TCPL Packaging Limited is one of the two largest carton manufacturers in the country and the largest Indian carton maker to be publicly listed on the stock exchange. With six plants in four cities, TCPL has recently commissioned its first uniquely configured gravure press to enter the flexible packaging market.
The new Kongsberg X20 machine is the same size as an older XL20 installed ten years ago which is still running perfectly. TCPL Packaging’s managing director Saket Kanoria points out that the first Kongsberg is still performing at its optimum at TCPL’s corporate and design office in Mumbai while the second sample maker was purchased for Silvassa simply because the three TCPL packaging production plants there offer a considerable amount of new packaging development and innovation.
The Kongsberg X20 new series of upgradable cutting and creasing sample makers delivers a great deal of flexibility and adaptability with newer software and tool options, such as laser-like cutting of extremely delicate and intricate patterns.
Kanoria places great emphasis on the reliability of the Kongsberg, saying, “Our first table is ten years old, but it is still like new. Some consumables may have been purchased, but no major repair or maintenance issue has arisen in the last ten years, which is remarkable.”
Talking about the performance of the sample maker and the role that it plays in the company, Kanoria says, “The folding carton industry is so dynamic that brand owners are continuously changing their packaging with marketing offers and formats. We also try to present new types of cartons to them with improvements or innovations. To keep improving the surface finishing, shapes and new types of openings and closures, the die lines keep changing quite frequently and the new ideas must be turned into samples immediately to get customer feedback.
“In fact, we have always had the Kongsberg in our corporate office where our design and prepress are also located. Our customers sometimes use it to try out some of their ideas. In short, the brand owners love the Kongsberg sample making table and they expect you as a carton maker to have it. The biggest customer of course is our own marketing department.”
TCPL was also one of the first carton makers to invest in Esko’s packaging design and prepress software as well as the Kongsberg sample making table.
Winderam said, “The Konsgberg tables produce samples as close as possible to actual cartons. We have a huge selection of tools for cutting different materials as well. Adaptability in the hardware, and also in the software, for packaging design is an important part of the solution. Our users spend less time on the table and more in the prepress and design, which is why, apart from innovating on the table, we are constantly improving the features and integration of our software. We don’t really think of the table as a product. We think of the entire prepress design, prototyping and production as a solution where the table should not be a bottleneck.”
At a small ceremony at the TCPL Packaging corporate office in Mumbai, John Winderam, general manager, South & South East Asia representing Esko and X-Rite, presented Kanoria with a memento commemorating the company for installing the 100th Kongsberg in the country. Both Winderam and Kanoria agreed that although a reliable sample maker was an invaluable prototype device, the key is really the software and the workflow.
