Flexure Print N Pack, an Ahmedabad-based flexible packaging printing and converting company, has wrapped up a multi-crore investment drive involving new machinery and a second unit adjacent to its existing manufacturing facility – commissioning its first CI flexographic printing press supplied by Echaar Equipments. Till now, Flexure Print N Pack has been using stack-type flexographic printing presses. The company believes the new investment in machinery and infrastructure will spur its growth.
The company has set up a second unit, connected to the first one. The first unit houses five stack-type flexographic presses, slitting machines, lamination machines, and multiple converting machines.
The second unit was established earlier this year and houses the new fully loaded 300 meters per minute, 8-color Flexosmart HR300 gearless servo-driven wide web CI flexo press from Echaar. Flexure has also bought Echaar’s automatic plate mounting machine with SPP (Smart Plate Positioning) technology.
The combined area of the first and second units is about 40,000 square feet. The second unit also has a solvent-based lamination machine with register coating facility, stand up+ zipper+ quad seal with register insert gusset pouch-making machine. Additionally there are cleaning machines for photopolymer printing plates as well as anilox sleeve cleaning machines.
“We have chosen Echaar because it has a very robust track record in machine building. The components used in the Echaar CI flexographic printing press are world-class. That is a big plus. We conducted extensive trials on the press and were very happy with the results,” Jainam Shah, director of technology, at Flexure Print N Pack, says.
Flexure Print N Pack was established by Ketu Shah and has been using flexographic technology since the beginning. Ketu Shah has been in the flexible packaging industry for more than four decades and previously traded in flexible packaging materials for more than two decades.
Flexure prints and supplies flexible packaging material to customers in segments such as bakery, dairy, Indian snacks, spices, frozen foods, pet foods, agricultural products, garments, beauty care, and bio-care for the domestic and export markets. Ketu Shah, who is the managing director, looks after the overall activities of Flexure Print N Pack, while his elder son, Jainam Shah, looks after the engineering and technical aspects of the company’s manufacturing operations. His younger son, Rohan Shah, who is the director of sales, heads the sales and business development division of the 20-year-old company.
New investment ‘4S’ to improve quality and sustainable packaging
Jainam Shah says the new CI flexographic printing press will help the company in handling challenging substrates, enabling them to supply homogeneously structured mono and laminated materials in the market to promote recyclability and reduce carbon footprint. He says ‘4S’ is his mantra for flexographic printing technology. He explains the ‘4S’ as substrate flexibility to handle with flexographic printing technology, superior print quality, space-saving printing technology, and shorter lead times for clients as the major advantages of this process.
According to him, Flexure Print N Pack is the only company in India to print at 175 LPI resolution using wide web flexography, and with the addition of the new Echaar Flexosmart HR300, it aims to go beyond this print resolution, which is most important for halftone image sharpness and details. “The new Echaar Flexosmart HR300 can manage job changeovers quickly and efficiently, which can reduce press downtime and can handle multiple short runs in a day. Also, with the CI flexo press, we can print on monopolymer materials, which is important from the sustainability point of view. Even with stack flexo presses, we have managed to shift many rotogravure jobs to flexo. With the addition of the new CI flexo press, we will aim to bring even more challenging rotogravure jobs to flexo,” he says, adding, “The initial cost of buying a CI flexographic press is much higher than a rotogravure press but the running cost is relatively lower. The CI flexo press can handle a variety of substrates compared to what a rotogravure press can do.”
Ketu Shah sees a bright future for the CI flexographic technology in India given the increasing demand for environmentally friendly substrates and short-run jobs for the highly diversified Indian flexible packaging sector. “With a focus on sustainability and growing demand for short-runs, the requirement for CI flexo presses will only grow. The whole CI flexographic printing ecosystem in India is maturing. We see a lot of jobs being printed on rotogravure presses moving to flexographic in the coming years,” he explains.
Indian flexible packaging industry has huge potential
He asserts, “Flexure’s management is not only bullish about the CI flexo technology but extremely optimistic about the growth potential of the Indian flexible packaging industry and the company’s future. “The Indian flexible packaging is witnessing robust growth and Flexure has benefited because of that growth. We see our top line doubling this financial year because of the new investment and capacity addition. After that, we expect our top line to grow at about 20-25% every year.”
In conclusion, Flexure Print N Pack’s strategic move to incorporate an advanced CI flexo press and bolster its manufacturing capabilities signifies its commitment to staying at the forefront of the evolving flexible packaging industry and embracing eco-friendly practices while positioning the company to meet the demands of more diverse market segments.
