There have been significant advances in flexographic printing in the past few years. At higher resolutions and faster speeds, flexo is now more competitive with offset and low run-length gravure. In India the flexo invasion is identified more with the narrow web segment as the label printers were quick to adopt the latest offerings while the more capital intensive wide web segment was a little slower in reaching out to the flexo advantage. A look at this growing Indian wide-web printing press market…

In 1986, Dynaflex Pvt. Ltd imported the first brand new 6 colour Central Impression (CI) flexo press in India; it was a rarity in the Gravure country. Twenty-three years to the day, when the next Comexi arrives in India, there will already be more than twenty presses working out of premises spread all over the country and at least two more large installations underway. Flexo has not exactly replaced Gravure. Far from it! But converters have recognized the benefits of flexo for specific jobs and while some are using the technology exclusively to claim their niche, others are complimenting existing technologies in the pressroom with a flexo press. Niranjan Vora of Dynaflex Pvt. Ltd, who was instrumental in the first import and today heads the India Flexographic Technical Association (IFTA) reminisces, “The uniqueness of Central impression flexo printing technology is its ability to print stretchable material with highest accuracy. The advantage notwithstanding, when we brought the press, we had to struggle to find local support for consumables and materials and had to rely mostly on imports. Over the years, not only the suppliers have geared up, the flexo technology itself has made huge strides and the industry has been able to leapfrog to the latest.”

Dynaflex\'s was though not the country\'s first encounter with flexo. The first pre used 6 colour CI press, Stanford Make, with a web width of 1850 mm was used by Hindustan Packaging Corporation in the eighties to print on boards. The company, where Tetrapack was a minority partner was hamstrung with the government controls and was unable to make use of the exciting global developments in that era in the field of flexo inks, plates and pre-press systems and the press was phased out. (The press was recently picked up by Colour Marks of Chennai and is working again after being fully refurbished) The Dynafex import stayed a stand alone event for a while.
Windmӧller and Hӧlscher (W&H) started its subsidiary in India in 1995. The company can rightfully claim to have kick started the flexo movement in India when it sold a SOLOFLEX single operator open side printing press to Clearex Films (Mehta Group) in 1997, that was installed in Daman. The Mehtas bought another SOLOFLEX soon after. W&H then went on to sell its presses to Glory Poly Films Pvt. Ltd., Daman; Bilcare Ltd., Pune; Parakh Agro Industries Ltd, Pune; Cargill Foods India, Pune and IDMC Ltd., Anand. The eighth installation for the company is slated at Uflex Ltd.

Mehtas went on to acquire a FLEXPRESS 16S/8 Fisher & Krecke from Germany in 2004. This was an 8 colour state-of-the art servo driven press featuring infinitely variable print repeat length capabilities. “Interestingly most of the presses that are brought into the country are state-of-the-art at the time of purchase and ensure that Indian converters are at par with their global counterparts,” says Vora.

Fisher & Krecke is making a renewed bid for the Indian market after a few years of lull that saw it changing its distributors in India and its owners in Europe. Finally being taken over by Bobst Group in 2008, it now becomes a part of the larger portfolio on offer by Bobst India.

Bobst India, that also offers Schiavi and boasts of the second largest installation base of presses after W&H, has sold to S.B. Packaging, New Delhi; Rollatainers Ltd., New Delhi; Radha Madhav Corp, Daman and Narmada Polyplast, Mumbai. Avra Mitra, Bobst India attributes the demand of rising CI flexo presses to three main reasons “firstly because the diaper segment is growing, secondly the infrastructure is improving – increasing the demand for skilled technology, and also as some of the big names from the industry are taking the lead in CI flexo press installations, other tend to follow the drift.”

3S Converting, the service company of Uteco Group, Italy, extended its reach in the Asia Pacific region by appointing Ashling Impex, Mumbai as its agent in India and making its first sale to IDMC Ltd, Anand –a 10 colour press. The press is expected to be installed soon.

