Labelexpo India 2016: a record-breaking event!

Labelexpo India 2016 was successfully held from November 17-20, 2016 at its new home for the first time, the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida (Delhi NCR). The four-day trade show was its biggest-ever edition and hosted 8,029 visitors. A report by Varsha Verma and Jyaneswar Laishram. Billed as the largest dedicated label and package printing event for the South Asia region, Labelexpo India 2016 amassed the latest technology and solutions available to printers with over 200 exhibitors occupying the show floor. The show was used as a catalyst for many new product launches with announcements from Atul Papers, Avery Dennison, Bobst, DuPont, Flint Group, GEW, HB Fuller, Konica Minolta, manroland, Monotech Systems, Nilpeter, OMET, PGI Technologies, SPGPrints, UPM Raflatac, Webtech and Zonten.

Jade Grace, Labelexpo India event director commented, “2016’s edition of Labelexpo India has been an enormous success with a 50% rebook for 2018. The venue move has been well received and got the seal of approval from both exhibitors and visitors. The watchwords from this year’s show were definitely new technology launches and press sales. Business being done on the show floor was really amplified by the numerous innovations unveiled during Labelexpo that could be transformative for the Indian market. We also had excellent feedback on the calibre and variety of buyers visiting the show, with many significant sales contracts being inked by exhibitors including: Alliance Printech, Grafotronic, HP, Marks Enterprises, Multitec Aids, Nilpeter, Omet, Vinsak and Xeikon.”

Major displays…

At the stand of Capital Graphic Supplies, Steen Rasmussen, area sales manager, Tresu Group, shared that Tresu has been present in India for the past six years through Capital Graphic Supplies, which has right connections to right people. TRESU Ancillary is the world’s leading supplier of chamber doctor blade systems along with a wide range of high-performance offset- and flexo ancillary equipment. All products are designed to support optimum performance of the printing process within the label, flexible packaging, coating, wide web, corrugated, tissue, and other market segments. “Indian market is now gearing up for such equipments and we are trying our best to educate printers about the product, which is not a cost but an investment for their set up,” he said. “It is tough to start but we are on our way,” said Arun Gandhi of Capital Graphic Supplies.

XEIKON, a division of Flint Group and an innovator in digital printing systems, introduced its Xeikon 3030 Plus running live at its massive stall during the expo. Shedding a spotlight on the advanced features of the label press, Neeraj Jagga, sales area manager-India, XEIKON said this newly launched ‘plus’ version would offer a higher top speed and it could handle larger production volume. Xeikon 3030 Plus features a web width of 330mm and capable to print in 1,200 dpi at the maximum speed of 15m/min.

Another show-stopper at the expo was Novexx Solutions, a division of Possehl Group and a partner with manroland India, showcased its XLP 504 label press for printing on a diverse range of materials including papers, polyester labels and tags. Sajan Abraham, general manager- South Asia, Novexx Solutions, hailed the expo for being a significant platform for introduction of their new products like XLP 504 label printer. The press is available in different models 203, 300 or 600 dpi print resolutions; but the model with 600 dpi can take up tiny fonts, barcodes, symbols and more.

Announced at the stall of DuPont Advanced Printing during the expo were the latest additions of DuPont Cyrel Easy flexographic printing plates, which are designed for advanced flexography, delivering colour complexity and simplifying workflow.

Prasenjit Das, sales manager-South Asia Cluster, DuPont Advance Printing, said these plates, developed for flexible packaging, tags and labels, could simplify the prepress process with flat top digital dots built directly into the plates. Collaboratively shared stall with the company was ESKO presenting its versatile Esko CDI 4835 flexo plate imager and others. Karan Talwar, regional business manager-north & east, ESKO said the tie-up constructive.

YUPO India, a big supplier of synthetic papers, marked a significant presence with the showcase of a range of solutions comprising YUPO P.S. Labels and YUPO IM-L (for mould labelling). Prashant Mandewal, GM-business development (YUPO Corporation), Mitsubishi Chemical India Pvt Ltd, said they would introduce in-mould label materials with a focus on increasing their share in the pressure sensitive market. He further mentioned that their YUPO IM-L for in-moulding is cost-effective, eco-friendly and designed to reduce bottle weight.

GEW offered ArcLED hybrid UV curing systems. As per Marcus Greenbrook, international sales manager, GEW, they offer the most energy-efficient arc systems and they are present in India since 2005.

Khushal Patel, director-sales & marketing, BST Eltromat, said that they are no strangers to the industry or to the exhibition. ‘We have been participating for many years.

Here, we are launching new camera system – PowerScope 5000,” he said.

