PRESSIdeas November2021 issue

21 vol-21 Issue- 11 November 2021

181

Price in India : Rs.100

Vol.21 Issue 11, 2021

Heidelberg, The Strength of Offset.............06 How Productive Is It?........................................14 Value From Innovations...................................18 Monotech installs Ricoh trio..........................22 1st imagePRESS C10010VP in Kolkata.......24

A monthly Publication from PRESSIdeas Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Digital Printing in Packaging.........................28 Printers’ Unity Day..............................................30 KODAK Flexcel NX for Ambition...................34

Subscribe eNewsletter

digital printing

signage printing

Cover Picture : Mr.Samir Patkar, President – Heidelberg India in an exclusive interview - Page 06

Contents FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK .............................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Heidelberg Solutions – The Strength of Offset ......................................................................................................................................................................6 Manroland Sheetfed India Team .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Your print-work-floor – How productive is it? ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Komori GL37 quality wins appreciation of BJP President and UP CM ....................................................................................................................... 16

Jasmeet D. Editor & Publisher (jasmeet@pressideas.com) Vineet K G. Associate Editor (vineetkg@pressideas.com)

CCI penalizes 10 paper manufacturers for indulging in cartelisation ........................................................................................................................ 16 Heidelberg records half-year profit and high order backlog......................................................................................................................................... 17 Fujifilm India: Bringing Out Value From Innovations........................................................................................................................................................ 18 Only 15 Days Left to avail PRINTPACK INDIA Discount Offer! ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Ekta Graphics installs country’s first HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press .................................................................................................................... 21 Monotech Systems installs a trio of Ricoh presses in Ahmedabad ............................................................................................................................. 22 Canon India marks the first installation of imagePRESS C10010VP in Eastern India ............................................................................................ 24 Ingram Content Group’s Lightning Source opens POD Facility in SPC Free Zone ................................................................................................. 25 Analysis of effect of temperature and humidity on the barrier’s properties of Bopp and PVA films .............................................................. 26 VINSAK: Making possible the use of Digital Print in Packaging .................................................................................................................................. 28 VINSAK presents Sustainable Label of the Year Awards .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Printers’ Unity Day – 22 October .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 30

Jasvinder S. Sub-Editor (jasvinder@pressideas.com) Jacob George Marketing and Sales (jacob@pressideas.com) M.S. Mukundan Advertising and Sales Southern and Western India (aims@pressideas.com) Graphic Designer Anil Kumar

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals launches hydrophilic block silicone emulsions ........................................................................................................ 32 Process Parameters affecting printability in Gravure Printing ...................................................................................................................................... 33 KODAK FLEXCEL NX enables Ambition Blocks expand to new markets ................................................................................................................... 34

Networking/ Hardware Consultant Sukhdeep Singh

EFI hosts Packaging Leaders for VIP Corrugated Conference ...................................................................................................................................... 35 SaralNFC – InkTech by Saralon.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 36 “Together with our customers we realise visions”............................................................................................................................................................. 38 Insignis Etiketten Erzeugung und Vertrieb GmbH ............................................................................................................................................................ 40 DKSH signs strategic agreement with Agergaard ............................................................................................................................................................ 41 Parksons Packaging acquires Manohar Packaging ........................................................................................................................................................... 41 Canon partners Arrow in Large Format segment .............................................................................................................................................................. 42

USA Correspondents Tensi M., Preeti European Correspondent Rimi, Yadhu Morphine Production Thomas K Alex

RIP Jean-Pierre De Moor (JP) ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43

PRESSIdeas November 2021 Vol. 21, Issue 11 Printed by Jacob George and published by Jasmeet Singh on behalf of PRESSIdeas Publishing Pvt Ltd. Printed in India at Hues and Colors 363, Industrial Focal Point, Phase-IX Mohali, and published at PRESSIdeas, 437-A 1st Floor, Industrial Area, Phase-2 Chandigarh-160002 (India) Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.

All material supplied is compiled from sources believed to be reliable or solely an opinion of the authors. PRESSIdeas is not responsible for any steps taken based on the information provided herewith.

2

November 2021

Subscription details/form on Page 04

FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK Dear Readers, “The pandemic has changed the way we do business and has paved a new model of working – the print shop owners and industry colleagues were forced to change their market approach, business models and adapt to new business environments,” notes Samir Patkar, President, Heidelberg India while talking with PRESSIdeas in an exclusive interview. Samir Patkar discusses diverse subjects such as the new model of working, customization, remote services, digital ecosystem, automation, recent installations, Push to Stop technology, OEE, Print Site Contracts, India is on the rise, with advanced print technology, AI, and more. Read the complete cover story to know why Print and Packaging businesses don’t need to switch to purely Digital processes overnight and how Heidelberg’s ‘Push to Stop’ technology imparts strength to Offset over Digital.

It’s a waste to keep investing in new equipment that wouldn’t be giving their 100%. Do you know how productive your print-work floor is? Our article explores capabilities of an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) product and how it provides a valuable independent measure of how well a piece of equipment performs over time.

Of the various hardships that our Graphic Arts industry is facing lately, one of the key being cost of materials. Paper being a key ingredient, the increasing prices of paper has invariably translated into increased hardships for the paper consumers – direct or indirect. The demand and supply have direct bearing on prices in the market. Surprisingly, manipulation of these can be disastrous for unsuspecting buyers. CCI has identified and penalizes 10 paper manufacturers for indulging in cartelization. The Competition Commission of India has also imposed a symbolic penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on the paper manufacturers found guilty of cartelization.

Another key exclusive interview is of Mr. Kentaro Imafuku of Fujifilm India. The Head of Department, Graphic Arts, Fujifilm India, discusses the company’s diversified offering, foray in newer technology, its Flenex series, new Revoria PC 1120 and how Fujifilm is ‘Bringing Out Value From Innovations’.

In our talk with Ranesh Bajaj, Director, VINSAK, among other things, we came to know about how the future is to go Phygital. You can catch it in the inside pages.

Global Print Fraternity acknowledges Indian printing star Prof. Kamal Chopra’s contribution on his Birthday. Dr. TKS Lakshmi Priya reports.

The key installations in the industry include: Ambition Blocks, Ahmedabad, adding KODAK FLEXCEL NX System from Monotech Systems; Ahmedabad city getting three Ricoh presses – a first Ricoh Pro C7200X at Shree Paras Printers and a duo of Ricoh Presses at Brigar Media, all

by Monotech Systems; Canon India installing Eastern India’s first imagePRESS C10010VP at T.S.P Digital of Kolkata; Ekta Graphics of Roorkee installing country’s 1st HP Indigo 12000 HD digital press; and second Komori – a GL37 at Gita Press, Gorakhpur which also got praised for its quality by BJP President and UP CM during their recent visit to the famous press.

The November Issue of PRESSIdeas contains all this, our regulars and of course, two contribution articles in our Students’ Corner and another by Dieter Finna. Enjoy Reading!

- Jasvinder Singh, Sub-editor

Subscription Form

1 Year (12 issues)

Rs. 750.00

2 Years (24 issues)

Rs. 1250.00

5 Years (60 issues)

Rs. 3250.00

(For outstation cheques add Rs. 40/- extra)

1/2/5yrs. I am enclosing cheque/draft of

4

November 2021

Heidelberg Solutions – The Strength of Offset Samir Patkar, President – Heidelberg India, in an exclusive talk, discusses diverse subjects as the new model of working, customization, remote services, digital ecosystem, automation, recent installations, Push to Stop technology, OEE, Print Site Contracts, India is on the rise, with advanced print technology, AI, and more.

The pandemic has changed the way we do business and has paved a new model of working – the print shop owners and industry colleagues were forced to change their market approach, business models and adapt to new business environments.

Key Notes : > The pandemic changes the way we do business and paves a new model of working. > Heidelberg Cloud – digital transformation program drafted 4 years ago helps customers remotely; leverage the strengths of data mining, AI and Navigated printing, predictive monitoring of presses and diagnose as well as fix press problems remotely.

It’s been almost two years since COVID-19 went global. The unprecedented impact has created a crisis and thrown the world into disarray. Many industries got affected adversely, while some others were managed to be moderate and performed well.

Speaking to PRESSIdeas, Samir Patkar, President, Heidleberg India notes: “The pandemic has changed the way we do business and has paved a new model of working – the print shop owners and industry colleagues were forced to change their market approach, business models and adapt to new business environments. The response had to be quick, measured and with highest agility.”

“While the pandemic affected business across all industry sectors, the graphic arts industry has not been any different,” observes Samir Patkar. “While commercial printing continues to be affected with slower recovery, fortunately, packaging printing is a growth story with increased print production in market sectors like pharmaceutical, healthcare & personal care, food & beverages, FMCG, and much more.

The commercial printing is slowly recovering to prepandemic times, while packaging seems back on track with almost 80-90% recovery and in some cases even growing more than 100% of the pre-COVID business, we hope for a brighter 2022,” he says.

Speaking largely about the changes that would stay,

Samir says, “As things are getting back to normal, in many sectors, work from home – WFH, will be commonly embraced. Speed of response and agility has become more important than before. Cash flow and margins will become more important parameters to drive businesses and will force all players in the supply chain to be focused to remain profitable and sustain the current challenging times. At Heidelberg, we are leveraging our digital processes to the fullest.

As many of our presses are connected to cloud,

> Indian businesses will transact more digitally, thanks to many government initiatives and a young India which also believes in a digital economy….eshop platform at Heidelberg is getting more and more popular.

6

November 2021

Heidelberg Print Media Centre Wiesloch Commercial Hall

KaO

·'

•

.

•

.... •J

....

..

'

KaoPrint.com

The future of inks starts here.

ATOMIC Hybrid UV/LED lnk CYCLONE Flexible UV/LED lnk CHIMIJET DECO LED Hard UV/LED lnk CONQUERGS Solvent lnk for Ricoh Gen 5 RESISTANT OL Solvent lnk for EPSON ph

Contact us for more information at

inkjet@lkaochimigraf.com

PRECISE, ROBUST AND STABLE. THIS IS WHAT OUR SERIES OF PRINTHEADS STAND FOR.

PRECISION PRECISION IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR ABSOLUTE ACCURACY REGARDING A QUANTIFIABLE VALUE AND THEREFORE ABOUT COMING AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO MEETING AN EXPECTATION. SEIKO INSTRUMENTS IS ALMOST UNMATCHED IN THE WAY THAT IT STANDS FOR PRECISION. THIS IS BORNE OUT BY ITS NAME ALONE, THE JAPANESE WORD FOR PRECISION BEING ‘SEIKO’.

For further flexible solutions and possibilities visit www.seiko-instruments.de.

THE CULTURE OF PRECISION.

.. i.f····

.. · . , ' . -.,.

..

.·

.

.

.

pressideas/ commercial printing

solutions, higher consumer engagement for brand recognition, compliances and sustanability including better track and trace in industries, such as food and beverages, health & personal care and pharmaceutical,” foresees, Samir Patkar. “Moreover, rapid industrialization and growing manufacturing industries across the globe including Indian markets coupled with demographic advantage, growing disposable income and acceleration of industrial activities are likely to support the print market during the forecast period. FMCG, Food & Beverages and AlcoBev segment will continue to be volume drivers. With the pandemic recovering and relaxing of norms these businesses are likely to bounce back,” he further elucidates.

Heidelberg Service Team - the Covid Darevdevils

our service team is helping our customers via remote to diagnose the machine fault and swiftly fix them remotely, thanks to digital technology and innovations which Heidelberg constantly brings to the market from time to time as a technology leader.

This is going to be the new normal and most print companies are already following it. Let us remember that this is just one part of the digital transformation program which Heidelberg had drafted as its new journey 4 years ago.”

The changing market demands and customer expectations The new print technologies have lowered costs and increased accuracy and offered quicker turnaround to customers. In the past, a company would purchase bulk order of marketing materials for any new product, but today’s technology allows them to customize their materials to connect with specific market segments. As a result, print companies can receive smaller orders and must have the capacity to address them efficiently.

Print markets used to be geographically defined, except for a few large printers.

Today, a company’s market share is defined solely by its technology and willingness to cater to a broader customer base. More and more print companies are choosing to serve niche markets, finding that they can obtain a better profit margin by offering specialised services to a larger customer pool. In the past, inventory was straightforward since it focused primarily on basic paper products and standard inks. With different applications specific to different sectors along with

8

November 2021

changes in its variety and magnitude, one needs a very effective supply chain and inventory management to cater to print product customers’ specific needs. Vendor Managed Inventories, VMI or Just In Time, JIT deliveries, Track and Trace, are becoming more and more important. Just imagine when you can have one digital interface to manage this with your customers and suppliers – and this will be the future. It brings the line of visibility under one common digital workflow which allows business decisions to be taken well informed. This is the space where Heidelberg is already present and is further developing currently via their Prinect Workflow. “And, we are very excited about all these future developments!” states Samir.

“Today, customers want a customized design with specialty print and finishing and expect it to be available in short-time. With the rise of online shopping, purchasers now prefer digital order and fulfillment experience. As a result, web-to-print options have evolved from a luxury MIS add-on to a necessary service by a competitive print shop. Printers should manage a broader inventory base, possess excellent inventory management and have strong relationships with suppliers who can respond quickly to shifting needs,” explains Samir Patkar.

The future ways of providing the solutions at the best possible price “The global printing market size is projected to grow and is expected to witness significant growth in the future due to increased demand for aesthetic printing

Samir also expects the customer service and support function to see radical changes in the coming years. “These changes will force service organizations to face multiple dilemmas around customers, strategy, organization, and technology. However, overcoming these dilemmas will prompt service to transform from a cost center to a customer centric approach which delivers the value its worth.

Customer service is the biggest influencer in terms of product experience. Heidelberg proves this by its recently introduced remote services. Under the easy and interactive Heidelberg Remote Services, their service team services the machines via the cloud, diagnoses problems faster and fixes most electrical errors quickly. This considerably reduces the downtime of customers and most importantly, decrease their stress level. “Indian businesses will transact more digitally, thanks to many government initiatives and a young India which also believes in the digital economy. Especially during lockdowns, many Indians saw immense benefit and convenience while transacting on digital platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. Likewise, at Heidelberg, our initiative of introducing our e-shop platform is open for customers 24/7; where they can order the required spare parts and consumables at the click of a button. This is already a big success and is catching up a lot of momentum with Heidelberg customers worldwide including India. Our Indian customer base for e-shops is growing and shall be the most common platform to transact in the coming years,” informs Samir Patkar.

Promote for FREE on our SOCIAL pages!

jacobpressideas

We can be of help!

Each story we create, or for that matter, each press release that you share with us, not only goes on our popular website but also is shared on all above Social Media pages of PRESSIdeas.

jacob.pressideas

Your social media content is the embodiment of your brand and each social network brings in it's own set of challenges. Well, we take of several factors that go into producing and publishing social media content.

We can help you not only in Content Creation - where and how to Start with but once created, to schedule them on the Social Media and then optimizing it to attain the expected success is also our job. Last but not the least, analyzing the results of the Social Media Campaign too shall be shared with you.

If you’re looking to get started, allow us to walk you through it. Allow us to hand hold you all along.

only.pressideas

+JacobGeorge-pressideas

Write to digital@pressideas.com or WhatsApp on +91 9780036854 to know more!

Note: Our online editorial team holds the right to decide on the selection of posts to be included on our social media pages. The FREE offer is for a period of 45 days. It is advisable to have only a post in a week.

jacobgeorge1/

www.pressideas.com

pressideas/ commercial printing

The changes that would stay

Covid Daredevils of Heidelberg

It’s inevitable that some industries and sectors will thrive, while others will decline; labels, mono-cartons and flexible packaging seem to be progressing better than many.

