9th PAMEX 2013 concludes successfully

The 9th edition of PAMEX was successfully held from November 14- 17, 2013 at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida (NCR). PAMEX is a well-known reputed platform for the printing technology, printing equipment, allied machinery industries, materials, services including software solutions, management information systems, etc.

Dr EMS Natchiappan, honorable minister of state for commerce, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Government of India and AMSG Asokan, president, All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) officially inaugurated the show in the presence of other eminent industry leaders.

There was a display from nearly 200 exhibitors across 22 countries with an array of printing machinery, equipment, softwares and other ancillaries. The show attracted more than 20,000 visitors. The show was efficiently organised by All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP), in association with TAFCON Project India Pvt Ltd.

Some of the major displays at the show included:

APL Machinery who launched LED UV from AMS in India. US-based Air Motion Systems (AMS) is the leading supplier of high-performance UV LED and UV ARC Lamp systems for the printing industry. They offer the complete range from conventional UV to LED UV systems. Rajiv Kapoor of APL Machinery informed that they will now offer used and retrofitted UV LED systems from AMS. Besides, APL also showcased DigiUV with autofeeder, an upgraded version of their DigiUV system launched at previous drupa. Rajiv further informed that they have sold around 60 such systems since its launch, of which eight machines have been exported.

With the ban on plastic bags across various cities, people are looking for eco-friendly options and the stand at Autoprint showed just that. Visitors thronged at their stand to witness the live demo of Knight NX, which is a non-woven bag printing machine. “The changeover time from non-woven to paper is just 30 minutes,” told CN Ashok, managing director, Autoprint Machinery Manufacturers Pvt Ltd. Another crowd-puller at their stand was Repetto 65 die-punching machine, which garnered interest among conventional printers using platen die-punching machines, seriously looking for an upgrade. Also, showcased was 4-colour Dion 450+ machine, which already has an installation base of 55 machines in last three years of its launch. Besides, Fine Coat 65 and Reckoner VDP65 were also demonstrated at the show.

Capital Graphic Supplies/AS Print Aids, the distributors of Hunkeler paper processing equipment, TRESU FlexiPrint Chamber Doctor Blade Systems and anilox rollers, Martin Miller steel rules and Ecosystem high-end lamination machines, informed about these leading equipments and consumables for the printing and packaging industry.

Deluxe Printing Machinery Co generated good number of queries at their stand for ES-800SL carton folder and gluer from DGM for 4-corner or 6-corner boxes, with a speed of 400 m/minute. “We have installed three such machines at MK Printpack, Daman and at PAMEX, they have ordered their fourth,” told Rajinder S Khurana of Deluxe Printing Machinery. As per Anil Kumar of MK Printpack Pvt Ltd, they opted for this machine because it provides them continuous improvement and adoption of changes to suit the customer requirements. “We are able to give very good quality at much lower price and the machine is equipped with latest technology to handle most critical packaging jobs,” he said.

Also, launched at Deluxe stand was the DG-650 single-channel automatic carton inspection machine, which finds immense applications in hi-class cardboard boxes for perfumes and cosmetics, pharmaceutical cartons and wine boxes, etc.

Print production, cutting and management software have been a major highlight for which visitors thronged the stand of Esko. Suite 12 is the software solution for packaging, label, display and publishing professionals which Esko spotlighted during the expo along with its most sought after Kongsberg XE dieless digital cutting and creasing table for folding catron packaging. “What we are aiming to deliver is the complete package for packaging segment,” said Karan Talwar, sales manager, North & East India, Esko.

Grafica Flextronica revolutionised ‘screen printing’ in a way that this technology no longer remained in the same old fashion of its traditional way. The company showcased an array of automatic and semi-automatic screen printing machines including its popular Nano-UV, engineered with instant drying technology which defies the drying problem a traditional conventional screen printer usually faced in early days.

The stand of Hewlett Packard (HP) was poised to be a big crowd puller for the reason that it staged a stunning range of packaging as well as other related applications which HP Indigo and HP Designjet Z5400 machines produced using specialty ink and substrates. The whole arrays of items were attractively shelved on ‘displayed galleries’ which were always swarmed by visitors.

