PRINTPACK INDIA 2019 IPAMA BULLETIN
Made in India CI flexo presses
It’s clear that while flexible
packaging in India is still dominated
by gravure and converters are
increasingly looking at precision
built automated presses above 400
meters a minute, flexography made an
unprecedented showing at Plastindia.
capable of running at 450 meters
a minute. Manugraph was also at
the shared Multigraph stand with
its Italian technical collaborator
Comiflex highlighting the gradual
manufacturing program for its gear-
less CI flexo press. The first press—a
CKD installation—is already being
installed at a flexible packaging
printer in North India. The Multigraph
marketing combine has been exporting
Multitec’s narrow web label presses
and has also sold a good number of
Kohli Industries’ gravure presses
to the domestic market while Kohli
has itself exported perhaps a slightly
higher number.
Jayesh Pathare of Exzone Solutions,
who sells green technologies for flexible
packaging, showed us the Honeywell
System for measuring the solvent
content of the air being evacuated from
the dryers of the Perfect Printgraph
ELS stack flexo press. This system
can help improve the efficiency of the
solvent recovery system, which is
going to become essential for flexible
packaging presses as they meet with
plant audits by brand owners and
government regulations.
Kaku Kohli of Kohli
Industries in front of the
companies solvent less
laminator at Plastindia
2018
Several Indian manufacturers
are coming to market with locally
manufactured wide web CI flexo
presses at a variety of cost, quality and
automation levels. With the coming of
digitally engraved flexo sleeves, one
can look forward to a wider expansion
and acceptance of CI flexo printing in
India for flexible packaging.
Apart from Manugraph, who has
already installed one CI flexo press
that it imported, Uflex has begun
to conduct live trials of its highly
automated Uflexo CI flexo press.
Other Indian manufacturers such
L-R: Pradeep Shah,
managing director,
Manugraph, Luigi
Carraro, president, C&C
Flexo Srl and Sanjay
Shah, Vice - Chairman
& Managing Director,
Manugraph at Plastindia
2018.
as Echaar, Ishan International and
Innovative Flexotech are also building
wide web CI flexo presses. Of these
five manufacturers, three are working
with Italian technical collaborators
and building gear-less presses with a
considerable degree of automation.
Global manufacturers are upbeat
about Indian developments
Interestingly, the major global
manufacturers of flexible packaging
presses at Plastindia were actually
quite upbeat about the technology
improvements of the Indian
manufacturers. They seem to thi nk
that this will expand the market and
allow them to highlight the higher
technology features and efficiencies
of their own equipment. They are
encouraged both by the enhanced
technology of locally manufactured
equipment and the impending
sustainability compliance issues which
they hope will extend to operator and
plant safety.
The perception is that the
induction of automation components
and precision manufacturing will
eventually enlarge the customer base
for higher technology and greater
overall efficiencies that go hand in
hand. The result should be higher
quality plastic-based packaging
that is produced efficiently and with
sustainability, health and safety
coming to the forefront of the overall
project and system discussions. z
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2018 | SUPPORTED BY IPP & PSA | 17