With a presence in diverse markets, including corrugated, narrow-web, wide-web, offset, embossing, rotary screens, and coating applications, Apex International offered its anilox-metering rolls and sleeves under the label segment at the Pamex 2024 show in Mumbai.
Mangesh Bhise, Asia-Pacific sales director at Apex International, said, “We ventured into the Indian market in 2018 when talk about flexo in the industry was at a peak. Although India is a gravure-dominant industry, flexo is slowly gaining share in the industry, which gives us a window to play our part in the industry.”
Bhise informed us that the company – which supplies to more than 20 countries from its plant in Nashik, Maharashtra – has a more than 75% market share in India. Bhise said, “I see a good potential in the industry because, in the Asia-Pacific, all other countries except Australia are a gravure-dominant market. Now the convertors are trying to either shift to flexo or digital. When regulations get tough over environmental concerns, more and more converters will follow the same path.”
At the exhibition, the Apex International team highlighted its GTT anilox roll. The innovative open channel pattern of the GTT 2.0 technology releases an exact volume of ink or coating to flow calmly and precisely from the anilox rolls to the printing plate or substrate, allowing you to print finer screens and solids on the same ink station.
The open channel benefits from a 50% reduction in the wall surface area, resulting in easier cleaning and lower maintenance anilox combined with the advantage of an extended anilox roll life.
Bhise said, “It’s an evolving product. The industry knows about it but it is not widely used right now. We are trying the product in corrugated, coating, offset, and flexo markets.”
According to Bhise, their sole reason for participating in the exhibition was to demonstrate the company’s offset and coating technologies capabilities. “We were there to explore opportunities in the offset and coating industries.”