Leading printing machinery manufacturer Heidelberg focused on the consumables segment at PAMEX, offering assured long term discounts to their customers. As per Deepak Walia, regional sales manager, Heidelberg India Pvt Ltd, “The company is offering Saphira HEI Pace P&C series of inks at special prices, valid for the entire year for the customers who are booking them at PAMEX.” They also offered Customer Care Programme worth Rs 20,000 on signing the contract as well as special offer on Saphira fount solutions with inks. Besides, 50 percent discount on Heidelberg Saphira rollers was also offered.

Shunya or zero is a powerful number and Mumbai-based Hi-Tech Systems PFE (P) Ltd educated its customers on the same. According to Parag Shah, director, Hi-Tech Systems, they educated their customers that how zero wastage from conventional processes can improve their profitability. “For example, by using traditional creasing/punching processes, they are losing upto Rs 1,000 per day, which can be saved using automated processes, thereby increasing their profitability. Similarly, we also educated them on power consumption and ways to minimize it,” he added. Another highlight at their stand was the financing available at below bank rates.

“PAMEX is considered as a perfect opportunity for us to engage with customers as we are extremely bullish for the year 2014. We believe that activities before and after the general elections will spur the economy and will in turn make printing organisations to invest in technologies,” told Ajay Aggarwal, CEO & director, Insight Print Communications Pvt Ltd. At PAMEX, the company focused on the launch of Komori Lithrone LS632 + coater, which is a 6-colour press in the size of 32”x24” for packaging. “Also, after the success of LA437 press size with 25”x37”, we continue to attract a lot of customers and are in the process of finalisation with many of them,” added Ajay. Coming to the Kodak pre-press solutions, Ajay told that they are efficiently promoting the latest Xspeed, which is a high-speed thermal CtP as more and more printers are now demanding higher outputs.

It was not just machines that showcased at PAMEX ‘13 as Intec Capital Limited offered loans to companies investing in high-end machines. “We have tied up with a number of leading machine manufacturers including RICOH, Xerox, Konica Minolta, Heidelberg, Canon and others like Pressline, Webtech in the Indian segments to offer financing to buyers,” said Bhushan Tuli, head-Branding & Business Development, Intec Capital Limited.

While, the stall of Joy D-zign was abuzz with activities as they launched an exercise book making machine with automatic multi-head pinning, folding, edge squaring and cutting machine at PAMEX ’13. As per Nidhi Singh of Joy D-zign, the machine is already well accepted in the market and the additional cutting unit will garner better response. Besides, the standard range of machines were also on display which included equipment suited for preparation of book blocks for various kinds of books (hard-cover/perfect-bound books, diaries, dictionaries, directories, etc) and finishing of cased-in books.

Malhotra Graphics, leading suppliers of high quality consumables, machinery and after sales services for the printing and graphic arts industry, showcased suction-feed Morgana numbering machine, Morgana card cutter and Morgana auto creasing machine. “For the benefit of the smaller printers, we are also offering manual creaser as well,” told Navdeep Dadwal, VP sales – digital printing & graphic systems, Malhotra Graphics. The company also offers Uchida digital finishing equipment, Xeikon flexo CtPs, SPS TechnoScreen sreenprinting machine, Fuji CtP and consumables and Dupont flexo plates. More recently, they have also tied up with Autobond for digital spot UV and lamination machines.

A complete range of finishing machines, such as power punch, automatic double wire machine, stitching, edge squaring press, twin corner cutting, carton folding and gluing machine impressed visitors swarming around the stand of Mega Bond (Sai Enterprises). MS Rao, Mega Bond (Sai Enterprises) said they staged some machines including box making set, automatic wire-o-machine during Printpack India which impressed our customers to visit and look it again at PAMEX ‘13.

Memory Repro Systems Pvt Ltd displayed the Knurling machine, which garnered good response at the show.

