Sanjeev Sondhi, head of Zircon Technologies, has steadily secured an indomitable space in the Indian label industry. Sondhi is known not only for steering his company to great heights but also as a highly articulate man who drives the company’s expansion plans.
Zircon Technologies recently installed a new OMET at one of the two plants in Dehradun. The company also has a plant in Chennai. Besides, the OMET presses, Zircon plants are equipped with five Mark Andy narrow web flexo printing presses in operations, a screen printing setup, plus Rotoflex inspection, slitting and rewind systems as part of its post-press fleet. The company has also ordered a Mark Andy P7, a 17-inch press which can print a 12-colour job.
In August 2013, when Zircon announced the acquisition of a highly loaded OMET Vary Flex, the industry called it a risky decision but Sondhi proved them wrong when he displayed his capabilities to excel and grow in times that followed. The company even circulated a press release quoting Steve Jobs: ‘You can’t just ask customers what they want and then give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.’ In the years that followed, Zircon worked towards changing the company’s mindset and ensured they had the right capacity and capability before adding on their customer base so that they could be relied upon to deliver.
Three years later, in August 2016, Zircon installed yet another state-of-the-art OMET printing press at its Dehradun plant, making it their third OMET in as many years. The press installed is a 10-colour OMET X4 (370 mm width) with two screen printing stations, one hot foil, cold foil, embossing and two diecutting stations. It features an advanced, fully automatic register control system that registers in both machine and cross-direction, thereby eliminating operator dependence to register the press. The machine runs at speeds up to 200 m, hence guaranteeing a faster ROI to Zircon Technologies, who have very high standards of press acceptance. Zircon employs a workforce of 275 people and operates out of a shop floor area admeasuring 100,000 sq. ft. The company has another 50,000 sq. ft. additional shop floor area under construction. Zircon has in the last nine years of existence invested in an average of more than one press each year, each of which has been new, high-end presses.
The OMET XFlex X4 has been supplied by OMET Srl Italy, which was founded by the late Angelo Bartesaghi more than 50 years ago. OMET is a leading global company that specializes in the design and production of high-tech printing presses and equipment to print and fold tissue paper products, self-adhesive labels, IML, shrink sleeves, aluminum foils, wrap around, security products, folding cartons and flexible packaging. Since its inception in 1963, OMET has installed 1,500 machines globally. Their specialization in machine designing and their commitment to adhering to latest technology makes OMET a leading, highly qualified and reliable partner. According to Paolo Grasso, sales manager at OMET, “Sanjeev has been a very precision demanding customer and can only be satisfied by new technologies available today. By investing in the third OMET press in less than 3 years, he continues to show the same trust in OMET which we are now seeing with the global leaders of the printing industry.”
The sale of this equipment is handled by Delhi-based Weldon Celloplast Ltd., exclusive agents of OMET in India and surrounding countries. Harveer Sahni, managing director of Weldon states, “Zircon Technologies is a very prestigious customer for us. Its recent expansion with the third press is a proof of our quality and service being delivered to him.”
