Apex International, a global provider of anilox technology, displayed ink metering solutions and its wide range of aniloxes for labels, offset, and commercial printing applications at the LabelExpo India 2022 show held from 10 – 13 November at the India Expo Center in Greater Noida.
Mangesh Bhise, Sales director, Asia-Pacific & Middle East, of Apex International spoke about its GTT technology, which specifically provides “more assistance, stability, and cost savings for the printers”.
The GTT technology provides less mottling, pinholing, plugging and dot gain along with a faster drying time. It is said to provide consistent ink-to-plate transfer in HD flexo quality and fixed palette printing. The patented Open Slalom Ink Channel geometry lets an exact volume of ink flow calmly and precisely from the anilox onto the printing plate, releasing just the right amount. “We are working on several projects with this technology. It is the need of the hour,” he said.
Dhanraj Patil, executive director, said Apex International has an edge over competitors with solutions for multiple applications. “We can reduce the inventory of the printers.”
Apex’s factory in India is located in Nashik, which caters to the entire Asia Pacific, including the Indian peninsula, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. “Our position in the Indian peninsula is very strong – many manufacturing companies use our aniloxes in their operations. We are exploring South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand markets,” Patil shared.
The company has a strong presence in the Middle East. “We have been catering to the Middle East for quite a long time from our Netherlands headquarters. Logistics and offerings wise, it is feasible to support that market. Many Indian companies and Indians are based there, they know that most of the solutions are coming from India. It is a diversified and interesting market with labels, flexible packaging, monocartons, and corrugated cartons – it makes sense or us to be there,” Bhise said.
Speaking on the labels sector, he shared, “It has always been a good experience to be in the labels industry in India as it is growing at a fast pace. For the last two years, we have been facing challenges as not many installations were coming in and converters were reluctant to go for major expansions because of overcapacity. Now, people have individual plans for growth but they are very selective about the type of installations and equipment they want to opt for. It is a challenging market but it is growing and will be stable in the near future. I see good potential in the coming years.”
The company received a good response at its stand at LabelExpo India 2022. “We were excited because the event was happening after four years. The footfall was amazing. Interested and serious people were coming to our stand and we got many leads.”
Patil said people inquired about the GTT technology. “We received many inquiries. Many customers already with us wanted to upgrade their technology. Business is strong and we have a lot of orders in place,” Patil concluded.