An update to new technologies and other aspects was what Naph Graphics Pvt Ltd presented at their stand. “Now printing industry is gaining new momentum in the book printing segments which is growing in a prospective manner these days and we are into this move already,” said Praveen Kumar, director-marketing, Naph Graphics Pvt Ltd.

Fast, versatile and durable binding tape used particularly for books, catalogues, etc, Neopost India proved the accuracy and robustness with the showcase of Powis Parker spotlighted at the company’s stand during PAMEX ‘13 with guidelines and procedures to every visitor rushing to state-of-the-art binding method.

Newstech’s stand highlighted a complete array of what it involved in offset process, such as fountain solution, blanket and roller washes, press and plate care products, among others. In addition, special sundries and water-based varnishes on display delivered a perfect chemistry for packaging printing. “Our water-based varnishes like Supercoat 622 deliver the effect of playing card varnish with good gloss and slip,” explained Sunil Kumar V, area sales manager, Newstech (India) Pvt Ltd.

In addition to a complete combo of machines for album making, creasing & perforating, sheet feeder, Viren Shah, MD, Om Vir Print-O-Pack Pvt Ltd revealed the company’s new patent of PPP (Perf Print Plus) Swiss technology, designed for perforation, die-cutting, kiss cutting, embossing, slit-scoring and scoring on sheet-fed presses.

Faridabad-based Prakash Offset Machinery reasonably pulled crowd to their stand at PAMEX 2013 as visitors were impressed with the company’s versatile Prakash 1824 capable double-side printing on non-woven materials as well as paper. “We find many visitors who are taking interest in the sheet-fed press which is versatile and compatible with a flexible range of materials,” said Naveen Gupta, director, Prakash Offset Machinery Pvt Ltd.

From one fold up to sixteen folds, Pratham Technologies displayed excellence in automatic paper folding which they proved on their Superfold series during the expo. What impressed visitors about the automatic paper folding machines included the features like high-speed flat pile suction feed, high-speed back separator sucker, handling of both coated and non-coated papers with ease and efficiency and so on.

The stand of Robatech offered glue applicator systems for the graphic and printing industries. These applicator systems are available for cold glue to melt and apply hotmelt materials, designed to meet all requirements of the folder gluing process, the production of complex direct mails or the efficient gluing of book spines.

Attractively showcased at the company’s flamboyant stand comprised a range of proofing solutions from EFI, Epson, Alwan, and X-rite. Distributor of Konica Minolta and IBM Infoprtint line of digital presses, in the post-press domain, RSG Solutions Private Limited has tied up with Italian company mamo to bring various finishing machines. “Our latest addition being a range of Color Caliberable monitors from Eizo, Japan. We expect good response to this product in the Indian market,” Siddharth Saxena, assistant manager-sales (X-Rite), RSG Solutions Private Limited mentioned.

Achieve 4-colour printing in 3-colour machine! This was the punch line which attracted visitors to the stand of Sahil Graphics where demonstrated the company’s multi-colour non-woven D-cut bag and paper printing offset machine. Rajesh Batra of Sahil Graphics mentioned that the machine has been delivered to a number of printers across various states in India including West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and others.

While, Siemens Financial Services Pvt Ltd, an international provider of business-to-business financial solutions, offered finance options for printers looking forward to buy new machineries/equipments. The commercial finance unit of Siemens Financial Services (SFS Commercial Finance) specializes in equipment financing, leasing and vendor finance solutions. Financing is available for all organization sizes, from SME’s to large corporates. The company is primarily focused on Healthcare and various segments within industry such as machine tools, printing and packaging, etc. SFS Commercial Finance works in partnership with manufacturers/OEMs to develop flexible solutions with an objective to form a relationship as a trusted partner over the long term.

Spotlighted at the stand of SL Kulkarni Cyril Graphics Pvt Ltd during PAMEX ‘13 was FS175 box making solutions from the Japanese company Fuchu Shiko Co Ltd. “FS175 is currently the most advanced machine in the high-end cardboard box market. It meets auto rigid-box making machine processing requirements and can produce dozens of boxes designed with special structures,” said Yoichiro Miyake, director, Fuchu Shiko Co Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan. He added that FS175 will hopefully bring in a revolution in the packaging box processing for high-end products like smart phones, PCs, etc in the Indian market.

