The Packman | July-August 2020

VOLUME 3 l ISSUE 1 l JULY-AUGUST 2020

RS. 150

K-1 PACKAGING INSTALLS LANDA S10 NANOGRAPHIC PRESS

Indonesia’s largest Nilpeter press at Label Master

Pentaflex’s flexo ride in a gravure dominated market

Yansefu India speaks about sustainability in ink industry

Editorial

From the editor’s desk!

T

rade shows are evolving rapidly in the wake of the COVID-19 virus. Many have been altered to a virtualized existence and some outright canceled or postponed. On 8 July 2020, Heidelberg announced that it will not participate in the drupa 2021 trade fair, and instead will focus on a new way of communication with its customers using virtual and regional events. Heidelberg is the third company to opt-out of the postponed drupa 2021 event scheduled to take place from 20 to 30 April 2021. Bobst and Xerox have already announced that they will not be taking part. There are some other companies that are in a wait and watch mode.

organizers) at the Hunan International Convention and Exhibition Center, in Changsa, China. Not only that, 23,910 vehicles were sold, with sales valued at 5.268 billion yuan (according to the organizer). Another exhibition, MBC Architecture Show was held on May 10 – 13 at the Korean Exhibition Center, (KINTEX), in Goyang, South Korea, with 45,400 in attendance (according to the organizer).

HOW DID THEY DO IT? According to the organizers, they did the following:

In an online poll conducted by The Packman recently, 60% of the voters said they believe there will be live print, packaging, food or pharma trade exhibitions in India in 2020, 30% responded in the negative, while 8% said they believe a few live exhibitions may be held in 2020.

•

• Since the lockdown has been imposed in India, a number of webinars, online exhibitions and open houses have been organized on platforms like Zoom and other virtual meeting apps. In June 2020, Kohli organized an online open house to showcase its new Thea 918 gravure press. The event received an encouraging response with more than 170 customers joining the online event, who actively participated in the session and also asked many insightful questions.

• •

Meanwhile, Heidelberg’s ‘Innovation Week’ will kick-off from 19 to 23 October 2020. Under the slogan ‘Unfold your potential’, Heidelberg will present a wealth of product innovations that focus on packaging and commercial, including autonomous printing, end-to-end solutions, Smart Print Shop and Push-to-Stop.

The Innovation Week will take place via livestream as well as face-to-face at the Wiesloch/Walldorf location.

Online expos and open houses in this limited time have proved their usefulness beyond mere marketing tools, as they have helped create genuine business opportunities with suppliers and manufacturers inking deals online. In fact, flexible packaging industry is quite optimistic and bullish. In the case of monocarton and label industries, who are not as bullish, even they have been able to install their earlier orders.

But while traditional expos and open houses are missing the action, there are news coming in from some parts of the world where exhibitions are successfully being held during the pandemic by following strict safety protocols. The 2020 Hunan Auto Show, held from April 30 to May 5, brought 62,380 visitors (according to

• •

Attendees had to submit an ID card and undergo a strict health and identity check prior to arriving at the venue. Once approved, they were issued a digital link that they could use to register for the event via WeChat.

Workers in full protective gear checked and verified each visitor’s ID and temperature each time they entered the exhibition hall. Attendees had their hands disinfected by an automatic machine and were given plastic gloves to wear and were instructed to stay 1.5 meters (approximately 5 feet) away from each other.

All participants in the exhibition were obligated to wear masks throughout and urged to wash hands frequently.

Registration was capped at 8,000 attendees daily, and once registration reached 4,000 each day, the platform was paused to assess the density of participants, before it was started again.

The convention center was disinfected twice a day, and fresh outdoor air was pumped into the convention center through the fresh-air system.

Two temporary medical centers were built and set up at the site — one outside the building and one on the show floor.

The exhibition generated a long admission line and congestion in the lobby because it took so long to put on plastic gloves, apply hand sanitizer, and take attendees’ temperatures, while observing one-and-a-half-meter distances between visitors.

To solve this problem, organizers added more personnel, and opened an empty exhibition hall so they could place the admission line inside the hall. Each visitor had to register on site, even though they were pre-registered. Organizers added four more registration booths and recorded the visitors’ admission date and time for tracking purposes.

– Mahan Hazarika, Editor, editor@thepackman.in

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CONTENTS Design and Marketing

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PAGE 54

PAGE 56

From the editor’s desk---------------------------- 3

Master Label installs largest Nilpeter press in Indonesia----------------------------------------23

Aptar Food + Beverage’s new closure for the infant formula market----------------------------45

EDITORIAL DESIGN AND MARKETING

Actega partners with ABG----------------------24

Evian introduces label-free bottle-------------- 6

FLEXIBLES

RB reveals new design for Air Wick Freshmatic------------------------------------------- 6

Aditya Flexipack invests in India’s first Bobst Vision K5--------------------------------------------26

PREPRESS AND SOFTWARE

Offset printing for flexible packaging---------27

Esko unveils new virtual hub to launch its 2020 product enhancements------------------- 7 All eyes on a flexo future------------------------- 8 Bizongo launches new features---------------12 Asahi launches AFP-Leggeros----------------13

MONOCARTON Heidelberg Shanghai production site successfully established------------------------14 K-1 Packaging Group installs Landa S10 nanographic press--------------------------------16 Xeikon and Flint Group’s IDERA for corrugated packaging converters-------------17 GMG solution for HP PageWide corrugated presses----------------------------------------------18 Domino enters digital corrugated printing space------------------------------------------------18 Acimga forecasts negative 2020, rise in 2021--------------------------------------------------19 K&B stands by the drupa trade fair-----------19

LABELS An interview with Kuldeep Malhotra of Konica Minolta-------------------------------------20 Edale launches new flexo label press-------22 Mudrika Label installs brand new Gallus ECS 340--------------------------------------------22

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Ahmedabad-based Pentaflex’s flexo ride in a gravure dominated market---------------------29 Cosmo Films reports Rs 113 crore profit for FY20-------------------------------------------------30 An interview with Pankaj Poddar of Cosmo Films-------------------------------------------------32 UFlex beats market woes with several groundbreaking innovations--------------------33 In what ways the ink industry is acting in sustainable ways?--------------------------------36 Trends in packaging industry post Covid-19--------------------------------------------38 Siegwerk succeeds at de-inking of plastic film-recyclate---------------------------------------39

AUTOMATION B&R’s technology enables sustainability and growth in packaging industry------------------40

FILLING AND SEALING KHS invests €20 million ------------------------42 Syntegon and BillerudKorsnäs launch a joint system for shaped paper pods----------------42

CAPS AND CLOSURES United Caps unveils expanded edible oils and vinegars portfolio----------------------------44

CODING AND MARKING Domino’s next generation thermal inkjet printers set new standard-----------------------46

INDEPTH ARTICLE Migrant labourers – the probable impact---47

PHARMA PACKAGING Gerresheimer focuses on global occupational safety and health----------------50

SUSTAINABILITY Manjushree Technopack launches new initiative to deliver recycled packaging------51

EVENTS Heidelberg cancels drupa 2021 participation----------------------------------------52 Twelve more companies book space in Printpack India 2021-----------------------------53

INDUSTRY NEWS Clariant completes sale of its masterbatches business to PolyOne-----------------------------54 Mondi installs W&H machine to upgrade its paper bags facility in Hungary-----------------54 Michelman adds new associates-------------55 Alon Bar-Shany to leave HP Indigo----------55 Henkel enables recyclable paper packaging with new heat seal coating---------------------56 Toppan develops paper-based tube-pouch to reduce plastic use--------------------------------56

Introducing two new machines Inspection Rewinder & Doctoring

NAPH Design and Marketing GRAPHICS PVT. LTD.

For Queries Contact:

Unit 1 : D 93, Sector 63, Noida 201307 (U.P.) India Unit 2: Plot No. 105, Toy City, Greater Noida 201308 (U.P.) India | MAY-JUN9999767656 9811444928, THE PACKMAN 2020 5 naphgraphics@yahoo.co.in www.thepack man.in www.convertingpackaging.com

Design and Marketing

z NEW DESIGN FOR 400 ML BOTTLE

Evian introduces label-free bottle made from 100% rPET

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anone’s Evian brand has revealed a new bottle for its mineral water that is label-free, made from 100% recycled PET (apart from the cap), and reportedly fully recyclable.

in distribution to begin with, the company says that it is constantly looking to push boundaries in packaging design.

The new design will be available as a 400 ml bottle and features an ‘Evian pink’ bottle cap; both firsts within the Evian product range. It will be distributed across select hotels, restaurants, and hospitality in France from early July, and in additional countries from September 2020.

Evian views its new bottle as a key milestone in its journey to becoming a “fully circular” brand by 2025 – when it aims to make all its bottles from 100% recycled plastic. Whilst the innovation will be limited

Danone’s new label-free bottle for its mineral water

Emmanuelle Giraudon, engineer in research and innovation at Danone, said, “This new innovation is so exciting as it is not just any bottle; it is recyclable, made from 100% recycled plastic, and label-free, and has been specifically designed to minimize environmental impact. Thanks to the engraving, we can preserve the natural beauty of the bottle and be closer to the water’s purity. We wanted to keep the ‘Evian touch’ when designing the bottle, and we created a new pink cap especially for it. Our revolution makes old plastic the ultimate new innovation.” z

z AUTOMATIC SPRAY

RB reveals new design for Air Wick Freshmatic

R

B has launched its newly-designed Air Wick Freshmatic automatic spray, with a total shipping weight that is now 28.9% lighter. RB partnered with product design and development consultancy DCA to transform the device, redesigning its shape with softer curves (resulting in a reported 17.2% reduction in plastic) and including a blossoming effect with an integrated spray hole.

DCA was also able to reduce the number of batteries required from two to one, following in-depth customer research. Design agency Marks worked with RB to bring the new design to life through packaging. Taking the theme ‘continuous freshness’ to capture the new

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fragrance and odour-neutralising technology, Marks aimed to distil the pre-existing visual iterations into a simple, easy to understand design, while letting the new device take centre stage through an enlarged pack window.

RB’s newly-designed Air Wick Freshmatic automatic spray

Global design strategy director of RB, Jos Harrison, says, “Our redesign is the result of listening to customers and designing something that they truly want.

It’s also the perfect example of our agencies working together across every touchpoint to deliver a really exciting new variant.” z

Prepress and Software

z NEXT GENERATION ARTPRO+ 20.0

Esko unveils new virtual hub to launch its 2020 product enhancements

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he Esko Innovation Hub has been designed to provide users with an interactive and educational experience, and the ability to explore the Esko 2020 portfolio of new and upgraded products. The virtual environment is always on, and serves as a place where insights and technical information are delivered in a fresh and exciting way. The hub enables users to navigate around the latest hardware and software innovations from Esko, in their own time, learning ways to boost business productivity, efficiency and profitability.

Esko has launched its eagerly anticipated latest generation native PDF editor for packaging and label prepress, ArtPro+ 20.0. With advantages including 70% faster trapping, significant time and material savings for staggered plate cutting, as well as simplification of shrink sleeve jobs, the latest software delivers a significant boost to prepress operational excellence.

“The huge challenges we’ve all faced as a sector this year motivates and drives Esko to continue developing and releasing new and improved solutions to ensure our customers remain at the forefront of innovation gains,” says Jan De Roeck, Esko director of marketing, industry relations and strategy.

“The packaging and label industry is extremely challenged today and is core to the successful operation of many critical supply chains around the world. In the absence of key events to showcase our latest innovations to support our customers, we have extended our web presence with a unique approach to interacting with our customers. The Esko Innovation Hub ensures continuous access to relevant and timely information about the latest technologies, tools and solutions we are making available in the coming weeks,” he adds.

The Esko Innovation Hub – which can be accessed online – gives users the chance to enjoy a segmentspecific perspective on the latest technology while exploring a virtual demonstration environment.

sleeve wrapping production has also been simplified. “Creating warp grids for non-symmetrical shapes is an iterative process and requires time and skilled professionals,” he said. “But after pre-distortion, the PDF graphics have reduced editability, still requiring rework for design amendments. Now, users can interactively pre-distort graphics for shrink sleeve production based on symmetrical and non-symmetrical 3D shapes.

Esko launches next generation ArtPro+ 20.0 native PDF editor to boost packaging

“As users navigate the virtual tour, special ‘hotspots’ take them to curated product videos and presentations, ensuring they can access pertinent information specifically relevant to the application market in which they operate,” explains De Roeck. “From labels and flexible packaging through to paperboard packaging, premedia trade shops and wide format applications, we showcase bespoke solutions so that each visitor has the most beneficial and valuable experience.

“Users will be given exclusive previews of Esko Software 20, including ArtPro+ 20.0, WebCenter 20.0 and Print Control Wizard 20.0,” explains De Roeck.

“Together with hardware innovations, like the new Optics 100v2 for our CDI flexo platemaking solution, we have a significant number of cutting-edge product launches scheduled for 2020 to further reinforce our commitment to digitizing, automation and connecting our customers.”

SHRINK SLEEVE WRAPPING PRODUCTION

“The Esko Studio algorithm simulates the physical distortion of the material when shrinking to the container, eliminating the need for complex grid creation,” said Frank, “and because pre-distorted graphics can be edited in their original format, there is also no need to sync and manage an un-warped version of the design.”

STAGGERED CUT SHEET LAYOUTS ArtPro+20.0 users that need to create endless repeats (staggered cut sheet layouts) can try out a prerelease of the new optional Plate Cut tool, which reduces plate cutting preparation time by up to 30 minutes.

“The optimal shape to cut a plate is largely defined by the graphic content of each separation and each job needs to be addressed individually,” he said. “Not only is creating precise cutting paths to trim plates to their optimal shape both labor and skill intensive, but historically, plates are often damaged in mounting when they are hand cut. Manually cutting plates also presents a safety hazard because of the need for an open blade.

“We identified that the available semi-automated solutions are not content aware, needing input from the user to redraw and improve suggested cutting paths. ArtPro+ 20.0 introduces a new, patent-pending algorithm which analyzes the printed content and finds the optimal individual cutting path for each separation. z

Frank Woltering, product manager graphic editing at Esko explained that in ArtPro+ 20.0, shrink THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Prepress and Software

z STEURS GRAPHIC SOLUTIONS

All eyes on a flexo future

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teurs Graphic Solutions can look back a long way – 70 years, to 1949, when the two Steurs brothers started what has become one of Belgium’s leading packaging prepress houses. The backward look will be a short one, however, because all eyes at the Antwerp-based business are firmly fixed on the present and the future – “on continuing to create solutions for today and tomorrow”, as the company’s tagline has it.

Those solutions have to do a lot in today’s packaging market, says general manager Dirk Cantens. “We work across all three processes – gravure, offset and flexo – and the full spectrum of packaging materials – metal, plastic, folding cartons, glass and foil. So not only are we operating in a sector that’s constantly changing, but one where every brand, printer and converter has their own needs. Every environment is different.” He adds, however, that there are some challenges that all these players face. “To stand out, packaging has to make an impact. We call it ‘getting to the heart’

of the consumer. And impact is a combination of things – color, image quality and, of course, creativity.”

R&D IS THE DIFFERENCE Steurs offers its clients all three, positioning itself as a 360-degree service provider of prepress, premedia and creative design. Since 2014 a further string to the Steurs bow has been the R&D department tasked with solutions development. Cantens explains, “R&D is critical to our philosophy, which is that to be a serious prepress partner you have to be able to innovate – to develop tailor-made solutions to customers’ challenges. The department works closely with our sales and production managers, and is almost always at the table when we’re talking to brands and converters.

We believe we’re the only prepress supplier in our region that does this.”

So how does the approach work on a typical project?

After the initial briefing, R&D creates a project plan to establish the steps needed to develop and implement

Dirk Cantens, general manager, Steurs Graphic Solutions

the proposed solution – for example, custom testing on the press, followed by in-depth analysis. Next, Steurs engineers the proprietary screening and/or color management solutions – branded S-dot and S-color respectively – needed to deliver the project and submits recommendations to the customer.

After sign-off, the solutions are implemented into the workflow.

