Product of the Month: LVPI 250/330
Vinsak is trying to cement its position as a viable alternative to top brands in Europe. Ramu Ramanathan visits the factory and realises that a processdriven approach is the key to successful manufacturing.
27 Jun 2016 | 9154 Views | By Ramu Ramanathan
While Vinsak is celebrating its presence at Drupa, work continues on the LVPI VDP system at its unassuming factory in Navi Mumbai. And why not? Today, inspection systems and rewinders for packaging print is the big story in India, for anyone staking claims to this multimillion dollar market.
A packaging developer told PrintWeek India, the top pharma companies conduct many more labels trials than clinical trials in their laboratories. A company can pay millions for incorrect labels since that could be viewed as dishonest and duplicitous information. Two drug makers — Roche’s Genentech and OSI Pharmaceuticals — had to pay USD 67 million to resolve charges that they made misleading statements through their “promotional material” about the effectiveness of the Tarceva drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer.
It is in this sense, the LVPI VDP and inspection system from Vinsak is “a great
option for one’s needs,” as Sanjdip Kandhari, director at Creed Engineers, says at the Vinsak factory. He explains how each label can be sent out after it is verified by the 100% camera inspection system. “The integrated camera system uses line scan technology along with a range of stroboscopes which is interfaced to the machine and ensures automatic syncronisation,” he adds.
Finicky manufacturing
Needless to say, the main USP at Vinsak is to provide high quality machines at low cost, plus the ability to customise machines as per customers’ specific needs. Vinsak is leveraging a lean
manufacturing process and offering a machine which is less the half than price of its European counterparts without the taboo of murky manufacturing.
When PrintWeek India visited the factory, the thing that stood out, other than the shopfloor workers and having right people in the right spot, is “soft” innovations. The team seems to operate in a culture where they grapple with challenges and problems and must come up with fresh ideas.
That’s why Vinsak machines are getting better, as their customers testify. The hard and the soft innovations work in tandem. As Kandhari says, “We deploy multi-heads instead of two heads, for operational efficiency. We have a frugal approach. But we spend on critical components to ensure quality which is on par to the expensive European brands.”
Kandhari believes that efficiency alone cannot guarantee success. So what’s different is that the company views customers not just as a sales opportunity but as knowledge partners who accumulate chie—the wisdom of experience—for the company’s frontline products. As Kandhari says, “Vinsak garners ideas from everyone and everywhere: the shopfloor, the office, and above all, the customer.”
Customised product
The LVPI in the factory is being customised – and being readied to be shipped to an international client. The machine which is being readied includes a quick makeready rotary scissor slitting unit with knife separation and lateral adjustment. Also, there is a colour touch screen HMI operator interface enabling quick and easy job setups, control of the various counting facilities, automatic web advance, taper tension control and end of roll features.
Customisation is a common theme with Kandhari. It can be a space constraint or how much “touch and feel a buyer desires.”
He adds, “Customers want to print personalised data digitally onto various types of substrate like offset papers, coated papers, gloss papers, PET, BOPP, etc. Plus they seek code verification for security labels to avoid counterfeiting for track and trace. We ensure they are not buying a standard product.”
So the Vinsak team asks “every prospective customer” a rather blunt question, why are you buying this kit? And more importantly, how do you propose to use it? These questions are developed by a 40-member Vinsak production team. This team follows manufacturing methods which emerge from Kandhari’s engineering background and experience with an auto major. Systems are in place. The tools and techniques for design and production and component sourcing are sensibly organised. Kandhari says, “There are 400 components in a LVPI system. But the way it works, every single bearing and cylinder has a traceability factor.”
The endeavour is to reduce people dependency. Also, Vinsak is vigilant about reducing batch sizes and buffers in the processes and move closer to its ideal of continuous flow of material in-final product despatch out of the factory. The operation is lean, until such times as the numbers add up and there is a need to scale up.
Success rate in India
In addition to export orders in Europe and Middle East, there are prestigious installations at Holostik, Pragati Pack, Saraswati Press and Manipal Technologies. Of these, there are four LVPI 250 machines at the Uflex premises in Hyderabad, which has been running for the last two years.
Later, as Kandhari takes a round of the 6,000 sq/ft factory in Rabale (there is a 4,500 sq/ft factory nearby), he says Vinsak’s LVPI, which was launched in 2014, is targeted at the labels and security printing market. “When it comes to printing personalised security labels with fully variable information, or frequently changing print, the Vinsak LVPI is a perfect solution,” claims Kandhari. “It’s reliable, versatile and flexible with high performance and lowest cost of operation vis-a-vis print quality.”
With everyone demanding shorter lead times, we have seen a clear increase in the demand for our kit, says Kandhari.
The applications for the machine includes security printing, label and flexible package printing, coding on pre-registered and die-cut labels, frequently changing text, graphics, numbers, 1D and 2D codes, ingredient information, track and trace codes and production data.
| Specifications |
|
Max product width: 250/330 mm Max transport speed: 150 m/min Max unwind and rewind diameter: 700 mm Printing: VIS 1200 Piezo-DOD technology |
Vinsak also manufactures Label Slitter Rewinder (LSR) with the die-cutting unit at its plant in Navi Mumbai. There have been 30 installations of the LSR while there are about 1000 installs of the parent company ABG’s SR models worldwide