“When we look back, it’s astounding to see what all my colleagues at Heidelberg India have overcome together and the progress we’ve made since the onset of the pandemic with our field staff especially our sales and service team, whom we fondly call ‘Covid Daredevils’,” says Samir.

“The printshop owners must adapt to more and more digital processes for print operations and sales and marketing. One cannot be analog on their working style and hope to run the operations efficiently with better margins. Data mining and analytics are going to be the key to success for the future running of profitable print ecosystem.

This will help to reduce waste, be more productive and profitable. In order to address the problem one need to know what the problem is. Data Mining and Analytics is the key to problem identification and solving them. It also helps one to benchmark their performance and set goals to constantly improve the new benchmarks set by the company. As an organization the one who embraces this process shall be early adopters and would have a better chance to be more successful…. It will be a cultural change!” suggests Samir Patkar.

Healthcare solutions are currently going through a sea of change in India and have already left back a long-lasting mark. Automation will maintain to grow in importance as it has over the last few years. The growth of smaller online retailers, startups, local brands, etc. will only continue to fuel the need for the short-run products offerings and the growth of the digital ecosystem will allow this to grow.

“Nevertheless, in any situation, we ensured that services and parts are taken care of without any hindrance and consumable deliverables are supplied to all customers.

To add here, we have completed several installations across the country during the pandemic. The installations include Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor at Art -O-Print, Ahmedabad; Speedmaster CX 102 7+LUV presses at Miraj Multicolor, Udaipur, Noble Printing Press, Mumbai and Global Printing and Packaging in Bangalore; a Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor at Rohan Cards, Pune; CX 75 at Letap Ahmedabad, Print Point and Essentra, Bangalore. Speedmaster CS 92 installation at Rukson Packaging, Mumbai and two CS 92 presses installed at Rahul Print-o-Pack and Replika Press,” he adds.

Installations of SX 74 2P at Orient, Indore, SX 102 2P’s at Webtech and CD 102 6L UV at COPL Udaipur were also some of the highlights during the pandemic.

“Our service team has just completed a brand new Speedmaster SX 102 8P installation with Push to Stop technology, first time in India for book publishing and soon will hand over another newly launched

Speedmaster CX 92 at Replika, Delhi. Both the presses were ordered at the peak time of second wave during April 2021. More presses are getting installed in the coming days,” reveals Samir.

In the label segment, three Gallus ECS 340 and two Labelmaster 440 flexo presses were installed. They have also completed the installation of several used Heidelberg presses. There is also a growing interest and installations happening in the prepress segment with multiple installations of Suprasetter CtP equipment with Heidelberg’s signature Prinect Production Manager workflow at Galaxy Offset, Delhi; National Printers, Ranchi; Rajhans, Chennai; Subham Printers, Chennai; Assam Jaitya Bidyalaya, Guwahati; Ratna Paper, Chennai and many more.

In post-press, a good number of Polar cutting equipment were installed and their long-time customers like Nice Prints, Ramya Reprographics, and Noble Printing have installed MK Easymatrix die-cutters. “A few more Polar’s and die-cutters are on their way to India to get installed in the coming days. We see that our market acceptance as a reliable post-press partner is strongly growing with many customers placing repeat orders especially in die-cutters from MK,” affirms Samir.

“Our key focus remains on a customercentric approach, and we want to give them a complete solution to increase their productivity, higher OEE, reduced downtime with higher profit margins,” he states.

The current situation for Heidelberg India, according to Samir, looks promising – with orders in place as more packaging converters invest in new equipment, they also launched their Print Site contracts in the last fiscal year, where they combine supply of consumables, Prinect Workflow – Pressroom/ Production Manager, preventive maintenance, and services on monthly basis as per the requirement, like a monthly subscription model of postpaid mobile connection, at mutually agreed terms and conditions.

Heidelberg team shall analyze the print shop’s production run, consumables, and service requirement; then offer a flexible contract package that starts from 6 to 60

10

November 2021

pressideas/ commercial printing

months, which is seen as a stress-free model for any print shop owner. “It allows the printer to focus on getting more business while Heidelberg to focus on enhancing total productivity of the press with reduced downtimes. Selection of right consumables, workflow and consulting is also the key to achieve higher productivity which is offered via Print Site Contracts,” explains Samir.

This model is applicable also for any sheetfed press and Suprasetter equipment where they can get supply of consumables and services at a special price. This model is impressive and many printers in India have already opted for these contracts from Heidelberg.

Packaging Printing is a success story in India “We are fortunate that India is still an emerging market which means we have a huge demand for all consumer goods for the next 10 years and more. The per-capita consumption of self adhesive labels in India is just below 0.6 square meters per annum while the Asian Average is over 6 square meter/annum, North America and Europe being over 10 square meters/annum. The per capita paper board consumption in India is currently 12-14 kgs/annum while the global average is about 57 kgs/annum. With over 1.3 billion population and demographic advantage of 50% of population being young, our GDP forecasted stand at over 7.5% for next two quarters of FY 22 and beyond. As one of the fastest growing economies, I am confident that packaging printing is going to be a success story in India, whether it is mono-cartons, labels, or flexible packaging, India is on the rise!” claims Samir.

Signs of revival in the commercial printing segment Undoubtedly commercial printing suffered the most during the pandemic times.

The disruption is seen a lot more in commercial printing due to faster adoption of technologies in the Web and Digital which shifted from the traditional Sheetfed Offset. With schools shut for a long time and most learning platforms converted online along with drop in marketing activities from corporates in advertising/marketing spend, we can say that the commercial segment suffered the most. “We do see signs of revival in commercial segments with the industry now opening and marketing budgets by corporates now being spent. Schools and educational institutes are also slated to start again any time now of course with the hope that we don’t get attacked by more pandemic waves. Just as we talk we have the new Omicron wave and the world seems to have panicked again. This will be a push and pull story and a battle of nerves and will test us all the way. Only the calm and composed and focused shall win. We have just installed a Speedmaster SX 102 8P with our latest ‘Push to Stop’ technology excelled

by Prinect Software, first time in India for the commercial segment, and our newly launched Speedmaster CX 92 four colour press goes to one of our strong partners in North India, Replika Press,” says Samir. “We are very excited with these installations!”

Besides, there are growing demands and growth being observed in specialized packaging segments especially Lamitubes,

Shrink Sleeves, and In Mould Labels, IML. “I feel the time is now for India to start printing IML labels by Sheetfed Offset as the demand is growing and the printed costs are much lower as compared to any other print technologies,” recommends Samir. We have just showcased in October 21 our latest cost effective technologies with our Speedmaster CX 75 for IML printing.

Heidelberg in India – future strategy and core target areas Heidelberg’s new generation presses with fully automated processes supported by the state-of-the-art Prinect software, digital platforms to do business like e-shop, remote connectivity of their presses to be a part of Heidelberg Cloud, Print Site contracts with right choice of consumables to run the presses efficiently with highest productivity will be the target areas. “With our motto ‘Always a Step Ahead,’ we think and foresee for customer’s productivity and technology enhancement constantly,” says Samir.

We see that the customer’s expectations are changing rapidly and there is a growing focus on OEE and higher operating efficiencies. Tomorrow’s technology needs to be supported well with the right ecosystem that allows all functions to operate at the highest potential including the skills of the press operators. “There are rapid changes in business models and growing need for data analytics in driving well informed business decisions. This holds for both Heidelberg as well as our customers. We are rapidly aligning in these areas to ensure customer

“Domestic consumption has been and will be the key to packaging growth. With the revival of exports, many of our top customers equipped with the latest technology to compete in the global market, will be the key drivers of high growth once the pandemic curve begins to flatten. Most speak of V shape recovery for our economy and with the GDP projected at 7.5%, the coming years look very promising for India, especially for the graphic arts industry. I see this would be our best chance for India to propel growth and make its mark in world production of goods and services…. This is our time and we need to make the most of it,” he insists.

Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 104 Press

pressideas/ commercial printing

profitability by constantly upgrading our resources and skills and I see great progress already. More modern techniques towards data mining and digitalization of processes shall help us to the built speed of response for faster and more precise decision making,” envisages Samir.

witness notable growth in about five years.

“Advanced print technology has a far-fetched future, embracing innovative media and communication that go beyond imagination.

Most of the leading printing companies are adapting to innovative ways and adopting digital printing technology for customization,” he says.

The latest offerings “Our all-new Speedmaster 2020 generation presses combine top performance with artificial intelligence features and a revolutionary operating concept which no other printing press generation did before,” declares Samir. “Customers can discover the performance spectrum and intelligent capabilities afforded by automation and digitization – like the new Intelliline LEDbased navigation support system, which provides a colour visualization of the process status of all printing, coating, and drying units always. The uniform and intuitive Heidelberg UX operator guidance make printing more exciting.”

He also delightedly announces the installation milestone of 1000 print units of their newly launched Speedmaster CX 104, which premiered in June at China Print 2021.

The press is manufactured at their Shanghai factory and has been very popular globally.

“I am also happy to announce that the Speedmaster CX 104 have also gained a lot of popularity in India and a few are on their way,” rejoices Samir.

Currently, Heidelberg is promoting its Speedmaster CX 92 and CX 104 presses in the market even as the company launches several offers for Prinect, spares, and consumable business. “We soon plan to be at our usual drill of being present at exhibitions and conducting seminars,” states Samir.

Advanced print technology has a far-fetched future Samir expects the printing market to

12

November 2021

“Digital print technology is, of course, faster and can also render designs much more intricate than print professionals could have accomplished in the recent past, even with short runs, varying surface finishes can now be printed on the same project, and threedimensional graphic designs can be printed with more realistic depth. These creative possibilities allow designers to put together eye-catching projects with fewer limitations than they would have found with Offset printing,” he continues.

“Despite the fast pace of technological innovation, print and packaging businesses do not have to switch to purely Digital presses overnight. Since Offset still has its strength over Digital, especially with Heidelberg’s solutions in technologies like the Anicolor and Push to Stop suited for short-run production, special colours, metallic and Pantone shades, Multicolour Printing, varied substrate, high-quality printing with custom finish and colour fidelity, they can instead leverage more from the Offset processes today,” emphasizes Samir.

Also, one good example is the Gallus Label Fire 340, Hybrid digital press. The press combines the latest digital printing technology with printing processes like Digital Inkjet Printing seven colours with inkjet white, Flexo and Screen printing, In line intermittent die-cutting, digital foiling and varnishing, multilayers and much more all IN LINE; and at speeds of 70 meters/minute, it is just raising the bar in label printing. The digital in-line label printing system features a print module with state-of-the-art inkjet print heads and prints at a resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi native.

“Heidelberg has always been a leading technology and solutions provider. With our Speedmaster 2020 generation series, we offer the most highly automated and most intelligent presses,” says Samir speaking about the superiority of Heidelberg presses.

“The smart machine advantage is a huge spectrum of possibilities for outstanding productivity and significant increase in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This ensures the lowest printed cost and with the highest quality and productivity. A core thing that any entrepreneur is looking for is a better return on investment. At Heidelberg, we walk the talk!” he says.

The Speedmaster CX 104 boasts a new, ergonomic design with excellent accessibility and offers a completely new operating philosophy (Heidelberg UX), together with a whole host of assistance systems like Wash Assistant and Color Assistant Pro, and Prinect Press Centre XL3 control for easy navigation. To ensure makeready times are always kept short, the patented Intellistart 3 system automatically determines the makeready processes required for the jobs to be produced.

The Intellistart 3 feature initiates the makeready process and carries it out automatically. Intelliguide and the Intelliline colour-controlled LED elements on the printing and coating units tell operators the press’s operating status at any given time and indicate any manual intervention that is required. The newly developed Intellirun software takes operator navigation beyond the makeready process, providing a preview of several planned jobs.

Heidelberg Healthy Printing Initiative By joining the international Healthy Printing initiative, Heidelberg is underlining this comprehensive commitment to environmentfriendly products and technologies. Healthy and sustainable printing is increasingly

Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 92 Press

pressideas/ commercial printing

topics to consumable know-how.

“Visitors explored the Heidelberg portfolio and got interesting updates on the Heidelberg products ranging from folding cartons, commercial and label production, artificial intelligence to a wide range of digital service offerings. This trend will continue in the coming years and all the virtual events are made available in the cloud for the printing fraternity,” shares Samir.

“It is time for us to think out-of-the-box, stay strong and bring our resilient spirit to the fore.

Let’s take all the positive learnings from 2020 & 2021 and strengthen them in 2022,” he encourages. becoming a competitive advantage. Demand for safe and recyclable print products is growing, particularly in packaging printing. “As a leading partner to the folding carton industry, we support recyclability which makes an important contribution to an efficient circular economy and thus strengthens the competitiveness of the printing and the packaging industry.

Heidelberg has been committed to sustainability in the production of print products for many years as we are the world’s only press manufacturer that offers the service to offset CO2 in the production of all presses from Heidelberg ex-works. The

machine guards of CO 2 -neutral presses carry a special label. Print products produced on CO2-neutral presses from Heidelberg can be labeled with a logo. In the future, the commitment to climate protection can be a factor that is decisive for the growth of your business,” says Samir.

In absence of industry exhibitions, the new way of showing the equipment for Heidelberg has been the starting of Innovation Week event since 2020. The event showcases live sessions, technical discussions on various topics from commercial to packaging, pre-press workflow to label printing, service

“In another aspect, our business management has changed for the better.

Consolidation, Cashflow Management, Profitability, Modernization, Digitization, and Automation are going to be the keywords from now on. Let us embrace the change which is the need of the hour to get into the next phase of our lives where AI will play a major role in all aspects. On behalf of Team Heidelberg India, I wish all our print industry friends a happy and prosperous new year 2022,” concludes Samir Patkar.

Manroland Sheetfed India Team Manroland Sheetfed India team welcomes Mr. Peter Rego in the Division as Director – Business Development & Mr. Rahul Chitkara as CFO. “With his vast experience and knowledge of Sheetfed Print Industry spanning more than 2 decades and work experience in Capital goods and services of more than 4 decades we are confident that, he will do a great job for Manroland Sheetfed India,” says Manroland MD Neeraj Dargan.

Mr. Rahul Chitkara is a qualified management graduate from a premium business school & has more than a decade’s experience with international business & Manroland Sheetfed India’s operations, with his diversified knowledge Rahul adds immense value to

support the company & its customer base.

Manroland Sheetfed has been growing steadily and has shown good results in the last few years. With the new state-of-theArt R700 Evolution press already rolled out across the globe, and Manroland Sheetfed India’s better and more efficient customer centric service, Manroland India is ready to spread its wings in the Indian market.

Peter Rego is confident that the revival in the industry is just round the corner, and feels that the market will bounce back in the coming months where Packaging will once again see an exponential growth. Along with packaging which is the flavour of the season, and with the education system slowly coming back to normalcy and students returning to

the classroom, the commercial printing and book publishing will see better days within the next few months as well,” he says.

November 2021

13

Your print-work-floor – How productive is it?

Exploring capabilities of an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) product which provides a valuable independent measure of how well a piece of equipment performs over time.

Understanding where the equipment is currently, versus where it can be, is critical to improving overall productivity. There are many steps that can be completed to achieve optimal equipment performance. Many of these changes are cultural and need to be embraced by management and recognized by all employees in any company. To fully optimize our equipment and obtain the best OEE, a maintenance program should be the cornerstone of facility management. Equipment failure and downtime can greatly reduce OEE and lead to missed production deadlines and increased costs.