BROADENING FLEXO’S APPEAL

Steurs Graphic Solutions works across all three processes – gravure, offset and flexo

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S-dot was among the first products of Steurs’ R&D investment, and illustrates the thinking behind the decision to set up the department. The initial objective, Cantens explains, was to broaden the appeal of flexo to brands and converters. “It’s accepted that flexo has advantages over offset and gravure: lower cost, greater flexibility as regards substrates, and shorter lead times – and these are all important to brands and their printers. But in the past doubts about print quality and consistency outweighed them – things like lower densities and flexo edges.

Design and Marketing

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Prepress and Software

Steurs Graphic Solutions is a leading packaging prepress house in Belgium

“That changed when Flexcel NX arrived on the scene, and in the last decade flexo has come on leaps and bounds. So we decided to make NX the platform for a new strategy to promote flexo as an alternative to the other processes, and made it a priority for R&D to develop solutions for high-quality flexo to increase its quality and stability.”

He describes S-dot as a group of screening technologies that Steurs applies to Flexcel NX to control ink transfer and dot gain either locally – in specific image areas – or across the plate. “This means we can print variable densities of the same color on the same plate, reproducing higher densities for solid colors while reducing dot gain in screened areas. There’s no edge on barcodes, and text is sharper. Whatever the substrate, we can guarantee these results. Today, more and more brands are convinced of flexo’s benefits, quality concerns have faded, and they’re willing to consider moving products across.”

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Asked how Steurs makes the case for flexo to brands and converters, Cantens says, “We simply show them.

We have an increasing number of successful projects in our portfolio: these show what’s possible – the faster time-to-market, the lower costs, and so on.”

Steurs can also show prospective customers an expanding awards cabinet, home to a Benelux Packaging Innovation Award (for S-dot) and a gold award in 2018’s inaugural Kodak Global Flexo Innovation Awards. The entry, printed CMYK on high-shrink PET-G material, was a joint project between Steurs and printer Helios Packaging, with whom Steurs has worked since 2016. The relationship came about when Helios – predominantly a gravure producer of shrink sleeves – decided to focus 100% on flexo.

This radical change in strategy was driven by three new customer requirements: shorter lead-times, shorter runs, and greater cost-efficiency. “It was a bold decision by Helios,” says Cantens, “but

one based on a clear understanding of how the market is changing, particularly the retail sector where most of Helios’ business is. It was made with eyes on the future.” Approaching Steurs was a natural next move, and the last three years have seen steady progress in testing and fine-tuning new S-dot technology, including extending its application to shrink-foil.

The result is a growing number of brands looking seriously at flexo as an alternative to gravure and offset. “We don’t need to sell aggressively,” says Cantens. “Usually the samples speak for themselves, and all that the brands ask of us is that the flexo result is equal to, or better than, gravure, and that the design doesn’t have to change.” He acknowledges that there remains a lingering perception that quality is an issue, but says it’s fading with every successful gravure-to-flexo conversion.

“Each day we’re proving the opposite.” z

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time in India C.I.Flexo Press From Manugraph

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Prepress and Software

z REMOTE WORKING CAPABILITIES

Bizongo launches new features for Artwork Flow B

izongo, India’s largest digital supply chain system for auto-replenishment of packaging, has launched new features to its existing packaging artwork management platform Artwork Flow. These include Adobe Extension, Google Drive Extension, Spanish language website and translation services.

Ankit Tomar, co-founder and CTO of Bizongo, said, “These additions are designed to ease the process of artwork management, custom workflow and approval process. The integrated features allow brands to streamline their packaging artwork requirements, save time and money while providing visibility to every stakeholder through the process.

These value additions enhance remote working capabilities of the platform which will be appreciated by existing users while proving attractive to potential users.”

The Adobe extension lets a designer access all the functionalities of Artwork Flow from within the Adobe ecosystem enabling them to access, view and save to the Artwork Flow library without having to leave Adobe.

This also permits multiple tasks to be completed with a simple one-click upload process. The extension makes it easy for the brand teams to ascertain the accuracy between approved artworks and their source files, reducing the risk of product recalls because of wrongly uploaded files.

Meanwhile, the Google Drive extension gives the user the ability to push any PDF or AI file into Artwork Flow directly from Google Drive itself. This extension specifically caters to clients who use Google Drive for their artwork management instead of any specific workflow management tool.

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The new features are designed to ease the process of artwork management, custom workflow and approval process

Tomar also announced the launch of a fully translated Spanish language website for Artwork Flow.

He added, “Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, and we aimed to make it easier for Spanish speakers to use Artwork Flow creating an opportunity for Bizongo to target new markets.”

Apart from this, the Artwork Translation service will enable a user to translate an artwork to any language in the world in real-time. A planned upgrade of this feature will allow the replacement of the text on the

artwork directly. This will help reduce the time taken for simultaneous product launches across different markets.

An automated compliance service on the Artwork Flow platform is also in the pipeline. This function lets a user build a set of custom checklists – right from the font size to FSSAI number with a fully automated proofing process. Thus, doing away with the need to manually check the artwork for any errors liable to be penalized for non-compliance of regulations. z

Prepress and Software

z FLEXOGRAPHIC PLATE FOR CORRUGATED BOARD APPLICATIONS

Asahi Photoproducts launches AFP-Leggeros

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sahi Photoproducts has announced the availability of a brand-new flexographic plate. Asahi AFP-Leggero CleanPrint plates have been specifically designed for printing on lower quality low-liner corrugated board. This super-soft plate delivers kiss-touch printing without board crush, good ink density with reduced washboard effect, and is ideal for simple brown-box corrugated applications such as fruit trays and single-color logo type printing.

“With the growing use of corrugated board packaging around the globe, brands and retailers increasingly seek ways to increase quality appearance and protect their goods at the same time,” said Dieter Niederstadt, Asahi Photoproducts’ technical marketing manager.

“Asahi’s AFP-Leggero flexographic printing plates deliver both higher quality and better protection of the product by not damaging the corrugated box flute structure. This is a very new approach inside Asahi, not only to focus on print quality aspects, but also to add value for protection of the packaged goods.

“Our ‘Just Kiss. No Crush.’ tagline reinforces this quality and protective result delivered by Asahi AFP-Leggero CleanPrint plates. In addition, as with all of our CleanPrint plates, the Leggero plates ensure less waste, fewer press stops for plate cleaning and consistent exceptional quality throughout the run, the hallmark of Asahi’s CleanPrint flexo plates. We expect packaging converters will be able to achieve

up to 15% improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) when they use these plates for corrugated post-print, delivering a solution in harmony with the environment.”

CleanPrint plates from Asahi Photoproducts have been specifically engineered to transfer all remaining ink to the printed substrate. The AFP-Leggero CleanPrint effect is achieved because of the soft plate base material. The result is very clean printing. Another important benefit of Asahi’s CleanPrint plates, including AFP-Leggero, is that they do not need to be cleaned as often as conventional digital solvent plates. Reduction of plate cleaning stops creates a significant productivity improvement as well as more consistent quality. z

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Monocarton

z XIAN JUN LONG’S SUCCESS STORY

Heidelberg Shanghai production site successfully established in growth market of China

L to R: Benny Huang, CEO of Heidelberg Greater China; Sam Chong, managing director of Xian Jun Long Printing; and Achim Mergenthaler, managing director of HGES celebrates the success of Heidelberg and Xian Jun Long’s cooperation

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n a festive ceremony at the production site Heidelberg Graphic Equipment Shanghai Ltd. (HGES), the packaging printing company Xian Jun Long was presented with a certificate recognizing the manufacture of the 9,999th printing unit in China. In a greeting sent via video link, Rainer Hundsdörfer, chief executive officer of Heidelberg, paid tribute to the high level of commitment and successful engagement in China.

“Our factory in Shanghai has proven a real success story for Heidelberg in our core business and for our

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customers. China is the largest individual market for us, and we want to continue to expand our market share of over 50% as well as our technological leadership in what is an important market for us by continuing our program of investment: we will be expanding our team in China in service, sales, and production to over 1,000 employees in anticipation of strong market growth in China.” Despite the Covid 19-pandemic, the print volume in China is once again picking up speed and has already exceeded the figures for the previous year.

Xian Jun Long’s success with Heidelberg machines The printing company Xian Jun Long in Shenzhen is set to take delivery of a Speedmaster CD 102-9+L featuring the 9,999th printing unit. As a special design feature, a picture of the Great Wall has been painted on all the printing units to tie in with the wall’s historical length of 10,000 li. Xian Jun Long is one of the leading packaging printing companies in China, specializing in packaging for spirits, cigarettes, and luxury goods.

Monocarton The partnership between Xian Jun Long and Heidelberg goes back twenty years – and the Speedmaster CD 102 with the 999th printing unit from the Shanghai plant is also in production there. “We already have the first Speedmaster CD 102-8+L from the Heidelberg Shanghai plant and look forward to the new Speedmaster CD 102-9+L in the usual Heidelberg quality due to be installed here in the near future. We will have another two sets of Speedmaster CD 102-8+L presses delivered to China Xian Jun Long Printing Group in August this year. Our goal is to grow successfully and to offer our customers products with more added value,” explained Kelvin Chong, information engineering director of China Xian Jun Long Printing Group. The anniversary press is in operation as part of an extensive fleet of Speedmaster CD 102 and Speedmaster CX 102 systems.

GROWTH MARKET CHINA Packaging printing in China is growing with greater speed and sustainability than globally. The Speedmaster CD 102 has long been a bestseller in the Chinese market – it is highly versatile, whether for long or short runs, thin substrates or cardboard with thicknesses of up to a millimeter – the press offers outstanding productivity, quality, and value retention, and thus a high degree of investment security for customers.

“The market in Asia is evolving, and we are seeing strong demand for customer-specific machines and a wealth of variants, especially for packaging printing,” explained Achim Mergenthaler, manager of the Heidelberg site in Shanghai. “We are proud of our high quality, which – thanks to the high standards of the Heidelberg production network – is equal to that of the machines from the production facility in Wiesloch-Walldorf.”

Heidelberg intends to further accelerate the expansion of its production in China. Over 30% of all printing units are already built in China. The Shanghai production site will further increase the manufacture of standard models for the Chinese and Asian market and add special machine configurations, especially in packaging printing, to the portfolio. This will result in a competitive offering, particularly for the up-and-coming printing companies in China, which need the best machines in terms of productivity and quality and offer comprehensive solutions. Heidelberg is therefore the only printing press manufacturer with the flexibility to offers its customers both locally manufactured machines as well as high-end machines from Germany.

Over 10,000 printing units have now been delivered over fifteen years from the Heidelberg Shanghai production site

“With the extended portfolio and higher production capacity in the Shanghai plant, we have reached a new milestone for Heidelberg China in further expanding our solutions for packaging printing,” explained Benny Huang, CEO of Heidelberg Greater China at the festive presentation ceremony. “We have been producing the Speedmaster CD 102 in the Shanghai plant since 2009. It is a classic sheet-fed printing press for packaging, label, and commercial printing companies featuring increasingly innovative and optimized technologies that is widely accepted by and popular with Chinese users.”

HEIDELBERG SHANGHAI: A SUCCESS STORY The Shanghai production site has a workforce of around 430 people. Printing presses in 50 x 70 cm and 70 x 100 cm formats are produced there, mainly intended for sale in China, but also for other Asian markets and the rest of the world. Over 10,000 printing units have now been delivered over fifteen years.

The site in the industrial zone of Qingpu near Shanghai commenced operation in 2006, is built to modern standards, and now encompasses a production area of around 45,000 square meters, making it one of the biggest printing press factories in Asia based on square footage.

ON-SITE CUSTOMER EVENTS The Print Media Center Shanghai is integrated into the Heidelberg Shanghai plant and serves as a central showroom for China, other Asian Pacific markets and neighboring regions. Here, state-ofthe-art technology and service solutions are presented, information events are held, and intensive tests and analyses of equipment, consumables, and workflow solutions are carried out. Customer operators are also trained here. The Print Media Center Shanghai has fully integrated workflows for commercial and packaging printers. z

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Monocarton

z SHORT TO MEDIUM RUN STATIC AND VARIABLE JOBS

K-1 Packaging Group installs Landa S10 nanographic press

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anda Digital Printing has announced that K-1 Packaging Group has taken delivery of a new Landa S10 Nanographic Printing press. K-1 Packaging Group is a provider of custom packaging solutions for consumer products. The installation of the new Landa S10 is currently going on at the company’s California headquarters in City of Industry, outside of Los Angeles.

The S10 will produce short to medium run static and variable jobs that consume too much time and material when run on conventional equipment. As a result, K-1 will be able to keep costs down, improve profitability, and give considerably greater flexibility to clients.

Work to be printed on the Landa S10 consists primarily of 5,000 sheets-and-under jobs that make up much of K-1’s production schedule. The work includes folding cartons, countertop displays, labels, and litholam corrugated boxes.

THREE TIMES FASTER THAN ANY DIGITAL SOLUTION

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Installation of the Landa Nanographic printing press is under way at the K-1 site

It was the Landa press’ speed producing back-to-back, short to medium run jobs that made comparison to conventional equipment production times – including makeready – the most important factor in K-1 president Mike Tsai’s assessment of the press. With a Landa S10 running at its rated speed of 6,500 large format (B1/41 inches) sheets per hour, Landa showed Tsai and his team what would be eight makereadies on a conventional press, but achieved in only an hour and ten minutes on the Landa S10. This makes the Nanographic printing press three times faster than any digital solution, and six times faster than a digital press closest to the 41-inch format.

us confidence that we will meet customer demands well into the future.”

“The 40-inch press is Landa’s domain,” Tsai says. “No one is able to run static or variable jobs as quickly.

In a manufacturing environment, this means that we will be more productive, and able to give our customers greater flexibility on run quantity and SKU count – an important competitive edge. What’s more, the S10’s scalability and upward compatibility gives

“We are elated that K-1, one of world’s most progressive companies, has made nanography central to its production strategy,” says Nachum Korman, vice president and general manager for Landa Digital Printing in the Americas. “K-1’s production team is well known for their work in optimizing every device, tool and process they use; so we will also be fascinated

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SUPPORTS SOPHISTICATED JOBS WITH EASE The Landa press’ ease in supporting increasingly sophisticated jobs, Tsai says, will permit K-1 to bring its holistic, integrated approach to bear in being a full partner with its clients. One such K-1 job involves processing and printing a client’s 1-to-1 variable product codes supporting traceability and other supply chain requirements. “This is part of the future that Landa is helping K-1, and our client, to exist in today,” Tsai says.

Work to be printed on the

Landa

S10

consists

primarily of 5,000 sheetsand-under jobs that make up much of K-1’s production schedule. The work includes folding cartons, countertop displays, labels, and litholam corrugated boxes.

to see how they leverage the S10’s capabilities and explore its full potential. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with K-1 - we will be with them every step of the way, supporting their every endeavor. We know it will be a thrilling journey.” z

Monocarton

z A FULLY INTEGRATED AND COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL PLATFORM

Xeikon and Flint Group’s IDERA for corrugated packaging converters

X

eikon and Flint group today announced the launch of IDERA, a brand-new digital solutions platform for corrugated packaging converters. One of the cornerstones of this platform is a post-print, single-pass printing press. This press uses certified food-safe water-based inks on coated and uncoated corrugated sheets up to 1.6 m wide x 2.8 m long at up to 150 linear m/min (492 ft/min). It is an ideal solution for a corrugated box market with decreasing lot sizes, shorter lead times, and ever-increasing demand for high quality packaging. IDERA will deliver higher print quality than flexography and enable printing of both short and long runs with all the benefits of a digital print-on-demand solution, including reduced waste, Xeikon states. With a much smaller and more environment-friendly footprint, IDERA also has the ability to customize and version. From September onwards, the IDERA solution will be available at the Global Innovation Center in Lier, Belgium for customer evaluation and testing.

“It is no secret that we are seeing rapid changes in the behavioral patterns of consumers, brands and retailers,” explains Sebastien Stabel, market segment manager carton packaging. The exponential growth of e-commerce and the increasing pressure on sustainability are underlying forces that drive creative innovation in the digitization of packaging to higher levels of productivity. Ever rising consumer expectations for instant, unique and entertaining products continue to set the bar higher within the supply chain for decreased lead times and even faster delivery.

Stabel believes there is more change yet to come. In its May 2019 study ‘No ordinary disruption – winning with new models in packaging 2030’, the consulting firm McKinsey warns, “This is the time for companies in the packaging industry to buckle up and get ready.

