Ahmedabad-based Technomec Roll Manufacturing Company, one of the leading manufacturers of rotogravure cylinders in India, will embark on the next investment phase post-drupa 2020. The company entered the engraved cylinder segment in November 2016. Before that it was manufacturing steel, copper and ready-to-engrave cylinders. “We entered the electronic engraving segment post-drupa 2016, and we have acquired quality customers and executed quality jobs during the last two-and-a-half years. Now what direction the company will take and what technologies we will invest in will be clear only after drupa 2020,” says Amal Amin, director, Technomec Roll Manufacturing Company.
At present, the company is supplying cylinders to some of the leading flexible packaging converters such as Constantia Parikh Packaging, Vijayneha, Balaji, Vimalachal Print & Pack, Trish Flexipack and Supreme Packaging, to name a few. Technomec also supplies cylinders for heat transfer printing applications to customers such as Mudrika and Top Notch. Nitin Apte, also a director at Technomec Roll Manufacturing Company, echoes Amin’s sentiment about the next investment phase of the company.
“Yes, we would like to do something new but will wait till drupa 2020 before we take the next step. Post-drupa 2020, we will have clarity on the technological developments. We will also have a better understanding of the Indian flexible packaging market and the economic policies of the new government,” Apte argues.
Amin and Apte say that there are a lot of technologies that were first unveiled during drupa 2016 which are expected to be presented in an updated form during drupa 2020.
“We are looking forward to seeing how the technologies have evolved since last drupa. We expect updates and new developments from both Ohia and Hell,” they say.
An impressive journey in the engraved cylinder market
Although Technomec Roll Manufacturing Company has been operating in the engraved cylinder segment for a little over two years, it has been present in the rotogravure industry since 1989. After having established itself in the steel, copper and ready-to-engrave cylinder segments, Technomec entered the electronic engraving segment in late 2016 with the installation of five engraving machines consisting of two Ohio and three Hell engraving machines.
“We have managed to do some high-quality jobs not only because we have world-class technologies and hardware, but also because of the manpower and the know-how we have. This human talent we have has helped us in utilizing the technologies to the fullest,” Amin says.
Technomec Roll Manufacturing Company started its cylinder engraving unit with Ohio Spectrum Packaging Engraver with Vision 3 head and Hybrid Engraving and Ohio Spectrum Compact Engraver with Vision 3 head and Impact Engraving. It also bought Collage-S Software with Hell Output module. The Spectrum units include semi-automated features to simplify engraving and the well-known Vision 3 engrave heads. The Spectrum engravers include a wide variety of capability thanks to the engrave heads. Between the two machines, Technomec can engrave standard electro-mechanical screens at over 8 kHz, provide outstanding linework quality with hybrid engraving, and also engrave depths to 90µm with the Impact feature.
The Collage Layout system supports not just the two Ohio Spectrum engravers but also creates the engraving files for the Hell engravers on-site. This one-size-fits-all approach reduces the number of applications software operators must use. Technomec’s Hell engravers include one Hell K500G3 and two Hell K5 Smart.
Technomec has the capacity to produce 4,000 ready-to-engrave cylinders per month while it can supply 3,000 engraved cylinders per month. In terms of capability, Technomec can handle cylinders with circumference range of 400 mm to 1,200 mm and length range of 350 mm to 2.2 meters.
Uncertain policy a challenge
Although Technomec is very optimistic about the future of the flexible packaging market in India, the company believes that uncertainty about plastic ban and its impact on the packaging industry has created some bit of confusion.
“The convertors are still not clear about the policies related to the ban on plastic packaging and how this will shape up. This is something we believe has created some confusion among the stakeholders in the flexible packaging industry. We hope the authorities make things clear soon,” concludes Apte.
