New Delhi edition of PackPlus 2018 unpacked new machines & innovations

The profiles of the exhibitors at PackPlus 2018 consisted of manufacturers and suppliers of packaging machines; materials & equipments; coding & marking solutions; flexo, gravure, offset & screen printing presses; label printing equipments; corrugated box making machines; food production & processing equipments; barcodes & RFID; rigid & flexible packaging solutions; flexible intermediate containers; woven, sacks & other bulk packaging solutions; end-of-line packaging solutions; supply chain, logistics and material handling; and array of materials like papers, films, foils, inks and other consumables.

‘You Are Entering Finished Packaging Zone’—this was the catchphrase written at the gateway leading to PACKSOL segment at PackPlus 2018. This hall was designated for finishing solutions as a host of exhibitors showcased a wide range of premium finishing materials and solutions for flexible packaging such as self-adhesive BOPP tapes and surface protecting films. Among the key exhibitors in this side of the show floor, Arihant Packaging showcased a best range of BOPP films to nourish brands for healthcare and food & beverage companies. Arihant Technopack demonstrated a range of laminates in roll forms, suitably designed for packaging foods, cosmetics and other items. Likewise many other well known finishing solutions companies like AIPL (Ajit Industries Pvt Ltd), Barki Bihari and so on were present in the hall.

Machines sold

Vardhman Enterprises, a complete solution provider for the paper cup industry, sold its fully-automatic high speed paper cup machine, AVS-100, to Delhi-based Ginny International. AVS-100 is a high speed machine capable to produce 80 to 90 cups per minute. Accuweb Enterprises, manufacturer of all types of roll-to-roll process machinery and equipments, sealed the deals of two of its machines with Greater Noida-based Kay Sons during the expo.

The two booked machines were Accu 50 SL narrow web slitting machine and Accuspect 1300 inspection machine. On the other side, VIJAYA GRAFIKS sold its Vijaya Veeline, a perfect carton folder gluer for lock bottom cartons, to Jaipur-based Diamond Printing Press. Vijaya Veeline redefines the carton making to a new standard. The feeding unit of the machine with variable drive is designed to allow appropriate space between the cartons.

Key showcases

Naph Graphics, a leading manufacturer and exporter of high-quality web offset presses and high-speed slitter rewinder machines, showcased its widely acclaimed SLITLINE 35 at PackPlus 2018. SLITLINE 35 can handle a wide varieties of materials, such as plain, coated or metalised films as well as film, foil or paper laminates of 12 -200 microns. It can also handle papers and boards of 40-200 gsm. The slitter is designed with maximum web width of 1300 mm. It runs at the mechanical speed of 350m/min. It features maximum rewind diameter of 450 mm and 1000 mm unwind diameter. SLITLINE 35 can slit up to 50 mm slit width. Zhongke India redefines the standards of retail packaging products and solutions with its lines of rigid box and automatic paper making machines, which they showcased the expo. The lines of packaging machines are designed for high speed rigid box making, high volume precision lamination, automatic die cutting and grooving.

International Packaging Conclave organised

On the sidelines of PackPlus 2018, Next Events in association with Siegwerk organised International Packaging Conclave under the theme ‘Safe Packaging: New Regulatory Landscape’. Speakers at the conference talked and discussed about ‘safety’ in the Indian food and pharmaceutical industries, paying attention on packaged products that fail to comply with product safety and regulatory norms, which thereby pose severe risk to health and wellness of consumers.

The conference opened with the inaugural speech from Pawan Kumar Agrawal, CEO, FSSAI, on the topic Evolution of Regulatory Framework for Food Safety. In the follow-up, EU expert Dr Jorg-Peter Langhammer talked about the ‘Role of Regulations for Safe Packaging’. Other keynote speakers at the session ‘Regulatory Update: Changing Packaging Norms’ were Kumar Anil, Adviser (Standards), FSSAI; PP Sanyal, BIS (Convener-Alert on Printing Inks) and Industry Consultant.

Panel discussion on the topic ‘Changing Regulation—Industry Perspective’ at the conclave had Session Chairman Ashish Pradhan, Siegwerk India with panellists comprising Barun Banerjee, Nestle India Limited; Saikat Acharya, GSK India Ltd; Sunil Bhagwat, Huhtamaki PPL Limited; Ranjan Sinha, Parksons Packaging Limited; and Jasvir Singh, DuPont Nutrition & Health-South Asia.

