Volume : 3 • ISSUE 1
September - October 2016
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September / October 2016
September - October 2016
Volume : 3 • ISSUE 1
Trendspotting:
TIME TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO Label industry is on the cusp of a new phase of growth in India. While this seems like oft-quoted statement, one needs to ask to understand what is propelling this growth.
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sia is slowly becoming the largest labels market, representing a projected 40.7% share of global labels consumption in 2016. Several industry report have highlighted that Asia is forecast to grow labels consumption at the fastest rate, led by the evolving packaging markets in India and China. Faltering economic growth is expected to push Western and Easter Europe and parts of Americas to follow with a below average global growth rate. The label industries’ future growth story in India will be supported by following key factors: improved economic growth, rise of more aware consumers, brands looking to be more sustainable in their approach, and discretionary spend trends. What numbers say? In its report, Smithers Pira studied in detail how a global market valued at $34.5 bn (€31.4 bn) in 2016 will grow at an annual rate of 5.4% to reach $44.8 bn in 2021. Predicting the demand for label stock will advance in step with that for release liners; they predict the growth of liners from $6.36 billion in 2016 at 4.6% annually during the period 2016–2021 to reach $7.98 bn.
Further, the report predicts different fortunes for different label types. Pressure-sensitive labels are the dominant subsegment – with a projected 44.4% share of global labels consumption by area and 63.3% by value in 2016. Wet-glue label is the second largest with 35.6% of global labels consumption by area and 22.8% by value. Shrink sleeve labels account for 15.1% by area and 10.6% by value. Stretch sleeves, pre-gummed and in-mould labels each account for a very low market share by area and value. The dominance of pressure-sensitive labels is expected to maintain the steam while stretch and shrink sleeves are expected to make modest gains in the market shares. In contrast, wet-glue and in-mould labels, which still comprise a big share in the India market, is expected to witness average growth across the next five years.And if we go by what Smithers Pira feel, consumption of pregummed labels will hit a plateau. Flexography is still the main print process for label production accounting for a projected 37.4% share of global labels output by area in 2016. In fact, the trend
of a press with multiconfiguration consisting gravure or screen coating, offset, or an inkjet unit continues. How many of these would make their way to India is something to be closely watched. Nevertheless, the case of hybrid flexo presses currently seems stronger, relegating the offset lithographic to secondary position with a projected 2016 share of 25.9%, followed by gravure with 14.3%, and screen printing with 9.2%. Interestingly, screen is
reduction and sustainable packaging. In fact, FMCG brands post the Maggie debacle and the rise of Patanjali (which seems too keen to take on other products head-on over price and product details) consumer demand for convenience food, detailed and attractive packaging is on the rise. Another factor (from printer’s side) is the emergence of relatively low cost labelling solutions with which labelling can be replaced or changed. If you look closely at the segments, beverages
undergoing a renaissance of sorts, emerging as a ‘value-addition tech’ at print houses.
(both alcoholic and nonalcoholic) drinks dominate the label consumption. Alcoholic drinks are the main end-use market for labels, accounting for a projected 27.5% share of global label consumption in 2016. The alcoholic drinks market growth is supported by the booming hospitality and tourism industries in large cities,
Consumption and brands Driven by economic, social and demographic and lifestyle changes, brand owners’ are now increasing becoming extra alert on source
Editorial
PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF
Jignesh Lapasiya +91 9867978998 labelstalk@gmail.com SENIOR EDITOR
Sonal Shah ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Supreeth Sudhakaran GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Preetam Shetty Vivek Vishwakarma WEB SUPPORT
Pratik Shah PRINTED AT
Star Printer MEMBER OF
Time is to take a leap As you are reading this, two of the biggest recent happenings are: Trump becoming the US President proving psephologists wrong again and Narendra Modi’s crusade against black money getting a shot in the arm through currency demonetisation. These two definitely had an impact on the market. But what they teach is — ‘Your moment is Now’— and regardless of what opposition you face, steer ahead. The Indian market is on the cusp of transformation. Rising consumerism and emerging middle-class with improved purchasing power has been driving demand across sectors. FMCG brands are now busy fighting for the attention of the consumer. On the other end consumer preferences too are undergoing sea change. They now are more eco-conscious, aware about their rights and even keenly looking at the value of what they consume. Thus, the role of packaging is now multifaceted spanning from information sharing to engaging and enticing. Hence, there are enough opportunities to thrive in the market. Key market reports too point towards healthy growth in Indian subcontinent. After a short dip, growth is expected to pick pace and this would be the opportune moment to innovate and scale-up operations. In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
SPRY MEDIA
The question is: Are you prepared to do this or still going to wait at the shores for the water
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CONTENTS
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SPOTLIGHT................................................................................................................... 12
All material printed in this publication is the sole property of SPRY MEDIA. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. LABELSTALK is a bi-monthly tablolid printed and published by Jignesh Lapasia. All printed matters contained in the magazine are based on information from those featured in it. The views, ideas, comments and opinions expressed are solely of authors, LABELSTALK does not subscribe on the same.
to settle down?
Change is inevitable: Appadurai
WALK THE TALK..........................................................................................................16 Sanand plant will complete our product basket
LIMELIGHT.....................................................................................................................18 The journey of Saptagiri Packaging from a gala to 40,000 sq.ft facility is inspiring
TECHNOLOGY............................................................................................................ 24 PREPPING-UP FOR THE SMART LABEL EVOLUTION
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September / October 2016
the influence of western culture on young people in emerging economies, and increasing disposable incomes among the growing middle class in Asia. The recent NSSO data and a study by Hansa Cequity (Mumbai-based customer marketing company), predicts almost 49% of household consumption by 2021 will be discretionary in nature. It further states that approximately 42% of this will be from beverages, food, and tobacco consumption. Sustainable packaging
and labelling is growing in popularity because of the increasing focus by brand owners on carbon footprint and life cycle impact analysis. The growing trend for sustainability in labelling means prospects for linerless systems. Globally, however, paper-based products (glassine, clay-coated, polyethylene coated, and other grades) are expected to dominate the release liner segment, representing almost 85% of 2016 consumption. The situation will be no different in India too
where film-based liners are still beginning to make major dents. Film-based liners account for just 15% of global consumption by area. Film-based liners are, however, showing the highest volume growth for pressure-sensitive and film products due to rising demand from beer, beverage, home and personal care and food brands. In particular there is call for PET, PP and PE liners driven by increased demand for clear-on-clear labels for ‘no-label’ look. Albeit, variable
information printing will continue to be dominated by paper-based labels regardless of which region we look at. In addition, the journey of linerless will take some time to take-off in the country. Emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico and India are seeing more people joining labour markets than ever, and more frequent changes in consumer expectations than ever. If these counties provide their youth with adequate education and opportunities to develop their skills, this demographic trend will benefit printing industries and also have a positive impact on demand side of the story. But those who predict technology takes eons to penetrate India (referring the past data) should hold their views a little dearer since India is known to jump a few evolutionary stages in its catch-up game.
