“Leaflet folding is becoming complicated day by day. For outserts, now people demand 16 folds and cross-folds which are very thick. Outserts require a very sophisticated machine – we are the third in manufacturing outserts machines – after Guk and Herzog+Heymann. At this event we are not showing the whole range of our folding machines, but trying to show our capabilities with smaller versions of different machines,” says Datta Deshpande, chairman, Pratham Technologies of Pune.
Pratham is a well-known brand for leaflet folding machines in India and has exported its folders globally including the European and American markets. Overthe past few years, Pratham has diversified into various products and solutions including pile feeders forinserts folding, outsert systems, pharmaceutical packaging, vision inspection, mailing and variable data printing. The company largely caters to the requirements of pharmaceutical industries, post-printing industries and packaging industries.
At its stand, Pratham is displaying its outsert folding machines – PGV PF 615 and PGV PF 618. These machines include parallel knife folding for last thick folds, a pressing unit and a taping machine. PGVPF 615has six folding pockets with five deflectors with a maximum format size of 350 x 650 mm while PGV PF 618 has a maximum format size of 450 x 650 mm. On display is also an add-on parallel knife ortaping unit.
According to Deshpande, rapid growth in pharmaceutical exports has created strong demand for outsert machines and Pratham can stand up to that demand in a cost-effective manner. “In the USA, many pharma patents are getting over every year, opening the door to production of more and more generic drugs. Generic drugs have led to a boom in the pharma packaging industry as Indian pharma companies already have the infrastructure to produce these drugs,” Deshpande says.