They have less than 2 years to prepare”. With that in mind, companies need to change their focus with an ‘intuition reset’ and review their business models and markets. Migrating from corrugated post-print

Installation of the Landa Nanographic printing press is under way at the K-1 site

to digital corrugated printing is the optimal way for forward-thinking businesses to set themselves up for future success. Xeikon’s IDERA solution provides the winning combination of a best-in-class, single-pass digital press for the corrugated sector, food-safety patented ink technology, and an open architecture system for third-party integration.”

Lode Deprez, VP digital inks and imaging technology, adds, “In our R&D Competence Center for digital inks, our engineers develop, formulate and produce our own high-performing, food-safe, water-based inks. This includes our new and patented technology used for pigment dispersion that guarantees the best performance and a cost-efficient solution.

To develop IDERA, Xeikon relied on its long established in-house digital expertise and on the experience and manufacturing footprint of its parent company, Flint Group. As the number one supplier of inks for corrugated packaging, Flint has a deep understanding of the corrugated market. Stabel continues, “We are working closely with Flint Group, our partners, and most importantly our customers, to customize the software, hardware and ink sets and address more closely the needs of the corrugated market in Europe and North America. At the same time, we add our digital expertise to what is already a solid base product.”

Filip Weymans, Xeikon’s vice president of marketing, says, “With more than 30 years of innovation and experience in digital printing, we are still leading the way. Xeikon is recognized as an advisor in many key markets, such as graphic arts and labels, and now in the corrugated market. Xeikon is a true technologyagnostic advisor in the digital transformation that print manufacturing processes are undergoing. We are excited to be bringing Xeikon and Flint Group knowledge and expertise to the corrugated market with IDERA and our broad range of consulting and advisory services.” z THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Monocarton

z ADVANCED COLOR SOLUTION

GMG solution for HP PageWide corrugated presses

G

GMG AND HP COLLABORATE

MG, a provider of color management solutions for packaging and industrial printing, announced it has signed an agreement with HP to become an HP PageWide corrugated workflow partner.

GMG’s holistic corrugated workflow solution for the HP One Package Suite will enable converters to make a smooth transition into digital printing.

“We are excited to collaborate with HP and offer GMG color management products to support the HP One Package Workflow Suite,” says Darrian Young, global partnership manager. “We believe that we can help those who work with HP corrugated presses by providing a way to improve the color accuracy for their customers.”

GMG color management software is used to help print providers do just that: offer a high degree of color predictability, whether for print production of complex packaging, wide-format jobs, or for color proofing. GMG delivers solutions for the standardization and simplification of color management workflows to achieve consistent colors on all media and in any print process.

“HP PageWide Corrugated Presses are known for their offset print quality, using true water-based inks. Both GMG and HP see a huge value of this alliance that will help PageWide customers getting even higher color accuracy while maintaining consistency across devices, and complying with industry color standards for demanding Brands,” said Ran Lev, workflow solutions manager, HP PageWide Industrial, HP Inc. z

HP PageWide corrugated presses

z DIGITAL INKJET-BASED PRODUCT OFFERING VIA A VIRTUAL LAUNCH

Domino enters digital corrugated printing space

D

18

omino Digital Printing Solutions is about to enter the digital corrugated printing space and will be launching its first digital inkjet-based product offering via a virtual launch event on 16 June. Besides this being a highly automated inkjet printing solution, Domino will also launch a new ink set based on novel water-based ink technology.

plying inkjet solutions for digital printing in the packaging converter space but also supplying inkjet and other coding technology equipment directly to FMCG producers in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical sectors. So whilst Domino’s background is digital printing, it is also heavily involved with packaging.

Founded in June 1978 with its global headquarters in Cambridge, Domino Printing Sciences has a long and successful history of developing and manufacturing innovative coding, marking, and digital inkjet printing technologies. This means the company has been sup-

Now, with approaching 1000 worldwide industrial installations based on this proven and reliable inkjet platform, Domino will launch its first digital inkjet press for the corrugated industry on what would have been the first day of drupa 2020. At this virtual launch event

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on 16 June, Domino will introduce ‘The new business model for corrugated box production’.

Matt Condon, business development manager at Domino said, “The single-pass Domino X630i digital inkjet press has been designed for everyday corrugated production, allowing corrugated box printers to maximize productivity and efficiency, and minimize cost, ink consumption, and waste. It will enable them to profitably develop short and medium run market opportunities; facilitate new streams of business and provide a more complete range of capability for their customer base.”z

Monocarton

z ACIMGA’S GENERAL MEETING ELECTS 4 NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Acimga forecasts negative 2020, rise in 2021

I

n 2019 the printing, packaging and converting machinery sector closed with a slight decline.

2020 is expected to be negative, but 2021 will be on the rise, says Italian Manufacturers association.

confirms a strong export tendency in 2019, with 60% of sales deriving from international sales.

2020 NEGATIVE DUE TO COVID-19

On 1 July 20202, Acimga (Italian Manufacturers Association of Machinery for the Graphic, Converting and Paper industry) brought together in an online meeting its associates to elect four new board members and to discuss and illustrate the sector’s balance for 2019, and the prospects for the next two years. Saverio Lombardini (Ims Technologies), Giorgio Petratto (Petratto), Andrea Dallavalle (Koenig & Bauer), and Emilio Della Torre (Simec Group) joined the General Council, in addition to President Aldo Peretti and the vice presidents, as well as past presidents and representatives from the product groups (rotogravure, non-woven, tissue, and corrugated cardboard).

Looking at the future, 2020 for the Italian sector will close with a negative number, due to Covid-19. The value of production (a parameter differing from that of turnover, used for Acimga’s study center projections based on data from the International Monetary Fund, historical data from UN Comtrade, Eurostat and the US Census Bureau) will fall by 14.8%, to rise again by 7.4 percentage points in 2021. However, in terms of turnover, we expect to see a decrease by 20-25% this year, in line with the other machine production sectors in Italy. This trend will be [reflected in] all global trade in printing, packaging and converting machines, falling, in production value, by 12.9% in 2020 and rising by 9.2% in 2021.

According to Acimga, the Italian graphic, converting and paper machinery industry closed 2019 with a decrease of 1.6% compared to 2018, which ended with a positive figure of 5.6%.The sector was penalized by a contraction in exports (-8.5%), while national deliveries held strong, growing almost 11 points (10.9%). The industry again

“Even though ours was listed among the essential industry segments and therefore allowed to continue work and production,” – explains Acimga’s president Aldo Peretti – “lockdown has still shut borders, penalizing a sector like ours that exports most of its production. But our association didn’t

stand still. This year’s Print4All Conference, focused on smart manufacturing and sustainability, was an international appointment for the whole supply chain, allowing all the players to take stock of the situation and start again.

“We also announced the new dates of the Print4All fair (3-6 May 2022 – again part of The Innovation Alliance), ready for the future. With this in mind, we will continue to engage in Industry 4.0 training and, at the same time, develop and promote our technologies with product groups (rotogravure – non-woven – tissue – corrugated cardboard).”

ACIMGA’S ROTO4ALL IN FLORENCE Peretti continued, “The next scheduled event is Roto4All, the first Italian event on rotogravure held in Florence on 23 October. In the meantime, we are expanding our strategic collaborations. We joined Intergraf (the European federation for print and digital communication), and we are continuing our commitment within Federmacchine and Federazione Carta e Grafica.” z

z BROAD PORTFOLIO WILL BE DISPLAYED

K&B stands by the drupa trade fair

K

oenig & Bauer reaffirms its commitment to participate in the world’s largest trade fair for the printing industry, which has been postponed until April 2021. The company is well positioned and the stand in Hall 16 will be retained. Since drupa was founded in 1951, the company has maintained an uninterrupted presence and welcomed customers from all over the world, even in times of crisis.

“We continue to see drupa, the world’s leading trade fair, as an important building block in the graphic arts industry and we see it as our responsibility to support this industry. We want to do our part to continue to provide important impulses locally in personal discussions,” says Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Koenig & Bauer chief executive officer and drupa president, explaining the company’s position. “We have confidence in

Messe Düsseldorf’s hygiene concept and in the sense of responsibility of all visitors.”

Ralf Sammeck, Koenig & Bauer board member, adds, “Trade fairs will not be the same as they were before COVID-19, and Koenig & Bauer is also supplementing communication with its customers with virtual formats and customer-specific events, for example in our new Customer Experience Center. z THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Labels

z AN INTERVIEW WITH KULDEEP MALHOTRA

Konica Minolta expects increased demand in labels and packaging In an interview with The Packman, Kuldeep Malhotra, director and vice president sales, and office marketing and planning, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India speaks about the company’s Global Rethink campaign, and how the pandemic has created opportunities for the company. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

Mahan Hazarika: How is Konica Minolta affected by the current situation?

Kuldeep Malhotra: While the pandemic has presented challenges, it has also created opportunities to innovate the existing business models. COVID-19 has underlined the need for going digital in every sense. The continuous lockdowns have shown us the significance of contactless and easy-to-use printing solutions that can streamline and manage workflows in a digital setting until the current situation comes back to normal. However, It is too early to predict the business model changes because of the COVID-19 but we are confident that it would lead to a positive trend for digital printing as a whole.

Mahan Hazarika: How has your production been affected?

Kuldeep Malhotra: In the wake of subsequent lockdowns, most offices are operating remotely. This has impacted the overall business in Q1. However, as things normalize, our operations will pick pace once again and things will be better from July onward.

Mahan Hazarika: How is your company adapting throughout this crisis?

Kuldeep Malhotra: The current business landscape is surrounded by uncertainties. To sail through this crisis, we are adopting cutting-edge technologies to optimize our processes and functions. As more and more businesses realize the differentiation that digital print technology is bringing to the table, we are expecting more demand from high-growth markets such as labels and packaging and commercial print-

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ing. Due to increase in short run requirement, we will meet this demand through our existing industrial production devices and production printing devices to deliver more innovative solutions to our customers in the coming months.

Mahan Hazarika: What action is Konica Minolta taking during this time to manage the crisis situation for employees and the organization?

Kuldeep Malhotra: To begin with, we have created a dedicated team in response to COVID-19, which is closely monitoring updates regarding the pandemic and ensuring that all our employees and stakeholders are adhering to government guidelines.

In a bid to limit exposure to the virus, we have put strict restrictions on travel, postponed large-scale events, limited the size of office attendance and are driving safety at every step of our operations.

Moreover, we are spreading awareness around the importance of good hygiene during this critical juncture through various communication channels and also making the entire process of communication smart and transparent across teams and various leadership levels. Thanks to digital technologies that are enabling us to deliver most of the services through online means and thus ensure business continuity during a crisis like this.

Mahan Hazarika: Please tell us about the Global Rethink campaign Kuldeep Malhotra: Rethink is our latest in-house global campaign that aimed to show how we as a brand

Kuldeep Malhotra of Konica Minolta

continue to transform through innovation across our product portfolio and thereby creating longstanding relationships with existing customers.

It is Konica Minolta ‘s USP – an articulation of how we do business and how we create new value for our customers. It highlights how proactively we seek out challenges, uncover real problems, and solve them with new technologies and new ideas. In turn, this empowers our customers, and society, to “Rethink what’s possible”. Together, we Rethink today to redefine tomorrow. z

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15th

PRINTPACK INDIA February 3-8, 2021

India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi PRINTPACKIPAMA

PRINTPACKIPAMA

IPAMAPRINTPACKINDIA

0120-4292274 www.printpackipama.com FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT +91-9717199385, +91-9717199388 ORGANIZER : INDIAN PRINTING PACKAGING & ALLIED MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION

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Plot No C-54, Sector-62, Institutional Area, Noida, 201 307 U.P, INDIA I Ph: +91-120-2400109/4292274 Fax: +91-120-4207076 Email: admin@ipama.org; info@ipama.org; marketing@ipama.org

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21

Labels

z NEW ADDITION TO FL RANGE FLEXOGRAPHIC PRESS

Edale launches new flexo label press

L

eading British designer and manufacturer of printing and converting machinery, Edale has launched its latest new addition to its FL range of flexographic presses.

technology as standard and the uniprint printhead design geometry, as well as pre and auto-register.

The Prime is modular and upgradable, with options to install EZ Reg and EZ Die as well as LED UV curing.

The FL1 Prime is built on the fundamentals of its bigger brother, the FL3, and is designed to give customers affordable, high quality label printing with absolutely minimal waste. The target market is businesses that want a logical replacement or addition to the older mechanical presses used within the narrow web printing market or do not require the advanced automation of the FL3.

James Boughton, managing director, Edale says, “We noticed a gap in the market for those businesses who wanted an affordable ‘step up’ to a press which gives technological advancement and efficiencies and delivers superior print quality. The FL1 Prime modular design can be upgraded to suit the businesses’ growth when they need it. This year marks 75 years’ experience in the printing and packaging industry and what better time for us to mark this occasion than with our launch of the FL1 Prime, which will be followed by other new products throughout the year.

With a width of 350 mm, it has all the benefits and key features from the Edale FL range such as servo-driven

We are to have our FL presses installed worldwide, all of which are designed and manufactured in our UK headquarters.” z

z COMPANY’S PRODUCTION CAPACITY INCREASES BY 12%

Mudrika Label installs brand new Gallus ECS 340

M

umbai-based Mudrika Labels has completed the installation of a brand-new Gallus ECS 340 label press with a 10-color palette. According to the company, the latest addition has increased the company’s production capacity by 12%.

Gallus ECS 340 features a configuration that focuses on what is essential and can be expanded freely by 2 modules at a time. As a result, it supports the flexible use of a whole range of applications and embellishing techniques such as flexographic and screen printing, cold foil and rotary die-cutting. At speeds up to 165 meters/min, the press can print on PS materials and paper as well as cardboard, monofoil label materials, and tube laminates on request.

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“We have successfully installed the machine and are looking forward to run it once the lockdown ends. Our expansion comes at a time when consumers are being more aware of ‘Made in India’ goods and services.

Anticipating the increased production of essential and non-essential goods post the COVID-19 lockdown, we are positive that this addition will enable us to deliver the highest-quality products to our customers in these stressed times,” a press release issued by the company said.

The release added, “Mudrika group strives to meet customer demands and improve our capabilities.

We have been working during the last two months of lockdown providing packaging solutions for

essential products. Going forward, we are working towards increasing our operations as per the directives of the government. As India opens up, we await to serve your needs in even better ways than before.”

Mudrika Labels was established in 1976 in Mumbai

by Desai, his brother Vipul and cousin Sandip. Besides producing labels, the Desai brothers operate an offset-based corrugation unit in Daman and Bhillad; a packaging plant in Vasai; a label-stock material plant; and a joint venture with a South Korean partner for manufacturing heat transfer films, decals and in-mould labels. z

Labels

z FA-LINE WITH 12 UV-FLEXO PRINTING UNITS, GRAVURE AND COLD FOIL

Master Label installs largest Nilpeter press in Indonesia

I

ndonesia’s label printer Master Label has acquired a 22-inch Nilpeter FA-Line with 12 UVflexo printing units, gravure and cold foil. This is the largest Nilpeter flexo press installed in the Southeast Asian country.

A TRUSTED LABEL CONSULTANT Like Nilpeter, Master Label is a family-owned company with more than 30 years of experience in the industry.

A trusted label consultant to numerous local and international premium brands and promising startups, Master Label supplies Health & Beauty labels for all high-end brand owners in the region, in addition to labels and flexible packaging products in food and beverage, household care, pharmaceuticals, special chemicals, specialty and smart packaging. To remain Indonesia’s leading label supplier, by providing high quality value-adding solutions to their customers, Master Label has established working relationships with a variety of qualified suppliers and market leaders in the industry, both locally and internationally.

INSTALLATION DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS The 22-inch Nilpeter FA-Line was delivered to Master Label at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, making this a very challenging installation. Nevertheless, the respective teams worked tirelessly to complete the task, adhering to all social distancing guidelines.

The modular, multi-substrate FA-Line provides a maximum level of stability, the tightest register tolerance, and excellent printing results on multiple substrates; all normal self-adhesive materials, including flexible packaging films, polymer films, metallic films, and paper. Furthermore, the FA-Line’s open frame provides easy access for quick job setups and changeovers.