Sukhdev Saini, General Mills and Barun Banerjee, Nestle India Limited presented case studies on ‘Transition to Safe Packaging’ during the conclave. In the Stakeholder Session titled ‘Understanding Regulation—Chemical Contaminants, a host of speakers talked about different health care perspectives. Nayan J Bezbarua, Product Development Manager, PU Adhesive (India, Middle East and Africa), Helkel Adhesive Technologies India Pvt Ltd discoursed on ‘Adhesive Manufacture Perspective’, which was followed by Dr Evert Delbanco from Siegwerk Germany talked about ‘Ink Manufacturer Perspective’ and Andrew Ng and Rituparna Chakarborty from Siegwerk India on Migration Optimised Solutions.

The closure of the conclave was marked with vote of thanks by AVPS Chakravarti from World Packaging Organisation.

QuadTech, PC Industries and Web Printing Controls have been strategically united to form the new BALDWIN Vision Systems.

The resulting combination of businesses and technology represents the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio available for print process automation, inspection and related services. At PackPlus 2018, the company introduced offline proofing system for Baldwin vision systems. On other side, Huber Group India highlighted sustainable ideas and concepts revolving around its products for the people and environment at its stall in PackPlus 2018. Colourful and eco-friendly, two spotlighted products at the stall are MGA and New V series inks. “Other than inks, everything regarding washes, plate cleaner and so on are available under the MGA range of products,” said SS Kulkarni, General Manager – Technical Services, Huber Group India Private Limited.

The products of Huber Group are manufactured and formulated in line with ecological factors. In this respect, SS Kulkarni mentioned that in the group’s manufacturing process, mineral oil and cobalt compounds are critically viewed in the award criteria of many eco-labels. “On account of this, Huber Group is the first company to develop cobalt-free siccative system,” he added. Huber Group’s products are certified with eco-labels like Cradle to Cradle (C2C), which is a concept inspired by nature based on closed cycles that generate no waste products and conserve value raw materials. SS Kulkarni said the overall notion behind every endeavour of Huber Group is about caring people as the company’s catchphrase says ‘Ink people who care….’

AIA organises seminar on automation in packaging

Automation Industry Association (AIA) organised seminar on automation in packaging titled ‘Packaging 4.0: An Indian Perspective’ at Stall 55 in Hall 9, in which technology experts spoke about the changing landscape of the Indian packaging machine manufacturers. Key presenters at the seminar included Ravi Agrawal, IITD-AIA, Foundation for Smart Manufacturing; Ramesh Bhorania, Mitsubishi Electric India Factory Automation Division; and Sudhanshu Kantoor, Pepperl+Fuchs Factory Automation India
Pvt Ltd.

NBG Printographic Machinery showcased the latest STAR Flex flexo press for labels, flexible packaging and stationery products. The machine is first-of-its-kind in its class of flexographic printing machines in modulate designs with stack type arched bridge. STAR Flex flexo press stands out for its economic efficiency and high precision printing.

It can take up materials, such as HM, HDPE, LD, LLDPE, BOPP, polyester, polypropylene, foam sheets, paper, aluminium foil, among others.

Celebrating its 25 years of operation in India, BST Eltromat India, a leading manufacturer of quality assuring measures for the web processing industries, such as printing, packaging, converting, paper and corrugation, woven and non-woven, unveiled its automation division at PackPlus 2018. The automation division of the company is designed to help machine manufacturers and users to automate their various process workflows. Alok International displays array of infrared and UV lamps Alok International, which is India distributor of premium products of Victory Lighting (UK), pulled crowd to its display of infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) lamps at PackPlus 2018. The company’s line of crowd-pulling products on display included ceramic infrared heaters. On other side, Uflex presented turret-type slitter and solventless laminator. Other key highlights from the company included the company’s engineering division presenting the grandeur of technological excellences that consist of extrusion coating lamination and CI flexo printing machines. Designed for widest colour gamut for photo printing, EPSON introduced EPSON P-9000 suitably designed for proofing in packaging production. This new generation wide-format printer incorporates the latest technologies, equipped with the company’s PrecisionCore Thin Film Peizo printhead.

