The Indian printing industry supports a lot of component and ancillary suppliers who may not always be at the forefront of attention in the industry but are vital for achieving the right results nevertheless. The doctor blade business, a key component for a press, has seen a lot of transformation over the years. In rotogravure, flexo and even in offset printing, doctor blades are used to remove the excess ink from the smooth non-engraved portions of the image carrier and the land areas of the cell walls. As times have changed, so have the demands and needs of the market.
Convertech Equipment, based in New Delhi, has been one of the major doctor blades supplier to the printing industry in India. Started in 1993 and now in its second generation, Convertech has seen a lot of changes over the years and witnessed the Indian print industry evolve over the years. While speaking to Packaging South Asia, Rahul Sanon and Dhruv Sanon of Convertech Equipment say that now Convertech offers smart solutions to its customers.
“The essential application of the doctor blade is to cleanly wipe the excess ink from the image carrier (gravure cylinder or anilox roll) so that an accurate image is transferred consistently to the printing substrate. Convertech has specialized in this field and makes its blades in accordance with customer needs,” says Rahul Sanon. The company makes special corrosion resistant doctor blades for water-based inks for gravure and flexo printing as well as coating applications. Convertech sells its products globally, according to Dhruv Sanon while providing not just a product, but solutions as well.
Dhruv Sanon says,“We provide smart solutions to our customers and for specialized applications whilst being cost-effective. Various parameters govern the performance, life span and material of construction of doctor blades. These may include types of inks and the pressure applied between the cylinder and the blade. Good doctoring is to ensure that all excessive inks are wiped off from the engraved surface and that clean images are transferred to the substrate.”
Convertech recently participated at the Plastindia show held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 5 to 10 February 2015. Rahul Sanon tells us that it was a great experience for them at the show with so many visitors and was a good opportunity to meet its existing customers while generating a few new ones as well. Convertech is looking to participate at forthcoming major overseas shows such as Labelexpo Brussels in September 2015 and drupa in Düsseldorf in Germany in May 2016.
Challenges however persist in the field and one of the more notable ones is competition on cheaper pricing. How does Convertech compete with other local as well as Chinese manufacturers? Rahul Sanon says, “We have developed expertise in our products over time and we keep our quality standards fairly high. We have invested a lot in our manufacturing set-up to ensure maximum quality. Ours is not exactly the cheapest product in the market. Markets, Indian and global, are equally competitive all across the world and every process industry is cost conscious. To remain in this race, you have to produce quality consistently.”
The Indian packaging industry, according to Rahul Sanon, is growing at an approximate rate of 15% year on year and both the gravure and flexo markets are well represented now and in keeping resonance with the market, Convertech has been growing consistently Rahul Sanon tells PSA, “The product range of Convertech has expanded substantially along with improved global reach. When you couple these two facts with the amount of technical knowledge we have in this field, I think we are in the best possible position to understand the requirements of our customers and deliver in terms of quality and consistency.”
