Ahmedabad-based packaging specialist Art-O-Print has seen a productivity boost in its carton printing capabilities thanks to the commissioning of 8-color double coater, double drier Heidelberg XL 75 two years ago, Niral Patel, a partner in Art-O-Print told Packaging South Asia.
Niral Patel says, “The Heidelberg XL 75 is one of the best printing machines we have ever seen. It is working like a digital machine. If your prepress is strong enough, the machine will give you wonderful results. Apart from the technology we are also using Heidelberg’s Multicolor technology for 7-color extended gamut color printing. We can achieve more than 80% of the Pantone shades using this technology.”
“The Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 -8 LYYL Anicolor configuration is first of its kind in Asia. We are happy about the Anicolor press installed at Art-o-Print, our long-term Heidelberg customer. Especially for pharma jobs, the Anicolor technology opens up the potential for huge savings even for short production runs. Spot colors can be changed extremely quickly with the help of our Multicolour technology,” says Samir Patkar, president, Heidelberg India.
The Speedmaster XL 75’s Anicolor zoneless short inking unit is designed for high productivity, especially with short runs. The Anicolor inking unit consists of a single-speed screen roller with an ink chamber blade. The ink is transferred from the screen roller to the printing plate by an ink form roller. The ink density can be markedly changed and adapted to a wide range of substrates and spot colors by adapting the temperature and activating the Anicolor booster.
Art-O-Print supplies cartons to the pharmaceutical sector and is printing all types of cartons on the Heidelberg XL 75 Anicolor 8-color double coater press. Apart from the integration of this highly configured press, it has implemented a stringent quality management system in accordance with ISO certification 9001:2015 for the scope of manufacturing and supply of plain and printed secondary packaging materials.
Established in 1969, the company’s plant is equipped with state-of-the-art printing and converting machinery and benchmarked technologies. The numerous in-process controls support the packaging requirements of the current pharmaceutical industry as well as its regulatory compliances.
The range of products includes manufacturing large and small volumes of cartons including Braille cartons, cartons with security features, labels with security features, leaflets, product literature, marketing materials, pharma outserts, pharma inserts for the US market, brochures, and 3 to 9-ply corrugated boxes.
Art-O-Print is a packaging supplier of choice to numerous pharmaceutical as well as non-pharmaceutical companies including Torrent Pharma, Zydus Cadila Pharma, Macleods Pharma, Ajanta Pharma, Amneal, J B Chemicals, ACME Generics and Formulations, IMA-PG, Asian Paints, and Puniska Healthcare.
A traditional Heidelberg customer
The Heidelberg XL 75 Anicolor isn’t the first or only piece of machinery that Art-O-Print has bought from Heidelberg. The company is a long-term Heidelberg customer and has multiple pieces of equipment supplied by the German press and prepress manufacturer.
On its shop floor, apart from the XL 75 Anicolor, the company operates Heidelberg prepress equipment such as a CtP 74 and a CtP 106. In its pressrooms, the company runs a Heidelberg 4-color SM 74, a 5-color CD 74 with UV and coater, an SM 74 2P, two SM 102 2-color perfectors, and an 8-color Gallus ECS 340 narrow web flexo label press. Its Polar cutting and Stahl folding machines are also from the same supplier.
Patel praises Heidelberg India’s after-sales service. “The success of Heidelberg India goes to their service team. We are very happy with the machines as well as their services. The availability of parts and service engineers are the key to their success,” explains Patel.
Recently, the company installed a semi-automatic corrugation plant which includes 2-ply steam-based corrugation, a 5-ply laminator, a printer slotter, and side pasting for producing corrugated boxes. In the 2021-22 financial year, Art-O-Print also invested in a Bobst Novacut 106 die-cutter and an Expertfold folder-gluer. With the installation of these two Bobst machines, the company now has two Bobst die cutters and two Bobst folder gluers for enhanced reliability of its converting and overall monocarton production workflow.
Further investment plans
After the new investments in the corrugation division and significantly enhancing the capabilities of its converting department, Art-O-Print is looking to increase the printing capabilities of its label section. The company may also add equipment to its post-press section. “Over the next year or so, we may go for one more flexo printing press for labels and post-press machines,” Patel concludes.