The importance of a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program that identifies and fixes issues before they occur is critical to production and can lead to a significant reduction in repair costs.

“It is more than ‘liveproductivity’. What the management system is capable of is – it can find the reasons for the lack of productivity and find how and what could be done to improve upon them.”

Key Notes : > How to achieve optimal equipment performance. > The importance of a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program. > It’s a waste to keep investing in new equipment that wouldn’t be giving their 100%.

14

November 2021

While speaking to Sachin Kala of Unico Tech Solution LLP (UTS), we came to know about a survey he took in India, in which it was surprisingly found that the average productivity of presses across India was less than 50%. He surveyed around 25 presses, a few of those were top presses of the country and also ‘well managed’. UTS is based out of Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh and has recently venturing into this segment of the industry. Sachin is a part of the hugely successful company Ample which deals in providing Chinese machines for the Indian printing, packaging and corrugation industry with over 500 machineinstallation milestone reached late last year.

The survey by Sachin Kala was though revealed surprising performance data, on further research it was found that the global average too matched the Indian average. Speaking of press productivity, while speaking with a leading printer from north India, we were informed that he was ‘doing pretty good and was happy’ about their performance. He was quite upbeat about his unit’s productivity and performance (even when put against the performance and speed data assured by the manufacturer) achieved during actual operations. Now, what intrigued us was to check the printer’s productivity data against the parameters of a hybrid solution – the softwarehardware based evaluator by Sachin.

Sachin installed his system for a week at the chosen printer. We thought it was about finding the present actual productivity. But, Sachin explains, “It is more than ‘live-productivity’. What the management system is capable of is – it can be transmitted to any Smartphone or screen of your choice; it can be any location of customer’s choice; it can be for multiple machines in the unit whether they are automatic or manual; it can find the reasons for the lack of productivity; and finally find how and what could be done to improve upon them.”

What UTS does is pretty simple – they start by conducting an online demo of CountWONDER Hybrid Solution for interested printers. Then, if the

printer requires, a demo at their premises is arranged for a couple of days. During this time the CountWONDER generates reports for the management to see the actual productivity. CountWONDER is a Wifi based solution and requires no wiring etc. on the shop floor, which means it does not disturb the daily production or any other schedules of a printer. It can be called an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) product which provides a valuable independent measure of how well a piece of equipment performs over time.

The demo system at the chosen printer brought surprising results. After three-days of the installation, the UTS system found that the unit’s productivity was less than 23%. It meant that over 3 quarters of the time was being wasted. The areas of waste could be either a few or all of these – delayed start and early stop, line clearance, makeready, power failure, breakdowns and many more which when identified could be used to increase productivity. “The demo reports were even shocking for the printer. In fact he postponed his current investment decision and instead concluded to focus on address his productivity issues and resolve them first.

He found it a waste to keep investing in new equipment that wouldn’t be giving their 100% anyway based on current standards,” shares Sachin.

For us, it was a big decision shift by a printer enabled by a pert evaluation by CountWONDER by UTS. “This is the capability of CountWONDER, which can spell wonders for any press big or small,” beams Sachin.

UTS will be shortly offering CountWONDER on a cloud based subscription model as well which would be a great help for smaller printers and quell their qualms about investing in a hybrid system. It is indeed a revolutionary step by UTS. For those who are too concerned of data and want to invest in the system, UTS is talking with a few financiers for ZERO interest loans too. “Our cloud based Software as a Solution (SaaS) is fully secured but have the option to install the server at the customers’ premises too for those who are overly concerned,” says Sachin.

Going a little back, CountWONDER is a product owned by Mumbai based Pentaforce

Printing Software (PPS) which has been in the printing industry for over three decades now and has a full suite of ERP for printers.

Madan Singh, CTO of PPS says, “UTS will be selling CountWONDER in India and with Demo installation and conversions happening at a comfortable pace, we are planning to launch a CountWONDER based Scheduler for printers in India shortly which will be a game changer for printers in the country who wish to leverage on technology for growth and inclusive progress.”

Best of luck team UTS and PPS. Anyone interested may visit www.unicotechsolution. com for more information.

pressideas/ commercial printing

Komori GL37 quality wins appreciation of BJP President and UP CM BJP Party President J.P. Nadda and CM Yogi Adityanath visit Holy book publisher Gita Press and praise the quality of books printed on Komori GL37.

BJP Party President Mr.JP Nadda along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave an official visit to newly installed Komori GL 437 at the world-famous holy book publisher Gita Press, Gorakhpur and praised the print quality of books printed on Komori GL37.

“Got an opportunity to come to Gita Press, Gorakhpur, a spiritual institution that saves Sanatan literature and makes it accessible to all easily. This institute has made a special contribution in bringing religious books, texts and magazines published in Hindi, Sanskrit and other Indian languages to the country and the world,” says Mr. J.P. Nadda.

Komori GL 37, 4 colour press runs at the maximum speed of 15,000 sph with sheet thickness of 0.04-0.6mm. This Press is capable of printing sheets up to 37 inches in width, this press has the power to address the full span of requirements in the publishing and commercial printing segments. This machine is ideal for producing high pagecount products with high print quality.

This is the second Komori at the holy books publishing house. The first machine was Komori Enthrone 429.

Komori Corporation and Gita Press both are approaching there centennial year in 2023.

100-year celebration will begin from next year at Gita Press with special issue of Kalyan Magazine. Kalyan is a monthly spiritual magazine in Hindi published by Gita Press Gorakhpur since 1926.

“We may plan to launch a special issue of several collection of articles from Kalyan magazine published over the years for the centennial year, yet to be approved by the board of trustees. There is surge in the demand of holy books post pandemic and there is no inventory left. So, owing to the demand we decided to invest in the Japanese technology which will print 15000 pages in an hour. This will boost our production and meet the surging demand of our books. We are honoured by the august presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

and Mr. J.P. Nadda who inspected the development at Gita press and praised the Komori technology and decision taken by the Trust,” say Mr. Lal Mani Tiwari and Mr. Ashutosh Upadhyay.

“Komori GL 37 is our 2nd press at the Gita press, Gorakhpur. We are happy that our customers are printing at the full capacity of the press. We believe in delivering Kando services to our customers,” says Deputy Manager, Sangam Khanna, Komori India.

CCI penalizes 10 paper manufacturers for indulging in cartelisation CCI imposed a symbolic penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on the paper manufacturers found guilty of cartelization.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has penalized a number of paper manufactures by imposing a penalty of Rs 5 lakh each. The manufacturers have been accused of indulging in cartelization while manufacturing paper from agriculture waste and recycled wastepaper the Commission has also imposed a penalty on an association – all found to have contravened the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act).

The case was initiated suo motu by the Commission on the basis of certain material found during the ongoing investigations of two other cases. Although the DG investigated 21 original paper manufacturers and the association, it only recorded findings of contravention of the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Act read with Section 3(3)(a) thereof against ten (10) such paper manufacturers and the association. The period of cartel was noted by the DG to be

16

November 2021

from September 2012 till March 2013.

The accused parties indulged in such activities as amounting to cartelisation concerning fixing the prices of writing and printing paper.

In addition to imposing a symbolic penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on the ten paper manufacturers found guilty of cartelization, CCI further imposed a penalty of Rs. 2.5 lakh on the association for providing its platform for anti-competitive activities. CCI also directed the above paper manufacturers and the association, and their respective officials who have been held liable in terms of the provisions of Section 48 of the Act, to cease and desist in the future from indulging in anticompetitive conduct.

The firms are Bindals Papers Mills, K.R. Pulp and Papers, Khanna Paper Mills, Katyayini Paper Mills, Kuantum Papers, Madhya Bharat

Papers, Naini Paper, Ruchira Papers and Shreyans Industries.

The association — the Indian Agro and Recycled Paper Mills Association — has been penalised for providing its platform for anti-competitive activities.

The regulator imposed symbolic fine on the firms considering that during the pandemic, most businesses moved to the virtual mode, thereby reducing the need for paper and affecting the paper business.

Heidelberg records half-year profit and high order backlog Half-year incoming orders up 44 percent on previous year at €1,245 million and sales climb by 22 percent to €983 million.

During the second quarter of financial year 2021/2022 (July 1 to September 30, 2021), Heidelberg has built on the encouraging developments of the first three months. The market recovery continued in virtually all regions compared with the previous year.

The Group’s half-year sales increased by 22 percent to €983 million (previous year: €805 million). The EBITDA figure of €75 million was also up on the previous year (€67 million), even though the first half of the previous year was positively influenced by earnings from the restructuring of retirement provision amounting to €73 million, the sale of a subsidiary (€8 million), and the widespread use of short-time working. During the current reporting period, Heidelberg benefited from rising sales, far better cost-efficiency, and earnings of over €20 million from the sale of docufy GmbH, which does not form part of the company’s core business operations.

“The highly positive developments in our growth areas and our improved costefficiency underline that Heidelberg is doing very well. We also see great potential for the future thanks to our leading position in China and in the areas of digital business models, e-mobility, and packaging printing.

In addition to all this, our break-even point will continue to fall. Despite the clearly evident problems in the supply chain at present, we are therefore confident about this year and the years to come,” comments Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer.

The four growth areas The encouraging developments during the first half-year are based on continuing progress in the Group’s growth areas – packaging printing, digital business models, China, and new technology applications, especially in e-mobility. Heidelberg is benefiting from continued high growth in its largest single market – China. The recovery of demand is also based on product innovations such as the new Speedmaster CX 104 universal press. In packaging printing, too, Heidelberg has seen high demand during the half-year, with incoming orders up over 36 percent on the previous year.

The financial partnership entered into with Munich Re on November 8, 2021 for digital business models is further expected to set the course for future growth. The collaboration intends to fully harness the global market potential of the subscription options offered by Heidelberg to boost business volume in this area. As for new technology offerings, the success of wallboxes for e-mobility continues to stand out, with international expansion gaining further momentum. Following the market launches in Austria and Switzerland, Heidelberg will also be offering its charging solutions in France, Poland, and Hungary in the future. In response to the dynamic growth in demand, the fourth wallbox production line was taken into operation ahead of schedule.

Wallbox sales during the half-year tripled and are making a far bigger contribution to the overall result.

Heidelberg expects a total cost savings of over €170 million in financial year 2022/2023.

“At the end of the half-year, we have completely eliminated the net financial debt and improved our free cash flow to €74 million. It’s many years since Heidelberg was last in this situation, but we won’t be complacent and will systematically leverage our future potential to keep the development of these key figures positive,” says the company’s CFO, Marcus A. Wassenberg.

Market recovery reflected in positive operational development The growing market recovery in virtually all regions continued during the second quarter.

At the end of September 2021, incoming orders totaled €1,245 million, which is significantly above the low figure recorded in the previous year due to the pandemic (€864 million). Orders amounting to €593 million in the second quarter were also considerably higher than the previous year’s figure (€518 million). The order backlog increased to €886 million, compared with €627 million at the equivalent stage of the previous year. Group sales for the half-year also grew substantially to €983 million (previous year: €805 million).

The figure for the second quarter was €542 million, following on from €475 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

EBITDA after six months improved to €75 million (first half-year of 2020/2021: €67 million). In the previous year, earnings from restructuring the occupational retirement provision (around €73 million), the extensive use of short-time working to compensate for lower activity levels, and the sale of the Belgian subsidiary CERM N.V. (approx. €8 million) had a positive impact. The current reporting period benefited from higher sales volumes, growing savings from the transformation, and earnings of over €20 million from the sale of docufy GmbH. EBITDA for the second quarter amounted to €60 million (corresponding quarter of previous year: €27 million), while EBIT after six months totaled €37 million (previous year: €27 million). As already announced, there was a sustained improvement in the financial result from €-27 million to €-17 million, thanks to which the net result before taxes increased from €0 million to €20 million. After taxes, Heidelberg recorded a profit of €13 million, following a figure of €-9 million in the previous year.

Free cash flow improves by €126 million to €74 million. The half-year free cash flow climbed by over €120 million, from €-52 million to €74 million. The Group’s equity ratio rose from 5.0 percent on March 31, 2021 to 6.2 percent. The equity ratio for the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG parent company remains at a solid level of around 27 percent.

Heidelberg is expecting sales to climb to at least €2 billion.

digital printing

Fujifilm India: Bringing Out Value From Innovations Mr. Kentaro Imafuku, Head of Department, Graphic Arts, Fujifilm India, in an exclusive talk with PRESSIdeas, discusses Fujifilm’s diversified offering, foray in newer technology, Flenex series, new Revoria PC 1120 and much more.

The Pandemic has been an unforeseen reality that changed the world completely. Happenings like these reinforce the point that one can plan to a level but there has to be nimbleness in execution and redundancies created in the system which one can fall back on, in times of uncertainty.

“Fujifilm, being a legacy brand in graphics and photo space, has had the advantage of understanding its customer requirements in its entirety and tuning our products according to their needs. Fujifilm as a brand, is all about innovation and we will continue to do so and continue to set a benchmark in the world of technological equipment.” – Mr. Kentaro Imafuku

Key Notes :

Overhauling and optimizing their operations over the last 2 years, Fujifilm India kept its growth curve intact in the uncertain Covid-19 pandemic period. The company has recently forayed into newer technology like Flexo plates as the company also dived deeper into its Digital portfolio with a diverse offering from WFIJ (wide format inkjet for signage industry) to POD (Print On Demand). Speaking about the changed scenario, Mr. Kentaro Imafuku, Head of Department, Graphic Arts, Fujifilm India comments, “General commercial printing has been severely affected during the pandemic; the volumes have plummeted owing to the sequence of lockdowns. We at Fujifilm India, recognize the reality of ‘what has to go digital, will go digital’. Hence, we have aligned our overall strategy accordingly and included technologies that we believe will effectively and holistically cater to the industry. Actually, we have diversified our offering basket.”

“Our focus areas during these times were CTP Plates in the packaging space (compensating for drop in volumes from commercial printing) as well as foraying into newer technology like Flexo plates. We are also looking at the future with Label and Packaging solutions in Digital Printing,” he adds.

> Fujifilm India forays into newer technology – Flexo plates; dives deeper into Digital portfolio.

Answering customer demands in changing times

> Offers diverse offering from WFIJ to POD.

With the opening up of the markets, cost-quality Matrix will be of paramount importance. Packaging

> To offer Label and Packaging solutions in Digital Printing in future.

18

November 2021

segment will continue to grow in double digits and most of the printing volume growth will come from there, according to Mr. Kentaro Imafuku. He believes that demand for shorter runs and variable data printing would continue to grow and there would be more digital adoption going forward.

Customer demand has remained largely the same for decades. Great quality offerings at faster speed and affordable prices still remain a must. When it comes to changes in the market, when a specific technology is not able to meet the growing demand of advanced offerings, the market leapfrogs into a newer technology that serves the purpose.

“As we move ahead in time,” says Mr. Kentaro Imafuku, “physical print will continue to play a huge role. Only the equipment and the technologies that they are printed on may evolve. We can also expect a shift in the format of printing along with a rise in value of the printed message.”

pressideas/ digital

“The affordability of answering the new demands has more or less remained constant. The idea has and continues to be to use technologically advanced methods and techniques for building up the offerings so that the overall margins tend to remain at par,” he adds.

efficiency across the printing industry.