On the other side of the show floor, under the show theme ‘Performing Arts on Labels’, Toyo Ink Arets India, wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo Ink Group, in association with its subsidiaries Toyochem and Toyo Ink India, exhibited the group’s latest label and package printing innovations. Devender Sharma, regional head-western region, Toyo Ink Arets, said they received good visitors’ response to their product showcase ranging UV and water-based inks, UV varnishes, specialty coatings and adhesive products, which are designed to meet the challenges in today’s label printing, conversion and others.

“Doubtless to say that general impression of Durst is its portfolio of large-format textile printing systems for display graphics, but here we present at this expo what the company keeps in store for label printing,” said PS Ravishankar, managing partner, Printronics (a Durst distributor in India). The company presented a string of inkjet label presses, Durst Tau series, among other, which are designed for industrial printing of labels, foils and so on. RICOH Thermal Media Asia Pacific on other side presented new grades of thermal transfer ribbons, B120BG, which is claimed to have better image density and sensitivity compatible with a wide range of receiving materials.

Showing a spectrum of products from Sun Chemicals designed for narrow web flexographic, DIC India pulled crowd at the expo, persuading them to embark upon fresh innovations in label printing. Among the products on showcase, SolarFlex inks were unique with added features like low odour for sensitive applications, fast curing for higher press speeds, colour strength, etc. According to Surya Lamba, sales manager-flexo business north, DIC India Limited, the inks are designed to print labels, tags, sleeves, tickets and other applications on narrow web systems. Italian company Biessse Tape Solutions demonstrated its solutions comprising tapes, equipments and software designed to bring perfect labelling at the expo. Patrizio Filipponin sales manager, Biessse Tape Solutions SpA, commended the expo for being a well-arranged networking point for a horde of focused visitors.

At the stand of Royal Coat, their principals IST Metz GmBH was represented by Joachim Hilderbrandt, head of sales department, narrow web applications. “Almost 90% of sheet-fed offset presses in India use curing solutions from IST Solutions,” he said. ‘We have 18 years partnership with Royal Coat and are happy with their performance.” Another principal present at their stand was Sven Krugen, area sales manager, Zecher, which offers anilox rollers.

Vinsak India at its stall displayed USAR label slitter rewinder live, pulling a huge crowd. The label slitting machine is available with features such as register cutting, 100 percent missing label detection by inspection camera and variable data printing options. Manish Dabas from the company said all major components in the system are driven by a servo motor capable to run at the speed of 220 m/min. The machine was sold to the New Delhi-based label and commercial printing firm Excell Graphics during the expo. Another key exhibitor, Grippo Solutions India unpacked its range of labelling products, such as doctor blades, pressure-sensitive tapes, splicing systems and others.

Though Provin did not showcase any machine at the show, they were there to promote all their products and to reiterate Rotatek as a brand.

Memory Repro Systems (P) Ltd offered pre and post press equipment for label presses, which included flexo plate cleaning machine, pressroom trolleys for printing cylinders and anilox rollers, and flexo video plate mounter.

Bodhi Professional Solutions (P) Ltd offered pre-press and colour management solutions, which included Star Plate, VariPak, VariScan, Max pro, X-rite instruments and proofing systems. According to Nikhil Puntambekar, marketing manager, Bodhi Professional, they were present at the show to meet their customers.

Noida-based UV Graphic Technologies was another elated exhibitor launching four new machines, including an off-line and in-line rotary hot foil stamping systems, a combi plate mounter for flexo industry, laboratory LED equipment and a UV LED curing system at the expo. Branded as ‘The Pony’, this off-line and in-line rotary hot foil stamping machine with foil saver features multiple streams of foil as well as registered holographic foil stamping. Abhay Datta, director, UV Graphic Technologies, said they are happy with the crowd’s response to newly launched machines.

FUJIFILM Sericol revealed its existing range of products at the expo. “Our presence in the expo is to present some of the premium and versatile inks, designed particularly for narrow-web applications and others,” mentioned Baibhav Nath, senior executive-marketing, FUJIFILM Sericol India. A range of samples printed using the inks were shown in an appealing manner at the company’s stall. The inks shown consisted of UVivivd for narrow web applications; UVived SOF sheetfed offset UV inks and others. APL Machinery, another crowd-puller at the expo, presented its LED UV lamp from Air Motion Solutions (AMS) LED, which was sold to Delhi-based printing and packaging firm SS Paper & Box.

