Amit Ahuja has just returned from the Rosupack exhibition in Moscow in mid-June, which he says was a useful event with some good leads and some very interesting sales in the pipeline. This was not Multitec’s first appearance at the show, and the company already has several installations in Russia. Apart from this continuous marketing at global exhibitions, Ahuja says the overall outlook for his company in this financial year is positive, with perhaps the same number of presses as in the past year (just around three dozen), but with a higher number of machines, more units, and greater complexity than in the previous year.
If I understand correctly from our brief conversation on the phone – the Indian market is interested in highly automated flexo label presses and, in some cases, using wider flexo presses for flexible packaging – such as sleeves and short-run pouches. When he says to me that the Indian market is “not bad,” I take it to mean that he is doing extremely well and more than holding his own among the numerous local flexo label press manufacturers. He is always looking to offer a market-differentiating product by pushing the envelope in Indian flexo-label press manufacturing.
The global market (which his company addresses with a substantial number of installations in Africa and Europe in recent years) is asking for longer presses with more complex options, such as multiple screen units, embellishment options, and flexibility of processes. He says automation, such as closed-loop color and registration controls and other startup and makeready features, are now practically standard on all the presses Multitec currently manufactures, whether in India or for exports.
Triple-servo sleeve press at Labelexpo Barcelona
Ahuja says Multitec will show a sleeve-based triple-servo gearless press at Labelexpo Europe in Barcelona. With the gearless sleeve system, all mechanical imperfections and vibrations due to a mechanical gear linkage system are eliminated, thus transferring the highest quality of print regardless of the material thickness. All three components of the Multitec print unit – the print sleeve, anilox, and impression are independently servo-driven.
There are no gear marks – typically found on a flexo print unit. He says not all sleeve presses are created equal. Unlike Multitec, most Chinese and some European companies manufacture sleeve press units with two servo motors that still incorporate gears and continue to face similar problems as a ‘cylinder with gear’ based flexo press.
The sleeve platform is far more ergonomic for the operator, irrespective of the press width and enables easy and quick format change without the need to handle heavy print cylinders. Ahuja says that the same platform is proven up to 670 mm width and Multitec has already received orders for presses with the new sleeve system from leading flexible packaging converters.
The company, with its forthcoming seventh participation at Labelexpo Europe, is now the longest continuously showing Indian exhibitor at the show. It seems to be progressing well in terms of customer acceptance and servicing, rolling out innovations, and more automated presses at each subsequent show.
Multitec believes in straight talk — making grounded promises and consistently delivering high-performance, high-quality equipment. It seems to be handling growth remarkably well, including the expansion of its global sales network and continuously expanding its manufacturing capacity as its market grows in numbers and complexity. This is a good make-in-India story that began long before the practice and experience were turned into a slogan.