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News
Imagico stresses in low migration inks in India Print and Packaging has undergone some monumental changes in the last decade – including irresistible move towards chemical migration compliance. This move, allied to the increasing dominance of radiation curing as the preferred drying method in the narrow web sector, has led to major strategic changes in formulating techniques. The subject of chemical migration hit the international headlines in a big way in 2005 with the discovery of dangerously high levels of a commonly used photoinitiator in infant formula milk supplied by a prominent multinational food producer, leading to a world-wide restriction on the use of the initiator concerned. Although it later emerged that the main cause of this problem was in fact a processing failure, and not the normal minimal migration which
inevitably occurs within the packaging cycle, this event triggered a seismic shift in the printing ink sector, and generated a higher level of compliance regulation than had been hitherto witnessed. The formulation and control of printing inks is now strictly controlled within Europe at any rate by The Swiss Confederation’s Ordinance of the FDA on articles and materials. This contains a series of lists of permitted substances for the manufacture of packaging inks, these lists being separated into parts A (evaluated substances) – where migration into food is permitted up to levels of 50ppB and parts B (nonevaluated substances) – where the limit is set at 10ppB. Despite these stringent controls – accidents still happen – as with the 2005 debacle – and the pressure on Printing Ink producers
continues to escalate. Thus, Imagico recently developed a system to help the smaller ink producer to minimise this problem, and entered the arena of Low Migration Narrow Web UV Flexo Ink production. The system comprising of a series of nano-pigmented dispersions, based on high concentrations of single pigments in low viscosity diluents, which, when blended with a revolutionary new UV curing binder system using SCR (Self Curing Resin) technology – results in a finely dispersed low viscosity finished ink, which cures fully, whilst simultaneously ‘locking in’ the photoinitiator molecules. This ‘lock-in’ polymer mechanism, thereby restricts, and even
prevents, the tendency for these smaller photoinitiator molecules to migrate through the polymer matrix to the interface between the ink film and the food contact surface of the pack. The ImagiFLEX system enables finished inks to be manufactured easily and economically, without the need to add large amounts of traditional small molecule photoinitiators, (currently typically added at levels of between 5 and 15%) to pigmented systems. The system also contains a short range of let-down vehicles, photoinitiators, stabilizers, and surface modifiers, enabling the ink to be designed for suitability to a wide range of differing substrates and applications.
Money lies in packaging and labels: Tarun of Anupama Printing Solutions Noida-based Anupama Printing Solutions was started in 2004 by the Tarun Katiyal and Shiv Mohan. The company has been the material supplier for Technova as well as the distributor in Noida for the same before the two decided to add CtP services as an added offering. Today, Tarun says the company processes around 3000sqm of plates per month for labels and packaging jobs, and around 30,000 sqm plates per month for commercial and publishing related jobs. Tarun and Shiv’s first encounter with the idea of starting this venture
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was during Drupa 2008. Soon upon return, they ordered for a Basys CtP; and then quickly added another Basys CtP in the same year. “Business was growing. There are over 150 presses in Noida and Greater Noida region, and it made absolute business sense to set up a CtP service firm that could cater to the job requirements at fast pace,” says Tarun. He adds with demand they decided to invest in three CtPs between the period 2013 and 2014. Two of these were Kodak CtPs. “We have invested in both Kodak Trendsetter and Kodak Flex. Each has its merit
and we wanted to also have thermal CtP at our facility. The third one was installed at Azadpur Mandi facility. We realised Technova CtP was more suited there,” he adds. The 2200 sqft Noida facility is main office of Anupama Printing Solutions. Asked which among label and packaging or commercial printing and publishing is poised to contribute more to his revenues in the future, he replied that packaging is the future. “Commercial printing jobs are facing a daunting competition from digital printing. While cost matrix is in favour of offset, the
volumes have gone down tremendously in the recent few years. This makes digital viable, and in addition offers a chance to customise each print. The future of printing (in revenue aspects) is skewed towards packaging and labelling. That’s where everyone is betting their monies,” he said. The company is also exhibiting at Labelexpo India 2016 (Stand no: L2) with an aim to increase its reach as well as generate leads from various parts of NCR region. “It’s not just about lead generation but about marketing your brandname too,” he said.
September / October 2016
News
Globus opens its wings, expands facility to boost production Globus International Coaters Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of silicone coated release liners based in Khopoli, near Mumbai, India, has expanded its converting facility from 2300 sq.mtr area to 7000 sq.mtrs with an aim to help the company reach out to the global release liner market and cater to the markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The manufacturing facility of the company is equipped with two solvent-less coating lines and seven slitting machines, delivering liners in the range of 12mm to 1750mm. The company converts close to 1,700 metric tons of paper and films annually
thus utilising 60 per cent of its installed capacity. In July, the company installed a new slitterrewinder with a web width of 2500mm to wind large diameter reels of 40-inch diameter release paper and films of one or two sides With a turnover of about Rs. 100 million in FY2014-15, Globus is targeting a 150 per cent growth in the current financial year, to reach Rs. 250 million turnover. To achieve the targeted growth, the company has further grown its network of agents and distributors for African market and is evaluating associates for other regions such as South East Asia, Africa, North America, Russia
and Europe. Exports contributed 50 per cent to the company’s turnover in2014-15 At Labelexpo Europe 2015, Globus exhibited its range of silicone coated products. Pleased with the response received at Labelexpo Europe, where it was exhibiting for the first time, Harsh Doshi, co-director at Globus International, said that the company received enquiries from South Africa, Europe, Zimbabwe, Middle East and North America. At Labelexpo America, the company again highlight
its product portfolio. In the span of one year Globus introduced various new products like printed 2 side release liners, Colored 2 side polyester liners, Fluoro liners, HDPE liners, Non silicone telease films, etc. In India the company mainly caters to the requirements of customised release properties for selfadhesive label and tape industry. India is poised for growth offering tremendous opportunity for the packaging world & Globus is set to emerge as a strong participant.
