For Anupama Printing Solutions, the move into a 50 × 80 format is not simply another equipment purchase. It is the latest step in a technology journey that began with offset, moved into flexographic plate-making and is now pushing the company towards wider applications and a more integrated prepress capability.

At the center of that move is a new Xsys workflow combining ThermoFlex 80 laser imager with Catena E 80 LED exposure. The processing line and dryer/light finisher will complete the installation, giving Anupama an end-to-end 50 × 80-inch plate-production workflow. The installation, completed in June 2026 at Anupama’s Noida plant, is also a significant milestone for Xsys, marking the company’s first major installation in India following the 2025 merger of Xsys and MacDermid.

For Sachit Katyal, CEO of Anupama Printing Solutions, the investment reflects a philosophy the company has followed for more than a decade: learn the technology, understand where the market is moving and invest when the opportunity is right.

“We entered the flexography business in 2015,” Katyal says. Before that, the company was involved in offset printing, offset plate-making and trading. As the second generation of the family business, Katyal became increasingly involved in evaluating technologies and identifying expansion opportunities.

The company initially built its flexo business around Kodak technology before adding other capabilities. A visit to Labelexpo Europe in 2017 helped shape its decision to move into a larger 40 × 60 Kodak system. Later, Anupama evaluated ThermoFlex and Esko technologies as it looked to build a more automated prepress operation.

The business subsequently moved to a new facility in Baddi and continued investing in equipment and technology. More recently, the company established a third plant in Haridwar and began looking at how it could extend its reach beyond its traditional narrow-web base. That is where the new Xsys installation comes in.

“Our objective was not simply to add another machine,” says Katyal. “We wanted to see how we could improve the flexographic industry in India and provide better-quality plates to printers.”

Productivity beyond imaging

Prasenjit Das, general manager – South Asia, Xsys Flexo India, sees productivity as one of the strongest arguments for the new workflow. “The biggest advantage is productivity,” he says. “Our objective is to meet the print-quality expectations of the market while delivering that quality much faster.”

The ThermoFlex 80 provides 2,000 dpi imaging, while the Catena 80 LED exposure system is designed to significantly reduce exposure times. Das points to examples where plates that previously required around 9–12 minutes of main exposure can now be exposed in approximately six minutes. Another example involves Xsys’ ITP 60 plate, where exposure time has fallen from around 12 minutes with conventional bank-light exposure to approximately five to five-and-a-half minutes with LED.

“If you can reduce exposure time by 40–50% without compromising quality, the customer can significantly increase capacity and productivity,” Das says.

The workflow is also designed to fit into existing prepress environments rather than forcing customers to replace everything around it. Xsys describes the technology as open, with Woodpecker Replay allowing files generated through other screening workflows to be converted for imaging on the ThermoFlex system. That flexibility is important in a market where printers have already invested heavily in their prepress infrastructure.

Where plate, software and exposure meet

The technology story becomes more interesting when Woodpecker screening is added to the equation. Xsys has developed different Woodpecker screening solutions for specific applications. Nevis is aimed at applications such as white ink and coatings, Sharp at regular printing, and Nano at fine screening. Woodpecker Replay, meanwhile, allows files created through other screening software to be processed through the Woodpecker workflow.

“Woodpecker delivers its full benefit when combined with LED exposure,” Das explains. “With Catena, the exposure is very precise, so the dots and screening patterns are reproduced properly on the plate.”

Catena also provides flexibility in how plates are processed. Its database contains parameters for different plate technologies, while customers can create their own recipes and adjust settings such as relief height.

For Katyal, this is where the machine and software begin to make a difference to what is otherwise the same basic polymer plate technology. “The plate itself remains the same polymer technology. The improvement comes from what we can achieve through the machine and software,” he says.

Software can be used to apply different patterns to the plate, helping optimize ink density and the interaction between plate and substrate. The objective is ultimately to achieve more consistent and controlled print results.

From narrow web towards wider opportunities

Anupama remains a predominantly narrow-web business. Katyal says 100% of its current business is focused on narrow web, even though the company has been preparing for opportunities beyond that segment.

The 50 × 80 format changes the possibilities. It gives Anupama the ability to address wider applications, including opportunities in corrugated packaging. Its investment in a Kongsberg table has also opened possibilities around staggered, mounting and pre-mounted plates. “Today, we are fully prepared to enter wide web when the opportunity arises,” Katyal says.

The company is also looking to compete more effectively against higher-cost plate technologies. Katyal sees an opportunity to offer an alternative to Kodak NX plates while maintaining the print quality required by narrow-web converters.

The bigger challenge: knowledge

For both Anupama and Xsys, however, technology alone will not determine how quickly flexography advances in India.

Katyal points to a shortage of technical knowledge in parts of the North Indian market. Equipment decisions can sometimes be influenced by word of mouth, while operators frequently move between companies, taking valuable process knowledge with them.

“We spend considerable time training operators and explaining the benefits of different plate technologies,” he says.

He believes the industry needs more structured flexographic training, including greater attention to flexography in technical institutes and colleges.

The reason is simple: the application base is expanding. Flexography today reaches far beyond conventional label printing, with opportunities in monocartons, IML, shrink sleeves, pouches, tubes and other packaging formats.

For Xsys, India offers considerable potential, but it is a market where growth comes with intense price pressure. Das describes India as one of the world’s most price-sensitive flexographic plate markets. The opportunity is large, but profitability remains difficult. “The growth opportunity in India excites us, but the pricing environment makes profitability challenging,” he says.

That tension – between technology and price, investment and return, equipment and expertise – will shape the next phase of flexographic growth in India.

For Anupama, the new Xsys workflow is a bet that customers will increasingly value what lies behind the plate: faster production, precise exposure, controlled screening and the ability to reproduce quality consistently.

For Xsys, the Catena–Woodpecker combination represents an opportunity to bring a more integrated approach to plate-making by delivering high-precision flexographic printing and surface microstructures.

And for both companies, the ambition extends beyond installing another machine. It is about making plate production a more precise, productive and technically sophisticated part of the flexographic printing process.