Shrink wrap, flow wrap, vertical and horizontal form-fill-seal, filling and labelling equipment, freighted overnight up the N3 and commissioned on your floor by our own technicians.
A packaging machine is only right when it suits your product, your film and your throughput, so we start with the range, not the sales pitch. Shrink wrapping and shrink sleeve equipment, flow wrappers, vertical and horizontal form-fill-seal lines, canning and can seaming, capsule and sachet filling, cup fill-seal, tube filling, labelling and cartoning. Standalone machines through to fully automated lines. Every type is set up and powered at our Johannesburg workshop, an hour’s flight or an overnight truck from Durban.
Ordered by what KwaZulu-Natal actually packs: sugar, spice, powders and feed into bags and pouches, and beverage and canned product into multipacks for the retail trade and the port.
Powders, granules, and liquids formed, filled, and sealed from reel film, with auger, weighing, or volumetric dosing or pump to suit the product.
Stand-up and zipper pouch lines for spices, granules and liquid formats where shelf presentation matters.
L-bar and side sealers, sleeve sealers and shrink tunnels for multipacks, glass jars, hardware and retail-ready packs.
Horizontal flow wrappers for bars, biscuits, frozen snacks, small parts and anything needing a fin or lap seal at speed.
We work back from the product and the pack, never from a catalogue page. Six things decide the machine, and we go through all six before a quote is written. Durban is a night on the N3 for a machine and an hour’s flight for a technician, so a site visit before quoting is normal rather than exceptional. From there we recommend the most cost-effective machine that still has room to scale.
Powder, granule, liquid or solid. This decides the filler before anything else is discussed: auger, multihead weigher, volumetric cup or liquid pump.
Units per minute at the rate you actually run, not a peak-day figure. Output decides whether a single-lane, multi-lane or fully automatic line is the honest answer, and whether one shift can hold your retail and export commitments.
The pack you sell into: pillow bag, stick pack, doypack, zipper pouch, tray, bottle or shrink multipack. Format narrows the machine type to one or two options. Export pack specs coming through the port are stricter than most local ones, so send us the spec you are packing to and we will work to it.
Footprint, ceiling height, three-phase supply, compressed air, and one thing inland plants never have to think about: humidity. Coastal air pulls moisture into hygroscopic product like sugar and spice, softens film behaviour and rusts anything that is not properly specified. We ask about your plant conditions up front and specify stainless and coastal-spec components before the build, not as a warranty claim afterwards.
What the line has to cost to make commercial sense. We recommend the most cost-effective machine that does the job, not the largest one we can sell you.
Room to scale is part of the specification. KZN producers who win a retail listing or an export order usually need more output inside a year, so growth should mean adding to the line rather than replacing it.
Specification on paper only gets you close. Fly up for a morning and watch your own product run at Riversands, or courier the product, the film and the carton to us and we will run a sample batch, then send back the sealed packs and the trial footage. Either way, nothing goes on the truck until the pack coming off the machine is the pack you sell.
Price is driven by machine type, production speed, level of automation and any customisation. Rather than publish a figure that does not apply to your product, we quote in detail once we understand what you are packing and at what rate. A KZN quote shows the overnight freight and the commissioning trip as line items rather than burying them, and any coastal-spec components are priced in from the start.
Terms on entry- to mid-level machines are 50% deposit and 50% before delivery. Complex, customised and 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. We do not offer in-house financing, but we are a registered vendor with Wesbank and supply the quotes, specifications and documentation your bank requires. See the payment and financing questions.
A semi-automatic L-bar sealer and a multi-lane VFFS line are different orders of investment. The machine type follows the product and the pack, so this is settled before price is.
Output is the single biggest lever on cost. Doubling units per minute usually means more lanes, heavier framing and faster servo drives rather than the same machine run harder.
Hand-loaded, semi-automatic, or fully automatic with infeed and end-of-line. Automation is priced against the labour and rework it removes, and for most KZN plants that trade-off is against a second shift, so it is worth quoting both ways.