Speaking about the pandemic effect on Fujifilm’s business in India during the recent hard days, he remarks, “Like any other OEM, we were also impacted by the pandemic with business operating as low to 50% levels and then increasing to 70% of pre pandemic levels. However, now we are witnessing a solid rebound with a turnaround seen in Q2 (Jul-Sep) continuing over to the first month of Q3. However, the global semiconductor shortage is creating some issues in the production. There is also an increase in raw material prices which has further led to an increase in price rise of plates. Fortunately, demand has rebounded over the last few months with an increased offtake. We have also on boarded new customers adopting our solution in both plates and digital business.”

Processless CTP plates and Water Washable Flexo Plates: Fujifilm Processless Offset Plates are capable of eliminating the processing step completely and also promote ZAC processing technology which is their low chemistry offering. “After a worldwide success, we even brought to the Indian market Flenex Series ‘Water Wash Flexo Plates,” says Mr. Kentaro Imafuku.

Print’s revival

Later this year, Fujifilm India will have its own launch event for the POD Revoria PC 1120 Press. Besides the launch event, the company will also take part in 15th Print Pack India which is scheduled for March next year.

“There are many perspectives to look at this curve,” opines Mr. Kentaro Imafuku, while speaking about print’s revival, adding, “Your outlook depends a lot on how you’re looking at it. Many long run, commodity, general commercial printing volume jobs may never turn a corner. The plummet of those volumes may never recover. However, packaging volumes, digital short run volumes, specialty printed product requirements will definitely see an improved performance in the coming time.”

He sees the packaging and labels as a key growth areas in the coming times. Apart from that, he expects that Short Run Color Production printing would also grow in the future.

“Currently there are two major focus areas for us, conventional printing and digital printing.

Post-Covid, we have been witnessing a steady growth in the package printing space and we hope that soon it will be similar to pre-Covid levels,” says Mr. Kentaro Imafuku.

He is optimistic about the growing interest in Digital printing in the post Covid-19 scenario where print runs are becoming shorter and there is a growing focus on improving

Bringing innovations to their existing product line up and provide customers with technological advancements, Fujifilm has made significant developments in the printing industry with:

“Then we brought the POD Digital Press by launching the new Revoria PC 1120 which has the ability to print 6 colours in 1 pass by creating overlays and underlays using metallic colours like Gold and Silver and special colours Pink, White, Clear and Textured. It is a state-of-the-art high-end colour production machine that prints at very fast speeds of 120 PPM,” he further informs.

Evolving print and the future trends “We are expecting that the commodity printing will reduce. However, short run printing will expand and increase in volumes in the coming times,” envisages Mr. Kentaro Imafuku. Another major future trend, according to him would be that process automation and workflow automation is going to be a key differentiator. “And during the pandemic, we are aware of the impact on the commercial printing segment but the packaging segment is continuing to grow and we believe that in the coming future this will grow further,” he states.

“What makes Fujifilm solutions stand out in the market, says Mr. Kentaro Imafuku, is “it (Fujifilm) being a legacy brand in graphics and photo space. We have had the advantage of understanding our customer requirements in its entirety and tuning our products according to their needs. Most of our products are market leaders in various

categories and offer more than just the deemed purpose. For any user, any brand that understands its need to the core and inculcates the performance in the products, is the one to bring competitive advantage.

Fujifilm as a brand, is all about innovation and we will continue to do so and continue to set a benchmark in the world of technological equipment.”

Revoria Press PC 1120 – a unique technology Revoria Press PC 1120 is a unique technology that does things which is beyond the ambit of standard CMYK presses. The initial response in the Indian market has been ‘terrific’ with a lot of interest being shown by various industry patrons, says Mr. Kentaro Imafuku. The formal launch event of the press is scheduled at the end of the year.

The press boasts the smallest toner particle size in the industry. “Small toner particle size ensures better adhesion on paper and more uniformity,” explains Mr. Kentaro Imafuku.

“These are especially useful in Vector graphics and help in texts and edges. With this, our end customers can be assured of the best quality especially on texts, lines and curves.”

The Revoria Press PC 1120 is a highly capable machine that can print 6 colours in a single pass without any compromise on speed. The machine has one of the highest resolutions in the industry at 2400*2400 DPI and RIP rendering is at 1200*1200*10 Bits, which is 4 times more shades than the standard CMYK Press. Fujifilm has designed a bespoke RIP for this press called the “Revoria Flow” that enables colour switches in record time, photo enhancement tools, concurrent usage by designer and operator all built in for best quality with maximum ease of use. It has a Unique feeding system that has a shuttle feed technology which builds in reliability.

Customer feedback is the cornerstone product development at Fujifilm India, which organizes various interaction activities regularly with customers to further listen to their demands and feedback to improve services. For example, recently they invited engineers from Japan HQ to India for product training. During their stay, they visited Indian customers to hear their real voice. “Such kinds of interactions are very important for

November 2021

19

pressideas/ digital

us as I believe this helps our R&D team to get a better idea of the customer needs, and make use of those for our new product modifications or development. This is one of our strongest points as a manufacturer,” declares Mr. Kentaro Imafuku.

Value from Innovation Fujifilm has always strived to bring out the best innovations and advancements in every industry it operates in. Completely committed to the Graphics Industry, it aims to bring out value from innovations. Commited to sustainable development it adheres to the highest degree of compliance related to E-waste. “Our systems and processes

are defined in-house that lead to a proper waste management system. Most of our system components are recyclable and environmentally friendly. Sustainability has always been at the forefront of Fujifilm’s product development. We have always been committed to bring “Value from Innovation” and this innovation we believe, must strike a balance between fulfilling customer needs and nature. All of our products are aimed at delivering quality and stability, and together they both translate to resource saving, which further helps in reducing carbon emissions,” explains Mr. Kentaro Imafuku.

industry benchmarks which further enhances our competition and provide the users with world-class products,” he concludes.

The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely put a hold on industry events altogether and forced us all onto the virtual settings. But keeping up with the times, in July 2021, Fujifilm hosted its own virtual exhibition. It was very intuitive, user friendly with easy navigation tools. They showcased various products there including the Jet Press, Revoria, New Label and Packaging machine, and also their Offset plates.

“Our wide range of products and services set

Only 15 Days Left to avail PRINTPACK INDIA Discount Offer!

315 Companies have already availed of early bird discount (till 30th Nov 21). Only 15 days are left for availing of this benefit.

Bird Discount. To avail the early bird discount, companies must follow the other payment schedule.

The booking of space for participation in 15th PRINTPACK INDIA is open for the companies. The Indian Printing Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (IPAMA) is organizing the 15th PRINTPACK INDIA Exhibition at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida from March 11-15, 2021.

Various discount offers were announced by IPAMA – including COVID special discount for Exhibitors and IPAMA Members.

The new Members of IPAMA will be entitled to five per cent discount in space charges.

The space charges have been kept at the minimum level so that the companies, including MSME Units, could also participate in a big way bypassing COVID impact. The complimentary services will be provided to the Exhibitors and the Business Visitors, including transport facilities from the selected destinations, such as Airport, Metro Stations etc.

The last date for availing of the Early Discount will be expiring on 15th December, 2021. The companies can avail of this benefit, by paying the requisite amount i.e., 20 per cent of the total amount of the area booked. After the expiry of the cut-off date, the Exhibitors will not be entitled to the Early

20

November 2021

IPAMA has also opened the Visitor Registration Portal on live. The Visitors can now do their registration. The Visitors are advised to keep a copy of the printout of the registration which will be valid for touch-free and hassle free entry into the Exhibition Halls.

As of now (as on 30 Nov., 21), 315 companies have already booked the space for participation. The companies can contact

the officials of the Marketing department of the Association for any clarification or assistance relating to booking of space or advertisement sites.

IPAMA has recently organised a promotional meet at Amritsar on 17th November, 2021.

The response was very encouraging.

IPAMA’s representatives are also attending the seminars, conferences, exhibitions and other related events, which are being organised by the Association and Allied Associations, in different States for promotion of PRINTPACK INDIA Exhibition.

pressideas/ digital

Ekta Graphics installs country’s first HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press The Roorkee based printing solutions company to lead smart digital printing innovation with the new upgraded HP Indigo 15K value pack.

Adopting the new wave of digital printing innovations, Ekta Graphics and Printing Solutions has installed India’s first upgraded HP Indigo 12000 with HP Indigo 15K value pack Digital Press at its facility in Roorkee, Uttarakhand. The printing solutions’ company that caters to photographers & direct photo studio businesses will utilize HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press to venture in the new B2 size albums, Pharma Packaging and sheet fed labels.

Using HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press, Ekta Graphics and Printing Solutions aim to digitally revolutionize the picture, packaging, and commercial printing segment. Unlike conventional printing methods, HP Indigo HD Digital Press allows high quality printing, allowing the users to achieve its maximum color gamut. HP Indigo press offers special colours like LCLM, LLK, VPVG for an enhanced output. This installation will enable Ekta Graphics to provide a digital print solution in 20 X 30 size.

HP Indigo12000HD digital press offers a holistic printing solution with an intelligent colour automation. It transforms the photo production to digital from silver-halide or toner processes to provide high quality, maximum colour gamut, speed of production and media versatility. HP Indigo Press also helps in lowering environmental impact

with silver-free technology, CO2 neutral manufacturing, and consumables recycling, resulting in a lower carbon footprint. Indigo Ink is environmentally safe since it does not require any solvents, chemicals or UV light.

Speaking on the installation, Nitin Sharma, Ekta Graphics and Printing solutions said, “We’ve been in the photo printing business for the last 75 years and therefore, understand that the quality of output should be as precise as the capture has been, with an enhanced colour accuracy and image quality. By being the early adopters of HP Indigo 12K HD in Photo printing business, we are committed to offer our consumers a faster turnaround time with A-grade quality.

At Ekta Graphics and Printing solutions, we are on a mission to transform our business, achieving the highest standard of print quality, sustainability and quick service experience to our customers.”

“Installing the first upgraded HP Indigo 12K HD in India has given us an early mover advantage. We are confident that this will further enable us to offer unique and innovative printing solutions to our existing customers, while we acquire new ones,” he added.

Ekta Graphics has recently expanded its operations to work with brands to fulfill the

light packaging & labels requirement with this new acquisition. To facilitate this expansion, HP Indigo 12K HD Digital Press will offer “Print on Demand” & other customized solutions to many brands & new startups in Uttarakhand and adjoining states. Ekta Graphics and Printing Solutions has already been using HP Indigo printers for the past 5 years and are well known for bringing innovative photo printing solutions in the Indian photo market using HP’s Indigo technology.

Speaking on the new business association, A Appadurai, Country Manager, HP Indigo & Pagewide Web Press, HP India market said, “Technology is evolving rapidly, and in the last 11 years, HP Indigo presses have revolutionized the photo industry completely, taking our products and its capabilities to the amazing photographers. Along with the finest photo labs in the country like Ekta Graphics, we have been able to transform the lives of the photographers by offering them world class photo printing solutions. Beyond technology, the unlimited possibilities and the newest range of sizes including 30x40 photobooks will create the next wave in the photo industry.

We really feel proud that by utilizing our HP Indigo HD printing services, our customers are contributing towards a sustainable future. We are thrilled to collaborate with Ekta Graphics and Printing Solutions in their journey to transform digitally. We hope their faith and investment in HP’s devices helps them achieve the highest standard of print quality, sustainability and deliver an efficient service experience to their customers.”

The HP Indigo delivers automation and workflow optimization tools to drive more output in a single shift. The HP PrintOS is an effective tool to increase efficiency in the business workflow. It makes it easier for businesses to identify gaps and incorporate appropriate measures to ensure productivity while delivering highly customizable solutions. In addition, the HP Indigo HD press provides users with cost-effective and super-fast results by3450 sheets per hour.

pressideas/ digital

Monotech Systems installs a trio of Ricoh presses in Ahmedabad Installs Ahmedabad’s first Ricoh Pro C7200X digital print production press at Shree Paras Printers and a duo of Ricoh Presses at Brigar Media.

Monotech Systems has installed a Ricoh Pro C5310S Color Digital Production Press and a Ricoh Pro 8310S Monochrome Digital Production Press at Ahmedabad based Brigar Media. Also of Ahmedabad, Shree Paras Printers has installed the city’s first Ricoh Pro C7200X digital print production press.

Established in August 2020, Brigar Media offers digital book printing services and is run

by Sagar Shah and Brijesh Panchal, both of whom work as directors.

According to Shah and Panchal, the company opted for the Ricoh production presses for their quality and robustness.

Also, the after sales service of Monotech Systems is also the fact that we considered while going for the presses which is very important. According to Shah, after-sales

22

November 2021

service is the biggest challenge in the digital print business.

Shah added that the company went for Ricoh to take advantage of the future of digital printing. “Technically, we were quite sound and by personally taking a trial of the machine, we were able to tackle the challenge,” he said.

Before this investment, the company was using a Konica Minolta 6120. Shah added that with the new investment, the company is able to print on time and is able to satisfy its customers.

“This joint investment will enable Brigar Media to deliver both monochrome and colour applications to their customers.

Earlier, they used to serve colour printing applications from outside but now they

will be able to make it in-house. Both the engines are robust productive and offer high quality. We congratulate Brigar Media for their association and their trust in the Ricoh and Monotech Systems,” Akash Kumar, marketing head, Monotech Systems, said.

Built as a right-sized solution, the RICOH Pro C5310s offer a fusion of vibrant colour, agile media handling and a wide range of finishing options. With superior reliability, accurate registration and intuitive controls, they are ideal for marketing agencies, inplants, commercial printers and franchise/ pay for print environments looking for a total package.

The RICOH Pro 8310s/8320s multifunction production printers are ready to help printers grow their monochrome volumes or smoothly transition short-run offset printing jobs to a

Sagar Shah of Brigar Media

pressideas/ digital

streamlined digital workflow. With options for end-to-end document production, inspired image quality and reliable performance, these systems provide the innovation and automation to bring new opportunities to the forefront in a printing organization.

Shree Paras Printers installs Ricoh Pro C7200X Ahmedabad’s first Ricoh Pro C7200X digital print production press goes to one of the leading digital and commercial printing houses of the city – Shree Paras Printers. The company is run by Nitin Shah and his son Harsh Shah.

“The difference between four-colour digital printing and special colour digital printing with the latest print technology was the reason why we decided to opt for the Ricoh Digital Press,” Shah said.

Started in 1991, Shree Paras Printers has a total of 2,700 sqft area for digital printing. The company already has a Xerox Versant 180, a Konica Minolta C3070 and a Konica 6120

B/W production printer and all types of postpress equipment.

According to Shah, the USP of the company is that it offers its customers the best printing technology with print enhancement. He added that the new Ricoh digital press will help offer quality printing, heavy production and variable colour options.

Also, with the Ricoh C7200X digital production press, the company will be able to offer fast production and good printing quality and embellishments with a big print volume. With this new investment, the company is expecting to grow 25 to 30% year on year.

Ricoh C7200X is a game-changing digital press. RICOH Pro C7200X Graphic Arts Edition offers both MFP and printer models that deliver superb image quality, oversize print options and diverse media choices. The 5th Color Station lets printers go beyond CMYK to produce unique, compelling materials that can command

premium prices. Advanced workflows and performance-enhancing capabilities help them fulfil demanding deadlines while keeping operational costs low. The EFI Fiery Command WorkStation user interface enables precise control of jobs, colour management, image quality, VDP and output devices. High RIP speed and native PDF workflows enable jobs move through production quickly. In addition, optional tools help them expand offerings and extend the value of their investment.

