At Printpack 2015, although Bobst India decided against showing any of its machines to the visitors, Puneet Aggarwal, zone sales manager for North, East and South India including Bangladesh in sheetfed for Bobst India told Packaging South Asia that the entire emphasis was on meeting its customers and generating exciting prospects for the future for which Printpack is the perfect platform.
Right after Printpack, Bobst India will be organizing an Open House in Pune from 26 to 28 February 2015 where it will be showing the Novacut 106 ER – its brand new diecutter for in-line diecutting with blank separation. The Novacut 106 ER is designed forin-plant flexibility, allowing users to build up a portfolio of blank separating work while they still run un-blanked jobs that are simply diecut and stripped. This flexibility comes due to Novacut’s delivery section, which can be converted from single and double cut blank separating to full sheet delivery, and back, in a matter of seconds. Also the Expertfold folder-gluer will be shown with an in-line inspection system which Bobst calls as Accucheck that will do 100% inspection of folding cartons with an in-line ejection system for defective cartons. The world premier of the LILA II folder-gluer will also take place at the event.
Commenting on the bigger picture of innovation in the Indian packaging industry, Aggarwal says that although in the last ten years there have been large-scale improvements, there is still a lot of room to innovate when compared to what is happening in more developed packaging markets. “The issue is with the structure and design of the boxes which are predominantly straightline. Cost is an important factor as end-users like FMCG companies face high competition and need to keep the cost down. Also modern retail still has to mature in India. When a level of maturity comes in the Indian retail industry, innovation will also come into the design and structure of the boxes.”
With the slow down in the commercial printing industry, many printers are now exploring avenues in the packaging industry and this could be a noticeable trend at the Bobst Open House since the trend of commercial and book printers entering packaging has been seen since the last few years. “We are expecting about 200 of our customers to attend the Open House,” informs Aggarwal. According to him, the market is doing well and the steady inflow of new machines into the market is a testament to this fact. Since Bobst has been manufacturing its folder-gluers for the global market in India, Aggarwal feels it is a big advantage for the Indian customers since they have to pay in Indian currency and need not worry about any fluctuations. Overall, Bobst India expects to perform even better in the current financial year (January to December) than the last year and hopes to maintain the excitement around.