India’s first Independent participation by VDMA

For the first time, VDMA was present independently in the Indian print exhibition. “We generally have a group participation of ten or more manufacturers. But, this time, we are present independently,” told Dr-Ing Markus Heering, general manager, Printing and Paper Technology, VDMA, Germany.

Also present at the show was Sabine Geldermann, director, Messe Dusseldorf GmbH. “We wish to establish strong relationship with industry partners. At PAMEX, we met a few Indian exhibitors from the drupa 2012 event who were very positive regarding their participation at the next event,” she informed.

“People are investing for cost-reduction and efficiency”
says Ajay Aggarwal, CEO & director, Insight Print Communications Pvt Ltd

Ajay Aggarwal“While economy was slow, the focus on investment from customers was on cost saving rather than adding more capacity. Moving forward, the existing trend will continue for some time as people will continue to invest in technologies that will increase efficiency and reduce costs. Also, people will invest for growth,” told Ajay Aggarwal, CEO & director, Insight Print Communications Pvt Ltd.

With increasing number of gen-x opting for printing as their career options, Ajay expects that the industry will continue to grow at a healthy pace of 10-15 percent. “There are still a lot of reasons for new generation to take this activity in a positive manner,” he added.

An insight into Insight Print…

Built on the platform of highest quality standards, with the intent of providing world class product and solutions to the printing industry in India for the last 22 years, Insight Print Communications come a long way. With the Group’s vision to evolve into a ‘Complete Print Solutions’ enterprise, Insight has successfully diversified into various print verticals like commercial, publishing, packaging and signage. As a single window solution, Insight offers wide range of high quality products.

“Traditionally, we started with Kodak pre-press solutions and now we offer the complete gamut of products. We offer HP Scitex superwide format printers. Since 2006, we represent Komori in India while in digital printing, we represent Screen and Xerox. More recently, we have tied up for Soma CI Flexo presses in the packaging segment,” told Ajay.

The statistics…

Insight Print Communications is a well-diversified multi-faceted multi-talent organization, managed by extremely professional people. With a staff strength of 110 people, with 70 in customer service and 20 odd engineers, Insight has offices in main cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, with head office in Delhi. “Besides, we have two service offices in Guwahati and Indore,” he added.

On asking about the complete turnover of the company, Ajay replied that they sell goods worth Rs 200 crore per annum. However, the growth has been flattish in last two years, amounting to a single digit growth per year. But, he is hopeful that the economy will strongly revive in 2014.

The strengths…

Talking about their USP, Ajay shared that customer services and selling the right product with good ROI has been their USP. “At times, we have withdrawn ourselves from products wherever ROI or reliability is not there,” he said.

On future plans…

On asking about their future plans, Ajay replied that they are planning to consolidate their digital segment. “Also, we wish to add more products in finishing for the publishing and the packaging segments,” he added.

“We are open to new business opportunities brought in by individuals coming into the umbrella of Insight Print Communications. The company has grown by people coming in, adding value and using Insight umbrella to grow,” said the ever-enthusiastic Ajay.

The buzzwords…

“Only when our customers win, Insight wins,” concluded Ajay.

“Printing shows: ideal for networking”
says Subhasis Roy of Bobst India Pvt Ltd at the recently concluded PAMEX ’13.

Subhasis RoyThough the stand of Bobst did not showcase any machine at the show, yet it attracted a lot of visitors. As per Subhasis Roy, business director – SEA & South Asia, business unit shee-fed, Bobst India Pvt Ltd, “We organize a lot of open houses and exclusive shows for our existing and prospective customers. However, printing shows like PAMEX offer us the networking opportunities to a greater extent.” He further mentioned that taking part in the show with a printing machine is a costly proposition. However, he suggested that there could be a concept like PrintCity where like-minded exhibitors display their offerings with no conflict of interest in Indian print shows also.

