Harveer Sahni02.10.16
After Sandeep Zaveri took over as the new president, LMAI (Label Manufacturers Association of India) organized the second technical workshop and networking meet in his tenure at Chelmsford Club, New Delhi. The first such event was held in Mumbai in December 2015. It was interesting to note that almost all of LMAI printer members from Delhi NCR pre-registered for the show and more than 100 delegates attended the workshop, exceeding the targeted and expected 80 members. This was despite the fog, chill and an extremely difficult traffic situation in New Delhi that day.
Welcoming the guests, Kuldip Goel, vice president of LMAI and managing director of Anygraphics, speaking in Hindi (India’s national language) likened the association LMAI to a devotional place like a temple. He said a temple is built on four pillars, each of which has a special significance. “In our association,” he said, “the four pillars are members, suppliers, sponsors and the media.”
Initiating the technical part of the workshop, Shailesh Kumar Sharma, senior manager-technical, Flint Group India, spoke on the quality aspects of inks as well of the role of UV light in curing. He also dwelled on the present UV curing scenario, which is undergoing a transformation leading to the implementation of LED UV technology as a more stable and futuristic technology.
Explaining the capability of LED UV to cure ink on thinner substrates and provide better adhesion, Carston Barlebo of AMS (Air Motion Solutions) cited a recent case study conducted using their AMS Flexo Series LED UV system for the narrow web label industry at a food packaging converter in Italy, whereby this system is fitted on a seven-color 530mm Omet VaryFlex F1 530. He said this is the largest UV LED system ever installed which provides savings in energy, replacement costs and increased productivity. The system is compatible with LED-optimized inks and varnishes from leading manufacturers.
Manish Kapoor of Nilpeter spoke about the growth and increasing market size of the flexographic printed labels segment and its extension into the packaging industry. He also dwelled on the need for printers targeting the huge packaging industry to invest in combination printing in order to derive benefits from each technology to create innovative and highly decorated packages. According to him, even though the label industry is growing at 15% per annum, it is a miniscule portion of the packaging industry whose size he said is Rupees 1.5 lakh Crores or about $24 billion. Kapoor emphasized that it is an opportune time for the industry to invest in these emerging technologies.
Flexographic printing is highly dependent on the quality of prepress. Deepanshu Goel of Creative Graphics, a prepress company, spoke on the importance of prepress in platemaking. He also explained the importance and proper use of double tapes and anilox rollers.
Finance and wealth management are a sensitive part of growth in any business. Chirag Gokani an expert on the subject spoke on the importance of financial planning leading to wealth management. Sandeep Tiberwala from Yes Bank commenting on Kuldip Goel’s remarks on the constituents of LMAI being the pillars of the association, remarked, “Banks are an inherent part of this structure that provide strength to the pillars.” He also discusses the procedures and requirements for getting adequate financing by label printers for their businesses.
Finally there was an interactive session by Harveer Sahni, managing director of Weldon Celloplast Ltd. where all of the speakers were a part of the panel. Most of the questions were about the LED UV and were answered by C P Paul of APL and Carston Barlebo of AMS. Sahni commented, “Prepress is the heart of flexo printing that has evolved in quality over the years.” In response, Deepanshu Goel further elaborated on the imperative need of good prepress in flexo printing. Shailesh Sharma of Flint, while replying to questions, informed the gathering that Flint will be hosting many open house sessions for LED UV inks in the near future.
Finally, the host for the evening, Naveen Goel, invited Aditya Chadha of Update Prints to deliver a vote of thanks. Aditya, in his concluding remarks, stressed the need for the label printing fraternity to be more interactive, so as to share the importance of better prices for raw materials, selling prices, employee retention, etc. and more profitability. It was an evening where one saw a big number of next generation young managers that included Aditya Chadha of Update prints, Anuj Bhargav of Kumar Labels, Naveen Goel of Anygraphics, Rishab Jain of Jain Transfer, Parshav Jain of Jain Transfer, Pawandeep Sahni of Weldon, Gurdev Jandu of Jandu Engineering.
The evening ended with a networking, cocktails and dinner. Happy at the success of this event, Sandeep Zaveri, president of LMAI and Rajesh Nema, secretary of LMAI, announced that the next similar workshop would be held in the south of India, probably at Bangalore, followed by one in Ahmedabad.