One of the regular participants at the show, Keith Electronics pulled a huge crowd showing keen interest in their products on showcase. Among the set of products shown attractively at the company’s stall included MF-20E printing and cutting system for the label market. “The expo is well organised and footfalls are quite temping throughout all days,” remarked Raj Chopra, director, Keith Electronics, adding that they would expect business growth in the post-event period. Providing colours of all choices, Inkstream, a leading manufacturer of narrow web flexo printing inks, demonstrated a set of its water-based consumables. Anuj Upadhyay, ASM-north, Inkstream appreciated the expo’s overall arrangement and footfalls they received.

DigiFlex, a Hyderabad-based flexo pre-press house, showcased its range of products from the acclaimed brands including Kodak. The spectrum of digital flexo plates from the company are perfectly designed for label industry as well as others including flexo and offset (spot coating), flexible packaging, pharma sector, non-woven bags, corrugated board printing, and so on. “The expo is quite good in terms of the footfalls of visitors who are much focused; we hope for converting some enquiries into business post-event,” said Muralidhar Nalli, managing director, DigiFlex. The company under its parent unit TGS deals in packaging machines from two leading Taiwanese manufacturers—Wen Chyuan and SBL Group.

Presenting its OM brand auto-feed type perforating/creasing/kiss (half) cutting machines if 18, 24 and 36 inch widths at the expo, Mumbai-based Patel Enterprises marked a new paradigm in label printing, infolding new possibilities in innovations.

According to SN Patel of Patel Enterprise, the machine is compatible with a diverse range of applications, such as stickers, labels (half and full cutting), perforation, single and multiple creasing, for book cover page, and many others.

Standard Printers Providers was also present at the show with their catalogues.

Holostik India showcased its wide range of products; security holograms, shrink sleeves, labels, tax stamps, pouches, wads, wide webs, hot stamping foils etc and also displayed its IT-enabled end-to-end solutions like Product Authentication, Supply Chain Management, Warranty Management, Inventory Management, Reward Management, Payment Collection, Marketing and Promotional Campaigns etc. The company also unveiled its new product Monocartons exhibiting highest security and state-of-the-art technology. “It was a pleasure to exhibit our wide range of products and solutions at Label Expo and we are delighted with the over-whelming response at our stall,” said UKGupta, chairman and managing director, Holostik Group.

LMAI Awards…

Endorsed and supported by the Label Manufacturers Association of India, All India Federation of Master Printers, Delhi Printers Association and Authentication Solution Providers’ Association, Labelexpo India also hosted the revered LMAI Avery Dennison Label Awards. The prestigious gongs were given out for excellence in six categories: Flexo, Letterpress, Offset, Combination Printing, Digital and by gold sponsor Avery Dennison. The event was also supported by silver sponsors: Iwasaki Tekko, Label Planet, Nilpeter, Omet, Orthotec, UPM Raflatac, Vinsak and Xeikon.

The winners were as follows: Flexo Line, Webtech; Flexo Line & Screen Tone, Mudrika Labels; Flexo Color Process, Kwality Offset Printers; Flexo Wine & Spirit, joint winners Kumar Labels/Ajanta Packaging; Letterpress Line, Webtech Labels; Letterpress Line & Screen, Webtech Labels; Letterpress color process, Sicon Packs; Letterpress Wine and Spirits, Kumar Labels; Offset Line, Update Prints; Offset Line & Screen Tone, Update Prints; Offset Color Process, Seljegat Printers; Offset Wine & Spirits, Update Prints; Combination Line, Universal Print Systems; Combination Line and Screen Tone, Kumar Labels; Combination Printing Color: joint winners Any Graphics/Kumar Labels; Combination Wine & Spirits, Pragati Pack/RP; Digital Printing, Any Graphics; Digital Printing Wine & Spirits, Pragati Pack; Screen Printing, Wine & Spirits, Any Graphics; Rotogravure, Mudrika Labels; Booklets & Coupons, joint winners LetraGraphix and Unick Fix-A-Form.

The Innovation Award went to Mudrika Labels and the special Jury Award to Any Graphics.

Kodak partners with Sergusa Solutions

A strategic partnership was announced by Kodak with Sergusa Solutions, wherein Sergusa will carry Kodak’s Packaging portfolio to offer a turnkey solution to greenfield packaging convertors as well as to existing flexible packaging convertors that are using conventional print technologies. Ashis Bhattacharya, CEO at Sergusa Solutions and Vidhu Gautam, regional business director for APR and Abraham Prabhakar, vice president for packaging division at Kodak India were present as the show.

Vidhu shared that this partnership is like glove-in-hand or hand-in-glove. “We wish to bridge the gap between flexo and offset and take flexography to the new level.Designs which esrlier could not be printed by flexo can now be printed with it,” he said. He also talked about the Flexcel technology, which was launched at drupa 2008.