Bobst has a huge manufacturing set up in India along with a demo centre and for them the business is still a steady business as people are migrating from commercial to packaging printing. “We have deeper penetration in the Indian market, with more than 50 percent orders from mid-segment customers coming out from mid-cities,” he said. Though the market sentiment is a bit down due to high currency conversion rates, they are still doing fine as their bestseller converting machine is manufactured here in India itself.

Subhasis also mentioned that their first flatbed die-cutter for corrugated segment in India has been installed at Meghdoot Packaging, for producing corrugated lock-bottom boxes for shelf-ready packaging.

More recently, in response to increasing demand for new solutions addressing flexible, folding carton and corrugated applications, Kodak and BOBST have formed a strategic development agreement to integrate Kodak technologies, including the Stream Inkjet technology, into the BOBST portfolio of packaging production equipment. Bobst is already working on the development of innovative products based on Kodak technology.

Monotech Systems gets into complete print portfolio
Completeness was what Monotech Systems underlined during PAMEX 2013 held in Greater Noida. While talking to Print & Publishing, TP Jain, director, Monotech Systems revealed the company’s move into a new platform of digital printing.

TP Jain“Time has come to embark upon the world of digital printing which meets anything under the sky,” said TP Jain, director, Monotech Systems. Of course, Monotech Systems, known for its versatile range of digital large-format printers, has sheltered almost everything of printing technologies, software and machines. The portfolio was showcased exclusively during PAMEX ’13 to present A-Z of printing under different verticals comprising pre-press, packaging, label, print enhancement, cutting, wide-format and more.

The complete spectrum of machines and technologies which Monotech Systems brought under its roof now include Konica Minolta bizhub (multifunction printer), Oce PlotWave (digital press), Summa (cutter), Scodix (digital enhancement), EFI (software), Amsky (CtP), BasysPrint (CtcP), MATAN, Oce Arizona (large-format) and its widely accepted and indigenously manufactured PixelJet eco-solvent digital large-format series. TP Jain remarked that the changing trend in the current printing market is catching up along versatility of the digital world.

Regarding the company’s further nationwide expansion, TP Jain updated about their plans of having 16 different branches of Monotech Systems to take care of sale and service all across the country. Monotech has recently tied up with Canon for distributorship of Oce Arizona flatbed printers. Such magnification of the company’s product portfolio and service has triggered this Rs 140 crore company to tap new business verticals. TP Jain has the pride of his dedicated team of 360 professionals who stand behind all growth and progression of the company.

KBA is going bullish on Indian market
While many exhibitors opted for a smaller presence at PAMEX, leading printing machinery manufacturer KBA had a huge stand with live running 4-colour sheet-fed machine, impressing the visitors.

Aditya Surana with Dietmar Heyduck, KBA alongside a KBA Rapida 75 machine during PAMEX ’13.“We are dedicated to the Indian market. Amidst the exchange rates fluctuations, we could have taken a backfoot but we are here in a big way to show our customers that we are equally focused on the small to mid segment of the industry,” told Aditya Surana from Indo Polygraph, the distributors of KBA machines in India. He particularly mentioned KBA Rapida 75 machine, targeted at the small format segment. “This is an entry-level machine and has garnered a lot of interest from smaller players. India is too big a market for such machines and we wish to dominate this segment as well,” he added.

He also said that the packaging segment is growing at a fast pace in India and even smaller packaging printers are opting for KBA machines as these have been the number one choice for the leading packaging printers across the country.

While the printing industry across the world is experiencing turbulent times, what is the approach of KBA in these trying times? “The mood in India is also depressed but I feel that only people thinking of coming in this segment have postponed their buys, while people who are already in business are expanding with new machines. I feel many players are transitioning from normal commercial press to highly automated presses,” answered Aditya optimistically.

While Dietmar Heyduck, sales director, KBA, also pointed out that the global market for small format presses is strengthening, more so in commercial and pharmaceutical segments. He also said that they wanted to educate their customers that there is huge savings in very large format presses (like KBA Rapida 145), especially for corrugators and magazine publishers. He also cited an example of a European book printer, efficiently using a very large format presses from KBA, who obviously has been very successful in meeting delivery deadlines.