“There was a demand for a right fit product in the market that offers special colours.

This USP of the product clicked Shah and he decided to go for it which is first in Ahmedabad. Paras Printers has been an esteemed customer for us and we cherish this relationship which has continued for many years. We hope that the Ricoh Pro C7200X is going to bring more revenues for them,” Ajeet Pareek, Business Head - Digital Products and Solutions, Monotech Systems, said.

(L-R) Harsh Shah and Nitin Shah of Shree Paras Printers

pressideas/ digital

Canon India marks the first installation of imagePRESS C10010VP in Eastern India Canon India strengthens its foothold in West Bengal by installing an imagePRESS C10010VP at T.S.P Digital of Kolkata.

Canon India has successfully installed its first imagePRESS C10010VP in Eastern India at T.S.P Digital, a pioneer print service provider in Kolkata.

Speaking about the changes in the industry and growing market demand for the machine, Mr. Puneet Datta, Senior Director, Canon India said, “The digital print industry is recovering quite fast in 2021 and we are noticing an increased trend of shift towards digital printing even with commercial printers.

This is due to the trend of shorter run lengths becoming more prominent over the past one year. The launch of our flagship mid production colour imagePRESS C10010VP series has coincided well to offer the best-inclass technology and reliability to customers willing to invest / upgrade their digital print infrastructure. Canon brand has always been synonymous with products that have revolutionised the digital printing industry and we are honoured to have customers who along with us have played an influential role in revolutionizing the digital printing space in India.”

Key features of imagePRESS C10010VP Series •

•

•

Higher revenue with flexible media versatility – 400gsm paper support and 330 x 762mm Auto duplex printing imparts enhanced colour consistency and media versatility.

Exceptional quality, productivity & consistency: Comes with 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution – enabling higher precision in printing of text and images.

Latest FS 400 Pro Platform Fiery for job & color management delivers realtime colour calibration and ensures consistent quality.

Low Power Consumption: 5kW for main unit along with POD deck & saddle finisher.

for Canon and the digital print industry as well. Today, we are proud to strengthen our reach in Kolkata through, T.S.P Digital, a name recognized in the region for its exceptional services. Through our product, we look forward to contributing to their business growth and further strengthen our relationship.”

today, we happen to be the cognoscenti of the industry. We are immensely happy and thrilled on our association with Canon India, as the brand has always been known within the industry for its range of technologically supreme and reliable products. With the outstanding TG rates offered by Canon and bonzer print swiftness, we hope to overcome the challenges with the installation through its uninterrupted production celerity of the assured print life and readily available spares and support throughout.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, its impact is felt in every region, every industry, and indeed every aspect of life. Much like others, the printing sector has also witnessed a business slowdown. Consequently, T.S.P Digital was looking for a solution that provides them a competitive pricing edge without compromising on print quality. With the recent Canon imagePRESS C10010VP installation, T.S.P Digital will be able to cater to short run packaging jobs, execute a ‘Direct-to-Customer’ business model by increasing awareness about print media into organizational structure.

The new Canon imagePRESS C10010VP series helps print service providers turn customer challenges into profitable opportunities and outstanding services. imagePRESS C10010VP is setting a new standard of productivity by meeting the tightest deadlines with uninterrupted highspeed and high-quality print. It maintains high speed even with mixed media, owing to its Dual Fixing Unit, and achieves 24/7 production with the optional High-Capacity Stacker that enables unloading and reloading during a print run.

Speaking about its legacy and the installation of the machine, Tanusri Parui, Proprietor, at T.S.P Digital said, “We have been a part of the digital printing & packaging industry since digital paper printing was an emerging trend. Risking the first movers’ advantage at a time when printing used to be an unorganized sector was not easy but

In its earlier days, T.S.P Digital started by involving print brokers to drive the digital printing demand. As broking was a profitable business opportunity at those times, it created the rage amongst brokers to drive and uplift the digital printing demand, while also helping the company build a legacy by inking on million sheets each year till date.

Sharing his thoughts on the installation in Kolkata, he further added, “Kolkata has been a prominent and promising market

24

November 2021

The Innovative imagePRESS C10010VP is installed at T.S.P Digital,a pioneer service provider in Kolkata, which has been a part of the digital printing & packaging industry for two decades

pressideas/ digital

Ingram Content Group’s Lightning Source opens POD Facility in SPC Free Zone Lightning Source and the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) have announced the opening of a new, major print-on-demand facility in the Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone. day publishing industry, making the digital and physical distribution of diverse content across different languages and regions seamless. This new facility will bring these world-class innovations to scale in the Middle East in a way that will benefit the publishing world and consumers alike.”

Lightning Source Sharjah is a joint venture between Lightning Source LLC, a part of Ingram Content Group(Ingram), and SBA. It will provide print-on-demand and distribution services for publishers and retail channels across the Middle East and Gulf regions. Its presence will expand access to content and enable publishers to meet consumer demand more rapidly in the area and is one of the first, large-scale print-on-demand operations in the Middle East.

HE Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, said, “SPC Free Zone is pleased to partner with Lightning Source in creating this print-on-demand facility. It represents an important addition to the free zone’s operational capabilities and will offer publishers, retailers and other stakeholders significant opportunities to expand their access to books and content, as well as their outreach into regional markets. The establishment of Lightning Source Sharjah, Ingram’s first print-ondemand facility in the region, is indicative of the strategic opportunities Sharjah provides to publishing business in the region, and also firmly reflects on the emirate’s leading status on the global cultural stage.”

Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, which opened in late 2017, spans over 40,000 square metres and is a permanent facility, housing translators, distributors, printers and publishers from the U.K., the U.S., India, China, and a host of other countries. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sharjah is also home to the Sharjah International Book Fair, one of the top three book fairs in the world, and has earned global recognition for fostering an environment that nurtures reading and learning.

“The creation of this facility is a significant development for the book trade within this region. It will bring pioneering technology and innovation to the forefront of meeting consumer demands in a rapidly growing and important part of the world,” said David Taylor, Ingram SVP for Content Acquisition International. “Ingram works with tens of thousands of publishers from around the world and is trusted with many millions of their titles in our Lightning Source print on demand supply model. The Sharjah operation will be an additional distribution option for our publishers and there is great

excitement about the potential. We are excited to work with our publishers, retailers and others to enable them to use the power of print-on-demand to facilitate global distribution in powerful new ways through this joint venture.”

The world is reading, and Ingram Content Group (“Ingram”) connects people with content in all forms. Providing comprehensive services for publishers, retailers, libraries and educators, Ingram makes these services seamless and accessible through technology, innovation, and creativity. With an expansive global network of offices and facilities, Ingram’s services include digital and physical book distribution, print-ondemand, and digital learning. Ingram Content Group is a part of Ingram Industries Inc. and includes Ingram Book Group LLC, Ingram Publisher Services LLC, Lightning Source LLC, Ingram Library Services LLC, Tennessee Book Company LLC, Ingram Content Group UK Ltd. and Ingram Content Group Australia Pty Ltd. Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) was launched in 2014, under an Emiri decree by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. SBA’s mandate includes enhancing investment in creative industries, building a platform for culture and knowledge exchange between people, highlighting the importance of books in today’s multimedia world, and supporting the children’s book industry.

“We have long enjoyed a strong partnership with the Sharjah Book Authority and are excited about the opportunity this new venture brings for Sharjah, Ingram and the broader Middle East and Gulf region,” said John Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Content Group. “I would also like to personally thank His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi for allowing us to be part of this important initiative in Sharjah.

Print-on-demand is fuelling the modern-

November 2021

25

Students' Corner

Analysis of effect of temperature and humidity on the barrier’s properties of Bopp and PVA films Written by Rohit Kale (Student PVG COET) under guidance of Prof. Swati V Nahar (Assistant Professor PVG COET)

Flexible packaging materials allow for more creative and visible packaging shapes. In addition, it allows great printing and design capabilities thus ensuring conspicuous and striking packaging for superior marketing value.

Flexible packaging is the most economical method to package and is in high demand in many sectors as it preserves and distributes food, beverages, other consumables, pharmaceuticals and other products that need extended shelf life. Multiple benefits like lightweight, small size, less power, easily disposable and a low-carbon footprint on the environment compared to the rigid plastics, have triggered the shift towards flexible packaging. Studies have proved that flexible packaging requires much less energy at the stage of manufacturing, transportation, and disposal. Either way, the flexible packaging has helped to enhance the ability to carry the products and increased their shelf life. Flexible packaging is a means of packaging products through the use of non-rigid materials, which allow for more economical and customizable options. This packaging method uses a variety of flexible materials, including foil, plastic, and paper, to create pouches, bags, and other pliable product container.

There are various benefits of flexible packaging: Improved Production Efficiency – Flexible packaging uses less base material than traditional rigid packaging, and the easy formability of flexible materials improves production time and reduces energy consumption.

Environmentally Friendly – Flexible

Key Notes : > The purpose of food packaging is to form a barrier between the contents and the external aggressions. > Flexible Packaging – helps to enhance the ability to carry the products and increase their shelf life. > Enables improved production efficiency, enhanced product life, aesthetic appeal, product quality.

26

November 2021

packaging requires less energy than rigid packaging.

In addition, flexible packaging materials are frequently designed to be reusable and recyclable.

Innovative Package Design and Customization – Flexible packaging materials allow for more creative and visible packaging shapes.

In addition, it allows great printing and design capabilities thus ensuring conspicuous and striking packaging for superior marketing value.

Enhanced Product Life – Flexible packaging protects products from moisture, UV rays, mold dust, and other environmental contaminants that can negatively affect the product, thereby maintaining its quality and extending its shelf life.

User-Friendly Packaging – Flexible packaging is less bulky and lighter than traditional

options, so it is easier for customers to buy, transport, and store products.

Simplified Shipping and Handling – Shipping and handling costs are significantly reduced since this method is lighter and takes up less space than rigid packaging.

Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) films Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) films are used in vast range of applications comprising packaging, labelling and lamination. They are preferred substrate for food packaging globally because of their inherent moisture barrier properties, seal ability, high clarity and graphic reproduction, shelf appeal and best possibilities of the pack being a mono layer/homogeneous structure. The main advantages of BOPP are Shelf-life extension.

Among all other commonly used plastic films, BOPP films provide excellent moisture barrier & its metallised variant provides better oxygen barrier to product. Both these properties of BOPP films play a key role in food packaging to extend the shelf life of products & thus reduce food waste. It has excellent ability to protect product quality.

Apart from barrier properties, BOPP film provides consistent and excellent seal integrity because of narrow gauge spread. Good heat seal strength, lower seal initiation temperature, broad sealing window and good machinability further benefits into food packaging industry for protecting food quality. BOPP film has a relatively low carbon footprint as compared to other plastic films substrate such as polyester.

After cellulose film, BOPP Film is the second most preferred substrate for its eco-friendly nature in flexible food packaging. Because of its low melting point, it requires lower energy to convert from one form to other. Reprocessed granules of BOPP resin are widely used to manufacture injection moulded parts, household items like sitting mats, chair, table,

pressideas/ students’ corner

automobile spares etc. in addition excellent transparency in clear BOPP films allows providing high level of aesthetic appeal to product packaging. Half tone printing jobs with multi colour printing are also carried out with ease on this film for high quality graphics. In white opaque film variant, excellent gloss, high opacity and superb whiteness provides an attractive look to product packaging. Metalized film variety gives superior metallic appearance to stand out your product on the shelf. Because of good surface tension, post lamination operations like foil stamping, UV spot coating and embossing could be carried out to enhance aesthetic look of product packaging. One unique property that BOPP films have among all other commonly used flexible packaging films is their density.

Low density results into more yield during conversion and thus supports less plastic consumption concept per product. Low density results into less weight per roll for the same length of other plastic films which provides ease of material handling.

Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films Polyvinyl alcohol films are a water-soluble biodegradable film and facilitate water soluble small dose packaging of detergents, water treatment chemicals, agrochemicals, and dyes. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) -derived material is considered a potential material due to its containing biodegradable property.

In fact, the PVA has many applications including the textile, paper industry, and food packaging industry because of its

biodegradability, film-forming ability, chemical stability, transparency, gas barrier, nontoxic and mechanical properties. However, the strong affinity toward water molecules of PVA arising from the high density of hydroxyl groups along the polymeric backbone has limited the utilization of PVA in the water environment. Barrier properties are the packaging’s ability to provide resistance against access of moisture, air, light and micro-organisms etc. These properties come from the inherent properties of the individual films that are used in the constructed laminate, and the measurement of these properties gives an indication of the amount of protection that is given.

Rate (OTR).The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) are used to calculate the water vapor permeability (WVP) and the oxygen permeability (OP) of packaging materials which affects the shelf life and quality of the product. These are a measure of how much water vapour or oxygen is able to pass through a known area of packaging material in a given time (by convention this is usually the amount passing through one square metre of material in 24 hours) at a set ambient temperature and set humidity.

The barrier properties of plastic food packaging ensure that the taste of the food is maintained, while protecting against external contamination. The purpose of food packaging, therefore, is to form a barrier between the contents and the external aggressions. The packaging therefore guarantees the quality of the product and prolongs the shelf life and the sale of food.

Products travel safe and are well-protected on store shelves also with the help of barrier packaging. Generally, if there is a barrier requirement but the degree of barrier is unknown, the simplest choice is a laminate with aluminium foil being a full barrier.

Water vapour barrier – Fresh foods

The barrier properties of films and other packaging materials are described by two main factors: The Water Vapour Transmission Rate (WVTR) and the Oxygen Transmission

Oxygen barrier – The presence

dry out when they stay in the open air for a long time without packaging. Dehydrated foods agglomerate into lumps and frozen products (snacks for example) lose their crunch when they absorb water from their environment. An adequate barrier to water vapour is therefore essential to protect food from loss of water and to prevent it from absorbing water from their environment.

of oxygen actually degrades the quality of the products and leads to unwanted microbiological proliferation, rancidity, discolouration and loss of nutrients. It is essential that the packaging be very efficient at the oxygen barrier level and also barrier to protective gases. Oxygen must not enter the packaging, but it is also not necessary for the protective gases to escape. The ratio of N2 (Nitrogen), O2 (Oxygen) and CO2 (Carbon dioxide) contents is 1: 4: 20. The higher the value of WVTR or OTR the more permeable the material is to moisture or air (or to put it another way, the lower the value the better the barrier to moisture or air). Because the permeability of most materials varies with the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air, it is usual to measure WVTR and OTR under known air conditions. For the BOPP films, the effect of temperature on their permeation behaviour is more significant. For the BOPVA films, RH has much larger effect on their WVTR and OTR values.

November 2021

27

VINSAK: Making possible the use of Digital Print in Packaging The future is to merge the Physical and the Digital – Phygital. Ranesh Bajaj, Director, VINSAK India speaks about VINSAK, enabling Convertors and Printers to add value to their offerings and shore up their bottom lines without major investments and more.

Covid-19 has been a tough time for all and a few could manage the hard times well. VINSAK is one of them. “Tough times never last but tough people do!” states Ranesh Bajaj, Director, VINSAK India, who does not only say it but has been at the helm of one of the leading houses of our industry – sailing strongly and successfully all through the tough weathers.

“VINSAK has successfully negotiated the tough period of the Covid-19,” says Ranesh Bajaj. He says that there Service Support to global clients carried through without much disruption. Neither were there any staff layoffs at the company. “While capital good sales were impacted to some extent, 2021 has seen a recovery in demand with 2022 showing signs of a full recovery. The pandemic has also ensured that we learn to work in the Hybrid mode which in many cases is much more efficient,” adds Ranesh.

