PHOTO: Construction of a plant by MachinePoint for a client underway at an undisclosed venue. The company includes three businesses: MachinePoint Used Machinery, MachinePoint Consulting and MachinePoint Engineering, all of which play roles in projects such as this
MACHINEPOINT of Spain, a leading supplier of equipment, processing solutions and turnkey projects to the beverage, dairy and agro food industries over the past 25 years plus, has been working with converters mainly in North Africa for the past decade. Over the last few years, and thanks to the company’s MachinePoint Engineering business, it is becoming more involved in other markets and regions in Africa. It has experienced increased demand for quality used machinery and engineering services required to start up new production plants or expand existing capacities.
Pablo Rodriguez, director of MachinePoint Engineering, points out that considerable development and growth in demand for machinery is anticipated in Algeria, Angola and Ethiopia, followed by other Central African countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo and Nigeria. MachinePoint offers these markets used machinery for food and beverage processing as well as packaging machinery: filling lines, preform and cap machinery, ISBM machines for PET, PET fillers, cans and glass fillers, film and agricultural machinery, pipe and profile extruders, multiple size injectors, dairy processing and related machinery.
MachinePoint Engineering services personnel accompany investors and entrepreneurs who are creating new processing production plants in order to transform agricultural products into processed products, processing lines for water, juices, carbonated drinks and dairy products. The MachinePoint team assess customers from the initial project definition to the commissioning of the new production lines. It is a personalised assessment customised to the needs and budget of each client.
The African entrepreneurs interested in MachinePoint's services are usually medium-sized business owners looking for the best value for money. For them, MachinePoint's used machinery is extremely competitive, as it gives them access to high-quality machinery, mainly of European origin and at a much lower price than new machinery from a well-known brand.
Used machinery from leading industry brands maintain high levels of efficiency and productivity compared to second-tier brands. This translates into fewer production stoppages, longer life and higher productivity.
For the African business community, used machinery can be an optimal solution, since it drastically reduces the initial investment while maintaining high quality standards. MachinePoint's used machinery comes mainly from factories located in developed European economies where companies compete with very tight margins in a highly price-sensitive market. This means that these companies need the latest technology in their plants in which to maintain their competitiveness, resulting in well maintained surplus machinery with reduced working hours.
In African markets, where price pressure is lower in many food and beverage products because of a high dependency on imports, the margins are interesting enough for entrepreneurs to start local production. Now, with an increasing purchasing power of the population and a growing demand for food and beverage processed products, entrepreneurs are investing in establishing new production facilities locally.
The surplus of European machinery supports optimal productivity for the cost and marginal infrastructure of numerous African countries. Many entrepreneurs are beginning to see the benefits of positive increase to profits. MachinePoint offers its customers all the services necessary to import the machinery safely, one of the factors leading to the increased demand.
Transforming Africa is transforming from a subsistence economy to a developed industrial state. This step is essential to achieve the increase in the standard of living of its growing population. MachinePoint's team is highly motivated by projects in Africa as they easily perceive the positive impact industrial projects have on populations. Food industry development will bring food prices down which ensures further affordability to the vast majority.
Rodriguez comments: "Our recent increase of activity in Africa for the promotion of our engineering services is determined by the fact that we receive more demands from this area than from America or Asia. The local proximity and time schedule help tremendously to help the progress of the projects. In Africa, the global situation has improved considerably. Several wars have ended and the prospects for growth are great. We also have a responsibility to help Africa to be able to create jobs and hope for its young people.
“The challenge for Africa is to modernise itself and modernise its industry, to become a major player in the globalised world. To feed Africa not only with a collaborative economy but also by exporting quality products that meet world standards. Export is necessary in the early stages of development to secure the income needed to modernise the rest of the industrial structure. All this requires a secure economic and political climate. Corruption remains a limiting factor for growth in these countries,” he added.
“MachinePoint's main benefit as an engineering company is our independence from any manufacturer in advising our customers with the best technological solution for their needs. In most cases, our intervention reduces costs. We develop well-defined requests for a quotation that allow us to ask for prices for perfectly defined equipment to several manufacturers. Offers can be compared, allowing our clients to choose the best technical solution for their interests and budget.
“The transfer of knowledge and training of our clients' technical staff throughout the project is key to leaving value with the client´s team when the project ends. Our solutions are tailor-made factories, most of the times we combine equipment from different manufacturers and brands, as we look for the best technology and value from each manufacturer,” said Rodiguez.