Royal Coat installs PRATI’s IML finishing machine at Letra Graphix
Royal Coat, the India distributor of Italian machine manufacturer PRATI has installed an IML finishing machine, Sun Omnia at Ahmedabad-based Letra Graphix. The machine was installed in October. On the choice of the machine, Sunil Talpade, proprietor of Royal Coat, said, “It is a highly configured machine capable of finishing clear-on-clear labels,
September / October 2016
in-mould labels and flexible packaging. Indian printers are getting highly quality-conscious and investing in advanced technology, to prepare for the growing labels market in India. We are gearing-up to close more orders which are in the pipeline.” Sun Omnia offers flexibility in a compact, modular, multiuse platform for SA labels, clear-on-clear labels,
cardboard, IML and flexible packaging. It is ideal for handling shortruns, stacking different shaped wet glue labels or in-mould labels. It also has a short web path and intuitive HMI control. Letra already houses PRATI finishing machines which include a booklet machine, slitter rewinders and now an IML finishing machine. Royal Coat highlights IST METZ products At Labelexpo India, UV systems manufacturer IST METZ will be showing the new air-cooled MBS range at hall 5, stand K25. It is the first system worldwide which is suitable for the alternating operation with both UV lamps and air-cooled UV-LEDs. According to the Yole market research institute, LED technology is expected to achieve a market share of around 30 per cent in 2016, a
significant rise compared to previous years. LED technology currently makes up the greatest proportion of adhesive curing and inkjet printing. But it is also increasingly requested in label printing. The new Hot Swap concept for LAMPcure and LEDcure systems from IST METZ allows users to interchange between both UV technologies at any time. With the new Hot Swap concept, users will be in the position to change over from the established UV technology to the new LED technology or the other way round at short notice at any time. To do this, the outer housing remains where it is in the machine, while the LAMPcure unit is replaced with a LEDcure system that has been designed as a cassette unit. Contact to the supply connections is thus made automatically.
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News
Zircon installs its third Omet in three years Recently, Sanjeev Sondhi of Zircon Technologies, with headquarters in Noida and with manufacturing in Dehradun in the North and Chennai in South India, announced that he has installed a third Omet press. This is the third Omet press ordered by Zircon and is installed at its Dehradun unit. In August 2013 after the announcement of Zircon investing in an Omet Vary flex broke, the industry pears speculated it to be risky decision. Sanjeev, however, proved his
detractors wrong and displayed his capabilities to excel and grow in times that followed. The new press installed is a 10-colour Omet X4 with a printing width of 370mm. It has two screen printing stations, one hotfoil, coldfoil, embossing and two die-cutting stations. It has an advanced fully-automatic register control system that registers in both machine and cross direction reducing eliminating operator dependence interference to register the press.The machine has a capability
to run at speeds of up to 200 metres. Zircon employs a workforce of 275 persons and operates out of a shop floor area admeasuring 100,000 square feet. Another 50,000 square additional shop floor area is under construction. Zircon has in the last nine years of existence invested in an average of more than one press each year. These have all been new highend presses. Paolo Grasso, sales manager, Omet, said, “Sanjeev has been a very precision demanding customer and can only
be satisfied by new technologies available today. We appreciate his trust in Omet presses by investing in the third press in less than three years.” The sale of this equipment has been handled by New Delhibased Weldon Celloplast, exclusive agents of Omet in India. Pawandeep Harveer Sahni, Managing Director of Weldon said, “We are proud to be associated with Zircon’s steady growth.” In fact, Weldon has been appointed as the India distributor of Brotech Graphic (China). Weldon will now be authorised to sell and service their label finishing, converting, and quality inspection equipment of Brotech.
Omet to exhibit IFlex at Labelexpo India 2016 Italian press manufacturers Omet will exhibit their new Omet IFlex for the first time in India at Labelexpo India 2016. The iFLEX label press is simple to use and quick at setup. Several innovations characterize this press, all aiming at simplifying the printer’s work in reaching the highest quality, effortless. It includes laser-assisted pre-register and register setting devices that speed
up the machine set-up and rebooting after job change. According to the company, iFLEX has shortest web path in narrow web printing for incredible savings in the start-up phase (waste measured is below the transition paper between two prints!). The company claims that iFLEX is the only machine to have all the impression rollers Direct Drive with obvious
benefits on the print quality and in waste savings. The machine handles a wide range of sizes, from 5.5 to 18inch for small spending
in printing plates production. Omet is exclusively represented in India by Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi India
Monotech Systems thrusts on made in India VDP and Security Solutions After showing its digital inkjet monochrome and security solutions capabilities Monotech Systems is going to demonstrate its new made in India prototype solutions for
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label printing industry with track and trace, digital foil, MICR, etc. “Monotech Systems specializes in providing end to end solutions to its customers through its own manufactured and
integrated systems under brand name “JETSCI”. This is the first and only integrator in India with 70+ successful installations across the globe. The JETSCI solutions cater to wide
range of applications like - business forms, scratch cards, holograms, security printing, packaging, pharma labels and many more,” said company its press statement.
