Namibia Plastics and Packaging does blending, extruding, printing, finishing and recycling in order to manufacture, stretch hoods, shrink (printed and clear), stretch wrap (clear and colour), bags (printed and clear), plastics used in construction and agriculture, tapes and strapping, all of which used to be imported from South Africa or Europe.

 

The company uses leapfrogging technology, new technology which substantially improves on technology used by its competitors, to make gains in efficiency.

Approximately 50% of packaging has been imported. In addition to the expense entailed in the long supply chain, a hidden cost is difficulty in implementing new packaging due to delays caused by distance to foreign suppliers.

 

Namibia’s industrialisation drive will require greater capacity for manufacturing, and this includes packaging. Namibia Plastics and Packaging is a significant increment on existing local capacity.

Additionally, it reduces cash outflows required for imports.

In a technologically advanced company, such as Namibia Plastics and Packaging, employee skills are not easily substitutable, so the company relies primarily on permanent employees.  A small number of temporary staff are employed on a needs basis, depending on the requirements of tasks at hand. Female employees mainly occupy white collar and support positions.

A staff trust (10%) is in place, and 100% of permanent staff use the medical aid fund.

Training takes place on an continuous basis, to ensure complete familiarity with technology and new technology used by the company, as well as to maintain and improve on operational efficiency.