Talking about the used equipment offered by KBA, Aditya informed that there are no grey market sales by them. KBA has a dedicated department for used machines where machines are offered in three ways – as it is basis, checked and cleaned and fully refurbished. “Many of our users first opt for a second-hand machine and later upgrade to new ones. This trend is very popular in countries like India and Pakistan,” he concluded.

“Look for value for money in each equipment you buy”
-A message to the printers from Vinay Kaushal and N Pradeep from Provin Technos

First-time exhibitor at the show, Provin Technos Pvt Ltd grabbed quite a few visitors to their show. “We want to show our presence in the market and create awareness about ourselves. PAMEX is a good platform and we have achieved our targets from the show,” told Vinay Kaushal, director, Provin Technos.

Incorporated in July 2012, Provin Technos Pvt Ltd is the pan Indian distributor for Mitsubishi sheet-fed and heatset offset presses and Rotatek narrow web presses in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The company is managed by Vinay Kaushal and N Pradeep, who have decades of experience in the fields of printing and engineering.

“In the last one year, we have not sold any machine but have stabilized our operations. Besides, there was lot of currency fluctuations, which led to fewer sales across the country,” told Vinay. “We started with Mitsubishi sheet-fed and heatset web offset presses and now have added Rotatek narrow web presses to our stable as well.”

Centrally located in New Delhi, Provin has 20 engineers in different parts of the country like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. “The percentage of machines installed in the North is maximum, then comes the East and West and then the South,” explained Pradeep.

As of now, they have not set sales targets but are in the process of providing up-to-the-mark after sales service to existing Mitsubishi customers. We have 70 machines under AMC right now. We are happy with the confidence customers show us,” informed Pradeep.

“Besides the well customized products from Rotatek, we are also offering prospective futuristic products from Marquip Ward United like corrugating, finishing and sheeting machinery for corrugated boxes, etc,” told Vinay.

Talking about the current printing industry scenario, Vinay said that the trend is going to change. “Printers will look and find new ways of survival. Infact, if you sense the market, you are bound to survive. Different categories of printers are merging. Earlier, we had different label, packaging, commercial and publishing printers. Now, printers are diversifying and some commercial printers are gradually moving towards packaging,” he added.

As a message to the printers, Vinay and Pradeep opined that the current trend is very good to acquire innovative, productive and cost-effective equipments. “It is important to evaluate what is the value for money before buying any equipment/machinery,” concluded Vinay.

SPOT NEWS
Provin Technos Pvt Ltd, New Delhi has been appointed as the pan India sales and service agency for complete range of products from RYOBI MHI Graphic Technology Ltd (RMGTL), a joint venture established for the integration of sheet-fed offset printing machinery businesses between Ryobi Limited and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery Ltd. The joint venture aims to achieve integration of the product line up with significant synergy effects including product line-up enhancement, expansion of product development capabilities, production cost reductions, and improvement in sales and service networks.

With the addition of Ryobi range of printing machines, Provin will now be able to offer a complete range of printing machines sizes from A3 to B1 and above in all possible configurations like inline coating, perfection, etc.

Typical dedicated software help save a lot
Estimating and workflow software, if properly used, can change the way of working of printers ultimately leading to great profitability. It was amazing to see how awareness was brought out to the visitors in PAMEX 2013, D Ramalingam briefs.

Printing and allied machinery industries exhibition, PAMEX as the acronym suggests relates to the machineries – often forgotten is how to use them properly with reference to the given possibilities in the product leaflet/manual, etc, let us say. Another area is choosing the most cost effective paper/stock size for printing and using the most suitable software offered at PAMEX were Easeprint Solutions’ offset printing estimating & management software and Metamation’s IMP series imposition and workflow software.

Easeprint Solutions

From introducing basic estimating software in a print expo at Chennai two years ago, Faridabad (NCR) based Easeprint Solutions have come a long way in PAMEX 2013. Sanjay Handa, director, Easeprint Solutions was relentless in his non-stop presentations. Any possibility asked for by a prospective user was put forth in a jiffy with a ready solution. In case of estimating, an estimator should know the specifications and capabilities of each machine and equipment in his plant. Based on these, he should know the steps of production. This requires a sound technical knowledge,” he said.