Ample Graphics seals orders at the show

Ample Graphics Pvt Ltd showcased a Multi-function Visual Positioning System from Lishunyuan during the recently concluded Pack Plus exhibition in New Delhi. This Model LY-485C automatic machine addresses the needs of rigid box & book case manufacturers. It eliminates the need for manual positioning of the cardboard onto the glued wrapping paper, thereby increasing perfection and increasing productivity. The high productivity and quality demands of some industries like mobile boxes and cosmetics require precision and accuracy of their boxes. The manual process leads to large amount of rejection of the finished boxes, thereby affecting the profitability of the box vendors.

“This system tries to eliminate the manual errors and improve the efficiency of the existing lines. The implementation of this type of line is known to increase the efficiency by 10-15% and reduce the rejections in some cases by as much as 20% thereby increasing the bottom-line of the box vendor. In a couple of case studies in China, the company claims a pay-back period of this new investment to within 8-10 months considering the reduction in rejections,” tells Rajeev Jagga of Ample Graphics.

During the show, the displayed line was sold to Boxmate, a unit of Azure Press, in Bahadurgarh. “Sanjay Nagpal had visited the Lishunyuan factory and had seen the machine in operation at a customer site and was impressed by its efficiency,” told Rajeev.

“We were able to generate over a 100 enquiries in general for all our products and about 6-7 serious enquiries for the machine on display. The second order closed during the show was for RajKumar Offset Printers, Thurbe, Navi Mumbai. This was a complete set of 6 machines for a Semi-Automatic Rigid Box line including a case maker. Kanan was happy to see the robotic system on display but would look at this investment in the next phase considering the current volume of production. Overall, we feel that it was worth participating in this show and the enquiries if converted will add tremendous value to our present list of clients,”concluded Rajeev.

Arihant Packaging unveiled a range of packaging solutions meant for great brands needing great packaging. The company’s BOPP films are designed suitably for industries like pharmaceutical, healthcare, food & beverage, liquor and more. Konica Minolta’s stall at PackPlus 2018 was flaunted with attractive print samples produced by some of its clients using MGI and Accurio Label 190. Noida-based Hora Art Centre, which has adopted an Accurio Label 190 and New Delhi-based PRINTOLOGY XPERT were the two key customers of Konica Minolta whose print samples were presented.

Capable to run at 500 mps, NUZEN IR-377 at KODI’s stall was a machine the industry can expect next. The machine features shaftless unwinder and rewinder for easy handling with both side movement of roll. It is featured with accurate auto tension control with loadcell (close loop). Gujarat-based Pelican Rotoflex attracted crowd at the expo showing its range of state-of-the-art flexo graphic printing machines. High-quality doctor blades and multi-tube air expanding shafts are the main attractions at stall of Mona Equipments at the expo.

Clean room high speed doors are required for inside applications to protect against draughts, humidity, dust and dirt. Gandhi Automations offered CE-certified high speed doors which have superior sealing properties, improve traffic flows and provide environmental control and savings on energy costs. According to Sagar Agarwal of Gandhi Automation Pvt Ltd, the response was very good for the industrial high-speed doors they showcased at PackPlus. Avians Innovations Technology Pvt Ltd also offered automatic doors and loading bay solutions at their stall in PackPlus 18.

“We are the makers of paper cup making machinery. Infact, we are the pioneers in this field in India,” said Ranjan Mishra of AKR Machinery. At Packplus, they showcased three machines at the show, which include AKR Smart, AKT Hitech and AKR High Speed paper cup forming machines.

At PackPlus, Mumbai-based Hilda Automation showcased four innovative and useful machines for the packaging industry.

These include 6-head cosmetic filling machine, 2-head oil filling machine, 60 bpm sleeve applicator and mini wrap labelling machine. According to Vikash Singh, Sales Engineer, Hilda Automation, “We got very good response at the show. We got many serious leads at the show.”

Domino Printech India (Domino Printech India LLP), the India division of Domino Printing Sciences – a global expert in industrial printers, offered digital printing and traceability solutions (such as industrial coders) for sectors as diverse as food, beverage, life sciences, packaging, cleaning, personal care, building and construction.

