA) technology that enables operators to optimise the machine for greater sensitivity to specific foreign bodies. The IX-EN-4093-S can also identify damaged and missing products or components.
From its entry level checkweigher range, Ishida will show its DACS-GN-SE which incorporates an Ishida designed, exceptionally fast and accurate digital loadcell that can operate with great reliability, even in challenging environments.
Melika Seiderer: “Our participation at Propak Africa 2025 offers a great opportunity to highlight our growing presence on the African continent and demonstrate Ishida’s ongoing commitment to supporting local food and non-food manufacturers’ growth. We look forward to engaging with attendees to discuss their challenges and growth strategies, aligning them with our expanding range of equipment to help automate packaging operations, increase revenue, and reduce
costs.”
The exhibition will take place from March 11–14, 2025, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (NASREC), with Ishida and NPS located on stand D22 and D22a in Hall 6