THE IDEAL CHOICE “Nilpeter and the new FA-Line is the ideal choice for us to further cement our position as Indonesia’s premier printing company. We look forward to a long

Lan Tran of Nilpeter Asia Pacific and Dharmadi Bongso of Master Label with the new Nilpeter

and rewarding partnership with Nilpeter concerning printing presses, consumables, and ancillary equipment,” says Dharmadi Bongso, owner of Master Label.

“The new investment will take Master Label to a new level through higher production efficiency and printing quality. The new FA-22 is configured to a degree where we can meet all demands from the market, while also exploring new opportunities. Since installation, we’ve run shrink sleeves, PE-material, tobacco, and long-run label jobs, benefitting from the fast changeovers, easy setup, and extremely good material handling. The press has a technical specification, which enables us to cater to the label printing market as well as the flexible packaging market, which continues to grow in Indonesia,” says Bongso.

CREDIT TO COMMITMENT The order from Master Label is a direct result of Nilpeter’s intensified effort in Indonesia. Since the beginning of 2018, Nilpeter Asia Pacific has operated a sub-company from Jakarta, more precisely in the

industrial area of Chikarang, with a team consisting of sales, administration, and technical staff. ”This is a credit to our commitment to the Indonesian market. Since our new office in Jakarta was established, we have been able to support the Indonesian Nilpeter users even better. We already have a 24/7-hotline service in place on all Nilpeter presses, but the physical presence is sometimes required. Delivering great service to our customers is really important to Nilpeter and our team in Jakarta is able to support all of Indonesia instantly,” says John Andersen, managing director, Nilpeter Asia Pacific Co. Ltd. “Nilpeter and Master Label have been working together for years, but it is not until now that we have installed a Nilpeter press in this unique configuration in the Master Label Jakarta factory. We are really happy to see the partnership strengthen and look forward to support Master Label in the future. Needless to say, Master Label is strongly underlining their position as a leading printer in the region,” he concludes. z THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Labels

z FIRST COMMERCIAL PARTNER FOR ECOLEAF METALLIZATION UNIT

Actega partners with ABG to drive market adoption of EcoLeaf metallization technology

A

ctega Metal Print (AMP) has announced a global partnership with leading print finishing expert, AB Graphic International (ABG), to manage direct sales, marketing and customer service for its sustainable and cost-effective metallization technology, EcoLeaf – starting first in the European Union and the UK. Designed for a broad variety of markets, EcoLeaf is a new digital solution enabling profit-driving metallization embellishments onto self-adhesive labels. When sold through ABG, the Actega solution will be installed on new Digicon Series 3 digital finishing presses or retrofitted to existing presses in the field. Using only the precise amount of metal required for the printed area, EcoLeaf replaces the use of hot and cold foil rolls and their subsequent high impact on waste, as well as reduces the cost of metallic embellishments.

Matt Burton, sales director for AB Graphic, said, “We regard EcoLeaf as a new category of metallization, that will enable our customers to differentiate themselves with new and exciting print embellishments.

As it should do, sustainability remains a high priority for businesses, and EcoLeaf is expected to make a huge and positive contribution towards that. As such, we consider the AMP technology to be a perfect complement to our product portfolio, and as a cost competitive solution for high-end decorations, one that will deliver economic value to our customers.”

The basis of EcoLeaf is a silver pigment that can be overprinted, resulting in a rainbow of metallic colors, including gold. Integrated inline on finishing equipment, analogue or digital printing presses, EcoLeaf consists of a printed trigger image and a metallization

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Jan Franz Allerkamp, MD, Actega Metal Print; and Matt Burton, sales director for ABG

unit that applies only the precise and required amount of metal to the trigger image. Jan Franz Allerkamp, managing director, Actega Metal Print, said, “With over 65 years of print finishing expertise in the labels industry, 11,000 product installations and 2,500 customers, ABG is clearly a great partner for us.

What’s more, we’re thrilled that they not only see a big opportunity with EcoLeaf, but that they share our vision for a more sustainable print market. Hot on the heels of our recent first beta site announcement at Kolbe-Coloco, the appointment of ABG is a key component to our roll-out plan.” z

Flexibles

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Flexibles

z METALLIZER WITH ALUBOND

Aditya Flexipack invests in India’s first Bobst Vision K5

K

anpur-based Aditya Flexipack has purchased a Bobst Vision K5 1650 mm metallizer which will be installed at their state-of-the-art green field project focused on qualitative improvements and backward integration. The plant is spread across 19 acres and will be one of the largest converting facilities under one roof. The new metallizer is equipped with Bobst AluBond for the production of high barrier and high adhesion CPP/BOPP films and Bobst Hawkeye pinhole detector.

Established almost 20 years ago, Aditya Flexipack is one of the leading manufacturers of flexible packaging products in India. Aditya prides itself on its high quality, ethical trade practices, customer satisfaction and sustainable and safe working practices which have resulted in many long-term relationships with its valued customers.

BOBST ALUBOND ON CPP AND BOPP The Vision K5 will be the first metallizer for Aditya Flexipack after they decided to expand their business to bring the metallizing process in-house. To meet the requirements of their customers, Aditya required a machine which could produce high barrier CPP and BOPP with high adhesion and high dyne level retention.

The Bobst AluBond process which is fast becoming the standard metallizing process in the market for polyolefin-based PP substrates was perfect for their requirements. AluBond greatly increases metal adhesion on the most commonly used substrates; metal adhesion values of up to 5N/15mm can be achieved.

In addition AluBond has been shown to significantly increase dyne level retention which translates in improved ink wettability during printing and may eliminate the need for an additional surface treatment boost i.e. corona refresh prior to converting.

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The new metallizer is equipped with Bobst AluBond for the production of high barrier and high adhesion CPP/BOPP films and Bobst Hawkeye pinhole detector

As well as providing excellent adhesion levels on all substrates, when AluBond is applied to CPP and BOPP films it provides enhancement of oxygen (OTR) and water vapor (WVTR) barrier performance. AluBond is also starting to be used in the production of high barrier metallized CPP and BOPP mono-material laminates in response to the market’s demands for sustainable packaging films.

Raman Tandon, director of Aditya Flexipack said, “Due to demand from our customers for metallized CPP/ BOPP with high adhesion, high barrier and dyne level retention, we decided to bring the metallizing process in-house. Bobst is well known in the industry for their machines’ ability to handle heat sensitive films such as CPP and we were very impressed with the AluBond process which will allow us to produce high quality film for our customers. We look forward to the machine being installed in our factory in the next couple of months.” z

Established almost 20 years ago, Aditya Flexipack is one of the leading manufacturers of flexible packaging products in India. Aditya prides itself on its high quality, ethical trade

practices,

customer

satisfaction and sustainable and safe working practices which have resulted in many long-term relationships with its valued customers.

Flexibles

z MANROLAND VARIOMAN F:LINE

Offset printing for flexible packaging

F

or quite some time now, we are hearing about the application of offset technology in the field of flexible packaging printing. Though neither offset nor its application in flexible packaging is new but there seems to be a renewed interest about the same. This is gaining more ground in Europe and would definitely spread across the world soon.

FLEXIBLE PACKAGING – CHANGED DEMOGRAPHICS AND EFFECT OF PANDEMIC Before the outbreak of COVID 19, packaging was growing at a phenomenal rate across the world, more so in India. Industry forecasts predicted a growth of 19% in the next 4-5 years mostly because of the newer trends like smaller family sizes, a wide array of options and fragmentation which have led to a demand in differentiated packaging. However, looking at the current scenario, we see the world is going through very different and difficult times. With economic slump resulting from Covid-19 lockdown, coupled with salary cuts and job losses, it appears that the ‘new normal’ would be quite different from the one we were used to.

According to a report published by Mint, FMCG firms are anticipating that consumers, after hoarding large packs of staples and home care products during the first phase of lockdown, will now prefer smaller pack sizes. They will look for newer and cheaper brands that are easily available nearby or online and will prefer a hygienically packaged product thus avoiding the risk of infection. Under the circumstances, innovative, affordable and good quality products that are available in multiple formats are likely to gain demand as consumers increase their consumption of hygiene products. So, what matters most is the ability of the packaging printer to switch from one job to another with very less turnaround time and at an economical cost.

Production challenges that a printer would face in these changed circumstances and some solutions for the same

DOES OFFSET PROVIDE US WITH A SOLUTION?

mensely popular in segments like food packaging,” says Bhattacharjee.

“Yes, of course and much more. Not only does it take care of all of the above points but it also provides additional benefits like easy operability and usage of intelligent networked processes complying with Industry 4.0 standards. Offset also has the added advantage of using non-UV inks that are free from carcinogenic photo initiators and also VOC free due to EB based curing technology. This makes it im-

But how does offset provide a price advantage vis-a-vis gravure which is the most popular technology used especially in flexible packaging. To understand the same, let us first take a look at the table given below:

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Comparison of total production costs for 15,000 sqm production runs

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Flexibles As is evident from the table, while the substrate costs are the same in all the processes, the area where offset scores big is the cost for printing forms. This means, while gravure uses cylinders, that are not only expensive but also time consuming to make, offset has the advantage of using cheap aluminum plates made just in time on a modern CtP. So, offset is almost 25% cheaper than gravure in running costs.

But how do we know at which run length offset becomes cheaper/expensive than other technologies?

To understand the same, let us now look at one more table. When we study the table carefully we understand the following:

manroland Goss web systems, based on its decades of experience in offset printing, has developed the Varioman f:line specially for packaging printing with the most modern automation. The offsetbased variable-format printing units combine low printing plate costs and high print quality, and in conjunction with the unique PECOM-X automation system, can also achieve particularly short make ready and changeover times, as well as low waste.

MANROLAND VARIOMAN F:LINE

Comparison of cost per sqm, dependent on the average run length

Any run length less than 3,000 sq.mt. using digital is a no-brainer. No other technology can match it. For run lengths in between, viz., 3,000 – 100,000 sq. meter, is the area where offset is unbeatable. Any run length above 100,000 sq. mt., the price gap between gravure and offset comes down.

manroland Goss web systems based on its decades of experience in offset printing has developed the Varioman f:line specially for packaging printing with the most modern automation. We have created a technology, which specifically avoids the weak points inherent in other processes. The offset-based variable-format printing units combine low printing plate costs and high print quality, and in conjunction with the unique PECOM-X automation system, can also achieve particularly short make ready and changeover times, as well as low waste.

The optional combination with printing technologies such as gravure and flexography results in additional overall advantages of a hybrid system. With additional gravure units, the print product can be supplemented with opaque white or gold and silver decorations at low

cost and with high quality. The Varioman was therefore developed from the very beginning as a platform concept that can always be optimally configured to meet customer requirements.

PECOM-X: five automation levels

CONCLUSION So, what we can say today is this – successful flexible packaging printers of tomorrow need to be sagacious and reconfigure their print infrastructure keeping an eye on the changing markets and environmental needs.

With Artificial Intelligence and IoT playing a bigger role than ever before, we are entering a phase where the printing machine and the user would almost develop a symbiotic relationship. Can we afford to remain complacent? z – Sudeep Bhattacharjee (The author is the managing director of manroland Goss web systems India)

Varioman from manroland Goss India

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z FILM + FLEXO = THE FUTURE

Ahmedabad-based Pentaflex’s flexo ride in a gravure dominated market

I

n 2016, after over 20 years as a leading Indian manufacturer of flexible packaging PE film, Ahmedabad-based Pentaflex Films took the bold decision to add printing to its portfolio through the flexo route, in a market dominated by gravure. A year later, the move took a concrete commercial form with the installation of a new Bobst CI flexo press at its plant.

Just two years after that, Pentaflex took Silver with high honors in the Kodak Global Flexo Innovation Awards – a massive achievement for such a young company.

Pentaflex’s Anand Patel acknowledges that he and his fellow directors took a risk, but explains why it was a very calculated one. “Flexo is only about 15% of the FMCG market that we focus on, and most of that is dairy packaging. The rest of the market is largely gravure, so there’s a huge opportunity to win brands over to flexo — and we have some really serious factors working in our favour.”

PUSH FOR SUSTAINABILITY Perhaps the most powerful argument for people to take a serious look at flexo is the Indian governmental policy, particularly recent wide-ranging legislation designed to enforce greater sustainability in the FMCG sector. Patel explains, “Many countries have adopted Extended Producer Responsibility, which makes consumer brands pay attention to what happens to their products after use – in particular, material recovery and recycling. In India we’re now catching up, which is placing significant pressure on brand owners to put sustainability front and centre of product development.

This will be good news for flexo.”

To explain how good Pentaflex did its homework, Patel says, “We researched the current consumption of plastics and film in India, and how this would grow in line with increases in people’s disposable income – which translates into more spending on consumer goods. Add that to the drive for sustainability, and the outlook for flexo is really positive – I wouldn’t be

The Bobst CI flexo press at Pentaflex

surprised to see a sudden boom in flexo in the next two or three years – maybe by 40% – before settling down to steady incremental increases.”

PICKING THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT Confident as Pentaflex was of the potential, the company took its first steps as a flexo printer in the market it knew best – dairy. “That’s where the low-hanging fruit were to be found. Because flexo is already established in the sector, our discussions with those players were simpler. They gave us the understanding we needed to refine our capability – to make sure we were doing things right before venturing into gravure.”

Among the lessons Pentaflex took from these conversations, two were especially important. The first was reassuring – a growing awareness of flexo’s

increased capabilities. “In the past, flexo had a bad press on issues like printability and quality, but you can trace that to older technology such as stacked presses. Our Bobst CI press is a different generation of machine altogether, and the word is spreading.”

The second lesson was that a huge opportunity existed for flexo in the reverse-printed laminate market.

“Reverse-printing using flexo was almost unheard of in the region,” recalls Patel, “but by combining the Bobst press with Kodak Flexcel NX technology we could offer brands much higher quality in the reverse-printed space – with the added advantage that the pack is recyclable.”

The company’s winning entry – flexible packaging for salt – demonstrates this proposition in action. Salt is

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Flexibles traditionally packaged in a PET+PE laminate, printed on gravure for reasons of printability and quality. Patel explains, “The brand owner wanted a sustainable replacement, so we proposed a PE+PE laminated structure – something gravure can’t handle due to quality issues on PE. In the end, the client moved from a non-recyclable package to a 100%-recyclable alternative, giving them the same mechanical properties without affecting shelf-life, and reproduced so accurately that it was difficult to distinguish it from the gravure equivalent. They were also able to recover some cost in the form of packaging waste at their end.”

Patel acknowledges that this was a major achievement, and one that involved a degree of trial and error considering how new Pentaflex was to flexo. “We put a lot of time and effort into trying out new applications, and we’re not shy about experimenting. But we’re fortunate to have a high level of technical expertise running throughout the company – from the directors to the rest of the team. It’s our USP.”

of its products. There remains, however, work to be done before the momentum becomes unstoppable.

“We have no trouble showing prospects that flexo produces quality print,” says Patel, “but that’s not the only factor in the decision to switch. We have to remember that brands and their printer-converters have a heavy investment in cylinders for existing jobs. Hopefully, we can get in front of them when they change designs, but that doesn’t happen very often.”

When Pentaflex does get to the table, he says, they can make a strong case. “The Indian market is very cost-conscious, and throughout the supply chain everyone is trying to gain margin. So the cost of gravure cylinders is a factor, particularly for brands with lots of SKUs or frequent design changes. Flexo plates are cheaper, of course. Faster time-to-market is another powerful argument: for a FMCG brand with multiple products in different sizes, waiting a week for a gravure cylinder is an issue. Flexo offers quicker turnaround for platemaking as well as on the press, so we can handle shorter runs without a drop in quality.”

WORK TO BE DONE Three years on from the original decision to enter the flexo market, this expertise is behind an increasingly successful drive to bring more gravure work over to flexo. Recent contract wins include a locally-based manufacturer of ready-to-eat and instant-mix products that is taking the flexo route in a major rebranding

Finally, there’s flexo’s substrate flexibility. “The amazing thing about flexo is the fantastic quality, whatever the substrate. You can surface-print on PE, reverse-print on PET, surface-print on breathable paper or aluminum foil, or just paper. We’re doing it all.”