Ajit Industries launches paper-based packaging tapes @ PackPlus

Ajit Industries Pvt Ltd is known for offering a variety of tapes for industrial use. For the packaging industry, they are known for BOPP tapes of various varieties, which can be customized according to customer needs. “But now, we are launching new products for packaging,” said Ajit Kumar Gupta of Ajit Industries Pvt Ltd (AIPL). These include paper-based packaging tapes, which are environment-friendly and recyclable. This comes at an opportune time when the government has banned use of plastics in packaging. This tape is generating a lot of interest as people would like to turn to green packaging, he added.

On asking about his views on the ban on plastic in packaging, Ajit replied, “It is a welcome initiative by the government as it will make our lives better. The industry is quite vibrant and ready to accept change. They are looking for greener packaging and we hope that it would not affect the industry as a whole.”

“Another new product which we have launched for the packaging industry is security packaging tape, which makes sure that products reach their destination safe and sound. These tapes are tamper proof and prevent pilferage during transit,” he explained.

“Besides, we are also launching cross-filament tapes for heavy boxes,” shares Ajit. “We have set-up a well-equipped facility in Sonipat, near Delhi. We have the capacity to process large orders and offer variety to our customers. Infact, we are also eyeing exports.”

On asking about the response at PackPlus, Ajit replied, “We are getting lot of industrial people to the show, who are coming here with an open mind and would like to grow their business with new items. As it is, the packaging industry is growing and there is lot of opportunities in this industry.”

The stand of Sahil Graphics could be seen full of visitors at any time of the day. The company offered live demos of its handbag making machine and non-woven bag making machine.

Leading suppliers of paper cup machines – Global Link Impex – was quite a crow puller at ongoing PackPlus 18. Live demos of their high speed paper cup machine is a hit at the show. Modtech offered robotic case packer and robotic case erector. “It is a 6-axis robotic solution. We are the first one to bring it in India and we are offering very good response at the show,” said Keval Goswami, Executive – Marketing, Modtech.

Another crowd puller at PackPlus 18 was Jawla Engineering (P) Ltd, who are the pioneers in flexible pouch packaging machines.

The company is showcasing Packlit or Series and Impact Series of pouch making machines.

SS Packaging Solution offered multi-head with servo collar type machine, FFS machine for liquid filling, horizontal flow wrap machine, semi-pneumatic machine, two in one collar with multi weigher, multi head weigher, auger filler with servo collar machine and high speed collar machine with servo.

Robatech offered hot melt adhesive application systems for labeling, wrapping, and case-packaging processes. Bizerba India (P) Ltd offered weighing, slicing and weigh-price-labeling technologies. Their stall is attracting lot of visitors at the show.

IJPN Technologies (I) Pvt Ltd showcased Linx laser marking and coding printers.

Automatic shrink wrapping machines at Joy Pack were another crowd puller at the show.

Besides, visitors to the show were seen gathering in huge number at the stall of Ishida India Pvt Ltd, which is a manufacturer, supplier, exporter and trader of a wide range of Weighing Equipments. They offer world class Platform Scales, Industrial Platform Scales, Weighing Scales, Bagmakers, Weigh Pack Systems, Factory Automation Systems, Label Printer Scale, Weigh-Wrap-Level System, etc.

All in all, it was a packaging extravaganza.

Product launches galore

PackPlus 2018 witnessed a handful of new product launches in all seven exhibition halls. Among the newly unpacked machines pulling crowd was SUBA’s automatic window patching/liner carton patching machine. This newly launched machine is available in duplex carton and corrugated carton models. Even straight window and corner window models of this machine are possible.

Swiss company Leister showcased a string of its industrial hot air solutions designed for drying/blowing off, shrinking, coating, forming, de-flashing and pasteurizing. Alongside the showcase, the company at PackPlus 2018 announced the India launch of its Infrared Heating System by October this year. On other side, INTOUCH launched a new fully automated non-woven bag making machine, which is an eco-friendly system for better tomorrow. The machine features a roller width 1.25 with production speed of 40 – 100 pcs/sec, to produce non-woven bag of size of 10-18 cm (width) x 20-58 cm (height) x loop handle.

SA Automation Pvt Ltd (SAAPL), known for its range of products for synchronisation, registration and inspection in converting, also used PackPlus 2018 as launch pad to introduce a new Line & Edge Guide Control. These are just a few, there were many more new launches at the show.