“As raw material, energy and labour costs continue to rise and interest rates fall, it is clear that more automated, easy to set up and low wastage equipment are the future.” – Ranesh Bajaj, VINSAK India

Key Notes : > Hybrid working – one of the changes to stay. > Whatever can be digitized will be digitized. > Sustainability and better recyclable materials are the new norm in the packaging domain.

28

November 2021

Printing has been severely and variously affected by the pandemic; more so its various segments.

“Commercial print is surely now seeing an earlier end to its existence,” observes Ranesh. “Whatever can be digitized will be digitized and this is a normal that we have to live with. Labels and packaging will continue to grow exponentially and all those who need to continue to be in the printing business will surely need to retool their kits,” he elaborates.

The demands of the market as well as customer expectations changed substantially during these times. “Sustainability and better recyclable materials are the new norm in the packaging domain. It is essential that brands are now seen as reducing their footprint and also offering print and packaging which is recyclable. This is now defining the new technology thrust in our industry,” asserts Ranesh.

Consequently, the affordability of answering the new demands has changed much. Companies recognize the future ways of providing the solutions at the best possible price. “As raw material, energy and labour continue to rise and interest rates fall, it is clear that more automated, easy to set up and low wastage equipment are the future. Printers and convertors should focus on the ROI taking into consideration all these while making equipment decisions and not just the capital cost of a piece of kit,” suggests Ranesh.

With the markets opening slowly, Hybrid working is one of the changes that Ranesh thinks would stay.

“Acceptance of people to meet virtually and not in person and accept this as the new normal are going to stay. This also improves work efficiency drastically and allows us all to have a better work life balance.

Hybrid working will stay!” he declares.

“We are lucky to have been in the packaging business where the impact of Covid-19 related situation was not so severe,” states Ranesh. They have already regained 2019 levels of business in Q2 of 2021. Also, the group’s geographically diverse operations across global markets and time zones have helped to even out the curve, informs Ranesh.

Middle East and African markets have contributed greatly to keeping the balance sheets healthy. Service issues with new technology have really improved and uptimes are higher than ever before.

“I think Commercial Print is not likely to improve. We all need to focus on Packaging which will grow as GDP and income levels grow,” he continues.

pressideas/ plc

Talking about growth areas in the coming times, Ranesh says, “In Mould Labels, Sustainable packaging all will grow in double digits. We all need to put our energies and R&D efforts in growing the same.”

VINSAK’s core target areas for the coming 2 years would be to ‘continue to serve our customers by offering cutting edge technology’ according to Ranesh. “It has been our strategy for the last 25 years and we will continue on the same,” he says.

The latest offerings from VINSAK for their customers include a range of solutions for label embellishment as well as VDP. Speaking about these offerings, Ranesh asserts, “Our current focus is on offering more label embellishment solutions as well as VDP solutions to our existing client base.

Convertors and Printers can look at adding value to their offerings to brands and hence shore up their bottom lines without major investments.”

Webinars and one on one online discussion have continued to grow in the last 2 years and will stay. However, exhibitions are now back and 2022 should see a healthy year for the same. Gulf Print UAE, Print Pack India and Label Expo Brussels are the key upcoming shows of 2022 where customers can see the latest offerings from VINSAK. “In 2021 we just finished Gulf Food manufacturing and the Prime awards 2021 where we supported the Sustainable projects of the year and the Sustainable Label of the year awards,” says Ranesh.

Packaging – future opportunities and VINSAK technology As print evolves, in coming times, digitalization of processes is more capable of catching up with market trends. “The future is to merge the Physical and the Digital.

Hence the term Phygital was coined. More and more solutions are on leveraging the digital solutions backed up by good physical properties to create a holistic packaging solution,” envisions Ranesh.

While speaking about offset, digital and packaging, he comments, “Digital print is a part of packaging. Print in itself is only a part while the converting part makes it into a functional package. The use of digital print in Packaging will continue to grow for sure.”

And packaging is the area where VINSAK technology will open new avenues for Indian printers in the future. “Packaging is the future and printers should surely look for niche solutions that they can create for packaging,” assures Ranesh.

Speaking of VINSAK’s environmental goals, sustainability is a priority at the company.

In all of their facilities, sustainability is followed very seriously. “Our offices use energy efficient devises, we are moving to Solar in our corporate office as well as in manufacturing facility in 2022 and Single use plastic is limited,” shares Ranesh.

Going further, VINSAK is working with large brands and convertors on researching new ways of using material like PLA, Water based coatings Paper Vs Plastic etc. They are allocating major resources in this field.

“We have co engineered and deployed a Reverse vending program for PET bottles in the Middle East. Once stabilized, this would be rolled out globally as an independent business unit,” says Ranesh.

What differentiates VINSAK solutions from others in the market is their cutting edge

technology and strong after sales service.

“Ours is the latest technology on the global market. We have a strong after sales service and last but not the least is the application support. It is not only important to buy the best kit, but also to get proper training and after sales service to get the maximum value and thorough put from the equipment that you purchase,” emphasizes Ranesh.

What’s more, VINSAK solutions are based on constant interaction with customers and their feedback on newer requirements. Customer and market feedback play a greater role at VINSAK while designing the next solution.

“The fact that we have 98% customer retention rate is proof that we listen to the customer. In fact, in many cases we listen to the customer’s customer and understand their needs. We are currently earmarking double digit % of our spend every year for R & D programs which then develop new products. We have a set of Beta testing sites within different geographies where our products are tested before we roll them out to the market,” reveals Ranesh. Their USAR range of label finishing now has 12 variants – up from only 2 when launched in 2014 and Ranesh says they plan to add 4 more variants each year going forward.

VINSAK presents Sustainable Label of the Year Awards Presents prizes to winners displaying their labels as most sustainable.

VINSAK has been honoured to present the Sustainable Label of the Year Awards at the PRIME Awards 2021, Dubai. The prizes were awarded to those who displayed their labels as most sustainable. All the winners as well as the participants were praised for their hard work to push sustainability forward for the future.

of a circular economy. Rather than just recovering the energy or materials included in things and creating them again, this preserves their practical worth. Towards this aim, VINSAK believes recycling is just the right thing.

VINSAK focuses on creating machinery and solutions which creates affordable and sustainable packaging as key drivers for innovation. With sustainability as its focus, VINSAK ensures how consumption and production patterns need to adapt in synchrony to develop a truly sustainable circular economy. Designing and promoting items that last and can be reused, mended, and remanufactured are key components

November 2021

29

Printers’ Unity Day – 22 October Global Print Fraternity acknowledges Indian printing star Prof. Kamal Chopra’s contribution on his special day. A report by Dr. TKS Lakshmi Priya

In this digital era, with the pandemic affecting everyone, globally, one of the success mantras is UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL the phrase that can be traced back to some 2600 years and is continuously being quoted by numerous visionaries and leaders from time to time. This is true for the printer community too. Therefore, the Offset Printers Association (OPA) came up with the idea of celebrating the Printers Unity Day every year, taking in consideration the present situation it was decided to celebrate the day in an online mode this time.

“As raw material, energy and labour costs continue to rise and interest rates fall, it is clear that more automated, easy to set up and low wastage equipment are the future.” – Ranesh Bajaj, VINSAK India

Key Notes : > Hybrid working – one of the changes to stay. > Whatever can be digitized will be digitized. > Sustainability and better recyclable materials are the new norm in the packaging domain.

30

November 2021

An event like ‘Printers Unity Day’ holds special significance especially in a country as diverse as India which has the highest number of printing companies in the world (250,000). The aim of the event was to unite the printers belonging to different categories, regions, size and those working with different technologies. About the purpose and necessity of the event, the Offset Printers Association in an official statement said, “The Printers Unity Day will provide an opportunity to re-affirm the inherent strength and resilience of the printers of the country to withstand the actual and potential threats to the unity, networking and strength of the printing industry.”

Every year on this day, various programmes will be organized by OPA in collaboration with printing institutions, other printers and allied associations across the country to spread knowledge about printing technology and the contributions of Prof.

Chopra. Printers will also wear the uniquely designed

badge ‘PROUD TO BE A PRINTER’ this day to show unity, solidarity and their strength.

Now that we know the objective of the Printers Unity Day, the next question that arises is about choice of the date i.e. 22 October. Well, for this, let us recall that Mr.Kamal Mohan Chopra, as we all know has been instrumental in numerous activities over a decade that has brought the printing fraternity across the world together: ‘Print Yatra’, ‘InterPrint Expo India’, ‘Print Chetna’, ‘Proud to be a Printer’ slogan, ‘Print Media Ashram’, ‘Print Olympiad’, ‘Viren Chhabra Print Leadership Award’, Formation of 53 new Printers’ Associations, organising More than 60 webinars, an exclusive YouTube Channel – Ocean of Knowledge for the Printers, etc. are a few of his brilliant initiatives.

What other occasion can be most apt than to dedicate the birthday of Prof Kamal Mohan Chopra i.e., 22nd October every year as PRINTERS EKTA DIWAS - (Printers Unity Day) on an International Scale. Taking a cue, Offset Printers’ Association decided to celebrate his birthday by way of observing ‘Printers Unity Day’ on 22nd October.

Accordingly this year, taking in consideration the present situation, the day was celebrated on virtual platform at 7:00 p.m. on 22nd October, 2021. The Event began with brief networking questions by Prof.

Anjan Kumar Baral, who introduced and invited the moderator, Prof TKS Lakshmi Priya for leading the celebrations. After brief introduction about the purpose of the grand day and the significance of

pressideas/ plc

the date, she invited Mr. Parveen Aggarwal, President OPA and the person behind the event for his welcome address.

Welcoming the galaxy of leading print personalities of the world, Mr. Parveen Aggarwal said, “Today is the greatest day for me to welcome the Global Print Leaders, who are here to bless our novel project to observe ‘Printers Unity Day’ every year on the birthday of yet another equally important print personality, Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra. He took it as his mission to Unite Printers of India (and even world) besides his many other equally important contributions to printing fraternity.” Mentioning about Mr. Benny Landa he said, “While we’re excited to have you all here tonight, we’d especially like to say welcome to the Inventor of Digital Printing, Benny Landa from Israel. He founded Indigo Digital Press in 1977 and The Landa Group in 2003. In the print production industry, Landa has been called the “FATHER OF COMMERCIAL DIGITAL PRINTING.”It will be our Fortuity to listen his words of wisdom, maybe he will be addressing the Indian printers for the first time ever.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. P.Chander, President AIFMP emphasised on unity and said it cannot be achieved in a day. “I know Prof. Kamal Chopra is working for it since more than 20 years. He has travelled length and breadth of the country for the purpose and with his vision created more than 53 new printers associations. The idea of observing 22nd October as ‘Printers Unity Day’ is

wonderful and I wish all people-in-print may follow the same,” he said.

Dr Lakshmi Priya then narrated that the idea of celebrating Printers Unity Day came to the mind of Mr. Kanwardeep Sharma from Kurukshetra University. Kanwardeep said that he had been following Mr.Kamal’s activities and had always felt that such persons must be honoured and made known to the entire world. One way, he felt was to celebrate the birthday every year.

It is worth mentioning here that two books are written on the life sketch of Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra. One is ‘Imprint of a Printer’

by Mr. P P S Gill, the veteran journalist and former state information commissioner Punjab. Mr. Gill has worked with The Tribune, has been the Chief of Bureau, Punjab and is the author of two other books as well.

Another book ‘Life in Print’ is penned by Prof (DR) Anjan Kumar Baral. Speaking on the occasion Dr.Baral said, “My book is a small and sincere attempt to showcase a printer’s life – a small town boy could achieve so much while serving the cause of printing industry. Due to his efforts today, printing technology is included as a subject at school level, across the country.”

Ms.Beatrice Klose, Secretary General, World Print & Communication Forum, Brussels-Belgium and Intergraf of the European Federation for Printers, said that Kamal is known by printers world over and his role as President World Print Forum is

commendable. It is notable to mention that Ms.Beatrice had rescheduled her travel plans and ensured that she was present at the meet, for the sake of the hero of the day – Mr.Kamal.

The next speaker was Mr. Ahmad Mughir Nurhani, President Indonesia Print Media Association, who recalled the first meeting with Mr.Kamal and the successive involvement in Print Olympiad etc.

Mr. Peter Deckker, President Sri Lanka Association of Printers, appreciated the idea of celebrating the Printers Unity day, a needy attitude that needs to be nurtured across the world.

From South Africa, Mr. Abdool Majid Mahomed, Chief Executive Officer, Federation of Printing Packaging Signage and Visual Communication, Printing South Africa, joined the meet live, although he too had expressed inconvenience and had shared a video message. He mentioned that Mr.Kamal has dedicated many years for the sake of printers and is the recipient of many awards, yet a humble person.

The next speaker was Mr.Vijay Kumar Chopra of Punjab Kesari and the Mentor of Kamal Chopra. He said he was happy to see the progress and growth of Kamal and is proud about Kamal’s contributions to the Printing community.

The next speaker was the International famed

November 2021

31

pressideas/ plc

Printer, Scientist, Invertor, and Entrepreneur – Mr.Benny Landa. He founded Indigo Digital Press in 1977 and the Landa Group in 2003.

In the print production industry, Landa has been called the “Father of Commercial Digital Printing.” Speaking on the occasion he said, “Kamal is a visionary who is capable of making a vision a reality especially for training and education.”

The next speaker was the representative of Nepal Printers Association. He expressed his immense happiness in taking part in this meet. He recalled Kamal’s connection with Nepal Printers association and said that Kamal is an international unity promoter.

In his message for the event Mr. Pranav Parikh, TechNova said, Kamalji’s selfless commitment and contributions to the industry are exemplary. He has worked tirelessly to uplift the educational and professional standards in the industry. Through his widespread global contacts, he has created a healthy network for international cooperation and idea-exchange. My sincere congratulations to him on his birthday and

best wishes for continued success in his mission to uplift the standards of our industry.

Ms. Sabine Geldermann, DRUPA, Dussledorf, shared a video message in which she mentioned that Kamal’s attitude to bring all printers together is a trait that every country must take up.

The next set of speakers was from the academia: Ms.GelisaGua, from BIGC, China.

Text message from Mr. Tarekeswar Prasad, Kamal’s teacher and former Principal at NRIPT, mentioned – “You’ve contributed a lot to printing education and industry, and have made indelible footprint at international level.” There were also video messages from Mr. B.N.Mathur, former Principal NRIPT, Allahabad and Prof Madhura Mahajan, PVG Pune.

The session continued with appreciations from Mr.Aswani Gupta, Mr.Anubhava Shikasharthi– Kamal’s classmate, text message of Mr.Ravindera Reddy, Hon Gen Sec-AIFMP, Mr.Surendra Dhote, PP AIFMP, Mr. G.N. Viswakumar, former HGS AIFMP.

Mr. Sudhir Chopra – Kamal’s Son, a Tamil message from Mr.Arul Elango - Pondychery printers, Mr. Raveendra Babu, AP printers Association and more.

The session concluded with an emotional thank you message from Kamal Chopra. He said, “Let’s be together to help each other, to show that we are really ‘Proud Printers’ try to hold hands rather pulling legs, jointly we can succeed and conquer any challenge.”

Dr. TKS Lakshmi Priya, PhD in Computer Science has developed deep love for the printing industry and heads the Department of Printing Technology at Avinashilingam Institute for Women, Coimbatore. She has over 30 National and International publications to her credit. Dr Lakshmi Priya has been grooming the women students to become efficient employees, successful entrepreneurs and responsible citizens. She strongly believes in the need for a strong bond between the Academia, Industry and the Government, to foster the future generation of our nation.