Pentaflex is confident a flexo future is on its way, he

In 2019, Pentaflex took Silver with high honors in the Kodak Global Flexo Innovation Awards

concludes, and how quickly it arrives will depend on cooperation between all the stakeholders. “There is an enormous variety of potential jobs out there, some more challenging than others. It takes a lot of expertise to bring together the right anilox, the right dot structure and the right ink. Going forward, all of us need to work closely to make the transition happen.” z

z ANNUAL EBITDA INCREASES BY 55%

Cosmo Films reports Rs 113 crore profit for FY20

C

company has reported standalone profit after tax of Rs 29 crore, PAT was Rs 28.63 crore during the same quarter in FY19.

impacted the PBT and PAT. PAT was further impacted due to higher deferred tax provisioning on temporary timing differences relating to the SEZ unit.

Company’s consolidated profit after tax increased by 85% from Rs 61 crores to Rs 113 crores for FY20. Net revenue has also increased from Rs 2,156 crores to Rs 2,203 crores for FY20. During the period EBITDA has increased by 55% to Rs 280 crores. For Q4FY20

The company has posted Rs.78 crores EBITDA during Q4 FY20 (34% higher on YOY). Better operational margins, better operational efficiencies and improved performance by subsidiaries contributed to higher EBIDTA. Provisioning towards one-time impairment in market value of assets in overseas subsidiaries

For the full year FY19-20, EBITDA increased by 55% primarily due to higher specialty sales (growth of 11%), balanced demand and supply scenario, operational efficiencies and an improved performance by subsidiaries.

osmo Films Limited, a global leader in films for packaging, labeling and lamination applications and synthetic paper today declared its financial results for the quarter ended March 2020.

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Flexibles During the year, the company paid an interim dividend of Rs. 15 per equity share (150%) as per the board meeting dated 13th February 2020 for the financial year 2019-20. The company’s subsidiary project for masterbatches is progressing as scheduled and is expected to commence operations from Q2, FY21.

The management has evaluated the possible impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the business operations and believes that impact so far has been minimal.

The management will continue to monitor the impact of the future economic conditions and an uncertain environment on the company’s operations.” z

Due to the lockdown announced by the government of India in wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the operations of the company were suspended at its Gujarat and Maharashtra plants for a couple of days in March but resumed back in first half of April itself.

Commenting on the financial performance of the company Pankaj Poddar, CEO, Cosmo Films, said, “Flexible Packaging demand should increase in India and the world post Covid-19 with increasing shift in consumer preference towards packaged products particularly in food and increased concern for cleanliness and hygiene. This should augur well for the company. The company shall continue its focus on speciality films, supporting brands on building recyclable packaging structures, R&D and new product development.

Cosmo Films’ plant in Shendra, Aurangabad

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Flexibles

z AN INTERVIEW WITH PANKAJ PODDAR OF COSMO FILMS

“We have been gradually ramping up our capacities in line with demand�

Pankaj Poddar, CEO, Cosmo Films shares with The Packman how his company has been affected by the current pandemic crisis and how they have adapted throughout this situation. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

Mahan Hazarika: How is Cosmo Films affected by the current situation?

Pankaj Poddar: We have been more fortunate to not have as much disruption in our business as some others as we come under essential products.

We have been gradually ramping up our capacities in line with the demand.

mation, avoiding paper wherever possible and so on.

We are supporting all our stakeholders in whichever way we can whether providing special incentives to employees, making timely payments to suppliers, supporting society by providing food and hygiene materials on a regular basis and so on. We are also communicating on a regular basis with our employees to bring back their confidence.

Mahan Hazarika: How has your production been affected?

Mahan Hazarika: Which all plants of your company are currently active?

Pankaj Poddar: There were several challenges when we started production though many of them were gradually resolved. We are still facing some challenges including availability of transportation, availability of manpower due to fear factor, increasing stock, payment delays from customer and so on. Having said so, we are continuously ramping up our production.

Pankaj Poddar: All our plants are running currently.

Mahan Hazarika: How are you managing your supply chain?

Pankaj Poddar: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting unprecedented situation, the health and safety of our employees, their families, our suppliers, vendors and the larger ecosystem is of paramount importance for us. We have taken extreme measures at our plants and head office to maintain a healthy work environment. Employees are screened at the gate with electronic thermometers prior to entering the building. Masks and the use of sanitizers is a mandate. Social distancing norms are being followed at every step and employeeshaving any type of sickness symptoms are being advised not to report to duty.

Pankaj Poddar: We are keeping a daily track on the supply chain and helping customers and suppliers to restart their operations. In many cases, we are absorbing significantly higher transportation cost to ensure that customer is being supplied on timely basis.

Mahan Hazarika: How is your company adapting throughout this crisis?

Pankaj Poddar: We have taken several measures to ensure the safety of our employees by ensuring social distance, hygiene, disinfectant sprays, auto-

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Mahan Hazarika: What action is Cosmo Films taking during this time to manage the crisis situation for employees and the organization?

Our employees already had a medical insurance. We

Pankaj Poddar, CEO of Cosmo Films

have now introduced term insurance for employees and medical insurance for contract labour.

Mahan Hazarika: What plans does Cosmo Films have for the near future, post lock-down?

Pankaj Poddar: As part of our R&D roadmap, we are working on several new technologies including intelligent packaging solutions, biodegradable materials and Direct Thermal Printable Films.

We are also in the process of setting up few new businesses in the coming future. z

Flexibles

z STRONG QUARTER WITH A CONSOLIDATED NET PROFIT BY 43.5% YOY

UFlex beats market woes with several groundbreaking innovations

U

Flex Ltd., India’s largest multinational flexible packaging company and a global player in polymer sciences, has declared its earnings for Q4 (January-March) and FY2019-20. The company has had a strong quarter with a surge in consolidated net profit by 43.5% YoY to 100.6 cr for Q4 FY19-20; whereas its consolidated EBITDA rose by 6.3% YoY to 276.4 cr and EBITDA margin improved to 15.6% from 12.6% last year.

Ashok Chaturvedi, chairman and managing director, Uflex, said, “The year that went by brought its own set of challenges starting with slowdown in the economy to rising debate on plastic waste management and lastly the unexpected disruptions caused by COVID 19 pandemic. As a focused group, these challenges have formed to be a flagpole to our innovation for tomorrow. Even during this crisis, we continued our operations such that supply chain of essential commodities like food and pharma wasn’t completely interrupted and these packaged goods reached public at large.”

Chaturvedi continued, “With a steadfast resolve to center our future growth on sustainability, we commissioned India’s first post-consumer PET bottle and multi-layer plastic (MLP) waste washing and recycling lines in Noida. These lines will upcycle plastic waste to form chips and granules further used for endless applications such as our green packaging film Asclepius and useful recycled plastic products like flower pot, dustbins, buckets, outdoor furniture and more thus pushing the plastic waste out of the environment and reinstating the recycled plastic back in the economy.”

SOME DEVELOPMENTS THAT UFLEX MADE IN Q4 FY2019-20 Eco friendly paper-based tubes with reduced plastic at source: The tubes business launched first-of-its-kind eco-friendly paper based tubes for the cosmetic and food industry. Depending on application and pack size, these tubes help reduce plastic consumption at source by up to 65% by replacing it with paper. The virgin kraft paper used in tubes are laden with properties of high bursting force and very low moisture absorption properties; and lend the tubes an earthy and rusty look.

Launched fast cure solvent-free adhesive SL 777A/999C: A fast cure laminating adhesive for flexible packaging industry, it ensures no change in coefficient of friction (CoF) even after the process of lamination.

Ramped-up offerings with new path-breaking innovations in cylinders: In order to add aesthetics, enhance quality and increase efficiency, the cylinders division at UFlex installed a new line and also launched specialty cylinders in the quarter.

1. Line installation for automated chrome plating on rotogravure cylinder: The Cylinder Business of UFlex installed a new automated chrome plating line for rotogravure cylinders that helps enhance efficiency and ensure consistency with improved print quality. It also launched water-based cylinders throwing up new opportunities for the business to tap into customers looking for green and cost effective printing processes.

Eco friendly paper-based tubes with reduced plastic at source

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Flexibles 2. Special effects through specialized cylinders: With the development of laser engraving specialized cylinders that produces holographic and 2D effects, UFlex has achieved high depth tissue paper embossing and cotton handbag paper embossing, a feat never attempted before in the industry.

3. Water-based cylinders: Water-based cylinder is a new innovation to achieve low ink GSM and low volatile organic compound (VOC) thereby helping achieve low cost and further eco-friendliness

INNOVATION BY ENGINEERING BUSINESS 1. Engineered special slitters to boost efficiency and volumes: Developed secondary slitter ACCUSLIT-25 for efficient slitting of jumbo PET/BOPP and other films. Made for the first time in India, ACCUSLIT-25 has proved to be a substitute for slitters imported so far for this use. The division also developed a special slitting machine with high re-winder diameter to fulfill

ACCUSLIT-25 slits jumbo PET/BOPP and other films efficiently

high volumes of requirement for pharma packaging.

2. New oil pouch packaging machines: For optimum packing of edible oil, a machine with the ability

to handle both virgin film as well as laminated films was built that has the capacity to pack one litre oil packs at a speed of 60 packs per minute. z

UFlex and IIT-Delhi develop PPE coverall with anti-microbial coating

U

Flex has recently developed a personal protective equipment (PPE) coverall ‘Flex Protect’ in joint collaboration with IIT-Delhi and INMAS, DRDO, Delhi. Flex Protect that comes with 4-layered protection and anti-microbial coating has been approved by The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for use by the front-line health workers who are fighting the battle against COVID-19.

The protective coverall is made from a combination of non-woven polypropylene fabric and further impregnated with anti-microbial PP coating through a special process to increase the breathability. As compared to other PPE Kits, the Flex Protect Coverall Standard is made of 70 gsm which makes it very comfortable and flexible, and fit to be worn for long hours as well.

In Flex Protect Coverall Standard, there are four layers of security starting with First zipper, followed by Velcro, then Second zipper, and finally a Permanent Seal Tape. The edges of the PPE kit are secured with high strength seam cover that shields all the holes created during stitching. The coveralls are designed with double forearm, providing safety for the healthcare workers.

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The equipment comes with multi-layer fastening that seals all the inlet ways.

Listing the attributes and USP of the PPE Coverall, N Siva Shankaran, vice president – packaging business at UFlex said, “Most PPE coverall available in the market are not breathable at all. The user sweats heavily due to perspiration and this causes a great deal of discomfort to them. Flex Protect has almost 30% better breathability while also conforming to ISO 16603 (Resistance to Blood and Body Fluids) which is mandatory against infection causing virus not to enter the coverall through the fabric. Breathability and ultimate protection by design are the USPs of Flex Protect. It is far superior to the fabric available in the market there by giving utmost comfort and ultimate protection to the para-medical staff who are currently in great danger of contamination and discomfort.”

The PPE coverall developed by UFlex and IIT-Delhi has been tested well for being anti-microbial. The South Indian Textiles Research Association (SITRA) has certified the fabric of PPE Coverall being compliant with Dry Microbial Penetration Resistance Test thereby

implying fabric’s protection against infectious agents.

The anti-microbial coating will help in eliminating the microbes which comes in contact with the surface of the coverall, thereby creating the first line of defence.

Jeevaraj Pillai, joint president, packaging and new product development, UFlex said, “With rising cases of corona and scarcity of PPE coverall, UFlex and IIT-Delhi recognized the opportunity towards playing a vital part in battle against COVID-19. We synergized our expertise in developing a coverall that arrests the existing challenges in PPE Coverall and elevating the security of healthcare and other front-line workers who wear these coverall for hours together. With the launch of our PPE coverall that combines the advantages of longer wear and complete defense against coronavirus, we aim to make the world’s citizens safe, by arming the front-line workers with Flex Protect coveralls. The approval from DRDO is hugely encouraging for us, adding impetus to our efforts.”

UFlex is participating in the tender of various government requirements to supply the PPE coveralls which will be retailed via chemists and e-commerce platforms. z

Pharma Packaging

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Flexibles

z SUSTAINABILITY AND THE INK INDUSTRY

In what ways the ink industry is acting in sustainable ways?

Recently, we got in touch with the top management of Yansefu India, one of India’s leading packaging ink, coating and adhesive manufacturers, to learn about how the ink industry is acting in sustainable ways and what the future of sustainability in the ink industry looks like. Yansefu’s management team shared with us the company’s sustainability goals and its achievements in this direction so far. Mahan Hazarika of The Packman reports.

Yansefu India’s ink, coating and adhesive manufacturing plant in Bawal, Haryana. Photo: Yansefu India

“S

ustainability is the new strategic mantra in the printing and packaging sector these days. The reason is, consumers are now more cognizant about the safety and compliance than ever before since they have resources available to inspect whether the claims done by the brand owners regarding the product and packaging safety are true or not. There is no specific definition for ‘Sustainability’

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pertaining to printing inks till now. However, in this competitive world, where sustainability is the major priority, every industry defines the term distinctively as ‘bio-degradable’, ‘bio-renewable’, ‘recyclable’ and ‘environment friendly’ – in order to market their products. Every sector from food manufacturing to packaging is ready to pay high price for sustainable products when it comes to consumer’s demands,”

says Neelakamal Mohapatra, vice president, R&D/ innovation department at Yansefu India.

The most common definition of a few terminologies used with respect to sustainable packaging materials, particularly printing inks are: Biodegradable: Biodegradability is the ability of a material to be broken down by microorganisms.

Flexibles More relevant term for sustainability is compostability.

Bio-renewable: According to the USA National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), a bio-renewable ink is made up of raw materials such as resins, gums, oils, waxes, solvents and other polymer building blocks, derived from natural resources such as tree, plant, insect and/or animal materials.

Eco-friendly: The terms eco-friendly or environment-friendly may generally use for ‘water based’ and ‘vegetable oil based systems’, basically made up of renewable ingredients.

According to EUPIA, the carbon footprint of the printed materials are generally used as measure to the environmental impact of printing inks and other packaging materials. As per some studies conducted by EUPIA and printing ink manufacturers, it is concluded that the contribution of the printing ink to the carbon footprint of a printed article is in between the range of 1 and 3% of the total carbon footprint of a printed article. The few factors responsible for this variation are types of printing inks, applicable substrates, printing processes, and the number of articles printed.

The extent of carbon footprint of printing inks is very less, yet inks attract great attention in terms of the overall sustainability of printed material. This includes the sourcing and environmental impact of the ingredients or raw materials used to formulate the printing inks, the ability to remove inks from printed materials and packaging for recycling which is known as deinkability, and the impact of those raw materials on food safety and last but not the least the way ingredients

“Our water-based ink series has set a benchmark in the industry. Yansefu is providing water-based printing solutions for surface applications on various

paper

substrates

such as chromoart, glassine, kraft, brown, metallized and foil

paper,

that

itself

are

biodegradable substrates” – JK Sharma, CEO, Yansefu India

Yansefu India’s R&D team at work. Photo: The Packman

like solvents may have impacted the production work environment.

Aromatic hydrocarbon solvent based printing inks pose several environmental hazards as releasing a large amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the atmosphere. Additionally, the reducers used in printing inks are hard to recover. In view of safeguarding the environment, the regulations on the printing industries in the recent times has prompted the printing processes to resort to aromatic hydrocarbon free printing inks.

“Presently, the single sustainable printing ink technology that will act as a universal solution for all the environmental concerns is not available. However, Yansefu has been making continuous efforts to provide easily biodegradable printing ink technologies by using renewable raw materials cellulose derivatives such as Nitrocellulose, CAP, CAB etc. and providing mono-solvent reducing system that can be distilled or recovered easily and reused in the printing site and/ or ink manufacturing industries. Additionally, Yansefu conducts selection of raw materials as per the national and international food safety and packaging regulatory requirements, for instance IS 15495, FDA CFR, EuPIA Exclusion Policy, Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, Restrictions on Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and others,” says Mohapatra.

JK Sharma, CEO, Yansefu India, says, “Our water-based ink series has set a benchmark in the industry. Yansefu is providing water-based printing solutions for surface

applications on various paper substrates such as chromoart, glassine, kraft, brown, metallized and foil paper, that itself are biodegradable substrates. Some of our well known water-based ink series available for both gravure and CI flexographic applications are Sarjoflex, Sarjoaqua, Sarjocor, and Sarjocor Plus. We have also been working to develop water-based ink system for other flexible substrates.”