“India is progressing well for the last 2-3 years and we have installed 20+ systems and still counting. But, Kodak is not stopping here. Our R&D is working at next generation NX plates – Ultra NX for flexography, which are more productive, efficient and promise for environment. We believe in simplicity, efficiency and productivity and we will continue to do it,” he concluded.

HP India showcases labels and packaging advancements with HP Indigo WS6800 digital press

–Skanem Interlabels India chooses HP INDIGO WS6800 digital press to meet their growing digital printing needs

HP India showcased the HP Indigo WS6800 digital press including the recent labels and packaging advancements; including advanced automated colour management tools, new HP Indigo ElectroInks, upgrade packages, software enhancements for mass customization amongst others. These new innovations allow more customers to capitalize on the growing digital opportunity in a market which is achieving double digit percent page growth year over year. HP also announced the installation of HP Indigo WS6800 digital press at Skanem Interlabels India, at their Mumbai facility.

Sharing some of the success stories of key Indian brands who have innovated in labels and packaging with HP’s Indigo technology A Appadurai, country manager, Indigo and Inkjet Web Press, Graphics Solutions Business, HP Inc. India said, “The consumer market is changing rapidly with proliferation of products, which leads to shorter and shorter run lengths. A research report from POPAI indicates that 76% of retail purchases are made at the store. This brings a battle of brands to the shelf of a super market. The packaging of the product should enable the brand to stand out of the shelf. Packaging decoration and functionality can be tremendously improved by digital packaging. On demand packaging is turning out to be a great savior for brands that need faster time to market and to differentiate from the growing competition. These three factors are the basic reasons for the huge increase in the demand of digital printing. We are seeing the digital printed labels and packaging growing at a very high pace and our customer base in India is executing more and more innovative projects.

At its booth, HP showcased a rich application gallery, showing the latest labels and packaging applications including samples of HP SmartStream Mosaic, HP Indigo ElectroInk Fluorescent Pink and HP Indigo ElectroInk Premium White amongst others. The booth also has dedicated areas for showcasing some of the best-in-class labels and packaging applications developed by key HP Indigo customers including Skanem Interlabels, Hora Arts and Pragati Pack.

Talking about HP Indigo WS6800 Digital Press, Appadurai added, “There are 1000+ installations worldwide and it can print of different materials ranging from 12-250 microns. It is ideal for self-adhesives, flexible packaging and folding cartons.”

On asking about their experience at Labelexpo India, he replied that there are serious people at the show and the facilities are better and it will give them a better ROI.

Konica Minolta ventures into industrial printing

Labelexpo served as the perfect stage for Konica Minolta to foray into the high potential industrial printing segment in the country with the launch of its industry leading bizhub PRESS C71cf printing machine. Visitors were also comprehensively briefed about the cutting edge technology, incorporated in bizhub PRESS C71cf by Konica Minolta’s top executive team including Yuji Nakata, MD, Konica Minolta India; Toru Suda, general manager, Konica Minolta, IP Business Development Division; Yoshinori Koide, EGM – PP & IP Marketing, Konica Minolta India and Kuldeep Malhotra Sales Head, Konica Minolta India.

Bizhub PRESS C71cf comes as an optimum printing solution for small and medium size businesses in the label and packaging segment to help them explore the endless benefits of digital printing including catering to high volume demands and penetrating new untapped markets.

The machine harnesses Konica Minolta’s state of the art dry toner technology, which is a perfect end to end printing solution for mid range businesses, operating in the label printing segment with varied requirements. The machine also furnishes an impressive printing resolution of 1200 dots per inch (dpi), equivalent to 3600 dpi x1200dpi/8bit and prints images with a maximum size of 1195×320 mm. Compatible with a paper width of 330 millimetres, it also packs in low temperature fusing technology and Simitri HDE toner, enabling it to print on a broad range of different materials including synthetic paper and polypropylene.

Konica Minolta also demonstrated its powerful bizhub PRESS 1250 digital printing machine for high volume printing demands in B&W domain. The machine fetches an impressive printing speed of up to 125 ppm and is also embedded with real time image density and toner ratio sensors for high image stability during prolonged printing operations.

Further elaborating the benefits of digital printing in India as a market, Yuji Nakata, said, “At present the global market size of industrial printing, including packaging, textiles and labels stands at $456.5 billion. This creates a huge potential for digital printing in the segment as a significant number of industrial printing businesses still rely on analogue printing and are struggling to meet the new emerging demands in the printing segment. We at Konica Minolta are committed to set new benchmarks in the digital industrial printing segment in India with our last mile customer service network and industry leading digital printing solutions.’’