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals launches hydrophilic block silicone emulsions An eco-friendly finishing agent for a wide range of applications in the textile industry; exhibits better softening properties than traditional non-silicone softeners.

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals has developed a hydrophilic block silicone emulsions that exhibits better softening properties because of their lower rotational free energy than C-O bonds as compared with any other traditional non-silicone softeners.

Non-toxic and eco-friendly, the agent is suitable for a wide range of applications while providing an outstanding effect in the textile industry. With remarkable lubricity and hydrophilicity, the innovative softener improves water absorbency and smoothness of the fabric along with improving the efficiency of cutting and sewing in. LYOSIL BHL can be used on cotton like knits, woven, terry towels, etc.

Talking about the new product, Mr. Anil Gaikwad, Business Head, Cosmo Speciality Chemicals said, “We have developed lowcost two sets of products (Lyosil BHL 1E, Lyosil BHL 3I) of Block Silicone Softener. Very few doses of application are required which imparts good absorbency, durable soft feel

32

November 2021

and non-yellowing etc. These are different than other products available in the market.”

launched ‘Fabritizer’ to safeguard consumers from the various viruses, bacteria and germs.

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals, a 100% subsidiary of Cosmo Films, is into specialty polymers & textile chemicals and has now

Cosmo Films is one of the leading players in specialty films for packaging, lamination, labeling and synthetic paper.

pressideas/ plc

Process Parameters affecting printability in Gravure Printing Written by Rugved Upadhye, under the guidance of Dr. Akshay V. Joshi, Printing Engineering Department – P. V. G’s College of Engineering and Technology & G. K. Pate (Wani) Institute of Management, Pune.

Gravure is one of the oldest and major printing technologies. Its advantages include high print quality, high speed production and hard wearing image cylinders which allows duplicating in millions. The distinctive feature of gravure printing technology is the fact that the image elements are engraved into the surface of the cylinder. Gravure printing process offers the ability to transfer ink consistently, across a wide range of densities, and at high speeds it is suitable for applications which require high image quality, such as publishing, packaging, labels, security print, and decorative printing.

The durable nature of the printing cylinders used, makes gravure printing an ideal process for providing high quality print on very long and delivering cost advantages over other processes. The entire printing plate is flooded with ink. Ink is removed from the non-image with the help of a doctor blade before printing, so that ink remains only in the cells. The ink is transferred from the cells to the printing substrate by a high printing pressure and the adhesive forces between printing substrate and ink.

Factors affecting gravure printability include Ink viscosity, cell angle, screen ruling, printing speed, impression pressure, surface properties and structural properties. A material with high printability will produce a good print accuracy. Gravure ink has the lowest viscosity among all the printing processes. It is advisable to adjust the printing ink viscosity into 11-15s/Zahn #3 Cup. Doctor Blade controls the amount of ink transfer from the image cylinder onto the substrate and called as the ‘Heart’ of

Gravure Printing. For a better print quality it is recommended to have a minimal doctor blade pressure (0.5-1.0 bar).

A resilient cylinder or roller found on a gravure press forming a nip with the gravure cylinder through which the substrate passes.

The impression roller is usually smaller than the gravure cylinder.

Many factors affect the print quality and ink transfer. The amount of ink transferred to paper in the nip area is influenced by printing speed, printing pressure, ink viscosity and type of ink resin. The amount of ink transferred decreases with increase in printing speed, printing pressure and ink viscosity. The ink transfer ratio increases as the nip force is increased. The contact length increases with increases in the nip force. Therefore, the ink transfer ratio increases as the nip force increases due to the increase in the contact length and is found to be favorable for compensating the over-doctoring case.

than other alcohol-based inks. Ethyl acetate gives the best results in terms of colour and gloss. However, it is highly corrosive to the engraving cylinder, so it is not recommended to use it for a long time and in large quantities. When examined in terms of price, the solvent with the lowest unit cost is isopropyl alcohol. So when it is necessary to choose among alcohols, isopropyl alcohol is a suitable solvent. It is recommended to use a mixture of ethyl acetate-isopropyl alcohol for a particular resin system in gravure printing.

Ink transfer affects the ink uniformity, thickness and dot gain so, it is necessary to optimize the parameter of the gravure plate making. Ink transfer is influenced by the screen ruling and engraving needle tip angle. The amount of ink transfer doesn’t always increase with the increase in screen ruling, but it is better to have a more amount of ink transfer. The amount of ink transfer decreases with the increase in screen ruling.

For the same screen ruling, the amount of ink transfer increases with the increase in engraving needle tip angle. The opening of cells has a major impact on the ink transfer.

With the enhanced awareness of environmental protection, water based inks are grabbing printer’s attention. As water-based ink does not contain volatile organic solvents, and is non-combustible having some other advantages, it would be an environment-friendly with good future.

Several work is been conducted for waterbased gravure ink to meet the requirements of printability in terms of adherence, proofing density and dryness. The pigment/binder ratios are also influenced by the viscosity and adherence of the inks.

Appropriate inks can be chosen depending on the material to be printed and finished product. The solvents used to dilute the inks have an impact on printability. The solvents such as ethyl acetate dry faster

Various factors that affect the print quality and ink transfer are press parameters, substrate and ink. Therefore process control is necessary to reproduce colour consistent print in Gravure.

November 2021

33

KODAK FLEXCEL NX enables Ambition Blocks expand to new markets Ambition Blocks adds KODAK FLEXCEL NX System from Monotech Systems.

Ambition Blocks, one of the leading pre-press service providers in Ahmedabad, has recently added KODAK FLEXCEL NX System from Monotech Systems Limited to its portfolio. Transforming from their existing conventional to the new digital system will enable Ambition Blocks to continue expanding its innovative solutions and keep up with growing customer demand.

Dewang Patel, Partner, Ambition Blocks, comments: “We’ve been in the business since 2012 and serving the customers in the offset segment only. Considering the rising competition, shrinking market and narrowed margins lead us to diversify our business and we moved to the packaging segment.”

“It has been now easier for us to get the job from the market as Kodak FLEXCEL NX is known in the market for its quality.

We plan to revamp our entire setup in digital and buying Kodak FLEXCEL NX is just a first step.” – Dewang Patel, Ambition Blocks

Key Notes : >

Transforming from existing conventional to the new digital system.

> FLEXCEL NX Plates – a big advantage when it comes to on-press performance and print quality. > Boosts plate production to approx.

18 boxes of different plate sizes per month; targets 30 boxes within the next 3 months.

34

November 2021

“Starting Ambition Blocks was a strategic decision to diversify the business to a different segment and that was the packaging. We started with a conventional plate making and finishing setup. With that setup, we were doing approx. 13 boxes of different sizes and thicknesses of flexo plate production monthly. But we were not able to serve the customers who were quality conscious. This forced us to rethink what we needed to continue driving our business forward.

We evaluated all the options for flexo CtP available

in the market but Kodak FLEXCEL NX proved to be the best business decision for us. For our customers, FLEXCEL NX Plates offer a big advantage when it comes to on-press performance and print quality, while the ease of use, consistency and improved platemaking efficiency is a huge bonus for us,” he added.

Ambition Blocks has been producing KODAK FLEXCEL NX Plates primarily for its wide web flexo customers and the technology has demonstrated benefits that extend across a wide variety of packaging applications and market sectors. They have approx. 95 customers from different segments of packaging like pharma, food, FMCG and others from entire Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

Dewang Patel concludes: “With the Kodak FLEXCEL NX Systems we are set to deliver wide and consistent quality plates to various printers and brands on time as we continue expanding our customer base and delivering innovative solutions. It has been now easier for us to get the job from the market as Kodak FLEXCEL NX is known in the market for its quality.

Our plate production has reached to approx. 18

pressideas/ plc

boxes of different plate sizes and thicknesses per month and we have a target to upscale the production up to 30 boxes per month within the next 3 months. We plan to revamp our entire setup in digital and buying Kodak FLEXCEL NX is just a first step. Eventually, we are going to upgrade our entire system

to digital from conventional. In today’s era of competition, this is also a tough task to decide to select a company that can become your best technology partner when it comes to product and after-sales support. Our association with Monotech Systems has been extremely satisfactory.”

Ambition Blocks has been a newly established organisation in 2019 but backed by the three partners Dewang Patel, Mitul Patel, and Jaimin Solanki who has been in the industry for the last 25 years.

EFI hosts Packaging Leaders for VIP Corrugated Conference Global Inkjet Innovation Center features single-pass inkjet innovation previews and MCORR print technology along with digital print and workflow solutions.

EFI hosted leaders and top technology personnel from several of the country’s most advanced corrugated packaging manufacturers for an invite-only VIP Corrugated Conference at the EFI Global Inkjet Innovation Center in Londonderry, N.H. The event highlighted current and future innovations from EFI – including the company’s award-winning Nozomi singlepass inkjet corrugated printing platform.

Attendees, including representatives from some of North America’s leading independent and integrated packaging companies, participated in discussions about the effective, real-world successes possible with digital printing and comprehensive, data-driven workflows that help packaging companies scale their operations to new heights at a time of growing demand.

During the event, attendees met with members of EFI’s senior leadership team and received an insider’s look at an EFI digital print and ink technology roadmap that builds on the successes converters worldwide achieved with Nozomi single-pass inkjet technology for corrugated printing.

the MCORR 1300 features three-quarter automation, full-automation, or robotic board handling systems for streamlined, continuous productivity.

The VIP Corrugated Conference also features a live demo of the VUTEk h5, EFI’s nextgeneration, 126-inch wide, superwide-format UV LED hybrid roll/flatbed printer. A versatile, high-quality printer, the VUTEk h5 excels at high-speed production of up to 109 boards per hour.

VIP event attendees also got a behindthe-scenes look at EFI’s world-class R&D

activities in corrugated, including the company’s next single-pass corrugated printer presented via live demo from EFI’s inkjet center of excellence in Almassora, Spain.

In addition to the event’s presentations from EFI experts, EFI partner Highcon hosted a discussion around its agile and sustainable digital cutting and creasing solutions for converters. Industry analyst Marco Boer, vice president of I.T. Strategies, provided insights and research on continued demand growth for digitally printed corrugated packaging.

The event showcased the breadth of an end-to-end EFI digital portfolio that included advanced service and support; customer acquisition solutions; leading-edge digital workflows; robust Fiery digital front end print servers; high-productivity digital printers; and Genuine EFI Inks, including white inks that help corrugated businesses win new, highervalue-added work.

Attendees saw live demos of the EFI Nozomi press and the new EFI MCORR 1300, a high-volume, six-colour, 126-inch-wide UV LED multi-pass inkjet printer for corrugated packaging and displays. Available in 2022,

November 2021

35

SaralNFC – InkTech by Saralon The benefits of classic offline media and modern online applications in a single product – SaralNFC. Printed Electronics simplified through InkTech – Saralon is providing Ink & production technology for sustainable electronics to enable print houses to produce interactive applications inhouse.

Saralon is working to simplify the production of NFC-related products so that printing companies can produce them using existing printing machines.-

Key Notes : > Solutions for interactive packaging and print media. > Light and NFC technologies add digital features to products. > The TouchPaper offers various printed buttons with which different content can be played.

36

November 2021

stores, surveys or social media profiles. No app is required.

The combination of Printed Electronics with NFC technology can substantially lower the cost of products.

With SaralNFC TouchPaper, touching various sensors within the paper triggers online content to be displayed on the device. One can integrate up to 9 links to websites, files, pictures, videos or even audio files. No app is required.

Contactless payment by smartphone is becoming increasingly popular during the corona pandemic.

This is enabled by NFC (Near Field Communication) – a technology that can now be used in marketing and allows you to enhance your analogue products with digital features to create an unprecedented customer experience. It is a technological milestone for the marketing of physical products and other offline media.

“It is challenging to convince the customers – the brand owners themselves or the agencies – of what is possible,” says Ajay Gandhi, MD, Kunal Enterprise. “It is not that easy to reach the brands.

And when the path to the brand owner leads through an agency, you are faced with the task of presenting the technology and its possibilities in such a way that they fit into creative concepts that under circumstances already exist.”

With SaralNFC LightPaper, NFC-enabled smartphones trigger illuminating designs on paper and open specific links on their displays, e.g. online

Saralon’s core business is the development of functional inks for screen and flexographic printing systems. The manufacturer is currently focusing

pressideas/ plc

therefore perceived as special in the market,” describes Ajay Gandhi.

The two approaches work in principle in the same way: If you put a NFC enabled smartphone on the sensor advertising spots or product, information appears on the display depending on what is stored on the sensor. While a digital link, for example a video, and a light design are automatically activated with the Saral NFC LightPaper, the TouchPaper also offers various printed buttons with which different content can be played. The sensor does not need batteries, and neither does an app.

on the development of various solutions for interactive packaging and print media, as well as new types of light and NFC technologies. The abbreviation NFC stands for Near Field Communication; it is a data transmission standard. To illustrate the functions, Saralon has developed two approaches and is looking for partners, printing companies. These are the Saral NFC LightPaper and TouchPaper.

Saralon is looking for print shops as partners.

The “print shop as partner” concept includes Saralon supplying the functional inks. At the same time, the company must guarantee a certain transfer of technology. Hence, it offers technical trainings. “Print shops should be able to use our new technologies to manufacture new products that are individually tailored to the customer and are

Packaging, mailings, interactive cards and retail applications are the core target markets that Saralon is currently addressing.

Brands are fighting more than ever for the attention of customers; they have been using high-quality papers and cardboard, special varnishes or embossing for this. So, you rely on the power of haptics, which has been proven to bring something. However, there is a risk that the success is too low because the competition is doing the same.

In autumn 2020 Saralon used its new SaralNFC technology for one customer who wanted some digital features to be added to their packaging. “The client was from tobacco industry where they have fewer advertising opportunities than other industries. Such a situation naturally forces you to take new measures. With this project the marketer hopes to bring the technology to the masses. The demand for special, highquality packaging is great. By adding new interactive functionalities brands can engage and communicate through emotions, which is better with a video than with a photo in a brochure.

should be out of date, the sensors can be reprogrammed afterwards.

The two papers create a bridge between printed and digital world and address customers multisensory.

“It is also important that the SaralNFC technologies allow the level of awareness of campaigns to be measured. Classic post mailing cannot deliver that. And that in turn can convince customers. You have to develop new customer groups, even though it requires high effort technology and marketing as a team,” says Ajay Gandhi.

The impact of NFC technology is well known. Printed Electronics has the potential to amplify the impact of NFC on our daily lives. Saralon is working to simplify the production of NFC-related products so that printing companies can produce them using existing printing machines. With SaralNFC LightPaper, bringing a smartphone close to the paper can switch on light from paper and simultaneously open a weblink on the smartphone. Using SaralNFC TouchPaper, once a smartphone is placed on the paper, the paper becomes interactive, multiple weblinks can be opened by touching paper at predefined positions.

“Just remember that with the TouchPaper, a sales representative no longer has to lug around the 200-page catalogue, but can present more interactive content on the smartphone with a brochure to a lesser extent,” says Steve Paschky, CMO of Saralon.

The idea of being able to create e-learning documents goes in a completely different direction. One can fill print documents, with which one can certainly learn well, with digital content in the places where analogue is simply not enough. And if a video

November 2021

37

“Together with our customers we realise visions” Insignis Etiketten focuses on versatility and an all-round printing system.