“However, it is noteworthy to mention that an ink could be biodegradable, but to meet retailers’ expectations, regulatory requirements and consumers’ demands, the whole converted packaging needs to share the attribute. For instance, a bio renewable inks gets printed on non-compostable substrate and laminated using non-biodegradable adhesive system. In this case, the final packaging cannot be considered as sustainable.

We are currently working towards development of biodegradable adhesives as well as strengthening our solvent-free adhesive grades,” adds Satyasheel Shetty, vice president, R&D – adhesives at Yansefu India.

“Sustainability is just not a terminology but a prevailing challenge which will definitely carve a new shape of the printing and packaging sector in future. Supply chain (printing inks, substrates, adhesives, additives, raw materials) manufacturers are not just expressing tremendous interest towards sustainability but also making efforts to attain it. To bring the sustainability drive, all the supply chain members needs to work cooperatively,” concludes Mohapatra. z

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z EMERGENCY SITUATION MAKES PACKAGING A CORE SECTOR

Trends in packaging industry post Covid-19 T

he corona virus pandemic has completely upended the day-to-day life and soon this outbreak will change the mindset of policy makers, industry and consumers as a whole. The humankind will start thinking afresh about fundamental necessities and priorities, and there will be a paradigm shift in consumer choices and lifestyles post Covid-19.

Though the pandemic will eventually end and numerous changes that have happened in response to this virus may return to normal but something may never go back to the way they used to be. In present scenario, it is fair enough to say that corona virus stands as a pivotal point in the history, which will fundamentally alter the way we live.

Post Covid -19, a major change in lifestyle will shift towards hygienic living, be it through sanitization, personal hygiene practices, social distancing or buying hygiene conscious products. World may see stringent requirements in terms of hygiene and safety of food products. Globally, government and regulatory bodies may strengthen the requirements related to food processing and packaging in order to provide safe food to consumers.

In countries like India, where majority of people still buy unpacked food, there could be a major shift towards packaged food. The main advantage of packaged food is that it reaches the consumer protected in packs and with minimum handling. Packaged food also offers ease of identification, and reduce the risk of adulteration and wastage due to spillage. The future may also see a surge in development of antimicrobial packaging for processed foods. Since social distancing will be new social norm, in near future people may avoid crowded places like restaurants and cafeterias and will prefer ‘Take away’ or packed food leading to an increase in packaging for cooked food.

With present scenario of the pandemic, where people across the globe struggling for life, another trend

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which will emerge is buying of personal sanitization products like hand sanitizers, hand wash, disinfectants, surface cleaners, chemical cleaners and other cleaning utilities. This will lead to availability of these products in various units and sizes. In fact some of the companies have recently launched single use sanitizer sachet for ‘On the go’ use. Therefore present trend may result in development of various packaging designs for these products.

Another factor which will drive the future market is eCommerce or online buying. Since most of the countries are under lockdown, and even post Covid-19, keeping social distancing in mind people will be afraid to go out for shopping. As a result, there will be an increase in online or eBuying. Till now online buying of groceries was only limited to cosmopolitan or metro cities, but soon it will be a preferred mode of buying in small cities and towns. This will further see a rise in packaging sector and will also boost development of anti-counterfeit solution in packaging.

One more factor in eCommerce packaging that will grow in importance is the amount of packaging used.

The total packaging material involved in packing of a particular product needs to be optimized. Another trend which is expected is development of ePackaging in which minimum manhandling is involved and product reaches the customer with minimum touch.

It is imperative to say that Covid-19 outbreak has had a deep impact on economy and there is unprecedented collapse in economic activities due to the lockdown.

This will lead to a drift towards cost effective solutions in packaging as most of the companies will reduce their operational budgets. So future may see a rise in product with reduced thickness, material savings or overall reduction of packaging cost.

In present scenario sustainability may take a back seat as there will be a decline in refill/reuse packs. Recently,

Post Covid -19, a major change in lifestyle will shift towards hygienic living

there was lot of emphasis from regulatory bodies on using post consumer resin (PCR) in packaging, but there will be a reduction in such projects due to food safety and hygiene issues.

To summarize, the emergency situation has made packaging a core sector, which has become an essential part of life for keeping commodities intact till it reaches the consumer. With increasing concern over food safety and hygiene, the packaging industry may see a radical growth post pandemic, which will further be supported by confluence of innovation, diversity and technology. z

– Dr. Meenu Sethi Sachdeva (The author is currently working as Head QA and R&D with Ultimate Flexipack Ltd.)

Flexibles

z DE-INKING TRIALS OF TWOFOLD PRINTED LDPE-FILMS

Siegwerk succeeds at de-inking of plastic film-recyclate

S

iegwerk and APK AG, a specialist in the production of high-quality plastic recyclate from packaging waste, successfully completed de-inking trials of twofold printed LDPE-films. The strategic cooperation of the two companies, which started in October 2019, contributes its first ground breaking insights to facilitating the efficient recycling of flexible packaging applications.

‘Design for recycling – ideally enabling product to

product recycling – is crucial to closing the loop for flexible packaging. For Siegwerk this means providing innovative printing inks and lacquers, which facilitate high-quality recycling – for example by allowing easy de-inking while keeping full performance during the use phase‘, says Alina Marm, head of circular economy hub at Siegwerk.

Printing inks play a key role in the manufacture of plastic packaging. They are vital for the appearance

INPACK SOLUTIONS INDIA

and functionality of the packaging. But they also represent a major challenge when it comes to manufacturing a plastic recyclate of sound quality from post-consumer packaging waste. “The goal of a quality-driven recycling process is to create a recyclate, which is as transparent as feasible and which can once more be reused in packaging applications.

Successful de-inking is essential,” elaborates Klaus Wohnig, CEO of APK AG. z

D-120, Sector – 7, Noida, 201301 India Phone No. 0120 -4294375 Email: sales@inpack.in www.inpack.in THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Automation

z NEXT GENERATION AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES

B&R’s technology enables sustainability and growth in packaging industry

P

ackaging globally has gained importance from various aspects such as product aesthetics, environmental friendly, ease of handling and branding.

Over the years, it has emerged as a leading industry in manufacturing. As per reports, we see packaging as the fifth largest sector in India’s economy with the sector growing at around 22% to 25% per annum.

Packaging plays an important role in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food and beverage among others. Moreover, rapidly changing consumer demands are leading to a paradigm shift in manufacturing landscape. This has increased pressure on machine builders (OEMs) to provide high performance, quality, flexible, scalable and adaptive machines and lines to packaging factories.

With innovation and next generation automation technologies, machine builders are gearing up to meet these ever-rising demands cost-effectively.

It not only helps boosting market share but also in increasing production profitability. Adopting to flexible manufacturing practices becomes the only solution in order to excel and be profitable. In addition to flexibility, product quality too plays a vital role in product packaging. Flexible manufacturing aids in achieving higher product quality as well as helps in maintaining hygienic standards required especially with pharma and food industries.

B&R Industrial Automation is a preferred automation vendor for various packaging machine builders and factories. The company has collaborating with many of its machine builders globally enabling them to build next generation, flexible and adaptive packaging machines and lines.

With B&R’s industrial product transport technology, ACOPOStrak and SuperTrak packaging machine, builders are able to build an adaptive machine making flexible manufacturing, batch size one and mass customization a reality. These intelligent product transport systems are replacing conventional conveyors offering enormous advantages. ACOPOStrak is a revolution in adaptive manufacturing. The highly

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With B&R’s industrial product transport technology, ACOPOStrak and SuperTrak packaging machines, builders are able to build adaptive machines

flexible transport system extends the economy of mass production down to batches of one. With ACOPOStrak machine, builder and factories are able to increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), boost return on investment (ROI) and shorten time to market (TTM).

The unique design of ACOPOStrak delivers decisive technological advantages enabling producing small batches efficiently and benefiting from higher margins of personalized products.

Apart from mass customization, vision inspection systems help achieve higher product quality, reduce rejection and wastage. However, conventionally vision systems were standalone systems adding complexities and costs to the entire machine. Today, with the world’s first machine vision solution to be seamlessly incorporated in the automation system, B&R has taken integrated machine vision to a whole new level. These systems are seamlessly integrated with ACOPOStrak, SuperTrak, motion and controls on a single powerful open source Ethernet POWERLINK network.

Together with OPC UA and OPC UA over TSN, all B&R controller are able to achieve a vertical and horizontal

connectivity enabling an IT/OT convergence. Thus, an integrated approach helps in achieving higher performance as well as reduced automation costs.

Moreover, with these advanced automation solutions machine builders are able to offer factories IIoT and Industry 4.0 ready systems.

Together with virtualization, digital twin, predictive maintenance, open source connectivity, remote access and maintenance possibilities and web based intuitive GUI B&R is in pole position to prepare machines and lines for flexible manufacturing cost-effectively.

Perfection in automation also means B&R has put all of its knowledge and creativity into developing products that become trendsetting innovations. At B&R, this means offering its customers a complete automation solution that provides maximum flexibility and economic efficiency. However, it is not only technology and innovations which are game changers today. In addition to offering innovative technologies and solutions, it is also important to have strong collaboration for true success. z

Pharma Packaging

LABELEXPO INDIA

29 October – 1 November 2020 India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida – Delhi NCR

LABELEXPO’S FASTEST GROWING SHOW IS BACK FOR 2020!

The 2018 edition of Labelexpo India was its largest to date, with a 22% increase in visitors compared to 2016. Between them, the 250 exhibitors met over 9,500 buyers from 55 countries.

This made it Labelexpo’s most successful show yet in the region – and the 2020 edition is set to be even larger.

TO TAKE PART IN 2020 CONTACT: Pradeep Saroha psaroha@tarsus.co.uk | +91 124 423 4434 WWW.LABELEXPO-INDIA.COM

CO - LO CATE D W I TH :

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Filling and Sealing

z GETTING FIT FOR THE FUTURE

KHS invests €20 million in site modernization

T

he KHS Group, the provider of filling and packaging systems, has invested €20 million in modernizing its headquarters at Juchostraße in Dortmund, Germany. In a bundle of measures underway since 2015, the company has built a huge, approximately 4,300 square meter production shop and fully renovated another.

Key elements of the modernization included extending the production area and renewing the machine park. At its production site at Juchostraße, KHS has erected a completely new production shop. In an area measuring 4,300 square meters, the system’s supplier has now created conditions that enable the relevant technology for container and pack conveyors to be merged and order processing to become more efficient.

KHS has also modernized one of the oldest production buildings on the company premises. With an investment volume of six million euros for this project alone the engineering company has not only renewed the shop floor and roof; it also optimized its sheet metal manufacturing department housed in the hall, incorporating new technology that includes a faster, more efficient fiber laser, a combined punching/ laser machine and a larger, fully networked sheet metal warehouse.

For KHS, the modernization is a big commitment to the production facilities at Juchostraße, says plant manager Joachim Konrad. “The Dortmund plant is extremely important to the KHS Group, also because of its standing as our international company head-

For KHS, the modernization is a big commitment to the production facilities at Juchostraße

quarters. With our investments, we’re making it fit for the future. This sends out a strong signal to the regional economy.” z

z TPU PAPER FORM, FILL AND SEAL MACHINE

Syntegon and BillerudKorsnäs launch a joint system for shaped paper pods

W

ith the TPU paper form, fill and seal machine from Syntegon Technology, formerly Bosch Packaging Technology, and the BillerudKorsnäs 3D formable FibreForm paper, a new solution is born.

Shaped paper pods is a packaging system for uniquely shaped and right-sized packaging, with a tactile feeling reflecting the brand and product content.

The new sustainable solution is ideal for product samples, inserts, refills, portion packs and disposable packaging, long awaited by brand owners with high environmental ambitions.

filling volume of just a few and up to 100 milliliters.

The FibreForm paper is shaped by air pressure and embossed by press force. Using heat-sealing technology, the shaped paper pod can be sealed with any heat-sealable lidding materials; barriers will be completely customized to customer needs. “We achieved a perfect match of technology and material for scalable packaging solutions, which creates a unique sensory experience for brand and customer interactions,” says Matthias Klauser, sustainability expert at Syntegon Technology, Germany.

UNIQUE SENSORY EXPERIENCES

To showcase the possibilities and the flexibility of the system, Syntegon Technology and BillerudKorsnäs have previously presented the elaborate packaging concept

The new TPU paper form, fill and seal machine forms environmentally friendly shaped paper pods with a

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‘Pearl’. As of now, shapes of any kind can be formed from the FibreForm paper for many various applications.

SPREADS, COOKIES OR COSMETICS – ALL PACKED IN PAPER The new packaging system is ideal for individual portion packs and products that would usually be packed in blisters. In addition to cosmetics or samples, shaped paper pods can be used to package dry, chunky or viscous food thanks to a thin barrier layer.

Be it spreads, margarine, biscuits or Advent calendars in paper trays – the new TPU paper forming machine offers manufacturers a range of filling and sealing systems for sustainable packaging at an output of up to 15,000 shaped paper pods per hour. z

Filling and Sealing

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Caps and Closures

z USER-FRIENDLY, LIGHTWEIGHT CLOSURES

United Caps unveils expanded edible oils and vinegars portfolio

U

nited Caps, an international manufacturer of caps and closures, has reported following the acquisition of Spanish firm Embalatap, the company has completed a period of consolidation and integration, resulting in an enhanced portfolio of caps and closures for edible oils and vinegars.

“The United Caps new edible oils and vinegars line of products features big innovation packed with small details that make them a portfolio built for life in the kitchen,” said Benoit Henckes, CEO of United Caps. “They include differentiated design, smart security and affordable sustainability, and are true to our principle of ‘Less is More,’ reducing the need for range complexity. Our team has worked hard to ensure we bring the most comprehensive portfolio of caps and closures for edible oils and vinegars to our customers, with not only outstanding performance in the kitchen, but outstanding performance on the production line as well.”

Caps and closures in the edible oils and vinegars portfolio are available in a wide variety of colors for on-shelf standout and a premium look with optional tamper evident and tear-off membrane security features. The portfolio contains closures that flip, click, switch and flow. It offers a powerful variety exemplified by a range with maximum and minimum pour options.

The edible oils portfolio includes: •

•

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A new United Caps 26 Family of user-friendly, lightweight closures designed to enable brands to maximize weight saving potential without impacting the end customer experience. These caps are the lightest products in the company’s edible oils portfolio, weighing in at less than one gram.

A new United Caps 29 Click TE cap with a premium look, tear-off membrane and tamper evident (TE) band flip top closure suitable for use with PET and glass bottles for both edible

THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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•

•

oils and vinegars.

The ingenious 29 Doubleflow caps continue to be a popular offering within the edible oils portfolio, offering a variety of pouring options and exceptional control thanks to its innovative droplet shape. It is lightweight and attractive and keeps the bottle dry with spill-free performance.

Doubleflow weighs just three grams and is optimized to perform reliably on the production line with no line modification.

A product developed especially for large containers (2 to 5 liters), the 42 SUN snap-on closure is also available with an ergonomic ‘Porter’ handle for ease of use.

In addition to the 29 Click TE cap described above, the enhanced United Caps portfolio for vinegars includes: •

•

29 Vinjet, a best-selling product in Southern Europe with vintage appeal for vinegar, sauces and dressings. Caps for white and red vinegar have one hole for pouring, while caps for sauces, dressings and balsamic vinegar feature four holes.

The United Caps 36 PRO2P is an exceptionally easy-to-use product for glass and PET Edible Oil and Vinegar bottles. This snap-on two-piece closure features an anti-drop system and unique pouring shape for exceptional control and a content-preserving tear-off membrane.

“We are pleased to be bringing this enhanced portfolio to the market,” Henckes added. “We have applied our expertise built up over 80 years of working with plastics to offer customers a comprehensive selection designed to meet just about every possible need in the growing market for caps and closures for edible oils and vinegars.” z

29 VINJET, a best-selling product in Southern Europe with vintage appeal for vinegar, sauces and dressingsnew all-time high of 82.5%

Caps and Closures

z TAMPER-EVIDENT CUSTOMIZABLE CLOSURES

Aptar Food + Beverage’s new closure for the infant formula market

A

ptar has announced its new closure for infant formula, NEO. NEO is a tamper-evident closure that features a customizable in-molded scoop for a precise and specific dosage. This inventive closure strives to meet the needs of consumers and fulfill their desires for safer, cleaner and more functional products, while still keeping the infant formula protected and the brand reputation intact.

