Ahmedabad-based flexible packaging printer and convertor Flexure Print N Pack, which has been using stack flexo presses for two decades, recently ordered its first CI flexo press from Mumbai-based Echaar. The fully loaded 300-meter-per-minute 8-color Flexosmart HR300 gearless press will be commissioned in March this year.
“At present, we have five stack flexo presses. The sixth one will be a CI flexo press, the new Echaar Flexosmart HR300. We will do the final trials at the end of February. After that, the press will be shipped from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. The installation and commissioning should be done in early March. We have chosen Echaar because they have a very robust track record in machine building. World-class components are used in the Echaar CI flexo presses. We conducted extensive trials on the press and were very happy with the results,” Jainam Shah, managing partner, Flexure Print N Pack, told Packaging South Asia at PlastIndia 2023.
Flexure Print N Pack, which was established by Ketu Shah in 2002, has been using flexo technology since the beginning. Ketu Shah is a veteran and has now been in the flexible packaging industry for more than four decades. Before venturing into flexible packaging printing, Ketu Shah was involved in the trading of flexible packaging materials for more than two decades. Flexure Print n Pack now prints and supplies flexible packaging material to customers in segments such as bakery, Indian snacks, spices, pet foods, agriculture, and garments in Gujarat and beyond.
At present, Ketu Shah looks after the overall operations of Flexure Print N Pack, while his elder son, Jainam Shah, looks after the engineering and technical aspects. His younger son, Rohan Shah, heads the sales and marketing division of the 20-year-old company.
“We print both short and long-run jobs and so we have a number of job changeovers. With the Echaar Flexosmart HR300, we will be able to manage the changeover fast and efficiently. Also, with the CI flexo press, we can print on mono materials, which is important from the sustainability point of view. With stack flexo presses, we are printing on polyester, metalized polyester, and LD. Even with stack flexo presses, we have managed to shift many gravure jobs to flexo. With the CI flexo press, we will aim to bring even more gravure jobs to flexo,” says Jainam Shah.
Kirti Panchal, managing director of Echaar, says working with Flexure Print N Pack was great as the company is well-versed with flexo technology and knew what they wanted in the press.
“We had been in discussion with Flexure Print N Pack for almost two years. Now they are moving from stack flexo to CI flexo. Flexure Print n Pack’s management thoroughly evaluated our machine as well as foreign brands. They finally opted for our press, which is a matter of pride for us. The press has features such as reprint application, defect detection, viscosity, and temperature controller, among others,” Panchal says.
Huge growth potential for flexo technology in India
Team Flexure Print N Pack believes that the potential for growth in CI flexo technology in India is huge as more and more flexible printing jobs will move from gravure to flexo.
“It is well-known fact that in the last few years, the number of CI flexo presses installed in India has grown at a rapid pace. With a focus on sustainability and the growing demand for short-run jobs, the requirement for CI flexo presses will only grow. The whole CI flexo ecosystem in India is maturing. We see a lot of jobs that are being printed on gravure presses moving to flexo presses in the coming years,” says Ketu Shah.