Feva, the Brazilian manufacturer of CI Presses came to India with plans to eventually manufacture locally, partnering Kohli Industries. The partners fell through mid way but left an installation base of two presses with Taurus Packaging, New Delhi and Kris Flexipack, Daman.

Kuen Yuh Machinery Company (KYMC) of Taiwan sold its first CI flexo presses in India to Multiflex Total Packaging Solutions, Chennai in 2008 and soon followed with a second press to Sangeeta Print-N-Packs, Mumbai. The competitively priced presses have opened altogether a new segment for flexo presses in India. “The KYMC presses are not second best in quality,” says Kunal Shah whose company KPlast Impex is the Indian distributor for KYMC. “With globalisation it has become clear that it is not where the machine is built, it\'s how the machine is built. KYMC works with the most reputable sub-suppliers in the world to guarantee the best performance and reliability of the equipment, while at the same time providing locational support and service.” Shah is worried about scarcity of skilled personnel in the country playing a dampener for faster growth.

In 2005, Heidelberg India entered the CI flexo business through a venture with Soma Engineering, the Czech manufacturer of wide web UV flexo CI presses and other converting equipment. “An excellent product backed by world class service and technical support shall be our objective to promote Soma products in India,” says Samir Patkar. Though, Hiedelberg has yet to sell any press, Patkar is very bullish on the prospects. Equally bullish and working hard at selling the first unit is Manish Parek of Ofem India, the Indian representative of Ofem Italy, a 20 year old European company involved in the manufacture of CI flexo presses.

Pelican Rotoflex was the first to manufacture an indigenous CI flexo in 2006. The 6 colour running press was displayed at Plast India in that year and sold to Narendra Polyplast, Daman. A second unit was sold to Radha Madhav Corporation (RMCL) in 2008. Sharing the upcoming plans of the company, Samir Pandya, Pelican says, “We are soon going to develop the first indigenous gearless CI press with integrated register control system.”

Reifenhauser India the Indian distributor for Comexi CI flexo presses has recently taken on the distribution of Pelican Rotoflex\'s equipment in India and may well provide the bridge between Indian and European technologies. In any event it can claim the credit for facilitiating the second installation of a Comexi after a gap of fifteen years at the factory of ICM Packaging, Mumbai.

If Bilcare\'s acquisition of PRIMAFLEX from W&H for printing sensitive aluminium foils on both sides in register was a landmark in the history of CI flexo in India, the upcoming installation of the ultra modern MIRAFLEX at the Noida plant of Uflex Ltd may well be the final catalyst. Not only it signals that the large converters who have been working with Gravure in the past are now reconciled with the need to develop flexo capabilities too, the press that Uflex has opted for is absolute high end and will be harbinger of newer technologies to this market. “This latest press from W&H will be arranged for retrofit of Electron Beam Curing System- an absolute first in the country,” reveals Rakesh Shah, the Managing Director of Windmӧller and Hӧlscher in India. “In order to reduce operator dependence and to reduce the learning curve for the users, W&H has developed new systems for impression setting, register setting, colour matching etc. besides the latest in robotics for the highest efficiency in manufacturing.”

“The Indian industry has begun to grasp the numerous advantages of C.I. flexo that include lower start up wastes, faster changeovers, economical handling of shorter runs and high speed printing. We see flexo as a modern, cost effective process for printing of flexible materials,” says Shah who predicts half a dozen new installations coming up in the industry in the next one year.

Niranjan Vora who started it all and is busy these days with the activities of Indian Flexographic Technology Association (IFTA), is equally upbeat as he sets on planning the next workshop under the Flexo Trainer series and the upcoming first ever Flexo Summit in Agra in July. “We have reached the critical mass in the installation base at exactly the time that there have been tremendous technological developments in the repro and pre press areas combined with major advances in the press design. The twin factors will see a phenomenal growth in the next few years,” says Vora. He also sees the Indian market charting a unique course and not necessarily following the path tread by other markets as they mature.