Pack.consult spoke to Anna-Carin Speneder and Ferdinand Hager about the possibilities offered

by Gallus Labelfire hybrid UV inkjet printing unit combined with its digital finishing unit.

Key Notes : > The question of what has changed at Insignis with the Labelfire is closely linked to the economics of the run length.

Vienna-based Insignis Etiketten GmbH uses the Gallus Labelfire with Digital Embellishment Unit (DEU) to respond flexibly to customers’ special requirements. The hybrid UV inkjet printing press combined with inline finishing has established itself as an all-round printing system due to the versatility of its production options. Insignis has optimised its production and expanded its product portfolio thanks

to the expertise it has gained from using the Labelfire.

Insignis Etiketten supplies almost all market segments, especially food and beverages with a focus on wine and spirits, as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Industrial customers, including those from the automotive sector and the textile industry, as well as logistics and transport companies, also

> Labels and packaging are produced extremely economically; with expanded product portfolio in the food sector – for pasteurisable products. > The combination of digital printing and inline finishing in one operation is seen as a clear production advantage at Insignis.

38

November 2021

Ing.in Anna-Carin Speneder, Head of Sales Customer Service at Insignis. (Source: Insignis GmbH)

Ing. Ferdinand Hager, managing partner of Insignis GmbH. (Source: Insignis GmbH)

pressideas/ plc

GmbH, describing the use of the hybrid machine system. Capable of combining conventional UV inks in flexo printing, UV inkjet inks in digital printing, digital metallic doming with cold foil, matt as well as glossy spot varnishing, through to tactile relief special effects coatings, with an application possibility of up to 72 g/m2, the digital printing system offers almost inexhaustible design potential. Insignis uses these diverse design elements to offer all manner of unusual customer solutions. Inline coating with the Digital Embellishment Unit allows three different coating effects in a single pass, replacing up to three conventional printing stations in the production steps.

Banner in 7c digital print with overprinted cold seal foil, digital metallic doming effect and full-surface matt soft touch coating. (Source: pack.consult)

account for a significant share of their customer base.

creative solutions in their printing of labels and flexible packaging.

Insignis’s wide range of machinery includes offset, letterpress and flexo as well as digital print solutions with dry toner and inkjet.

UV inkjet with digital inline finishing plays a central role in economically implementing

Wide range of design options “From the design side, we have completely exhausted the technical possibilities of the Labelfire,” says Anna-Carin Speneder, Head of Sales Customer Service at Insignis

“What makes the Labelfire stand out with all these possibilities is its extremely high print quality,” says Ferdinand Hager, managing partner of Insignis GmbH, highlighting the consistency of the hybrid digital printing system, adding: “Its material diversity and wide range of applications allows us to reduce the complexity of our production steps, which contributes significantly to production optimisation.” Insignis can process an astonishingly wide range of materials on the Labelfire, from 30 µm mono films to 250 g/m2 board and tube laminates, as well as various matt and gloss papers with paper and PET substrates. They also print rough materials, while the variety of materials for inkjet printing is somewhat smaller.

“What makes the Labelfire stand out with all these possibilities is its extremely high print quality,” says Ferdinand Hager, Managing Partner, highlighting the consistency of the hybrid digital printing system.

Expansion of the product portfolio “The question of what has changed at Insignis with the Labelfire is closely linked to the economics of the run length, which is up to 4,000 running metres,” explains Ferdinand Hager and adds: “That is the break-even point for one variety of a product.

With several varieties, the advantages of digital printing come into play, so the Labelfire is used up to medium run lengths.”

By producing digitally in short to medium runs, Insignis has been able to optimise production significantly. Labels and packaging are thus produced extremely economically, and their product portfolio has been expanded particularly in the food Life Ball label: Rainbow foil in 7c inkjet print and partially overcoated in the DEU. (Source: pack.consult)

pressideas/ plc

Insignis Etiketten Erzeugung und Vertrieb GmbH The Vienna-based company produces highquality label and packaging solutions with around 50 employees. Individual and often unusual label and packaging solutions are produced with their modern machinery, which stand out at the POS and help products to attract more attention and success.

Continuously improving processes and products is part of the company’s philosophy, which includes the sustainability of processes. For example, a 2,700m2 photovoltaic system was commissioned on the roof of the company building in October 2020.

sector for pasteurisable products thanks to the advantages of digital production. This market with its increasing need for variability of products needs timely and cost-efficient solutions. “The reproducibility of the printed result, with little waste, is not only about time and cost, but it’s also an environmental factor,” Anna-Carin Speneder adds to the statement on the economic efficiency and resource-saving use of materials of the digital inline process.

“The reproducibility of the printed result, with little waste, is not only about time and cost, but it’s also an environmental factor,” Anna-Carin Speneder adds to the statement on the economic efficiency and resource-saving use of materials of the digital inline process.

Insignis recently completed a project with

40

November 2021

tube laminates for a customer which had invested in a new converting machine. The excellent adhesion of the UV inkjet inks to the laminate was an advantage in this project that contributed significantly to the decision to go digital.

Advantages in existing markets The high demand for print quality and colour consistency in the cosmetics sector are essential criteria. “This means that you print one job and two weeks later you print it again and you must get exactly the same result,” says Anna-Carin Speneder, describing the Labelfire’s consistency in colour reproduction.

In existing markets, too, the Labelfire with its printing and finishing options offers the prerequisites for implementing customers’ design demands. In the cosmetics sector, for example, Insignis has created a wraparound label with reverse-side printing, on the adhesive, to accommodate all legal requirements on the label.

Combination of digital printing and digital finishing The combination of digital printing and inline finishing in one operation is seen as a clear production advantage at Insignis. “We not only benefit economically from this, but also optimise our already high flexibility for the customer,” says Ferdinand Hager. As a result, a great many products can now be printed digitally for which a screen printing form or screen printing unit was previously required. The screen production step is completely eliminated with the DEU. In addition, the DEU achieves 100% register accuracy. For economic efficiency analysis, it should be noted that data for the coating application of the DEU are not always the same for the different types. They change

with the variants, and the DEU allows them to be changed almost without delay. This has proven to be an immense advantage over conventional production.

Parameters influencing economic efficiency “The influencing factors that determine the economic efficiency of digital production play out in a triangle, consisting of the trio of application, run length in linear metres and variety of types,” says Ferdinand Hager, describing the interdependencies of the parameters. “First of all, the print design and material must fit into this triangle. In addition, the run length in linear metres must also fit. If there are several varieties, all varieties must fit in. The varieties allowed us to enlarge the triangle in the direction of the run length. If you stay within this triangle, the Labelfire plus DEU is uniquely advantageous in terms of cost of print because all production steps are done inline.”

Insignis has explored the many possibilities of the Labelfire and gained a great deal of know-how in the process. The customer service team draws on this when it comes to implementing customers’ visions efficiently, with high quality and cost effectively. A broad wealth of experience in implementing options always opens up new ideas to realise the very demanding designs in cooperation with their customers. “Together with our customers, we realise visions,” is how Ferdinand Hager describes the printtechnical possibilities to perfectly deliver products in digital inline production. This is reflected in the many impressive labels, banners and flexible packaging as well as in several awards that Insignis has already won.

Contributed by Dieter Finna

pressideas/ plc

DKSH signs strategic agreement with Agergaard DKSH partners with Agergaard Graphic Supplies in Asia to promote their range of customized graphic supplies.

DKSH Business Unit Technology has entered a partnership with Agergaard Graphic Supplies, a manufacturer specialized in developing and manufacturing high-quality end seals and doctor blades designed to support flexo printers. DKSH will provide sales, marketing, and after-sales services in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Agergaard Graphic Supplies strives to provide state-of-the-art solutions to enhance ccustomers’ productivity. Its products are developed and enhanced in close cooperation with leading printing companies all over the world. Each product design is matched to its specific application environment and runs through demanding real-life tests before it goes into series production. The results from this best practice are end seals and doctor blades appreciated by industry customers of flexographic printing for their high performance.

“The DKSH team has great market coverage and strong marketing and sales capabilities.

We are convinced that DKSH is the right partner to help us penetrate new markets and meet our aggressive growth goals,” said Ms. Sofie Agergaard-Wendel, Vice-President Sales, Agergaard Graphic Supplies.

Suhas Kulkarni, General Manager, Business Development Asia Pacific, Packaging, Printing & Converting, commented: “The business of flexographic packaging in Asia has been expanding rapidly. We are pleased to partner with Agergaard Graphic Supplies, whose solutions complement our product portfolio and enable us to offer tailored and integrated solutions to our large customer base in the Asian markets. We are confident to grow the market with Agergaard and excited to introduce this complementary solution to our customers in Asia.”

Agergaard Graphic Supplies GmbH is specialized in developing and manufacturing high quality end seals and doctor blades

designed to support flexo printers in boosting productivity, improving cost-efficiency, and reducing ink waste in the printing process.

Flexo end seals are made from highperformance foam, felt or rubber materials, optional with special impregnations or coatings for increased lifetime. Doctor blades are available in different high-grade steel and plastic types. The innovation-driven company headquartered in Germany operates on a global scale, serving the flexographic industry from flexible packaging, corrugated to label printing.

Parksons Packaging acquires Manohar Packaging The acquisition to further enhance the combined company’s reach and serve customers effectively across the country.

Warburg Pincus owned Parksons Packaging, one of India’s largest independent folding carton manufacturers has acquired Manohar Packaging, a producer of folding cartons with a strong foothold in the premium segments of Alcobev and Confectionery.

The acquisition of Manohar, with deep expertise in carton packaging, brings significant synergies to Parksons’ domain expert and depth of service. Manohar Packaging was founded in 1994 and is today one of India’s top players in carton packaging and alcoholic beverages segment.

Through two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India, Manohar Packaging has the capacity to convert more than 100 million sheets annually. Parksons’ pan-

India footprint through its 6 manufacturing plants located across Daman, Chakan, Pantnagar, Guwahati and Sricity combined with Manohar’s presence in Goa and Punjab, will further enhance the combined company’s reach and serve customers effectively across the country.

“Parksons has consistently been at the forefront of delivering high service quality and innovation to our customers,” said Siddharth Kejriwal, Managing Director, Parksons Packaging. “Adding Manohar’s depth of services and domain expertise strengthens our offerings in the Food & Beverage segment and increases our footprint in North and West India.”

Parksons and build the country’s leading folding carton manufacturer,” Aditya Patwardhan, CEO, Manohar Packaging.

“Based on Parksons’ values, core capabilities, excellent brand reputation, and backing by Warburg Pincus, it’s a natural fit that reinforces our long-term vision and relationships with customers.”

“This is an outstanding opportunity to continue our growth journey as part of

November 2021

41

pressideas/ signage

Canon partners Arrow in Large Format segment Canon Singapore announces Arrow Digital as its Large Format Graphics Printers Distribution Partner in India Digital’s extensive distribution network.

Established in 2003, Arrow Digital has been providing digital printing solutions to the India market in various applications and industries.

This strategic partnership is designed to provide large format inkjet customers with a complete solution provider across the sign and display market.

Canon Singapore has announced the appointment of Arrow Digital as its Large Format Graphics Printers distribution partner in India. This distribution agreement is planned to grow the indirect B2B channel for the Large Format Graphics printers in Asia. With effect from 1 January 2022, Canon Large Format Graphics products, including Canon Colorado series, 64” roll to roll production printers, UVgel Wallpaper Factory solutions and Arizona UV Flatbed printers, will be sold and serviced through Arrow

42

November 2021

“India is a very important market for our growing expansion in South and South East Asia. We take great pride in working closely with organizations that are committed to offering top-quality products, solutions and services to customers as it directly aligns with our objective at Canon. We believe that Arrow Digital is the right distribution partner to support Canon’s market penetration. Our commitment to the Large Format Graphics business remains at the highest level with the new appointment, and we will ensure a smooth transition for our product and services, to deliver best-in-class solutions and exceptional customer service to our

customers,” said Steve Ford, Managing Director, Regional Production Printing Asia, Canon Marketing Asia.

Besides handling the domestic market, Canon Singapore covers 23 other countries and regions including subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The parent company is Canon Inc. with a global network of more than 300 companies worldwide.

pressideas/ signage

RIP Jean-Pierre De Moor (JP) Shrihari K Rao pays a tribute to the King.

JP – as Jean-Pierre De Moor was fondly known as – is no more with us. It’s hard to digest that someone who positively impacted my life professionally and personally for almost 2 decades is no more! JP, the BARCO GRAPHICS / ESKO Leader in Asia Pacific region, was truly an amazing human, leader/ colleague who lived life like a King. Though a Belgian, JP had a vast grasp of the whole Asian market as well as countryside, especially China and India. He was a great motivator for his team.

JP left behind a lot of good memories for each one of us who had the opportunity to meet him or work with him. Fortunately I had this opportunity and worked with him from 2002 to 2012 at ESKO. We learned from him everything about the packaging pre-press from the historical BARCO GRAPHICS Days.

This man had seen all the changes that happened from BARCO GRAPHICS to ESKO and had spent more than 24 years in that company before moving on as the Managing Director of B.U.T – Singapore.

JP was an avid traveler – he loved to travel, meet people, visit customers and traversed different Asian countries far and wide. The 6 ft 4 inches statured Belgian knew a lot about Asia and Asian culture, including its cuisine.

Manoj Mehta of Utility was his best buddy in India with whom he shared a very special bonding. They would eat local food which was a special interest JP had. He enjoyed eating different cuisines with lot of passion.

Many of his wonderful white shirts endured the marks of curries he would so relish. Rotis to Naans to Biryani to all types of Indian gravies – he had this long list of recipes that he not only knew how they were prepared but also knew all the ingredients used therein.

What he invariably had at the end of his meal was Gulab Jamuns, or ‘Sweet Brown Balls’ as he would call this favourite of his.

He introduced the PALM Beer from his home town in Belgium to me. It was and is still the best and all time favourite for me. His love towards Food and Drinks was known to everyone who knew him.

He groomed the teams (including me) in Asia and he also showed us how to enjoy life (Work-Life balance). Customers loved him for his friendly approach – a KING coming to their door step and making negotiations more enjoyable. Value Selling was his strength and we all take that lesson from him for the rest of our lives….. REST IN PEACE Jean-Pierre!

Shrihari K Rao, Head – Printing Technology, EPL Limited. (Formerly known as Essel Propack Limited)

Events Calendar 15th Printpack India

Screen Print India 2022

PAMEX 2022 - Postponed

Date: 11 MAR -22 to 15 MAR - 22 Venue: India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi

Date: 21 APR -22 to 23 APR-22 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Center Mumbai

Date: 27 MAR -23 to 30 MAR-23 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai

SIGN & LED EXPO

mediaexpo 2022

Date: 11 MAR -22 to 15 MAR - 22 Venue: India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi

Date: 12 MAY -22 to 14 MAY-22 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Center Mumbai

Labelexpo Europe 2022

Labelexpo India 2022

Date: 26 APR -22 to 29 APR-22 Venue: Brussels Expo Centre,

Date: 9 NOV -22 to 12 NOV-22 Venue: Expo Centre & Mart Greater Noida - Delhi NCR

Belgium

Readers are required to confirm the dates of the exhibition from the organizers. This is a reader service provided by PRESSIdeas and the company cannot be held responsible for any error or omission.

If your event is not listed in the above list, kindly write to us at info@pressideas.com with subject as event and we shall gladly be including the same as above.

RNI:CHA/ENG/2001/3989