Mumbai-based packaging printing and converting solutions provider Kohli Industries organized a webinar to demonstrate the Thea 9one8 shaftless ELS rotogravure printing press to guests from across the globe. The virtual event was organized twice on 3 November so that guests from all time zones could participate.
“This is the sixth open house that we have organized since the lockdown. Today we organized two sessions so that we can accommodate participants from all time zone globally,” says Kaku Kohli, managing director of Kohli Industries. The Thea 9one8 press was officially launched by Kohli Industries on 12 and 17 June this year via a virtual event.
“The Thea 9one8 has been ergonomically designed with machine operators in mind. After three years of extensive research and development and feedback from machine operators and maintenance engineers worldwide. It has sustainable, best in class productivity and is ready to embrace Industry 4.0,” adds Kohli.
The press has a web width of 1300 mm and comes in models with speeds of 400 meters per minute and 450 meters per minute. The press has an overall length of 26 meters, a height of 6.8 meters, and a width of 7 meters. The Thea 9one8 press shown in June was different from the one shown in November. The first press had a traditional pressure/regulator at each printing station for the impression roll and doctor blade unit. The press demonstrated on 3 November has an HMI unit at each printing station.
Talking more about the press, Kohli said that Thea 9one8 boasts of a unique catwalk design that helps the operator walk inside each drying area for quick and safe web threading and easy maintenance and cleaning of rollers and nozzles. It is compatible with water-based inks and can process a wide variety of thinner materials and recyclable films.
“Thea-9one8 is conceptualized, designed, and manufactured, keeping in mind ease. Ease of operation, ease of production, ease of changeover, ease of information, and ease of maintenance,” says Kohli.
Kohli’s global tech partnerships
Thea 9one8 offers wide a variety of customization as Kohli Industries has partnered with Siemens for electronic line shaft integration, BST-Eltromat for register control, BST-Eltromat and E+L for the web inspection system. Rossini partners for the impression sleeves and ink furnishing rollers, Gama for viscosity control, Enulec for electrostatic assist, BST-Eltromat, and Futec for 100% defect detection, Honeywell and Nira for LEL control, and SMC for pneumatics.
Potential users of the Thea 9one8 can also get K-Online service, which helps in real-time monitoring. K-Online can monitor energy consumption, compressed air pressure, the static charge on the web, the print register of the web under production, and historic trends for temperatures, web tension, and web speed. K-Online also helps provide fault diagnostic reports. The K-Live service offers data such as production updates, machine downtime, and fault alarms sent through emails at pre-set intervals.
Kohli also informed the audience that Kohli Industries is working on offering a Thea 9one8 at a slower speed. At present, the Thea 9one8 is available at speeds of 400 meters a minute speed and 450 meters a minute. “We have received many requests for a Thea 9one8 model at a slower speed. We are working on coming out with a model with a speed of 300 meters a minute,” Kohli says.