Product dimensions, pack size and added features such as date coding or gas flushing. Standard-range machines cost less and arrive sooner than a custom build.
Our workshop, showroom and spares base is at Riversands in Johannesburg, 20 minutes from OR Tambo and an overnight truck from Durban. There is no KZN branch, and we would rather say so. What we do instead is make the machine prove itself before it travels: bring or courier your product, your film and your carton, and we run a sample batch first. Machines are freighted up the N3, and our own technicians come with the commissioning.
Riversands, Johannesburg
Our single workshop, showroom and spares base, 20 minutes from OR Tambo. Address and trading hours on the contact page.
Machines are freighted from Riversands up the N3, usually overnight to Durban and the same for Pietermaritzburg, with Richards Bay and the South Coast a day behind. Our technicians travel down to install and commission on site, booked as a scheduled visit with the date confirmed before you pay the balance.
Three installs written up in full, with the product, the format and the throughput each line was specified around. The spice powder zipper bag project is the closest read for masala and dry-spice packers on this coast.
SA Packaging Machinery delivered a solution that has met our expectations. The equipment has been reliable in daily production, and we’re pleased with its performance. We found the team knowledgeable, professional, and willing to assist whenever required.
PackMan purchased an Automatic 6-Lane, 4-Side Seal Vinegar Packaging Machine, and it has been performing reliably since installation. The machine delivers consistent packaging quality, operates efficiently, and has met our production expectations.
SA Packaging Machinery supplied our VFFS machine, and it has been running well since installation. The team was straightforward to deal with, and the support has been there whenever we’ve needed it.
We’ve had a great experience working with SA Packaging Machinery. The equipment has performed exactly as we hoped, and it’s made a noticeable difference to our operations. The service before and after installation has been excellent, and we’re happy with the overall result.
Ratings and reviews are published on our Google Business Profile, where they can be read in full and in context.
Great company to work with. Affordable quality equipment and great service.
Anything not covered here, phone the workshop. You will get someone who has installed the machine, not a call centre.
Yes, two ways. Fly up for a morning: Riversands is 20 minutes from OR Tambo and the machines are kept set up and powered, so you can watch yours run and take the packs home the same day. Or courier us your product, the film you intend to use and the carton you pack into, and we will run a sample batch and send back the sealed packs with video of the trial. Nothing goes on the truck until the pack coming off the machine is the pack you sell.
Machines in stock at Riversands: usually overnight on the N3 to Durban and Pietermaritzburg, a day further for Richards Bay and the South Coast, then a booked commissioning date. Machines not in stock: 10–12 weeks from receipt of deposit, covering the factory build, the Factory Acceptance Test and freight, plus the road leg. Custom configurations are quoted per project, and we do not quote a lead time we have not confirmed with the factory first.
Our own technicians, not a local subcontractor. They travel down, position the machine, connect it to your power and compressed air, dial in the settings for your product and film, and stay until the line is producing sealed packs at the rate quoted. Operator training happens on the same visit, with your staff, on your product. The trip is planned into the quote, so there is no surprise call-out cost at the end.
Sealing elements, heating bands, drive belts, blades, seals and sensors sit on the shelf at Riversands and go on an overnight courier to Durban, so a routine replacement is next day rather than an eight-to-twelve-week import. That is the practical difference between a South African supplier and an imported machine with no parts in the country. Less common assemblies we bring in to order, and we will tell you honestly which category your part falls into.
Yes. Most faults are settings, wear parts or sensors, and those get solved on the phone with your operator, often the same morning. Where a technician is genuinely needed we book the trip and tell you when. We service the machines we supplied, and we will look at equipment bought elsewhere where we can source the parts. Worth asking before replacing a machine that may only need a seal kit, an element and a proper service.
No, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. We run one workshop, in Johannesburg, and supply the whole country from it. For a KZN producer the honest comparison is not whether we are around the corner, but whether anyone is: an imported machine bought through an agent usually means no spares in South Africa, no technician to send, and a container wait when something breaks. We already have a plant in Durban running our equipment, and the same team that installed it answers the phone.
We do not provide in-house financing, so machines are paid for directly. Many customers finance through their own bank, and we supply the quotes, specifications and documentation banks require. We are a registered vendor with Wesbank, and have supplied machines financed through Nedbank and Absa.
For entry- to mid-level machines, 50% deposit and 50% before delivery. For complex, customised or full-line projects, terms are structured around the Factory Acceptance Test and set out in your quote. We are open to adjusting terms to suit your cash flow, so tell us what works for your business.
Yes. CE marking is the manufacturer’s declaration that a machine meets European health, safety and environmental requirements, covering guarding, emergency stops and electrical safety, and the documentation is supplied with the machine. It is not a South African legal requirement, but KZN producers packing for export through the port are regularly asked for it by buyers and auditors. If your customer needs further documentation, tell us what and we will obtain it from the manufacturer.
Factories specialise. A plant that builds powder fillers builds little else, and perfects it. Rather than sourcing everything from one supplier, we work with a different manufacturer for each machine type. For anything outside our standard range we obtain quotes from three factories, and we visit and inspect them in person before a build is committed.
We work back from the product and the pack. Product type first (powder, granule, liquid or solid), then output in units per minute, the pack format you sell into, the floor space and power you have, your budget, and where you expect production to be in three years. For a KZN plant we add plant conditions to that list, because humidity changes how powder flows and how film seals. A site visit before quoting is a flight, not an expedition.
Both. Many KZN customers start with one machine, filling, sealing or wrapping, and add to it as volumes grow. We also supply complete lines, including filling, sealing, wrapping, labelling, coding and end-of-line automation, laid out as one system and commissioned in one visit.
Yes. Send us photographs of the line, the conveyor heights, the run of floor available and the door and passage the machine has to come through. We plan the layout and the access route before the machine is loaded, because a fit problem found in Durban is a fit problem 570 km from the workshop.
Yes, and on this coast it is worth planning for properly. Our machines run laminated films, polyethylene, polypropylene and other heat-sealable films, but humidity changes the picture: hygroscopic product like sugar and spice picks up moisture, film behaves differently, and sealing temperatures that work inland need adjusting at the coast. Stainless and coastal-spec components are specified before the build rather than replaced later. Send us a roll of the film you actually buy and we will run your trial on it.
We supply entry-level through to high-speed industrial machines. Achievable output depends on the model, the product and the film, and we quote against your product rather than the factory headline figure. Sugar, spice and feed packers usually need the sustained rate through a full shift rather than a peak-minute number, and that is what we put in the quote.
Yes, within limits we will be straight with you about. Common changes are product dimensions, pack size, output speed and features such as date coding or gas flushing, plus stainless and coastal specification for humid plants. Anything outside our standard range is quoted from three factories, and we inspect the plant before a build is committed.
Price is driven by machine type, production speed, level of automation and any customisation. Rather than publish a figure that does not apply to your product, we quote in detail once we know what you are packing and at what rate. A Durban quote shows overnight freight and the commissioning trip as separate line items, with any coastal-spec components priced in from the start. Payment terms and financing documentation are covered above.
Yes. Every machine includes a warranty period, set out in your quotation and sales agreement. Support at distance starts with phone and video assistance, parts couriered overnight, and a technician flown down when the fault genuinely needs hands on the machine.
Call the workshop first. Most stoppages are settings, a worn sealing element, a belt or a sensor, and your operator can fix them on the phone with us the same day, which is why we train your people properly at commissioning. Parts go on an overnight courier from Riversands. If it needs a technician, we book the trip and tell you when rather than leaving you guessing.
Tell us what you are packing. Product, pack format, target output and film if you know it. We will come back with the machine that fits and what it costs to run, not a catalogue.