September / October 2016
News
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News
Systech eyes growth in Indian pharma sector
As governments in the developed countries, such as US and Europe, make it mandatory for pharmaceutical industry to implement serialisation, Indian companies are increasing looking at adopting the technology. In response to a growing need for its solutions and an expanding client base in the region, Systech International, a global leader in serialisation, traceability, and brand protection technologies, recently established an office in Mumbai. Pharmaceutical manufacturers in India
supply a huge volume of high-quality medicines to every market in the world, and the nation’s pharmaceutical export segment has more than doubled from $ 7.8 billion in 2008 to $ 16.5 billion in 2014, according to the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In 2016, sales are expected to increase by nearly 84 per cent to $ 26.1 billion with generic drugs dominating, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the market. Furthermore, over 55 per cent of exports from India are to highly regulated markets whose governments
have enacted stringent serialisation and tracing regulations. By being hardwareagnostic, Systech can collaborate with a multitude of local vendors and integrators who have served the Indian market. The company also claims that many pharmaceutical companies have already made significant investments in line-level hardware. In addition to its serialisation and traceability solutions, Systech is also introducing its highly acclaimed brand protection technology, UniSecure. Pharmaceutical and consumer brands are major targets of counterfeiters in Asian markets. UniSecure offers a unique approach to global brand protection due to its immunity from many of the problems that affect other anti-counterfeiting solutions. As an example,
Kodak’s show of strength at LabelExpo India 2016 At its booth during LabelExpo India 2016, Kodak will also have high quality samples of our customers’ work from across the world that will surely add perspective to discussions on how flexography and inkjet are progressing. Kodak will showcase a turnkey system for Flexography, a complete end to end
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pre-press solution. On its stand, it will highlight Flexcel NX System ’16, and SRX plate with NX. However, its inkjet focus will be on Prosper Heads, or S-Series printheads. The company claims with Ultrastream technology printheads, the possibilities are endless as printers can work with 600 x 1800 dpi image quality at speeds of up to 500 feet per minute, that too on a wide array of paper and plastic substrates. A key highlight in
inkjet will be Kodak’s XGV (Extended Gamut Varnish) Hybrid System that uses water-based inkjet solution to print CMYKOGV + digital varnish, matching up to 98% of brand colours without changing any inks. At its booth during LabelExpo India 2016, Kodak will also have high quality samples of our customers’ work from across the world that will surely add perspective to discussions on how flexography and inkjet are progressing. Kodak will showcase a turnkey system for Flexography, a complete end to end pre-press solution. On its stand, it will highlight
UniSecure does not require brand owners to fit any printers on the packaging line, or to make major investments for variable coding. Chaudhuri explained, “The biggest benefit to UniSecure is its non-additive and nonintrusive technology, instead using an existing overt mark already produced during packaging - such as a linear barcode - to create a unique covert identifier. The UniSecure technology does not require addition of any print matter on a package, and yet it can be used with serialised barcodes to create a highly robust solution that simply cannot be copied or reverseengineered. In effect, it serialises a non-serialised product and, in doing so, averts all of the security issues that have been problematic with use of mass serialisation purely for brand protection.” Flexcel NX System ’16, and SRX plate with NX. However, its inkjet focus will be on Prosper Heads, or S-Series printheads. The company claims with Ultrastream technology printheads, the possibilities are endless as printers can work with 600 x 1800 dpi image quality at speeds of up to 500 feet per minute, that too on a wide array of paper and plastic substrates. A key highlight in inkjet will be Kodak’s XGV (Extended Gamut Varnish) Hybrid System that uses waterbased inkjet solution to print CMYKOGV + digital varnish, matching up to 98% of brand colours without changing any inks.
September / October 2016
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SPOTLIGHT
Change is inevitable: Appadurai
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t the recent HP DScoop event, Labelstalk spoke to Appadurai of HP on the changing customer and market behaviour and how printers, brand owners and manufacturers are embracing this change. Edited excerpts from the interview‌ How was drupa 2016 for HP? If I say drupa for HP was excellent, it would be an understatement. This drupa for me I think is the point of change as far as the Indian market is concerned. This is my third or fourth drupa, and every time, Indian customers used to come, they would ask the price of the machine. That was the first question that started any conversation. And they would seek the price, evaluate
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without even getting into the applications, features, etc. the machine could offer. Moreover, the comparisons with offset and digital were the central nodes of conversations. However, this time it was different. We realised that printers are now closely following technologies, asking right kind of questions including the workflow and RoI etc.; rather than just price. We were the largest exhibitors this year, with a full hall to ourselves that had 60 presses from large format to inkjets. There were some significant launches this year too. We unveiled the new HP PageWide C500 Press, a flexible and robust industrial postprint corrugated solution powered by proven HP PageWide Technology.
We also showcased the new HP Indigo Digital Combination Press, enabling HP Indigo print and digital embellishments in a single pass. We also announced early customer adoption of its new HP Indigo 12000, 8000, 7900 and 5900 Digital Presses and a first beta customer for HP Indigo 50000. We also took lot of customers to several other facilities to help them understand the technology and applications better. Also we were perhaps the only exhibitor at Drupa which had a dedicated space for brands. They are our customer’s customers. So any education and awareness drive cannot be held with exclusion of brands. Therefore we had several key speakers who had tailored their
sessions for the brand owners, CEOs, CMOs etc. How many HP Indigo presses in India would be there? There are two measures of success. Unfortunately, we cannot share the number of presses but over one billion annual impressions are being made on Indigo in the country today. For us this is the real measure of success than the number of presses. That volume is probably three times higher than a typical digital press. Therefore, it means that customers have put their faith on HP Indigo presses. We see now lot of companies are investing in machinery and technology. Do you foresee this trend in the future to grow
September / October 2016
SPOTLIGHT
further or are we already reaching the tipping point? If the signs at Drupa are believed we see a lot of optimism in the future as well. Conventional printers (offset printers) are now surely looking at digital much more seriously as ever. A point to be mentioned here is that recently a very old printing house wound up citing over capacity in the market. This story of overcapacity and excessive competition is not just limited to particular company or region, it’s more widespread. I believe over-capacity kills your business but differentiation creates newer opportunities. Many of these companies which face trouble have not upgraded their facilities in years. So while the customer’s demands are changing
and technology is moving at a faster pace than we can imagine, one is left behind if the unwillingness to upgrade continues. And it’s a vicious cycle, RoI and upgradration goes hand in hand. Digital is still used as a complementing technology to offset or as a way to valueadd. But how does HP view digital as: a supplement or complementing technology? We do see with the penetration of offset in the country, digital will play a complementing role in the times to come. However, we believe that there are several applications for which digital will play a major role. However, we must remember premium requires innovation and differentiation.