Harveer Sahni is managing director of Weldon Celloplast. He blogs about India's label industry at http://harveersahni.blogspot.com
Welcoming the guests, Kuldip Goel, vice president of LMAI and managing director of Anygraphics, speaking in Hindi (India’s national language) likened the association LMAI to a devotional place like a temple. He said a temple is built on four pillars, each of which has a special significance. “In our association,” he said, “the four pillars are members, suppliers, sponsors and the media.”
Initiating the technical part of the workshop, Shailesh Kumar Sharma, senior manager-technical, Flint Group India, spoke on the quality aspects of inks as well of the role of UV light in curing. He also dwelled on the present UV curing scenario, which is undergoing a transformation leading to the implementation of LED UV technology as a more stable and futuristic technology.
Explaining the capability of LED UV to cure ink on thinner substrates and provide better adhesion, Carston Barlebo of AMS (Air Motion Solutions) cited a recent case study conducted using their AMS Flexo Series LED UV system for the narrow web label industry at a food packaging converter in Italy, whereby this system is fitted on a seven-color 530mm Omet VaryFlex F1 530. He said this is the largest UV LED system ever installed which provides savings in energy, replacement costs and increased productivity. The system is compatible with LED-optimized inks and varnishes from leading manufacturers.
Manish Kapoor of Nilpeter spoke about the growth and increasing market size of the flexographic printed labels segment and its extension into the packaging industry. He also dwelled on the need for printers targeting the huge packaging industry to invest in combination printing in order to derive benefits from each technology to create innovative and highly decorated packages. According to him, even though the label industry is growing at 15% per annum, it is a miniscule portion of the packaging industry whose size he said is Rupees 1.5 lakh Crores or about $24 billion. Kapoor emphasized that it is an opportune time for the industry to invest in these emerging technologies.
Flexographic printing is highly dependent on the quality of prepress. Deepanshu Goel of Creative Graphics, a prepress company, spoke on the importance of prepress in platemaking. He also explained the importance and proper use of double tapes and anilox rollers.
Finance and wealth management are a sensitive part of growth in any business. Chirag Gokani an expert on the subject spoke on the importance of financial planning leading to wealth management. Sandeep Tiberwala from Yes Bank commenting on Kuldip Goel’s remarks on the constituents of LMAI being the pillars of the association, remarked, “Banks are an inherent part of this structure that provide strength to the pillars.” He also discusses the procedures and requirements for getting adequate financing by label printers for their businesses.
Finally there was an interactive session by Harveer Sahni, managing director of Weldon Celloplast Ltd. where all of the speakers were a part of the panel. Most of the questions were about the LED UV and were answered by C P Paul of APL and Carston Barlebo of AMS. Sahni commented, “Prepress is the heart of flexo printing that has evolved in quality over the years.” In response, Deepanshu Goel further elaborated on the imperative need of good prepress in flexo printing. Shailesh Sharma of Flint, while replying to questions, informed the gathering that Flint will be hosting many open house sessions for LED UV inks in the near future.
Finally, the host for the evening, Naveen Goel, invited Aditya Chadha of Update Prints to deliver a vote of thanks. Aditya, in his concluding remarks, stressed the need for the label printing fraternity to be more interactive, so as to share the importance of better prices for raw materials, selling prices, employee retention, etc. and more profitability. It was an evening where one saw a big number of next generation young managers that included Aditya Chadha of Update prints, Anuj Bhargav of Kumar Labels, Naveen Goel of Anygraphics, Rishab Jain of Jain Transfer, Parshav Jain of Jain Transfer, Pawandeep Sahni of Weldon, Gurdev Jandu of Jandu Engineering.
The evening ended with a networking, cocktails and dinner. Happy at the success of this event, Sandeep Zaveri, president of LMAI and Rajesh Nema, secretary of LMAI, announced that the next similar workshop would be held in the south of India, probably at Bangalore, followed by one in Ahmedabad.
Harveer Sahni is managing director of Weldon Celloplast. He blogs about India's label industry at http://harveersahni.blogspot.com