How we quote, ship, clear, install and support packaging machines for buyers outside South Africa — and which costs sit with us and which sit with you.
Send us your product, and we will test it before you buy. Courier us your product, the packaging film you intend to use, and the carton you pack it into. We run a sample batch on the recommended machine and send you the results. No deposit is required for the trial.
A machine for a buyer outside South Africa is quoted the same way as for a local buyer: around your product, pack format, output and level of automation. The price already covers our cost and the sea freight that brings the machine to our Riversands workshop in Johannesburg. Installation and operator training are included. What sits with you is the leg from Johannesburg onwards, the clearing at your border, and the technician’s travel. Both sides are listed below. How the pricing factors themselves work is explained in our guide to packaging machine costs.
Our quoted price includes sea freight from the factory to our workshop in Riversands, Johannesburg, which is our only premises in South Africa. From there, there are two ways to get the machine to you. Collecting from Johannesburg is usually the more affordable option.
The machine arrives at Riversands as part of our normal sea shipment, and that freight is already included in the quoted price. Transport onward into your country is then arranged by you, either with your own truck or with a courier who handles the border formalities.
For some machines we can air freight the unit directly from the factory to your country instead of routing it through Johannesburg. We supplied our clients in Nigeria this way. We strip the sea freight out of the price and add the air freight cost, which is considerably higher, and very large machines may not fit a standard aircraft.
We book whole containers and consolidate several customers’ machines into each one, so a container cannot be redirected to a single buyer unless you take a full container yourself. For a landlocked country a sea shipment would in any case still land at a coastal port and travel the rest of the way by road.
Every machine leaves the same Riversands workshop in Johannesburg, so the route, the border post and the distance are what change from country to country. Each country page below sets out its own corridor, its crossings and the towns we deliver to, along with the machines already running there.
Our technicians travel to site to install and commission the machine and train your operators wherever it goes. Lead time is the same as for a South African buyer: a machine held at Riversands is ready once payment clears, and a machine that is not in stock takes 10 to 12 weeks from receipt of deposit, covering the factory build, the Factory Acceptance Test and sea freight to Johannesburg. Transport from Johannesburg and clearing at your border are on top of that.
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These are the questions we are asked most often by customers outside South Africa. For the route, border posts and delivery towns in your own country, see your country page.
Yes, and this is how most cross-border customers buy. Courier us your product, the packaging film and the carton you pack into. We run a sample batch on the recommended machine and send you the sealed packs and footage of the trial before any deposit is required. The Riversands showroom is open during the working week if you are in Johannesburg.
There are two routes. The machine normally arrives by sea at our Johannesburg workshop, which is already included in the quoted price, and you collect it from there with your own truck or an appointed courier. For some machines we can air freight directly from the factory to your country instead, which costs considerably more. Your country page sets out the corridor, border posts and distances for the road leg.
You or your clearing agent. We supply the commercial invoices and all machine documentation your agent needs, but the import formalities, duties and taxes are handled on your side. Tell us at quoting stage what paperwork your customs authority requires, because it differs from country to country and we would rather issue the right documents up front than reissue them at the border.
Our own technicians, not a local subcontractor. They travel to your site, position the machine, connect it to your power and compressed air, commission it, and train your operators on your product and your film. Installation and training are included in the quotation. You arrange and cover the visa, including the invitation letters we will need from you, plus flights, accommodation, meals, local transport and the days on site. We handle a long-distance job inside South Africa the same way, Cape Town included. Installation takes from half a day to three days depending on the machine.
Sealing elements, heating bands, drive belts, blades, seals and sensors are held on the shelf at our Johannesburg workshop and couriered to you. Ordering the same parts from an overseas factory normally takes eight to twelve weeks. Allow for customs clearing at your border on top of the courier transit time. Less common assemblies we bring in to order, and we will tell you honestly which category your part falls into.
Phone or video call the workshop and we work through it remotely first, with your operator standing at the machine. Because visas take time to arrange, this is both the fastest route and the one that has worked: every cross-border fault so far has been resolved without sending a technician. If a site visit does become necessary we will arrange it, and you cover the travel costs.
Entry- to mid-level machines are 50% deposit and 50% before delivery. Complex, customised or full-line projects are structured around the Factory Acceptance Test and set out in your quote, and we are open to adjusting terms to suit your cash flow. Quotes are issued in South African rand. We convert on request, noting the rate and the date, and that conversion can be updated to the rate on the day you pay.
Yes. The warranty is one year, on the same terms as for a South African buyer. Genuine mechanical and electrical faults are covered and the parts are supplied free of charge. You pay the courier cost of getting the parts to you, and travel costs are not covered. Damage caused by operator error is charged for, as it is for local customers. Every job is logged on a job card so the service history stays traceable.
Tell us what you are packing and we will recommend the right machine for your product, output and budget. Send us the product, the pack size, your target output and the town and country you are packing in. We will come back with a machine recommendation and a quotation, and set out the clearing and installation arrangements for your country.