SYNONYMOUS WITH SAFETY Safety is key for infant formula, which is why NEO is manufactured in a safe production environment called High Care. This protected area shields the manufacturing process, and enhances safety and

hygiene measures to the highest level, in an effort to keep products free of any contamination. This innovative industrial environment was specifically designed to take into account the constraints, risks, and regulations around the packing of sensitive milk formula powder.

and protect the infant formula from insects, and has been validated by several independent laboratories.

Its low application force is suitable for a mechanical or manual application, and the centering mechanism helps to easily center the closure onto the can.

FILLING LINE EFFICIENCY

NEO comes in two diameters – 99 mm and 127 mm – which can be sealed onto all standard infant formula containers, whether they are metal or composite. NEO is also able to mold itself to fit within a brand’s image, and allows companies to choose between three different manufacturing finishes: embossed, in-mold labeling, or bi-injection molding. z

When designing NEO, every aspect was considered in an effort to better protect the product inside from external contaminants, a major concern for infant nutrition producers. This innovative closure integrates a flex-band that, although firm, molds itself to fit a variety of containers. The flex-band was designed to guard

FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE

THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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7/14/2016 11:00:18 AM

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Coding and Marking

z HIGH-QUALITY THERMAL INKJET PRINTER

Domino’s next generation thermal inkjet printers set new standard

D

omino Printech has launched the Gx-Series, a new range of high-quality thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers optimized for fast, efficient, and accurate coding, on product labels, flexible films, and cartons.

Versatile and easy to operate, Gx-Series printers are equipped to meet the needs of an evolving global marketplace characterised by rapid changes in production schedules and fluctuations in consumer demand.

“Today, more than ever, manufacturers need to be equipped to handle last minute changes to production schedules, including quick product changeovers, in order to satisfy demand,” says Alexandros Mountis, TIJ product manager at Domino. “The Gx-Series has been designed with this level of agility in mind – to help manufacturers to keep pace with the pressures of a modern marketplace.”

“Currently, key industries including food and beverage and pharmaceuticals are struggling with unprecedented levels of demand owing to the coronavirus pandemic,” continues Mountis. “This made especially difficult to address, while adhering to government advice on social distancing and coping with a reduction in staff numbers.”

“This a prime example of the kind of challenge that we strive to help manufacturers overcome,” says Mountis.

“With the Gx-Series, we have designed a printer that is versatile, and easy to adapt to changing production schedules, which also provides a solution for remote monitoring and control, allowing for a reduction in staff numbers on a production line.”

Domino developed the Gx-Series in consultation with customers across the globe, to ensure a solution that meets the needs of manufacturers now and in the future. The next-generation printers are compatible with all languages, and suitable for use across industries including pharmaceuticals, electronics, and food and beverage, with customizable options available to suit individual production needs.

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Gx-Series printers are easy to use and to integrate into existing manufacturing procedures

EMBRACE THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

GAIN CONTROL OF YOUR PRODUCT LABELING

The Gx-Series is optimized for smart factory applications, providing manufacturers with a seamless, future-proof solution for evolving production processes. Gx-Series printers are easy to use and to integrate into existing manufacturing procedures, with enhanced connectivity and visibility features and a smaller overall footprint. Domino Cloud capability provides remote monitoring, while options for EtherCAT and PLC communications allow for fast data transfer and synchronization.

“We have developed the Gx-Series in response to these changes, to give our customers greater control over their product labeling, with the ability to produce high-quality, machine-readable codes for marketing information, traceability data, and serialization,” says Mountis.

“The Gx-Series utilizes industry standards, which allows for integration into existing automation systems to provide a truly industry-4.0-ready coding and marking solution,” says Mountis. “The option of EtherCAT communication allows our TIJ printers to communicate directly with programmable logic controllers to provide greater control of manufacturing processes, translating into increased productivity, and reduced coding errors.”

Domino’s Gx-Series printers are an ideal choice for printing high-density machine-readable codes, including Data Matrix codes, providing opportunities for enhanced product labeling and late stage customization within manufacturing operations.

UNINTERRUPTED PRODUCTION Gx-Series printers are characterized by their ease of use, controlled via a modern, intuitive user interface and touch screen or remotely via web browser. Customers can select from one to four print heads, which can be stitched together to allow for print heights of up to 50.8 mm, or used separately to print on multiple lines at speeds of up to 300m/min. z

Indepth Article

z PROTECTING WORKERS’ RIGHTS

Migrant labourers – the probable impact

Stranded migrant worker rushing to the New Delhi railway station to reach their native villages by ‘Shramik Special’ train.

Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta

A

s per the Economic Survey (2017), there are approximately 42 crore internal migrant workforce in India. Out of them approximately 20% (10 crores) are migrant workers. A study by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and Azim Premji University in 2019 estimates that 29% of the population in India’s big cities is of daily wagers.

Relatively less developed states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have high net immigration. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar account for the origin of 25% and 14% of the total inter-state migrants, followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, at 6% and 5% respectively.

There are 3 types of migrant workers: 1. Permanent migrants

2. Seasonal migrant 3. Casual migrant (we are somewhere here)

STATUS There had been status quo in last seven decades (since 1950) for migrant labour as they were not on Indian Social-Economic-Political landscape. It is estimated that there was a mass migration of around 1.5 crore people during the 1947 division but this time, it is at a much larger scale (at least 5–6 times higher). As they had no savings, no homes, no dwellings and no resources of long-term living, they had to go through immense hardship. Practically, they are nobody’s children – they are neither here nor there. There is no state or central registry for compiling their data.

Governments in India clearly have no systematic understanding of their existence and scale. As they migrated, neither native politician nor migrated politicians are interested in their welfare as they do not vote anywhere. This is one of the core reason, – no one – be it central, state or local bodies – thought for their welfare before the lockdown and it took sizable 40 days to start the first Shramik train.

They are not even a beneficiary of Public Distribution System (PDS). They are deprived of taking subsidized ration from states ration shops as they have come from a different state. Recently, one nation-one ration card system has been introduced wherein they can avail subsidized schemes under the central government’s THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Indepth Article National Food Security Act (NFSA). Still, they are not entitled to have subsidized schemes granted by state governments as they are treated as ‘not son of the soil’.

• •

As per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), in April–May 2020, around 12.2 crore people lost their jobs. Three-fourths were small traders and wage labourers. Labour Force Participation rate for Indian woman for the past 20 years is decreasing badly.

Interestingly, it has just acknowledged that they are also important as they contribute around 10% of the Indian GDP. They are also important in the circulation of money as they work, earn and do remittance to their homes/villages (approx.60000 crore).

STRUCTURAL ISSUES RESURFACE As suddenly invisible becomes greatly visible, not only in India but also on liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG) landscape: Following under covered laws, regulations and reforms which exist in the system but not being implemented have resurfaced which will definitely be having serious consequences and it is high time to work in this direction for creating proper insulation and work plan for future: •

• • • •

•

48

Article 14,15,16,19(1), (c) ,24,38,(2),41,42 and 43(a) which talk about Rights or Labor Rights, like the right to equality, right to work, right to secure work, a living wage and a decent standard of life, security scheme, health, right to form an association, right to freedom, cultural and educational rights, etc.

Factories Act (human conditions) Industrial Dispute Act Minimum Wages Act (support Article 21-Right to life,23-Right against exploitation) Inter-State Migrant Workman Act 1979 (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act mandates that labour contractors who export workers to other states have to register at both ends and take licences.

Those who employ more than five migrant labourers are duty-bound to provide proper wages for (1) Housing, (2) Medical facilities, (3) Pass Books, (4) Displacement allowance, etc.

•

health facilities are also suspended Madhya Pradesh: Labour laws to be suspended for 1000 days Gujarat: Labour Laws to be suspended for 1200 days Assam: Fixed Term Employment is to be implemented. All are contract workers/not at par with permanent workers

COUNTER STATEMENT As India is a part of International Labour Organisation (ILO) since 1919 who is responsible for framing legislations for these migrant workers, recently all trade unions of India have formally lodged a complaint with ILO against changes in labour laws overnight (challenging ordinances passed by state governments to dismantle labour reforms-how constitutional guarantee given to Indian labour can be withdrawn for the first time in the history of India).

Above labour laws are suspended in lieu of 2005 Disaster Management Act but it is also being argued that above constitutional guarantees can be suspended in external aggression or war and not in the pandemic. Further, High Courts and Supreme Court can also make Directive Principles of State Policy as part of their judgement.

CURRENT LEGISLATIONS (LABOUR REFORM LAWS) Currently, for effective enforcement, 44 existing central labour laws are proposed to be condensed into the following 4 codes: 1. W a g e s – already passed.

The following labour reform laws have already been put up in the Parliament and are supposed to be passed and implemented in due course after clearance from parliament standing committee.

2. Industrial Relations (labour and capital) 3. Occupational Safety, Health and Working Health 4. Social Security — 15 laws clubbed(PF/Medical/ pension/leave encashment for all part-time, casual, contractual, fixed-term, domestic, home-based)

STATE GOVERNMENT’S STAND

It means that contractual workers will ultimately be betrayed at par with workers on a roll.

After this crisis in March and April 2020, some state government took a controversial stand: • Uttar Pradesh: All labour laws except 2–3 to be suspended for 3 years. Even basic safety and

Because of the above-stated reasons, all four pillars – Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Media – of our

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CONCLUSION

constitution have no other way out but to wake up to come forward, form and implement labour reforms laws and offer Indian migrants a better social safety guaranteed protection fall back for their return – laws shall be formulated on a relatively faster pace and also implemented strongly.

As Central Government has also increased allocation to Rs 1 lac crore under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) to boost employment in villages, migrant workers shall get jobs in native place/already having a place to live – less attraction towards metros. Urbanisation may take a hit – shortage of workers in metros. (Marketing opportunities might increase manifold in rural areas as they are used to buy branded products in their respective metros from there they have migrated and search same in their villages). As new labour laws (as stated above) wherein all workers might fall into permanent kind of status-manpower cost shall increase considerably.

The Parliament’s Labour Committee will most likely pass a law to allot a Portable Social Security (PSSN) number which is to be linked with Aadhar unique identification number. Here the intention is also to break contractor net and workers may be contacted directly.

Responsibility shall shift to the principal employer.

So, as stated earlier, keeping in view above factors in mind, it is suggested to chalk out a detailed action plan regarding working on numbers of workforce required over a period of time, their identification, less dependency on contractors, manpower cost working, their skill development programs, labour laws enforcement and compliant framework and automation which will facilitate to have seamless and economical law abide smooth working. z

– Sanjay Gupta (The author is currently working as vice president, corporate procurement and packaging development with DS Group)

Budget 2020

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Pharma Packaging

z OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROTECTION

Gerresheimer focuses on global occupational safety and health

T

he Gerresheimer Group has declared DIN EN ISO 45001 to be the mandatory global standard for all its plants. It replaces the previously applicable standard OHSAS 18001 in the field of occupational health and safety.

“Healthy and motivated employees are the key to sustained economic success for Gerresheimer. We want all employees worldwide to go home exactly as healthy and unharmed as they came to work,” says Katja Schnitzler, who as Group Senior Director EHS CSR OPEX is responsible for managing global implementation.

EVEN MORE SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE ISO 45001 will become the international standard in occupational safety and health protection for the entire Gerresheimer Group. At the same time, the company wants to show that it is living up to its social responsibility by achieving internationally recognized ISO 45001 certification. Gerresheimer makes every effort to demonstrably reduce the risk of injuries, accidents and work-related illnesses among its employees and is constantly improving occupational safety and health protection using suitable methods and instruments as part of its management system. ISO 45001 was published in March 2018 and will replace the previously most widely used standard BS OHSAS 18001.

Gerresheimer employs employees at each location who are responsible for occupational safety and health.

Gerresheimer on the way to ISO 45001 The first Gerresheimer plants in Europe and Asia are currently certified. At most plants the measures for the forthcoming certification have been successfully launched or are nearing completion. The following plants have already received their certificate.

China: The Chinese plants of the Shuangfeng Group,

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For Gerresheimer occupational safety plays a very important role in glass production for example. The new ISO 45001 will replace the old OHSAS 18001 standard and sustainably optimize the existing occupational safety and health protection. Photo: Gerresheimer

i.e. Danyang I and II and Zhenjiang, which have been successfully producing glass containers for the pharmaceutical industry in China for decades, have been certified to ISO 45001 since 2018.

Denmark: Only recently the Gerresheimer plants in Vaerloese and Haarby have successfully completed their certification. These plants produce primary packaging made of plastic of the well-known brands Duma and Dudek.

India: In India, the plants in Kundli, which produces plastic containers, and the plant in Kosamba, where vials and ampoules made of tubular glass are produced, have currently received certification. The plant for the

production of container glass in Kosamba is currently preparing for certification.

Germany: The German Medical Systems plants in Pfreimd, Wackersdorf, Regensburg and Bünde, as well as in Horsovsky Tyn in the Czech Republic, are already working with an integrated management system that has already certified the areas of environmental protection and energy management and also covers occupational health and safety standards.

Fire protection also meets the legal requirements and applies in all MDS plants. The next important step is the implementation of the new ISO 45001 standard based on the integrated management system. z

Sustainability

z INAUGURATES 6,000 MT CAPACITY RECYCLING PLANT IN BENGALURU

Manjushree Technopack launches new initiative to deliver recycled packaging M

anjushree Technopack, India’s largest rigid plastics packaging company and backed by Advent International, has launched its new initiative ‘Born Again’ to deliver recycled packaging material to the FMCG industry and support brands in their journey of creating a greener world. Born Again is Manjushree’s first step towards building an ecosystem of circular consumption. It is vertically integrated with the plastic waste collection ecosystem, with an objective to reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfills and to deliver virgin-like quality Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) resin (PP and HDPE) to FMCG customers.

As more and more companies pledge towards reduction of plastic waste and move towards 100% recyclable packaging, it is an opportune time for Manjushree to enable brands with packaging solutions made from recycled plastics. Manjushree already has in-principle arrangement with several global and domestic FMCG brands for their PCR requirements.

In the first phase, Manjushree will use PCR resins to produce non-food packaging (personal care, home care, lubricants, paints etc.) and secondary packaging for food products.

The first of the company’s state-of-the-art recycling plants was inaugurated on 15 June 2020 in Bidadi Industrial Area, Bengaluru. Radha Mohan Gupta, regional procurement director (South Asia), Reckitt Benckiser, lit the ceremonial lamp virtually and Ullas Kamath, joint managing director, Jyothy Labs, cut the ribbon at the venue.

The plant has a capacity to process more than 6,000 metric tonnes of rigid plastic virgin-like quality PCR resin per annum. The company intends to set up mul-

Manjushree Technopack’s new state-of-the-art recycling plant in Bidadi Industrial Area, Bengaluru.

tiple recycling plants across India over the next 2 years with a total capacity of close to 20,000 metric tonnes.

step towards bringing more structure to the highly unorganized collection of plastic waste.”

Sanjay Kapote, CEO, Manjushree Technopack said, “Sustainability is an integral part of our business goals.

Today, brands are eagerly looking for reliable solution providers who can help them with post-consumer recyclable waste material of their products. We are very keen to support the circular economy and strongly see the potential to become one of the few players in the industry to offer brands end-to-end solution for recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Manjushree’s recycling plant in Bengaluru and our collaboration with Saahas Zero Waste is our first

The demand for post consumer recylables is projected to grow from USD 7.7 billion in 2019 to USD 10.2 billion by 2024. However, the biggest factor hindering production of PCR at scale in India is the unorganized waste collection and segregation mechanism leading to scrap contamination. For the recycling plant in Bengaluru, Manjushree has partnered with a leading social enterprise, Saahas Zero Waste to collect the plastic waste generated across the city.

Saahas manages 38 tonnes of waste per day across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Goa. z THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Events

z TO FOCUS ON VIRTUAL AND REGIONAL EVENTS

Heidelberg cancels drupa 2021 participation

O

n 8 July 2020, Heidelberg announced that it will not participate in tha drupa 2021 trade fair, and instead will focus on a new way of communication with its customers using virtual and regional events.