“We have done a huge market survey in Europe, US and India and found that there is a good scope for mid-level machines and our bizhub PRESS 1250 caters to that segment,” he added.

Further expressing his delight on Konica Minolta’s participation at Label Expo 2016, Kuldeep Malhotra, sales head, Konica Minolta India said, “India being one of the fastest growing printing markets across the globe has witnessed an unprecedented demand for volume printing as well as diverse printing requirements from different industry verticals. We at Konica Minolta are determined to help mid range industrial printing businesses in the country fetch the endless benefits of digital printing with our new product range which we have unveiled at the Label Expo, 2016. Digital presses are increasingly being used for packaging as they offer colour consistency, affordability, just in time, etc. The running cost of bizhub PRESS 1250 is Rs 10 per metre in full-colour.’’

The machine can print on paper, tack and non-tack paper, film, etc. “The market is growing and digitalisation in fast. It is a very good opportunity to make investment and with Konica Minolta, customers can be assured of good after-sales service,” concluded Kuldeep.

Multiple launches from Monotech @ Labelexpo India

Monotech Systems India, launched multiple products not only from its own brand JETSCI (made in India project) but from the other principals like Focus and Labelmen as well. This was the biggest ever participation of Monotech Systems in Labelexpo. The new products included a variable data inkjet security printing with slitter rewinder and inspection system; a modular full colour inkjet printing solution; ultra-high speed & quality hybrid inkjet imprinting unit; and a personalized solution for cards.

The company displayed Focus Proflex High Performance Servo Label Press live at the expo and introduced the Taiwan giant Labelmen to the Indian labels and packaging market. The modular full color inkjet printing machine for label production can be integrated with an existing flexo printing press or finishing and converting machines. With a printing width of up to 330mm and top speed of 70m/min, it features an advanced RIP engine, CMYK process color, UV LED and lamp curable inks, as well as an option to have white, spot or security inks.

According to Kishore Kumar PS, AVP-labels & packaging, Monotech Systems Ltd, the biggest strength of Labelmen machine is its ability to print on lamitude. He was happy with good footfalls from commercial printers and packaging printers alike.

Monotech Systems also launched the JETSCI X1 and X2 series of hybrid inkjet imprinting units that can be retrofitted to any converting, conventional printing press of high speed and quality requirements. With Fujifilm Dimatix Samba printheads that offer a resolution of 1200dpi, the inkjet unit prints at speed of up to 300m/min. The unit can print with both water-based inks as well as UV-curable inks. The inkjet imprinting station is targeted at printing barcodes, 1D, 2D and QR codes or logical and sequential numbers, variable images, custom fonts and symbols, micro text and security features, full or part page variable features as well as multi-color printing.

The company also showcased the personalization machine for printing plastic and PVC cards. It is equipped with K-series inkjet printheads. This particular solution could print VDP on plastic cards in one color at high quality and speeds; and also it can be further upgraded to full color printing. The cards can be printed at the speed of up to 6500 cards per hour.

According to Jimit Mittal, inkjet products & solutions, JetSci, Monotech, they got really good response and good number of leads at the show. He added that JetSci products are being installed not only in India, but also Africa and Middle East due to their quality and reliability.

TP Jain, managing director of Monotech Systems, said, “We have a strong presence in inkjet, labels and packaging. With more than 70 installations across India, Africa and the Middle East, we provide machines and integrated system to our customers that are manufactured in-house under brand name, JETSCI. I believe this is a mass platform to launch and excel our Made in India products as well as other products from our international partners, which have been well accepted and appreciated by the customers in the Indian market.”

Avery Dennison focussed on customer commitment

At Labelexpo India, Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials showcased a range of innovations to help customers elevate shelf appeal, improve productivity and address new compliance and sustainability expectations.

Anil K Sharma, vice president and general manager, materials group, South Asia Pacific & Sub-Saharan Africa, Avery Dennison, outlined the journey of Avery Dennison in India. He further said that labels not only help customers create shelf-appeal, but also offer functionality, versatility and capital efficiencies. According to him, innovation, product vitality and sustainability are very important.

“This innovative range of products and technologies speaks of our commitment, and also our ability to continually deliver new and innovative solutions to help our customers address their business and operational challenges,” added Pankaj Bhardwaj, commercial director, Labels and Packaging Materials, South Asia, Avery Dennison.

While, Darren Milligan, senior marketing director, materials group, South Asia Pacific & Sub-Sahara Africa, Avery Dennison, shared that they are offering 30 different products in seven zones.