On labelling side too, conventional flexo and digital comparisons continue… I feel the debate is wrong. It’s never a choice of either or. The decision to use only flexo, only digital or a mix of both is determined by the application and the need of the customer. Time and volumes are other two important factors. The effort currently is to make pit digital against conventional printing, which is an inaccurate way to measure the two. 60% of the jobs are still run on offset, but in the rest 40%, almost half of it are the one’s which has some differentiation or value-add. This 20% of the share is only going to increase in the future. Brand owners today are going through a transformation
when it comes to how they perceived print. They are looking at innovative ways creativity can be accentuated. What according to you are still the pain-points? Like our industry, even brand owners industry is changing. Buying behaviour of the end consumers is changing drastically. Now, the interesting fact is 76% of the things we purchase are unplanned. That means the way it is packaged and promoted makes the difference in whether it will get picked up or not. Therefore, brand owners are starting to understand this and change. In a day, 93mn selfies are taken in a single day, hence you see mobile manufacturers coming up with phones branded as ‘selfie phone’. So the crux of the matter is ‘change is inevitable’.
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WALK THE TALK
Sanand plant will complete our product basket
A
s Uflex prepares to setup its Sanand (Gujarat) plant Labelstalk caught up with R.K. Jain, Group President (Corp. F & A), Uflex Limited on the journey of Uflex since its inception in 1985 Uflex is amongst the leading Indian manufacturers of films. Briefly share how the company was incepted and what have been the key milestones? With humble beginnings back in 1985, Uflex has grown from strength to strength to become India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution entity. Our total revenue stands at around US$1 billion (on consolidated basis). Essentially, it was a spark led by Ashok Chaturvedi (Founder and CMD - Uflex Limited) in 1985 that redefined packaging industry in India by introducing sachets / unit pouch of mouth fresheners,
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shampoo, candies, tomato ketchup for the very first time. This was the watershed moment in the Indian FMCG industry which brought brands much within the reach of a common man. No wonder, he is revered as the ‘Father of Flexible Packaging in India’. In 1989, Uflex set up a new plant for packaging products in Noida. This was then expanded with a new line each of BOPET films in 1994 and 1996. In 1996, Uflex also commissioned its first BOPP line in Noida. From here, capacity expansion and addition of new lines became a regular affair for Uflex. However, from 2005, we spread our wings to international frontiers as well. That year, we started a manufacturing plant for packaging films in Dubai. Later in 2009, we entered Mexico, and subsequently in 2010 in Egypt, 2012 in Poland, and 2013 in Kentucky. Could you briefly
share how wide your product basket is now? What is your USP? The organisation encompasses six strategic businesses manufacturing each and every condiment that is required to render top class, most contemporary flexible packaging solutions: These six divisions are: a. Packaging Film b. Packaging Products c. Engineering d. Cylinders e. Holography f. Chemicals With our aseptic packaging plant for packing liquid products that will be commissioned in Sanand, Gujarat by November/ December 2016, we will complete our entire product bouquet. Transparent flexible or see-through product packaging has been gaining traction in the market. Eyeing this,
you recently launched 9.5 micron speciality ALOx polyester film. How big is the market opportunity? Flexible packaging industry in India is currently pegged at around US$ 8 billion and is growing at 15-17% annually. Particularly impressive has been the growth of standup pouches given their versatility and enhanced aesthetics. Recent research reports project a fairly accelerated market growth for stand up pouches in the Asia Pacific region over the next 4-5 years. Globally the flexible packaging industry has relied on metalized films to impart barrier properties to the laminates, which render it absolutely opaque, thereby blocking the consumers from viewing the product packed inside. The very fact that our 9.5 micron PET ALOx transparent speciality film offers even enhanced barrier properties yet being the thinnest is a major breakthrough for the stand-up pouches and other laminates that offer a see-through option for the consumers. Owing to down-gauging, the film is quite sustainable too. What is the capital investment planned for Sanand industrial area plant? We will be spending around Rs. 700 crore this fiscal towards new project (i.e. aseptic packaging plant), process improvement and deployment of newer technologies. Rs. 580 crore was planned to be invested (in a phased manner) for setting up the aseptic packaging plant (that
September / October 2016
WALK THE TALK
will be commercially operational by March/ April 2017) out of which Rs. 335 Crore are to be invested to complete the project in this fiscal whereas the balance spend of this fiscal (that is Rs. 365 Crore) will be invested for process improvements, R&D and modernisation. What will be the key products that will be produced in this plant? This is a very special and strategic project for us. Currently we offer end to end flexible packaging solutions for packing products that are solid, semi-solid, granular, powdered, viscous fluids and gels. The only category that was remaining was liquid. Once the Sanand plant is operational, this gap will be plugged too. This is first of its kind aseptic liquid packaging project where will be manufacturing brik paks for packing non-aerated liquids like milk and other dairy products, juices and health drinks etc. At full capacity of the machines installed we will be able to manufacture 7 billion brick packs in a year. India is expected to be one of the biggest consumers of the aseptic packaging in near future. How big is the market share of Uflex in this segment? The liquid packaging business has tremendous potential not only in India but also globally. In APAC the market growth is around 7% and in India the growth has been in double digits numbers for the last 4 years with last year at around 20%. India market will double from 10 billion packs to 20 billion packs in 4 to 5 years or perhaps even
September / October 2016
before. Drawing parallels, China has tremendous growth story which has already reached approximately 80 billion packs. In India, with similar population, the growth potential is humungous. You will be surprised to know that even few neighbouring countries like Pakistan are also ahead of India in terms of liquid packaging consumption. Thus, the potential is huge and promising. We are all geared up for catering to the high potential Indian liquid packaging market; and thereafter, positioning this business globally. The hazard of Melamine coated films is well-known. How will your melaminefree acrylic coated film going to change this? The answer lies in your question itself. Since melamine is known to have harmful impact on human and animal health, we had been receiving a lot of queries from international converters and brands alike for coming up with a packaging film that is melamine free. Given the tremendous potential and demand, engineers at Uflex came up with Melamine Free Acrylic Coated Bi-axially Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BOPET) clear transparent film that is finding extensive use in conversion, printing, hot-fill, retort, pasteurisation and sterilisation among other applications. These films are manufactured with monomers/starting substances listed in EU regulations relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come in contact with foodstuffs. The film has delivered excellent results in terms
of nil melamine content, good printability and enhanced lamination bond. Two international collaborations in recent times from your end were announced: Dutch company Perfotec and Wave Front Technology. Could you tell us what you plan to achieve with these partnerships? We have launched path breaking Active Modified Atmospheric Packaging (AMAP) solution for extending shelf-life of fresh produce in collaboration with Dutch company Perfotec B.V. Uflex has engineered a special patented polymeric film Flexfresh used for offering shelf life extension solutions for fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. Perfotec B.V. supplies Fast Respiration Meter for ascertaining the respiration rate of flowers and the associated software for calculating the required film permeability. PerfoTec also supplies the laser system that uses this information to adapt the permeability of the film offered by Uflex through micro perforations. This technology has been successfully tested for flowers, papayas, blueberries, pomegranate, Brussel sprouts, grapes, beans, broccoli, among other fruits and vegetables. There is a huge demand from exporters and global supermarkets for this packaging solution. This solution has helped cutting down logistical costs by allowing the exporters of fresh produce to switch from expensive air freight to cost effective sea freight maintaining the freshness of product at
arrival. We have announced an extension of our existing alliance in India with WaveFront Technology Inc. to bring manufacturing of Fresnel lens packaging films to Europe. The set up will operate within Flex Films Europa Sp. Z O.O’s facility in Wrzesnia, Poland with WaveFront Technology Europe leading the sales and marketing activities. Flex Films Europa is our indirectly wholly owned subsidiary. This is an important geographical extension of our existing relationship with WaveFront Technology. The ties with WaveFront will further enhance our ‘Speed to Market Reach’ in Europe – one of the core pillars. What are your plans in the chemicals, cylinders and holograms and engineering division of your business? This is a very fundamental and important question. The packaging product business not only comprises the converting and packaging operations but also the associated operations like manufacturing of cylinders/ flexo sleeves & plates; holography/ brand protection solutions; chemicals (inks, adhesives, coatings and polyols) and engineering (for manufacturing various converting and packaging machines). So our packaging film business is also a supplier to our converting business. Likewise many converting machines that have been designed and manufactured inhouse by our engineering business have been installed at our converting/ packaging business too.
