Nampak, Africa’s largest packaging company, has invested in a state-of-the-art scanning electron microscope (SEM). The newly acquired microscope is housed at the company’s Research and Development (R&D) division in Cape Town.
“We made the investment at the end of last year and are already seeing the benefits from this advanced scientific equipment,” says Morongwa Themba, General Manager of Nampak Research and Development. “The high-quality imaging of the SEM supports our problem-solving abilities for customers, while also enabling greater cost savings and improved efficiency.”
Supplied by Scientific and Precision Solutions, the Thermo Fisher Scientific Axia ChemiSEM is the fourth scanning electron microscope purchased by Nampak R&D in its 77-year history. The microscope has undergone significant technological advancements since the company bought its last SEM in 2009.
“Nampak is the only packaging company on the continent with this unique analytical capability,” says Themba. “The addition of this new SEM allows us to solve more challenges for Nampak’s various divisions as they look to provide customers with the most innovative packaging solutions from paper and plastic to metals.”
The R&D division has recently applied the new SEM’s capabilities to material development with a particular focus on coatings, metals and plastics. The SEM has helped Nampak Liquid Cartons to identify and problem solve challenges around liquid cartons such as measuring sealant layers on the inside of the carton. The microscope has also supported the Plastics division in the chemical analysis of master batch samples as well as foreign object identification. In addition, the SEM can assist in verifying specifications and identify counterfeit material.
“It is extremely useful in failure and root cause analyses, as well as assisting customers in the identification of foreign matter found in packaged products,” says Themba. “The instrument is therefore an extremely important asset to ensure the safety of food and beverages packed in Nampak’s packaging.”
It’s technology like this that allows Nampak R&D to scientifically investigate packaging, while also removing the risk of potential claims against its customers or Nampak itself. In the past, findings by the R&D division have gone a long way to preventing financial and reputational damage for brands.
“It’s investment in modern equipment such as SEM that allows Nampak to continue to be a market leader and widely regarded as the most advanced packaging science and technology facility in the Southern Hemisphere,” says Themba. “Our R&D division provides crucial scientific support and services exclusively to Nampak customers.”
The previous SEM is now at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg. Due to the equipment’s versatility, it will be put to good use as a key piece of medical equipment to continue identifying new and existing disease strains.
Fast facts about Nampak R&D’s new SEM:
- The SEM is capable of producing high-resolution images at high magnification. This magnification is considerably higher than any optical microscope can offer – up to 300 000 times. What makes this technique unique is that elemental analysis can be performed at a micro-scale.
- This technique also provides excellent depth of field which means that you can see the whole image in sharp focus from foreground to background.
- The latest colour imaging is used to enhance the capability of the instrument.
- The SEM’s versatility means it can analyse samples anywhere between 0.01cm² and 49cm².
