Indian exhibitors had high expectations for Lankapak

SB Packaging wins best stand award at Lankapak 2018

October 4, 2018

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The international printing, packaging and plastics exhibition, Lankapak 2018 took place from 14 to 16 September 2018 at the BMICH in Colombo, Sri Lanka for the 20th time. The event was organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging together with CDC Events and Futurex Trade Fairs and Events with support from the Sri Lankan government and several private sector organizations.

Convertech 20180915 153610 — Convertech stand at Lankapak. Photo
PSA

Sri Lanka has several world-class packaging converters, especially in the tea and garment segments. Lankapak is a platform for all industry professionals to meet and educate their potential buyers on the modern printing, packaging and plastics techniques required for sustainability and value additions to all kinds of consumer products that are produced for the local and export markets. Top officials from various industries including food and beverage, dairy, logistics, personal care, convertors, packaging professionals among others were present at the event on the inaugural day to discuss and comment upon key issues in the industry.

SB Packaging stand at Lankapak. Photo PSA — SB Packaging stand at Lankapak.
Photo PSA

SB Packaging, one of the Indian flexible packaging converters based in Hissar in the Delhi/ NCR, took part in the show for the first time and was awarded for having the best stand at the show. Packaging South Asia also took part in the exhibition.

The event did not receive much footfall, with altogether 40 exhibitors from around the world. More than 50% exhibitors at the event came from India. Manish Bhaskar, managing director of Arden Asia Pacific Software based in Delhi/NCR said, “The event was quite poorly managed. The footfall wasn’t up to the mark as well. We didn’t see many potential customers at the event. But, we somehow managed to generate some queries. Overall, our experience was not up to the mark.”

Arden Asia showcased its database-driven packaging design and manufacturing software, Impact CAD solution. Impact features a set of fully interactive drawing tools as well as some reusable design components which simplify creation of custom drawings. Large libraries of pre-programmed, reusable parametric design styles are also included to enable speedy drawing and sample turnaround. Impact libraries include corrugated (FEFCO), folding carton (ECMA), point of purchase display, rigid paper composite and media wallet variations.

SG Edge, based in Noida (Delhi-NCR) exhibited at the event for the first time. Santosh Kumar, chief executive officer of SG Edge, said that the company’s experience at the event was relatively good. “It was a very small event. We were hoping that the event would amass a huge crowd over the course of the duration but it failed to do so. Our experience wasn’t that good but we shouldn’t judge an event by participating just once. We are looking to participate again in order to penetrate better in the Sri Lankan market. Though the event was small, we found some potential customers. We have generated some enquiries and will look at converting these in due course of time. I feel that the Sri Lankan market lacked awareness of the event and hence the attendance was trimmed,” Kumar added. SG Edge exhibited its servo-driven, narrow-web flexo printing machine, SGF-340 with UV curing for printing labels.

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