The virtual event will use a livestream technology as well as face-to-face meetings at its corporate headquarters in Germany. Heidelberg has already had positive experience of using digital channels in its presentation of the innovations that had been planned for this year’s drupa.

Heidelberg is the third company to opt-out of the postponed drupa 2021 event scheduled to take place from 20 to 30 April 2021. Bobst and Xerox have already announced that they will not be taking part, and we know of some other companies that are in a wait and watch mode.

INNOVATION WEEK “We will be investing more in new, virtual trade fair concepts to ensure closer and more individual customer communications as well as in regional events in our growth markets. This means we will be able to consistently align ourselves with our customers’ expectations,” says Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg.

The kick-off will be at the ‘Innovation Week’ from 19 to 23 October 2020. Under the slogan ‘Unfold your potential’, Heidelberg will present a wealth of product innovations that focus on packaging and commercial, including autonomous printing, end-to-end solutions, Smart Print Shop and Push-to-Stop. The Innovation Week will take place via livestream as well as face-toface at the Wiesloch/Walldorf location. “The Innovation Week will now enable us to communicate with our customers as soon as possible and to present our innovation offensive,” says Hundsdörfer.

FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS AT PRINT MEDIA CENTERS The company will continue face-to-face meetings at the unique Print Media Centers in Wiesloch/Walldorf,

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High customer interest: Heidelberg Print Media Center Packaging at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site

Atlanta, Shanghai, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, where it can engage with its customers specific needs directly on-site. At the centres, Heidelberg will offer all of its customers and other interested parties market-specific access to product and solution demonstrations, a multitude of possibilities for direct communications with applications specialists as well as extensive training courses.

COVID-19 Covid-19 has accelerated the move towards digital and local events. Although there is no way of knowing what the impact of corona will be next year, Heidelberg has to make a decision now. So the company has decided to not participate in international trade fairs

next year and will thus not be taking part in drupa. In 2021, drupa will be a very different event – global travel restrictions and hygiene regulations mean significantly fewer visitors and constraints on communication.

Traditional international trade fairs with busy booths and halls will very probably be difficult to implement and will likely lose their status as global meet-up events for customers and manufacturers. As a longtime partner to drupa, Heidelberg will be happy to continue to offer its experience when it comes to bringing future trade fair concepts into line with new digital possibilities and customer requirements. z

Events

z 15TH EDITION OF PRINTPACK INDIA EXHIBITION

Twelve more companies book space in Printpack India 2021 T

he Indian Printing Packaging and Allied Machinery Manufacturers Association (Ipama) is organizing the 15th edition of the Printpack India exhibition and the first edition of The India Sign & LED Expo 2021 from 3 to 8 February 2021 at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida. The exhibition rates are competitive compared to the other exhibition in the industry organized by various organizers. In addition, Printpack continues to bring in new sectors and associations at every biennial event making the show ever more comprehensive to the entire range of print, signage, label, and packaging sectors.

By the middle of June 2020, 270 companies had already booked their space for the February 2021 event. Even during the lockdown conditions, a dozen more companies have committed to the event and reserved their space.

14TH PRINTPACK INDIA WAS A SUCCESS Dayaker Reddy, president of Ipama, says, “Ipama is not only an association but also a family of printing and packaging machine manufacturers, which dedicatedly works for its Industry. I assure all the companies that Ipama will not leave its members or industry alone. Even at the time of demonetization, we offered companies’ various facilities for easy participation in Printpack India, and it was a hugely successful event.

Corona is a temporary hurdle, and the 15th Printpack India will be a grand successful event and a mini world show of the graphic arts industry.”

HALLS FOR LABEL AND CORRUGATION SECTORS Exclusive halls are reserved for the label and corrugation sectors of the industry, and Ipama has signed agreements with several more associations

By the middle of June 2020, 270 companies had already booked their space for the PrintPack India 2021 event

for the active participation of their specific segments.

Agreements have been signed with The Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India (FCBM) for a corrugation Hall; with the Association of Label Printers and Suppliers (ALPS) for a Label Hall; and, The Screen Printers Association and Screentex for a Screen Printing Zone at the February 2021 event.

THE INDIA SIGN & LED EXPO 2021 Ipama is also organizing its first expo on Signage Industry to be called The India Sign & LED Expo 2021, during Printpack India 2021. Ipama has signed an agreement with Sign & Graphic Magazine and Buysell

Interactions for Signage Industry. Being an event comprising associations, Printpack India is the most economical exhibition. It is widely accepted by visitors in India and the Asia subcontinent and attracts visitors from the Middle East and Africa as well.

Keeping in view, the difficulty of any graphic artsrelated exhibition achieving success in India in 2020, Printpack India 2021 in early February of that year looks likely to succeed again as the industry emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic and looks to bounce back in 2021 and 2022. z

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Industry News

Clariant completes sale of its masterbatches business to PolyOne

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lariant, a sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, has completed the sale of its entire masterbatches business to PolyOne. The enterprise value of the sale, which consists of separate transactions for Clariant’s global masterbatches business and its masterbatches business in India, amounts to approximately USD 1,560 million which is equivalent to c. 12.2 times the last twelve months reported EBITDA (ending September 2019).

“With this completed transaction, Clariant takes another significant step towards becoming a pure-play specialty chemical company. By focusing on its three core Business Areas Care Chemicals, Catalysis and Natural Resource, Clariant intends to deliver abovemarket growth, higher profitability and stronger cash

said Hariolf Kottmann, Clariant’s executive chairman ad interim.

Clariant is a sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company

generation. Having successfully sold masterbatches and healthcare packaging, our target is now to progress with the divestment of our pigments business,”

As a consequence of the completed divestment of the masterbatches business, as well as the anticipated divestment of the pigments business, Clariant will now proceed as soon as practicable with an extraordinary cash distribution of CHF 3.00 per share to its shareholders. Clariant’s Board of Directors has set the ex-date to 6 July 2020, the record date to 7 July 2020, and the payment date of the extraordinary distribution will be 8 July 2020. As previously announced, remaining net proceeds from the intended divestment will be used to invest in innovations and technological applications within the core business areas and to strengthen Clariant’s balance sheet. z

Mondi installs Windmöller & Hölscher machine to upgrade its paper bags facility in Hungary

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ondi, leading global packaging and paper group, has successfully completed the implementation of a new state-of-the-art paper sack converting machine at its Nyíregyháza site in Hungary.

The machine – a Windmöller & Hölscher AD 8320/ AM 8115 – allows the plant to produce a new line of sophisticated paper sacks for food packaging. The site will be capable of producing more than 130 million sacks annually.

The Mondi Nyíregyháza plant, which employs more than one hundred people, serves the Hungarian, Romanian, Austrian and Bulgarian market in many industries and sectors. It produces industrial paper sacks (open mouth and valve bags) for applications such as cement, building materials, food-feed-seed, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

“Our goal is to serve our customers’ needs with excellence, so we focused on increasing the plant’s quality and hygiene standard to be able to produce high-end

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efficiency, as well as offering shorter delivery times to our customers. Our ambition to open this line did not diminish despite the beginning of the health pandemic.

Working with revised health and safety measures in place, I am very proud of my team's determination to execute this project and deliver this complex product portfolio," said Péter Szabó, managing director, Mondi Bags Hungária.

The Mondi Nyíregyháza plant produces industrial paper sacks for applications such as cement, building materials, food-feed-seed, chemicals and pharmaceuticals

and sophisticated paper sacks for food. This investment means we are able to enhance our operational

Due to this €7 million investment, the entire layout and set-up of the Nyíregyháza plant was re-designed in four months, including the storage area, printer area, warehouse, and ink kitchen to increase operational efficiency and safety.

The plant is now in the process of seeking the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification by the end of this year in order to serve the food, feed and seed industry with sacks that meet their high quality and hygiene standards. z

Industry News

Michelman adds new associates to grow printing and packaging businesses

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n response to acceleration in the global growth of its printing and packaging business segment, Michelman has added two new associates to help guide its continued success in the digital printing, flexible packaging, paper converting, and corrugated markets.

Pete Petrie joins Michelman as the sales director for printing and packaging, Americas region. He began his career at Avery Dennison and most recently spent 23 years with WS Packaging Group. He led multiple teams that were responsible for the labels for package decoration market segment, strategy development, and relationship management with major brands. This focus on team building, along with his broad industry knowledge, contacts, and commercial skills, will provide a key enabler to continued growth in printing and packaging markets.

Dave Jeffers joins Michelman as territory sales manager for digital printing. He has spent over 17 years with Yupo Corporation America, managing technical service and new business development, in addition to holding a regional sales position. He was most recently a territory sales manager with The Eastman Kodak Company and brings over 30 years of printing experience to Michelman.

According to Rick Michelman, Michelman’s chief technology officer & EVP, Americas, and printing and packaging, “Printing and packaging have been a growth platform for Michelman for the past two decades. We intend to continue to collaborate, develop, and commercialize forward-thinking technologies with our customers and accelerate our ability to deliver innovative solutions. We have identified several key strategic growth opportunities that these two outstanding

Dave Jeffers joins Michelman as territory sales manager for digital printing

professionals will help address. We’re privileged and excited to welcome them to the Michelman team.” z

Alon Bar-Shany to leave HP Indigo

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ccording to Israeli tech news site CTech, Alon Bar-Shany will leave HP Indigo after 25 years.

His departure comes as HP moves to restructure its business, which has grown exponentially since HP acquired it in 2001.

Bar-Shany has served as general manager of the digital printing company for 16 years. He first joined HP Indigo after leaving Israel Chemicals in 1995, where he held various executive positions in finance, strategic planning and business development.

Bar-Shany will be succeeded by Haim Levit, who has also been with the company for 25 years, latterly in North America. Haim is an experienced leader in the printing industry.

In his 25+ years with HP Indigo, and part of the Indigo community, he has successfully performed a wide spectrum of leadership roles ranging from Global Procurement Management, NA Supplies Business Management and NA Business Director, Vice President

Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, HP Indigo at LabelExpo in Brussels September 2019. Photo: The Packman

and General Manager for HP's Americas Indigo and PageWide Web Press, before assuming his current

role leading WW GTM for the Graphics Industrial organization. z THE PACKMAN | JUL-AUG 2020

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Industry News

Henkel enables recyclable paper packaging with new heat seal coating

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fter launching its RE range that is designed for recycling last year, Henkel is now expanding the range with Loctite Liofol HS 2809-22 RE. The heat seal coating, which is certified for its recyclablity with paper, redefines how packaging can be designed.

possibilities by enabling to replace PE with paper in a wide range of primary and secondary packaging applications for both food and nonfood.”

The coating heat seals to both paper and itself and sets new standards in terms of repulpability, food safety and flexibility of the paper. It also raises the bar in industrial processing. It maintains highest levels of sealability when being processed at high machine speeds, significantly increasing performance. z

“The design of packaging highly influences its recyclability. Our goal is to bring a new perspective into the process. We want to rethink how packaging is made from the very beginning,” explains Brian Stephenson, product development coatings at Henkel. “Loctite Liofol HS 2809-22 RE opens up new and sustainable design

Toppan develops paper-based tube-pouch to reduce plastic use

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oppan Printing, a global leader in communication, security, packaging, décor materials, and electronics solutions, has improved user-friendliness while reducing resource use to achieve enhanced environmental performance by developing the paper tube-pouch, a new paper-based version of the existing tube-pouch, which is shaped like a tube and easy to squeeze like a pouch. The paper tube-pouch is ideal for use in the food, toiletry, and pharmaceutical sectors, and full-scale sales are scheduled to be launched in Japan in fiscal 2020.

paper, the tube-pouch still maintains its shape even when the volume of content inside decreases, and the use of Toppan’s proprietary GL Barrier film on the inner surface ensures the world-class and complete barrier performance required for such items as food and cosmetics.

The body of the paper tube-pouch has a thickness of just 0.1 mm and a special folded structure. Combined

Due to the use of thinner film material, the conventional tube-pouch is easier to squeeze and uses 30% less plastic than the type of laminated tube widely used for toothpaste. The new paper tube-pouch maintains the tube-pouch’s functionality while demonstrating even better environmental performance by employing a paper-based material for the body, making possible a 50% reduction in plastic volume.

Coupled with a redesign of the plastic parts of the head section, this enables plastic to be reduced by a total of 65%. Although plastic has been replaced with

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Toppan’s new paper-based tube-pouch Photo: Toppan Japan

with a horizontal design for the plastic spout, this makes it easier to completely squeeze out the contents.

The use of paper for the exterior surface also means that design and sales promotion can fully exploit the advantages of the material’s feel and texture, making the paper tube-pouch ideal for effectively communicating more natural and organic product concepts to consumers.

“The paper tube-pouch represents a new solution that can meet the needs of manufacturers, consumers, and society as a whole by reducing impact on the environment, enhancing user-friendliness, and also offering new possibilities for design,” said Shingo Wada, general manager of business strategy in Toppan’s western Japan division. “It is another example of Toppan’s efforts to tackle such issues as marine plastic and the need for efficient circulation of resources by developing eco-friendly packaging and containers that sacrifice nothing in terms of functionality while making use of more sustainable materials, such as recycled and biomass plastics, monomaterials, and paper.” z

Industry News

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Services

Events Calendar DATES

EVENT NAME

PLACE

26 to 28 November 2019

CPhI India (P’Mec)

Greater Noida, India

3 to 6 December 2019

Paperex

Delhi, India

6 to 8 December 2019

Print & Packtech

Bangalore, India

12 to 14 December 2019

Pacprocess Food Pex

Delhi, India

6 to 9 January 2020

Pamex 2020

Mumbai, India

16 to 20 January 2020

Plastivision 2020

Mumbai, India

28 Feb to 1 March 2020

PacProTech

Kathmandu

19 to 21 March 2020

Asia Packaging & Printing Industry Expo

Shenzhen, China

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR THE UPDATED EVENTS CALENDAR

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20 to 22 March 2020

PackPlus South 2020

Hyderabad, India

21 to 23 April 2020

Label & Flexible Packaging & Film Expo 2020

Shanghai, China

24 to 26 April 2020

Food Pack India Expo

Chennai, India

5 to 9 May 2020

Metpack 2020

Messe Essen, German

7 to 13 May 2020

interpack 2020

Dusseldorf, Germany

3 to 4 June 2020

Innopack Pharma Confex

Mumbai, India

16 to 26 June 2020

drupa 2020

Dusseldorf, Germany

19 to 22 June 2020

Plastasia 2020

Bangalore, India

6 to 9 August 2020

PackPlus Delhi

Delhi, India

17 to 19 September 2020

Pharma Pro&Pack 2020

Hyderabad, India

30 September to 2 October 2020

IndiaCorr Expo

Mumbai, India

8 to 10 October 2020

ProPak India

Delhi, India

25 to 27 November 2020

CPhI & P-MEC India

Greater Noida, India

29 October to 1 November 2020

Labelexpo India 2020

Greater Noida, India

29 October to 1 November 2020

Brand Print India 2020

Greater Noida, India

9 to 11 December 2020

pacprocess India

Mumbai, India

3 to 8 February 2021

Printpack India 2021

Greater Noida, India

4 to 8 February 2021

PlastIndia 2021

Delhi, India

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RNI UPENG/2018/76741 Editor Mahan Jyoti Hazarika editor@thepackman.in Cell: +91 9910189285 Senior Desk Editor Sunil Jain Senior Associate Editor Dev Kumar Dutta Associate Editor Pranay Mathur Manash Das Guest Editor Anwesh Koley Design and Production Biswajeet Chaliha Sales and Marketing Mahan Jyoti Hazarika Subscription Address E448, Gaur City 1, First Avenue, Greater Noida West, Gautam Buddha Nagar 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India Issue Published on 8 July 2020 Printed at JK Offset Graphics Pvt. Ltd. Printed, Published and Owned by Mahan Jyoti Hazarika, and Printed at JK offset Graphics Pvt. Ltd., B278 Okhla Phase I, New Delhi 110 020, India and Published From E448, Gaur City 1, First Avenue, Greater Noida West, Gautam Buddha Nagar 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India Editor: Mahan Jyoti Hazarika

Industry News

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Partnership

RNI UPENG/2018/76741

Industry News

adds true value to our business

We have been working with Nilpeter for years now, their commitment and attention to detail is unparalleled.

Bill Cheringal & Jeff Levine Control Group

visit nilpeter.com

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