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LIMELIGHT
The journey of Saptagiri Packaging from a gala to 40,000 sq.ft facility is inspiring
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n one fateful day in 1985, Mr. K.V.S. Warrier and Mr. B. Srinivas, who have had their fair share of experience working in a leading packaging company, Color Cartons, decided to start their journey as entrepreneurs. Of course, then nobody referred to self as an entrepreneur — the term used was ‘business man’ or proprietor. These two
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partners then laid the foundations of Saptagiri Packaging Together the two partners started Saptagiri in a 1000 sq.ft gala in Raja Industrial Estate, Mulund with a manual coating machine. Business started trickling in and the two then never looked back. In 2009, Saptagiri shifted its base from Mulund to a new 40,000 sq.ft facility at Dadra, Silvassa. This facility, today, employs a staff of around 100 people operating the shopfloor. Looking back, one the biigest challenges for us have been to
managing EMIs of loans taken for expansion of building and machinery; rest everything fell in its place, says Nikhil Warrier, Executive Director of the company. Over 300 tons of paper board is converted to cartons at this facility. In fact, the company claims that it is the largest manufacturer of Blister Backer Cards in India. Inside the facility, two Heidelberg six-colour offest printing machines with inline coater, three auto die-cutters from Bobst and Sugano, two offline coating machines, one Bobst folder gluer, one Heiber & Schroder Liner pasting machine and one flute laminating machine handle the pressures of the business and are mostly seen running the show. In fact, recently the company invested in a Kodak CTP with Prinergy workflow, X-Rite Easy Trax spectro densitometer, Warrier
told Labelstalk. He says these investments are necessary to further ones business objectives. Quite frankly the industry is growing between 10-15 % p.a, and for us this means that we will invest more in standardisation and good manufacturing practices (GMP). At the same time, we will invest in new and faster machines, and aggressively market the brand to capture new market in the coming times. Nikhil is also quite buoyed by the recent seventh pay commission, and other reports which suggest that a spurt in the consumption of FMCG products, which in turn means more business for packaging printers and convertors. “Yes with more money in their pockets, we hope consumers will spend more on FMCG and high value products with good packaging appeal,” he says.
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TechTalk
Digital corrugated: What to offer and why?
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n this article, we provide an overview of the key developers and digital presses announced so far. We’ve concentrated mainly on high speed inkjet machines being developed for the market, but also mentioned relevant corrugatedcapable flatbeds and rollfed liner printers. Barberan The Spanish developer Barberan was the first to deliver a fast sheet-fed digital press for corrugated, by adapting a UVcured inkjet technology already used for plastic laminates and decorative papers. It has so far installed at least five of its JetMaster range, which are available in widths of 840, 1,050 and 1,260 mm. The widest model, BIJB-1260, was launched early this year. It can print on corrugated sheets up to 51m per hour, equivalent to 4,100m2 per hour. Its resolution is 360 dpi, with three grey levels
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from the printheads to increase perceived quality. For corrugated boards it has a pile feeder and a delivery conveyor leading to a stacker. Bobst sheet fed digital carton press Switzerland based Bobst has a healthy business in fast sheetfed flexo presses for printing corrugated and is also a big name in carton finishing with its platen based cutting and creasing lines. It has applied its experience and market know-how to the development of a sheetfed digital corrugated press, whose origins date back to 2003. It’s been hinting about this for a long time but last year started adding some detail. However, no name or price have been revealed yet. The press is about 50 m long and weighs about 100 tonnes. It uses Kodak Prosper S-series inkjet print heads, with their Stream continuous flow print technology
and water-based CMYK inks. It runs at up to 200 metres per minute on sheets up to 2.1 x 1.3 metres. It can be used with a Bobst pile turner, sheet loader and post-press MasterCut 2.1 flatbed diecutters. Two nearline diecutters are needed so that one can be prepared while the other operates. So far Bobst has built three presses, two of which are in Beta sites in Switzerland and Germany and a third press has been built. Durst A big player in high end, high quality flatbeds for graphics and industrial use, Durst announced the Rho 130 SPC, a fast single pass inkjet press for corrugated boards in May this year. Its big UV flatbeds are already used for corrugated. The Rho 1300 series take 1.25 x 2.5 m boards and can be configured with conveyors and automated loading for heavy boards including corrugated.
