Sandon Global, a UK-based manufacturer of anilox rolls, anilox sleeves, and cylinders, is optimistic about its prospects in the Indian market, driven by the growth of the Indian packaging industry.
Sharing insights with Packaging South Asia during drupa 24, Stuart Mitchell, technical director – OEM and Global Sales Support, said, “We have been in India for five years now and the company has built a strong presence in the country. We have built a significant amount of business in India based on quality and innovation. We brought new engraving ideas to the Indian customers. We see ourselves as a solution provider. We like to understand the challenges customers face and use our technical expertise to help them improve their prints and processes.”
In India, Sandon is represented by Tinku Sharma, sales manager for India, Africa, and the Middle East. “For the last five years, Tinku has worked directly in the Indian market, also covering the Southeast Asia region and overseeing several countries in Africa. With Tinku’s efforts and the partnerships we are building with CI manufacturers and local repro companies, we are only going to get stronger in the Indian market,” Mitchell added.
Sandon Global serves the international print industry across every continent. The company performs in-house ceramic coating blends and is engaged in several ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnership’ projects with Liverpool John Moores University and Manchester University. Additionally, Sandon runs apprenticeship schemes to bring new talent into the industry. Its core business areas include flexible packaging, narrow web, and corrugated packaging.
“We essentially offer a full solution to enable a smooth transition from gravure to flexo for our customers,” Mitchell said.
Flexo Printing’s robust future in India
In India, most of Sandon’s customers are wide web CI flexo printers. The number of CI flexo presses being commissioned in India is increasing every year. Mitchell believes that flexo is the future for flexible packaging printing in India.
“Flexo is the way forward from a sustainability perspective compared to gravure. There are significant cost savings. We have seen customers move into extended color gamut (ECG) printing instead of traditional CMYK. Overall, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see 50, 60, maybe even 70 new CI flexo presses in the Indian market each year in the not-so-distant future,” he said.
Sandon Global will exhibit at the upcoming LabelExpo India later this year. “We’ll be back later this year in India at LabelExpo. The more time we spend in the market and the more people we meet, the better they understand our commitment to quality,” Mitchell concluded.
