Made in India: Checkmate 50

In today’s quality-conscious market, to achieve flawless production, a carton inspection system is a must. And there are options to choose from. There are those from Europe, as well as from China. And then, there’s Checkmate 50, perhaps the most popular carton inspection machine manufactured in India.

So what does Checkmate 50 do? The machine, manufactured by Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-based Autoprint, compares the cartons to be inspected with master cartons, which are selected as per the acceptance level of the customer. It then segregates good and rejected cartons based on results given by the inspection system. The machine can inspect cartons for pharma and FMCG applications at the speed of 250m/min.

Checkmate 50 is for packaging houses which manufacture pharma, FMCG, food or cigarette cartons. Beside regular cartons, the machine can also inspect registered holograms. According to KG Suresh, joint managing director, Autoprint Machinery, few of the company’s customers are also using the machine to inspect G and E-flute cartons.

Reliability and productivity
Listing the USP of the machine, Suresh says Checkmate 50 is a user-friendly system for quick job changeover. It contains a mistake-proof ejector, meaning that not a single rejected carton will pass into the accepted pile. “Also, the machine assures high productively as the inspection speed does not slow down for even complicated cartons. Plus, it has an excellent yield due to its ability to set up as close to human inspection as possible,” Suresh explains, adding that the company’s after-sales service is unmatched, given that it is an Indian product which uses Indian software.

The next question is the suitability of the machine vis-à-vis cost, with India being a price-sensitive market. Suresh argues that the machine helps customers save on cost. “The machine adds value to the converter’s shopfloor, as 100% inspection of cartons ensures perfect quality. Inspecting manually is an extremely skilled job, which this machine can avoid and save cost. We find that customers using our machine are able to ship out more quantities per day, increasing their top line. Customers with Checkmate 50 are also getting more jobs from their customers due to assured quality,” he says.

This may explain the machine’s popularity. In the last 30 months, the company has installed 28 Checkmate kits, including two in Malayasia. This includes four cases of repeat orders from the existing customers — Parksons Packaging (at Daman, Guwahati, Pune); Laxmi (at Vapi and Goa); Rich Offset (two at Siliguri and two at Baddi) and Award Packaging (at Mumbai and Silvassa).

Other customers include Any Graphics; Essentra; Kumar Printers; Meera Offset; Noble Printing Press; Param Packaging; Paramount Print Packaging; Pragati Pack; Pravesha Industries; Printmann Offset; Sapco (Shree Arun Packaging); TCPL and Yamir Packaging, among others.

Complete solution 
The reason is simple, Suresh explains. Checkmate 50 offers what converters want in an inspection system, namely, reliability on inspection results, user-friendliness, productivity, after-sales service, and an affordable price. Checkmate 50, Suresh says, checks all the boxes. “We have designed the machine as standard, so every possible requirement is available in the machine,” he adds. This includes 100% carton tracking system, which tracks all cartons to ensure that all rejected cartons go to the rejected pile, and automatic brightness correction ensuring excellent repeatability of inspection. 

Suresh argues that this feature to check that all rejected cartons are placed in the rejected pile is not available in the competitor machines. Another unique feature of Checkmate 50 is the mistake-proof ejector, which is very different from the options available in competing systems. 

The machine uses software from Bengaluru-based Lucid Imaging, which enables the machine to process fast with intelligent algorithms for speciality print inspection. Since the software partner is based in India, Suresh says, it can help customers update or add new inspection algorithms at a moment's notice. This is important, as each pharma job comes with its own specific requirements.
 
Best of all, Suresh says, the machine is easy to use. “Operators with basic computer knowledge can use this machine,” he says, adding that the company organises extensive training sessions for operators both at the Autoprint factory and at the customer’s site.

About after-sale services, Suresh says, the company has exclusive service in-charge for Checkmate 50 region-wise. “We also have an exclusive dynamic team for backend support through Team Viewer (online support) and 24x7 support through WhatsApp for any technical guidance,” he adds.

Last but not the least, Suresh reiterates that following the installation of Checkmate 50, the customers’ on-time supply of cartons has significantly improved and not a single carton has been rejected by their clients against delivery. “The machine has helped increase top line due to more jobs that could be delivered. It has also improved customer confidence which results in more jobs for the user,” he concludes.