The Rho WT 250 HS flatbed, announced at FESPA 2015, uses the company’s new Water Technology aqueous hybrid inks. It’s a high speed model, said to be suited to corrugated. Durst has also supplying single-pass technology for ceramic tile and label printing since 2005 and has over 700 installations worldwide. Its new Rho 130 SPC (single pass corrugated) board press uses the company’s Water Technology aqueous inks in up to six colours. It has a maximum printing width of 1,300 mm and up to 800 dpi resolution. Up to 12 mm thick corrugated board can be printed at up 9,350 m²/hour. EFI Like Durst, EFI supplies UV flatbeds which are suited to corrugated work, though unlike Durst or HP it hasn’t offered any real “industrial” models with automated board handling.
September / October 2016
TechTalk
This year, the company announced Nozomi C18000, a dedicated sheetfed inkjet corrugated press that it says is intended for box and display work. It uses UV-E=LED curable inks. Its print width of 1.8 m can take sheets up to 3.0 m long, or two 80 x 60 cm boards side by side (a top feeder is needed for this). EFI says it will print up to 8,100 m2 per hour, equivalent to 9,000 80 x 60 cm boards. The resolution is 360 x 720 dpi with four grey levels It will be available with four or six colours (CMYK plus orange and violet), plus white as a fifth or seventh colour. A primer is used to control ink absorption on some media. Fujifilm For historical reasons Fujifilm handles the worldwide marketing of most of UK based Inca Digital’s range high speed reciprocating-bed inkjets, despite Inca being owned by another Japanese company, Dainippon Screen, since 2005. In 2013 Fujifilm commissioned a robotics company to develop an auto loader and unloader to handle large corrugated sheets for the Inca Onset S40i model. This can print boards up to 3.22 x 1.6 m, at rates from 32 to 112 boards per hour depending on the quality setting. HP HP has a range of both sheet fed and continuous corrugated machines. In 2014 it revised its HP Scitex FB10000 industrial UV-cured flatbed as the dedicated corrugated FB15000, with heavy duty autoloaders/ unloaders and other special features to
September / October 2016
handle the thick and heavy boards (even warped boards, the company says). Last year at FESPA in Munich it announced revisions to its line. The FB15500 replaced the FB15000, though existing machines could be upgraded. New lowodour HDR230 inks in six colours have been developed for corrugated. A new Corrugated Grid media loading system uses blankets on the bed to allow very warped boards to be held and printed. Throughput is up to 560 m2 per hour. The FB 17000 also features Corrugated Grip. It’s the same size but faster than the 15500, at up to 1,000 m2/ hour with a duty cycle of 2 million m2 per year. It manages this by printing CMYKx2 rather than CMYK with light cyan and magenta. In 2014 HP announced the T400S, a simplex version of the widest of its inkjet web press range. Forming the core of the HP Highspeed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution, it is intended to pre-print liner paper that’s then used in corrugated forming lines. Variable data means that every sheet can be different, though regional and event versioning are probably more likely applications. The T400S costs several million Euros. It
will print on 1.05m wide paper rolls at up to 183 m/second, for 12,000 m2/ hour throughput. The CMYK inks are aqueous, with a “bonding agent” primer applied when needed for some paper types. A gloss varnish can be applied inline. Roll-to-roll and roll-tosheet configurations are offered. Last year (2015), HP announced another digital liner press, the 2.8 m wide Page Wide Web Press T1100S. This is the widest singlepass inkjet press to date. It’s a joint venture with KBA, the German press manufacturer that has huge experience with conventional web presses. It runs at up to 183 linear metres per minute, or 30,600m2 per hour. HP’s Multi-Lane Architecture allows the press to mix several different jobs (with different box sizes if needed) in parallel across the width of the web, as well as along the length. It can print at 1,200 dpi across the width, on coated or uncoated liner paper from 80 to 400 gm2 and HP claims it has “offsetsubstitutable quality.” The only installation announced so far is at DS Smith’s Featherstone plant in the UK. DS Smith also has a T400S liner printer at its UK Belper site. In June this year, HP
pre-announced that it is developing the C500, a relatively compact sheet fed press for printing onto corrugated boards. Few details were announced in public, but it is apparently intended to take boards up to 1.8 x 3.0 m size. It uses the same thermal print head technology in Page Wide single-pass arrays as the web presses, which means aqueous inks and a probable resolution of 1,200 dpi. Test sites will be installed in 2017, with the UK’s Cepac announced as one of them. HP is also working with Smurfit Kappa on development. Screen and BHS Screen is the owner of Inca Digital, a UK developer of very fast UV-cured inkjets. In 2004 Inca collaborated with Sun Chemical to develop a fast sheet-fed corrugated press called FastJet. Only three were built. Interestingly Sun Automation (a different company to Sun Chemical) worked on materials handling for the FastJet project, and has since developed its own press, CorrStream. This year, Screen announced that its Graphic & Print Solutions wing is collaborating with BHS Corrugated, a German based builder of corrugated lines with a 50% worldwide market
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share, to develop an inline digital printing facility for web-to-sheet lines. Screen and BHS are setting up a jointly owned company to be sited close to Inca in Cambridge UK. Inca will develop the print module. The print engine will be 2.8 m wide (a standard width for corrugators) and will run at up to 300 m per minute. It will apparently be integrated into the web line before the sheet cutting and stacking system. The print engine can be fitted to existing corrugating lines. The first alpha installation will be made in 2018 with a beta site in 2019. Sun Automation Announced in 2013, the Sun Automation CorrStream family of
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single pass corrugated board inkjets is available in three widths, each with a linear speed of 70 m per minute. The single-pass inkjet array is from an undisclosed maker, and aqueous inks are used. CorrStream 20, with a maximum width of 537mm, has a list price of €1.6million. The 40 has a width of 785mm and a price of €2.1m, while the 66 has a width of 1,345mm and will be priced between €3.1 and €3.3 million depending on configuration. The materials handling draws on Sun’s experience with flexo corrugated feeders, in particular the front edge feeder which is key to reliable handling on the CorrStream, says product manager Sean Moloney. A Beta programme was completed earlier
this year with a machine at HSG Packaging in Bradford, UK. Another is at Sun’s own UK site in Bristol, which is used for testing and developments that are then implemented in the HSG machine for commercial assessment. “We only have one Beta deliberately,” says Moloney.“We’re pushing on getting the workflow, file handling and other models refined. That’ll be done by the end of the year, then we’ll go for more installations. Xanté In 2011 Xanté was one of the first manufacturers to adopt the then-new 42-inch array version of the Memjet single-pass inkjet array technology. While the other machines are configured for paper, to print plans and posters, Xanté’s
Excelagraphix 4200 was a unique manually fed system with a straight-through media path for thicker carton and corrugated boards up to 42 inches wide (1,067 mm). It was pitched at the short-run personalisation market, with pizza boxes for specific outlets given as a typical example. This year Xanté replaced the 4200 with the Excelagraphix 4800, offering heavier duty construction and transport, able to take wider boards up to 48 inches (1,210 cm), though the print width is still 42 inches. It can print up to 412 106 x 69 cm sheets per hour, including corrugated and other media up to 15.9mm thick. It’s still unique at its price of €112,000, though that’s a lot more than the 4200’s €75,500.
