In Africa, we have the two fastest spinning lines in the world: one for 200 drums in Sonangol, Angola, and one for Engen Oil in South Africa for small containers. We manufacture 150 200-liter drums per hour in Angola and 30,000 500-milliliter containers per hour in South Africa for Sasol engine oil, said Nucci.

Noting that Africa is one of its biggest markets, Nucci underscored the importance of consolidating its position in Nigeria and expanding into West and East African countries. Our ambition in the Nigerian market is to become the number one supplier in the lube oil and packaging industry. This is based on two factors: the good quality of our machines and the good service we can provide, he explained. We are also seeking general business expansion in Africa, especially blending plants in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

In a bid to achieve these objectives, OCME organized its sustainability and productivity seminar in February for companies active in Nigerias lubricant market. The seminar was supported by the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria to introduce the companys new solution for lube packaging and its local support team.

OCME Machines

OCME is a family-owned business founded in 1954 with five staff members. Based in Parma, Italy, the company has grown to become a global packaging equipment supplier, serving the beverage, food, detergent, petrochemicals and tissue sectors.

Our product range comprises machines for primary packaging, secondary packaging, end of line and logistics. In addition to being a supplier of single machines, OCME can provide complete turnkey systems and also integrate its machines with third-party supplied machines, the company states on its website.

In his presentation, Nucci said that OCMEs packaging line-up includes bottling, packaging and palletizing equipment. Our production machines can be integrated with third party vendor equipment, and it can process all types of containers. He added that the companys lube oil packaging equipment uses two main technologies: linear fillers driven by piston pumps and linear fillers driven by gear pumps.

The basic model of each type of filler has a 200-liter capacity, and fill volume is adjusted by a hand wheel. A photocell detects the presence of a bottle before filling starts. Bottom-up filling is controlled pneumatically or mechanically to avoid foaming of the product.

Nigerian Packaging
Market

Packaging in the Nigerian lubricants market consists mainly of manual and semiautomated filling lines. This stems from the fact that the Nigerian market is price-sensitive and independents are keen to control the cost of production.

Kayode Sote, Chief Executive of Lube Services Associates – organizers of the Nigerian Lubricant Summit – stressed that the low barriers to entry in the lube business in Nigeria results in some blenders depending on to manual filling before upgrading to semiautomated filling.

Nucci corroborated this view, noting that the Nigerian lubricant market is limited. Most of the requests we get from Nigeria are for small filling lines, and the price they are willing to pay is low compared to the cost to product the machines.

While OCME claims to have installed more than 10,000 machines all over the world, its packaging equipment has gained traction only among multinational corporations in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil and Oando in the lubricant segment and Coca Cola, Heineken and Nestle in the beverage industry.

OCME has yet to make headway with independents lubricant suppliers. The underlying factor for hosting a seminar in Lagos was inform companies about the advantages of adopting its packaging technology in their blending plants.

One issue raised by blenders was the challenge of an unreliable power supply that may not be able to accommodate equipment upgrades in their plants should they adopt OCMEs packaging technology. Nucci responded that OCME has a local technical support team that can provide good service to automated machine in Nigeria.

On the other hand, Nigerian blenders at the conference noted that the cost of OCME packaging equipment is a challenge because it is beyond what they can afford. According to Taiwo Jide of Best Lube International Ltd. in Lagos, it will be difficult for an investor to spend some 260,000 for an equipment upgrade because of the price-sensitive nature of the Nigerian lubricant market. He noted that blenders can get a similar machine from China for U.S. $50,000 to $100000. He asked if it is possible for OCME to build packaging machines that will be easier an investors bank accounts.

Lube Services Sote agreed, stressing that we are in a very price sensitive market, and you have to look to the price issue to be able to compete. Prince Adeshina Adewunmi, General Manager for Nelcon Energy Ltd., a leading additive supplier in Nigeria, agreed, We want OCME to adapt to what we can afford.

For his part, Nucci said that OCME will not compromise quality and safety in a bid to compete. Our machines are supplied according to certain standards and safety requirements. Machines sold in Nigeria are the same as those in Germany and vice versa. Therefore, we cannot compromise our standards.

However, Nucci emphasized that 80 percent of the machines are standard for every customer and 20 percent can be customized according to a customers needs. But, he noted, machines could be altered to be 60 percent standard and 30 percent custom to try to cut costs.

We have an engineering department that does integration, and we can give you a complete filling line, Nucci emphasized. He disclosed that OCME has a laboratory in Italy dedicated to developing new products and checking customer products before proposing a machine to make sure that the right machines are produce for the application.

He cautioned blenders that the Chinese may offer their packaging machines at lower prices, but they may not stand the test of time. We really cannot come to the price level of the Chinese for reasons such as standards, safety and quality materials, he said.

An important factor is to be close to customers, so if they have problem they can call on us at any time. This is why we have local service teams. He added that communication is easier because customers can communicate in their native language. Communication with the Chinese is difficult. Also, a lot of companies in China are new to the business, whereas OCME has been in business for 60 years.

Sote concurred that quality does not come cheap. I agree that price is critical, but the truth of the matter is that good things dont come cheap. Ocme prides itself on being the ultimate provider in filling machines, and if you want to have ISO certification, you must have good filling machines.

Nucci concluded by saying OCME would take into account comments made by blenders at the seminar with a view to creating options that could accommodate them. There will be some internal meetings to understand how to improve the price without jeopardizing quality and safety. Also, we will try to find creative ways to provide more compact systems with fewer machines and lower power consumption, which will benefit customers long-term operating costs. Maybe, the machine will cost a little bit more but power consumption will cost a little less, saving money on the total cost of ownership, he said.