Labels are getting more complex. Innovation is a major driver. You agree?

Innovation is surely the driver.

Five years ago, if one had to buy a narrow-web flexo press, one looked at number of colours and a couple of finishing additions like inline foiling, turner bar or relam-delam unit. Today, the equation had immensely evolved. 

As more and more label companies invest in flexo presses, the competition is hotting up and the prominent printers are becoming a face in the crowd. To stand out amidst the crowd, they need to equip themselves with different and unique capabilities. They need to create labels which cannot be done on the conventional flexo press. It is for this reason they ask for unique configurations depending on their experience and creativity.

More and more flexo vendors are offering hybrid presses. Has it become mandatory to have a hybrid press to compete in Indian label market?

I wouldn’t say it’s mandatory but to have enhanced capabilities and produce products that will fetch them better prices as also spell better value to label buyers in terms of shelf appeal, the hybrid presses do become an imperative for the label printers. You can extract the best of many print processes on to a label using hybrid presses that can print with various printing technologies.

All efforts by flexo manufacturers are put in making short-runs economical. Has the Indian label market matured enough to really worry about short-runs?

The short run market was always there. It was a different segment catering to smaller buyers while the larger runs coming from the FMCG or other large quantity buyers were the forte of larger, organised label printing companies. The smaller label printers were with lower overheads and local or used, obsolete machines. So it was easier for them to do short-runs economically. Now when the markets have started merging and the larger print buyers have started to demand shorter-runs with the highest quality, driven by market dynamics, it has become a worry to think about short-runs.

In the last three years, flexo presses have upped one level of makeready automation and faster changeovers. Is this to fight the competition from digital?

Yes. Automation, quick registration, low wastage and faster changeovers are also steps to counter the expensive digital printing equipment and consumables.

There are flexo press which can be set up in less than 10 minutes and offers pre-registration on the print stations together with automatic registration during a print run and a self-cleaning plate system. Do you have something similar in your bag of products? Yes Omet iFlex is exactly the press that addresses most of these issues. It will be running live at Omet/Weldon stand.

Does increased automation mean high efficiency? And if yes, have the ancillaries and consumables like plates, dies, aniloxes, etc been developed to support this enhanced automation or that will be a hindrance.

Yes. All supplies are easily available.

Another trend is wider versions of narrow-web flexo press, aimed mainly at opportunities in short-run flexible packaging and folding carton. Are we redefining the boundaries of a label printer? What will be the repercussions?

A label printer’s investment enables him to extend his reach from just labels to other arenas like short runs of flexible packaging, shrink sleeves and folding cartons These wider versions of technically enhanced presses are being offered and they do enhance the reach of the printers. However, it will be sometime before the inline converting for wider-web application becomes the order of the day. The process has started and will certainly evolve because of the convenience of finishing the job in a single pass and saving on manpower and real estate costs.

Among the 10-12 digital label printing machines installed in India barring three or four players, others are still struggling to be viable. What’s the reason? What are they doing wrong?

A lot of printers invest in equipment because it is a onetime cost. However, the high cost of consumables and ROI makes their pricing go skywards. Moreover, they should have a customer base that will appreciate and pay for the attributes that digital provides.

On the pre-press front, the dots continue to get finer and flexo print sharper. There was Esko’s Full HD and in last couple of years Kodak’s Flexcel NX has gained popularity in India. What’s next?

Like Star Wars! They will probably make the nano drops merge in the air and land as a final colourful image on the substrate!! My knowledge of pre-press is limited and I am still studying. I may be able to comment on this in some weeks.