As food and packaging manufacturers face mounting pressure to increase productivity while maintaining operational reliability, automation is becoming an increasingly important driver of competitiveness.

At Propak Cape 2026, taking place from 27 to 29 October in Cape Town, Interroll will demonstrate how smarter material-flow and conveying technologies can help manufacturers create more efficient, flexible and reliable production and packaging environments.

Interroll Managing Director Gavin Hall highlights that the company’s participation will focus on practical technologies that can help manufacturers respond to changing production requirements while maintaining consistent material flow.

“Automation is no longer simply about replacing manual processes. For food and packaging manufacturers, it is increasingly about creating production environments that can respond quickly to changing demands while maintaining throughput, reliability and efficiency. At Propak Cape, we want to demonstrate how intelligent conveying technologies can contribute to that bigger picture,” comments Hall.

Conveying technology built around efficiency

Interroll’s Propak Cape offering will include its rollers, RollerDrive, drum motors, GLS and Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP), reflecting the company’s broad portfolio for packaging, food and logistics applications. These technologies support reliable product movement and integrated automation for high-throughput packaging lines.

The Interroll Roller Drive, for example, integrates the drive directly into the conveyor roller and is designed for conveyor zones and roller conveyors. Its low-voltage architecture and compatibility with zero-pressure accumulation systems support flexible and energy-efficient conveyor designs.

This type of decentralised conveying technology can be particularly valuable in modern packaging environments where manufacturers need to balance throughput with flexibility, while making it easier to adapt conveyor systems to changing production requirements.

“The ability to control material flow intelligently and efficiently is becoming increasingly important as manufacturers look for greater flexibility from their production lines. Technologies such as RollerDrive allow conveying to become a more integrated part of the overall automation strategy, rather than simply being treated as a means of moving products from A to B,” explains Hall.

Hygiene and reliability remain critical

For food and beverage manufacturers, automation must also meet demanding hygiene requirements. Interroll’s food and beverage portfolio includes MCP CleanLine, designed for clean and demanding environments, as well as hygienic drum motor solutions. MCP CleanLine incorporates stainless-steel construction, washdown-ready design and zero-pressure accumulation technology.

Interroll’s drum motors provide a compact drive solution in which the motor is integrated into the conveyor frame. The company’s food-processing drum motors are designed for hygienic applications, with selected versions offering IP69K protection for cleaning with high-pressure water and approved chemicals.

This combination of compact design, hygienic construction and reliable operation can help food and packaging manufacturers address two of the most important considerations on the production floor, maintaining product and process hygiene while minimising avoidable downtime.

“In food and packaging environments, reliability must go hand in hand with hygiene. Equipment needs to perform consistently, but it also needs to be designed around the realities of cleaning, maintenance and demanding production conditions. Our solutions are developed with those requirements in mind,” adds Hall.

From individual components to integrated automation

The wider trend towards connected and integrated automation is also changing the role of conveying technology. Rather than operating as isolated pieces of equipment, conveyors, drives, controls and other material-handling technologies increasingly form part of a coordinated production system.

Interroll’s portfolio spans individual conveying components through to modular conveyor platforms and automation technologies, allowing system designers and manufacturers to develop solutions suited to different production and material-flow requirements.

At Propak Cape, Interroll will use its participation to engage with manufacturers and industry stakeholders about how these technologies can contribute to streamlined production and packaging lines.

“The future of material handling is increasingly connected. The opportunity is to combine proven conveying technologies with smarter automation to create systems that are not only faster, but more flexible, more efficient and easier to manage. Propak Cape provides an ideal platform for us to discuss what that means for manufacturers here in the region,” concludes Hall.