Michelman India formally inaugurated and commenced operations of its new business and technology centre in Mumbai on 28 April 2015 at a well-attended event at the Courtyard Marriot attended by associates, customers and family. A global developer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly advanced materials, Michelman is an innovator in the develop- ment of barrier and functional coatings, and digital printing press primers. Michelman chemicals and coatings add value to consumer and industrial packaging, labels and commercially printed materials.
Michelman India was formed as a result of its recent acquisition of longtime sales and service partner, Supack International. Michelman India now offers a business centre, laboratory, and an experienced team of sales, technical service and business operations personnel. The plant’s laboratory has been equipped with several industry accepted producttesting capabilities for packaging, printing, and coating applications.
The gathering was addressed by Rick Michelman, chief technology officer, Michelman, Steven Wong, vice president and managing director – Asia Pacific and Pankaj Shah, the co-director of Michelman India and director, Supack International. “We found the Indian
packaging segment to be very innovative, fast evolving, risk taking and progressive. The Indian companies want to be out in the front and that is where we want to help them move fast and keep their business running,” Michelman told Packaging South Asia.
Taking about the new operations in India, Michelman stated, “The purpose of the new lab is to serve our customers faster. In the past we used to take samples and send them to the laboratory in Singapore or other places around the world which took a lot of time. But now
everything can be done in India.” The laboratory houses tools for water resistanttesting, heat sealtesting and oil and grease testing. The plant also has a tensile tester with coefficient of friction tester, grammage tester and other equipment for product testing capabilities for packaging, printing, and coating applications.
Michelman emphasized that the company is now looking to provide services in digital, flexible, paper and foil anywhere in India. Local manufacturing could also be an option in the future if Indian conditions demand such an operation, he said adding that for Indian
customers the company is focusing on print receptivity and has come up with a number of solutions which are immensely useful and valuable.
“Print receptivity can be divided into traditional printing like gravure printing and various digital print styles and UV printing. We have come up with unique solutions for all these segments. The other areas in the packaging segment we are focusing on are sustainable, recyclable and biodegradable materials with barrier solutions and lighter weight coatings,” Michelman said.