An estimator’s knowledge, as enunciated above was imminent in Sanjay. With his 27 years experience in printing, the software offered is almost a complete solution for what all an estimator should know. Change of format, stock, machine all can be done within minutes. Solutions for the best suited paper/stock with optimal size and wastage allowance are available. Also most suitable imposition and machine size sheet-fed/web can be found out. What all could be done with Easeprint includes estimation for commercial printing, cartons mono/e-flute, job ticket, despatch challan and invoice to Tally. Besides, Stock management, job scheduling and production records can be interconnected. With Android application, software can be operated from anywhere. The business in a press being continuous with variables in machines (upgradation/downsizing), change in job structure/product mix, etc, Easeprint offers continuous support.

Metamation

Metamation, as a subsidiary to Chennai based Proteck Machinery, was started to develop software solutions to printing industry. Started in 2007, they exhibited their first product for imposition software in drupa 2008. Now in PAMEX, they offered their IMP series for layout planning for commercial printing sheet-fed/web and for packaging. Their ‘stylkit’ is a packaging specific CAD application. The components of the design can be saved as skyline in UP file or be exported into standard vector formats – DXP, CF2 or PDF.

As for IMP, the jobs can be, commercial or packaging, be seamlessly planned across stock available, both sheets and reel. The resulting plan can be sent across to Esko workflow, for example, were the final artwork can be merged with the layout plan and sent to RIP and plate making. These are made error free.

Asked about the response, Santosh Mulay, senior manager, business development at Metamation replied, “Awareness is still to pick in India except in presses like Hyderabad based Pragati and Ahmedabad based Print Vision, etc. We participate in exhibitions in India to spread the awareness about estimation and workflow software. About 60 to 70 percent of our revenue comes from the US and Europe.”

One could have seen the stream of visitors at their stall and Santosh was demonstrating the software at PAMEX 2013. He operates from Hyderabad, which he feels not inconvenient, though HQ is in Sholinaganallur near Chennai. “The market is global and Proteck encourages their representatives to develop business from their locations where they are,” Santosh concluded.

Macart’s revolutionary Boxjet printer equipped with XAAR Proton 35
One of the ground-breaking technologies brought under the spotlight during PAMEX ’13 was Pune-based Macart Equipment’s Boxjet printer designed with XAAR Proton 35 printhead configured to print directly on packaging boxes. Bob Bobertz, GM, Asia Pacific, XAAR and Atul C Gandhi, director, Macart Equipment shared Print & Publishing about the printer and the technology.

Included big amongst the mega showcases at the PAMEX 2013 was Macart Equipment’s Boxjet packaging box printing machine which is capable to print directly on packing box. Boxjet is uniquely equipped with XAAR Proton 35 printhead and configured with the state-of-the-art technology to bring dynamism in the Indian packaging segment. “In the Indian printing market, people have started taking keen intrest in the packaging segment and this sector will grow bigger in future,” said Bob Bobertz, GM, Asia Pacific, XAAR.

Macart Equipment has been in partnership with XAAR to venture into such innovative move in the packaging segment. Since their partnership in 1999, Macart Equipment has been venturing into different segments of the printing industry. Atul C Gandhi, director, Macart Equipment recollected the official launch of the company in the year 2000. Now, the company has two manufacturing units in Pune wherefrom their versatile range of machines including Boxjet and others like digital large-format printers are produced. These printers are now picking up its popularity in different parts of India.

“Our ultramodern R&D facility in Pune is where we design the high quality inkjet printers for different industrial applications,” said Atul adding that they have a strong network of sales service all over the country which is run by more than 50 qualified engineers. Commenting on future expansion plan of the company, he mentioned that they are looking forward to further expansion of sales network as well as up-gradation of their line of printers viz. Boxjet, Pico Jet, Print Station, Pico Eco, Ultra Jet (flatbed), etc.