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Technology
PREPPING-UP FOR THE SMART LABEL EVOLUTION
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culto, a Tequilaflavoured beer from AnheuserBusch InBev in the US, ran a promotion in November and December 2015 where fans could scan their bottles, get connected to a special app and win prizes. The limited edition bottle, which also featured an innovative label that lit up, was launched at a special event at the end of November. The bottle features LED lights underneath its label.
connected to a web app called Relics of the Night, which let them interact with the brand digitally and potentially earn rewards and prizes by posting comments and photos to social media. To create the illuminated bottle, Oculto partnered with Inland Packaging to leverage smart label technology featuring printed electronic pathways, paper batteries, micro switches and LED lights with a pressure sensitive label design.
Malibu too introduced 40,000 NFC-enabled bottles as part of its #BecauseSummer campaign, designed to build customer loyalty within its target audience of young adults. With NFC-enabled smartphones, consumers are able to tap the Malibu sunset with no apps needed and unlock five digital experiences through their mobile browser. And then, recently Avery Dennison’s DirectLink NFC-enabled
Eastman Kodak is also experimenting with digital approaches to verify the product origins. It’s an investor, along with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, in a Miami-based startup called eApeiron that has made it a mission to combat counterfeiting When consumers hold it in the right way, they activate a pressuresensitive switch which turns on the LED lights, causing the eyes of the Mexican-style skull mask design on the label to glow. Additionally, when drinkers scanned their bottles, they were
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The pressure switch is placed where the thumb naturally falls while holding a beer bottle, and once pressed the LED lights begin to shine through the eyes of the mask on the front of the bottle for about three to four seconds. Early this year, beverage brand
labels were placed on Mineral Fusion’s 2015 cosmetic collection products that were delivered to Whole Foods stores. With just the swipe of a smartphone over the label, consumers were able to access video content about the products. Avery Dennison
already adds basic individual identities to millions of products for supply-chain purposes, but this new arrangement, based on Avery Dennison’s new Evrythng-powered Janela “smart products” platform, creates opportunities for various kinds of interactions between consumers and those products. With it a consumer would be able to do things such as check the authenticity or manufacturing history of that shirt he just bought, participate in various after-sales loyalty schemes, connect with third-party apps, see exclusive smartphone content, and re-order products. Meanwhile, the retailer will also be able to use the items’ identities for things like detecting fraudulently returned products, and understanding the customer better. As sensors and microchips shrunk in size, more and more companies have thought
September / October 2016
Technology
out of the box to use the technology into something that’s of the size of a label or as thin as a label. Reports suggest that Eastman Kodak is also experimenting with digital approaches to verify the product origins. It’s an investor, along with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, in a Miami-based startup called eApeiron that has made it a mission to combat counterfeiting. The approach uses digital watermark technology that was originally developed by Kodak. The image, placed on the product, isn’t something that is readily detectable to the naked eye, but it gives each item a unique signature by which it can be tracked and identified using a smartphone app. The company pitches its technology as mainly a hedge against counterfeiting, but it could easily be adapted to applications that validate manufacturing origins or materials. Opportunities galore Though India is yet to witness its first smart label in its truest form, the possibility arising out of marketer’s creative genius by mixing IoT and label is not too far as well. There are hardly any statistics which point towards how big the commercial smart labels market could be in the coming times — be it global or regionspecific. But according
September / October 2016
to several researches, the global market for smart industrial labels is estimated to be $3.95 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $12.6 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 18.0% from 2016-2022.It’s anyone’s guess that the commercial market will be much bigger than this. In India, perhaps, the biggest driver would be the smartphone penetration and IoT. We are not too sure how effectively NFC-based labels will work since we have not seen many brands being excited about this. However, IoT is a different beast! The Internet of Things (IoT) market in India is expected to grow up to USD 15 billion by 2020 from USD 5.6 billion this year, driven by adoption across sectors like manufacturing, automotive, transportation and logistics, a recent report by Nasscom and Deloitte claims. Mixing IoT and smart labels to share more information with
customers about the products they wish to purchase to even creating an augmented realty environment where engagement with the brand/product takes the front seat when interacting with the label — everything is possible. And for those who doubt this, remember what Pokemon Go did to marketers and consumers across the world! But before we jump to the engagement, let’s just pause and recollect the genesis of smart labels. The evolution of early smart labels involved QR codes and RFID. The biggest reason for their existence was more information. Consumers around the world in the last one decade or so have become more conscious and have been pushing brands to be more transparent about the composition/ nutrition, raw material sources, and other details. This was largely driven by the FMCG and pharma markets in the commercial space. But with lack of space, QR codes came to the rescuer. However, there is another school of thought which believes that smart labels in any form are a sham to hide relevant details from consumers. First and foremost, this school of thought believes that by relegating
important information such as nutritional value cyberspace, smart labels will keep key information off the package — and out of sight of consumers. This is of particular importance when you consider that only a section of the population today have smartphones, or are well-versed with the technology smart labels depend on; especially in lowincome, elderly and rural populations — which is the populations most vulnerable to diseases linked to poor nutrition. In this, companies remain in control, deciding exactly what information to reveal and how it will be displayed. Another opposition to smart labels have been data privacy. As consumers engage with the label, they also leave behind digital footprints that the brand can use in future. However, it is a give and take relationship, and the responsibility lies with brands to nurture trust with the consumer. Regardless, it is safe to predict that the coming times will see smart labels entering the domain with many new innovation — few which will set a new benchmark; other which will bite the dust. But creativity here will only be limited by your thoughts…
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September / October 2016