Me & My: DGM Smartfold 1100SL + G Pack folder-gluer

Q: Please describe your company.
A: QOT Packaging is a vibrant and au courant daughter company of Print Services which has been in the commercial offset printing for over four decades. Established in March 2013, under the guidance of the chairman Arun Rawat, and Siddharth Rawat, the director, representing the family’s second generation, QOT’s strategic tie-ups and seed investments in corrugation and label have allowed it to serve as a one-stop shop for all its clients.

Q: When did you start using the DGM SmartFold 1100SL?
A: The machine was installed in June2019 and went operational soon after.

Q: What are the properties of DGM SmartFold 1100SL you like?
A: There are three properties of the machine — side register section, pre-fold section and motorised trombone section. We had taken two of our existing folding machine operators to PrintPack 2019 so that they could personally share with us their point of view about day-to-day working. For me, the sheer length of the machine has been a major boon with regards to flexibility.

Q: How are you benefiting?
A: Our foremost priority was to ensure that we start saying yes to clients when it came to unique and critical folding cartons. We consciously wanted to stop the manual pasting process.This specific machine size and the chosen attachments now allows us to paste cartons that have disproportionate sizes.

Q: Did you look at other similar folder-gluers?
A: Yes, we went through an extensive critical evaluation process. We had broken the market into three segments — existing reputed international brands, Indian manufacturers and Chinese brands. DGM best fitted our requirement and was the perfect entry point for us with regards to price and quality.

Q: What are the features that tilted the favour in this?
A: Side register section, pre-fold section and motorised trombone section.

Q: How much have these features helped you in your production?
A: Now, we can produce more jobs in less time.

Q: For what applications is the machine used?
A: We use it for lock-bottom, fluted cartons, tube light and four- corner cartons. We used to face major issues in the past on our old machine with cartons that had disproportionate height. Running these cartons on the DGM has been a breeze and it has given us the confidence to not shy away from such orders.

Q: Have you faced any issue with the machine?
A: At QOT Packaging, we follow Kaizen and truly believe that improvement on a daily basis is a continuous process.

Q: If there’s a critical print job that has come your way, would you rely on DGM to see it through?
A: This was the foremost reason to go ahead with DGM, as the dedication and commitment of Puneet Agarwal of DGM is unparalleled. The DGM team’s attitude to resolve and innovate solutions in forms of attachments for our unique jobs has been amazing.

Q: How easy is it to use?
A: We are running two shifts on this machine since its installation and both the teams are satisfied with the overall functioning of the machine and its user-friendliness.

Q: Would you say that it offers value for money?
A: Absolutely. With regards to value for money, we are now investing into equipment that we believe would give us ROI within maximum 48 months.

Q: To whom would you recommend it?
A: Packaging converters, especially those who are into paper and board packaging.