IPAMA BULLETIN PRINTPACK INDIA 2019
Made in India – Faster
automated gravure and CI flexo
presses are coming
NARESH KHANNA
T
he Plastindia exhibition in
Gandhinagar from 7 to 11
February 2018 showed the
strength of the Indian and South
Asian packaging industry, and
particularly its flexible packaging
segment. A standout aspect of this
show was the remarkable mix of
leading global manufacturers and a
high number of Indian manufacturers
of masterbatches, films, rollers,
extruders and dies and printing,
converting and filling and sealing
equipment. There were also many
manufacturers of equipment that are
needed to turn plastic waste into small
pellets and fine plastic powder in order
to make various recycled products.
As far as gravure printing machines,
the leading Indian manufacturers
such as Kohli, Pelican and Expert are
already well known for their newer
and faster automated presses. Indian-
made laminators were also one of the
highlights of the show, including the
new SP Ultraflex Roboslit Plus slitter
rewinder running at 1,000 meters a
16 | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2018 | SUPPORTED BY IPP & PSA
minute—reliably claimed to be the
fastest flexible packaging machine
manufactured in India. What was
exciting about the new Roboslit plus
running at 1000 meters a minute was
the smooth acceleration to full speed
accompanied by the quiet whining
sound emanating from the evacuating
fan that sounds like a well-insulated
mini jet engine. Needless to say, the
slit and rewound reels were perfectly
neat and clean.
Indian customers for gravure
and flexo presses and converting
equipment including laminators
are increasingly looking at more
sophisticated machines, such as the
new Uflex co-extrusion twin laminator
also shown in Gandhinagar, and at
higher quality, faster speeds and
quicker job changes—all of which
point to greater automation and ease
of changeovers as well as the use of
better film substrates and inks so
that the entire system is productive
as well as compliant with increased
regulations for safety, health and the
environment.
t Uflex stand at Plastindia 2018
Jayesh Pathare, application head-Flexible
Packaging of Exzone Solutions with the Honeywell
solvent measuring system attached to the hot air
evacuation system of the Perfect Printgraph ELS
stack flexo press in Hall 7 at Plastindia 2018
Technical and marketing
collaborations
A new feature of the Indian
manufacturers is collaboration with
each other and often with leading
international consultants and
technology partners. We met some
of the players in the Multigraph
Machinery group, including its
president Hiten Mehta, who is also
the owner of Perfect Printgraph, and
Kaku Kohli of Kohli Industries, who
manufactures both gravure presses
and laminators, and later with the
top management of Manugraph. This
is a joint marketing project in which
Multigraph group offers a range of
Indian manufactured equipment to
domestic and global customers. From
narrow web label flexo presses to wide
web gravure and flexo presses and
laminators, there is a common sales
organization for most markets.
At the joint Multigraph stand,
Perfect Printgraph showed an
electronic line shaft (ELS) stack flexo
press with high quality registration
while Kohli Industries showed
its solvent-free Gaia laminator