Bangladesh-based Kalyar Replica, a concern of Acme Group, has ordered a special purpose 4-color rotogravure printing press, Rotoflex Stanmas 20, from Uflex. Kalyar has purchased the press to print on foil for applications in blister packaging. Mohammad Yasin, general manager of Kalyar Replica, said that the new press will help increase Kalyar’s productivity by 40 to 80 tonnes a month. The company currently prints and supplies close to 500 tonnes of flexible packaging in a month. This is the first rotogravure press that Kalyar has purchased for printing on foil and has been customized to suit its pharma requirements.
We met Yasin at an Open House conducted by Uflex on 6 December 2019 at its engineering division in Noida. Rotoflex Stanmas 20 was shown live at the Open House which witnessed interested customers from Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Armenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh. Uflex has developed the machine with technical inputs from MRG Grafomac of Italy and in-house design team.
Speaking about the Bangladesh market, Yasin said, “Packaging in Bangladesh is growing at 20%, thanks to the growth in the FMCG sector. Of all the packaging segments, flexible packaging has shown the highest growth. There are nearly seven major pharma companies in Bangladesh that supply packaging to the entire country.”
During the Open House, Sanjay Malik Sabharwal, executive vice president, Engineering Business, Uflex said, “Rotoflex Stanmas 20 is a highly sophisticated machine by Uflex making us the pioneer in manufacturing of this special purpose gravure machine for aluminum foil printing, which is otherwise a difficult task. This machine addresses the issue of aluminum foil brittleness, by special adjustments to ensure that the press is better equipped to handle the foil so as to ensure no breakage while moving from one station to another.”
Keeping in mind the need to reduce use of nylon in blister packaging for obvious reasons, this machine will cater to the high growth pharmaceutical market, especially blister packaging and also open new avenues in lidding for Uflex. With best- in-class technology at our disposal and some of the sharpest brains at our side, we are confident of taking this printing packaging machine to the global platform,” continued Sabharwal.
Suitable for narrow web application, Rotoflex Stanmas 20 is a mechanical line shaft that specializes in printing on aluminum foil of varying thickness. While the trial printing for the Open House was conducted on 8 microns of aluminum, the machine has the capability to print aluminum foil of wide range of thickness, depending on the requirement. Likewise the color configuration of Rotoflex Stanmas 20 can stretch to 8 colors.
Rotoflex Stanmas 20 further strengthens the portfolio of rotogravure printing machine that Uflex already offers with eight variants in it. A single machine that can be used for printing multiple substrates, the latest variant of the press can print on aluminum foil as well as other substrates spread over Polymer family and Paper. The ideal printing speed on the machine is 150 meters/minute for aluminum foil, while other substrates can run up to 200 meters/minute. The press that prints with solvent-based inks, also comes affixed with the unique feature of an electrical heating system unlike the usually seen heating system of hot air generator or thermal oil, thereby helps in quick start up of operation.
