In celebration of World Quality Week, Ardagh highlights how its dedication to quality has strengthened its presence in the African glass market.
World Quality Week, from 11-15 November 2024, serves as a reminder of how quality principles drive organisations from mere compliance to outstanding performance.
Over the past 80 years, Ardagh Glass Packaging-Africa, formerly Consol Glass, has produced fit-for-purpose products, aligned with industry standards, which has helped the company build its profile in Africa.
Ray Tolmay, Executive Safety, Quality and New Product Development at Ardagh Glass Packaging-South Africa, said: “Quality is not just an inherent feature in the packaging we produce, it is fundamentally at the core of our manufacturing processes. An organisation that consistently supplies quality products to its customers will be competitive, profitable and sustainable.”
Quality has long been one of the benefits of glass, which has positioned it as a premium packaging choice.
Achieving and sustaining quality is about continuous learning and ongoing improvement.
Mr Tolmay said that while procedures and equipment make quality production possible, it is the ongoing commitment to quality and employees’ skills and knowledge that differentiate Ardagh from its competitors.
Employees are taught – through formal training and on-the-job coaching - to adhere to tried and tested standard operating procedures, and never to ignore a situation on the production line that could pose a quality or food safety concern.
Mr Tolmay said: “Our primary goal is to provide packaging that assists our customers to uplift the quality of their own products. This means we must be proactive in addressing challenges as they arise on the filling lines and provide appropriate solutions.
“We take accountability when there are any quality concerns and work hard as a team to ensure that our corrective actions are sustainable so that quality issues do not recur.”
Innovation and technology play a key role in the business, not only because the manufacturing environment is forever evolving but also because customer demands are growing.
On the list of demands, customers want designs that will differentiate them from their competitors, and durable lightweight options.
This requires investment in technology such as predictive glass temperature control (furnace and forehearth), loading equipment and loading monitoring systems, automatic swabbing, and inspection equipment (hot end and cold end).
This is in addition to the latest software systems (including Artificial Intelligence) to ensure the business can meet evolving customer and consumer demands.
These demands now also include an ever-increasing focus, by both customers and consumers, on sustainability, adding another level of complexity when considering quality management principles and methods.
Mr Tolmay said: “Our processes and products must align with the social and environmental pillars of our sustainability strategy. One of the ways we are doing this is to consistently improve the levels of recycled glass content in our manufacturing processes while maintaining the quality of our products.
“By doing this, we are reducing the amount of raw materials needed for glass manufacturing, the energy needed for production, and the emissions released from our manufacturing plants. We are also reducing glass waste going to landfill and, importantly, helping to create an inclusive circular economy in South Africa.”
