Tamper-proof seals cater for wide range of applications

UNISTO’s Andrea Bolognesi.. out to thwart the criminals. Ray Smuts THINK Swiss - immaculately-engineered time pieces and those red pocket knives that slice through a stick of biltong with scalpel-like precision - and you will understand where security specialists UNISTO Seals are coming from. Operating in South Africa (from Stellenbosch) for the the past five years, the Swiss company manufactures a wide range of security seals covering many disciplines. Andrea Bolognesi, MD of the South African operation, also confirms the company provides a wider function than merely manufacturing seals. “If a customer has a security problem we will investigate and come up with an appropriate solution as happened recently at a mining company in a neighbouring South African country, so we are also there to provide a consultancy service.” Despite local and international competition, he maintains the potential market for security seals is huge in South Africa. “From a safety perspective we believe we are at the top end of the market even though not the cheapest.” At this stage UNISTO’s products are mostly imported although the first locally produced items are now coming off a production line at Atlantis outside Cape Town. They are suitable for many applications including containers, air and roadfreight, chemicals, mining, security and textiles - the latter showing strong demand in particular. December 2002 saw the introduction of the Swiss-designed and manufactured UNISTO ‘spinblock’. Tensile-strengthened to 1 000kg, such has been the success of the product launch - in excess of 200 000 sales - that Bolognesi has initiated a viability study into the possibility of local manufacture. The two-part stainless steel seal with a plastic outer casing that cracks at any attempt to open it came into being following evidence by clients that seals were being easily tampered with at London’s Heathrow Airport. Pointing to the importance of a consignment arriving intact at its destination, Bolognesi says operators need to have the assurance their security measures are tamper-proof and it is in this regard that UNISTO seals can make a significant contribution.