Shilp Gravures: Bracing for the future of packaging

When Ahmedabad-based Shilp Gravures acquired a flexo trade shop, it was aware about the growth potential. While gravure as a segment is growing at 15% to 20%, the number of CI and label presses that have come in to India in the last four-five years has been at a healthy rate. “Flexography offers flexible packaging converters the freedom to work on multiple SKUs with shorter runs,” says Gajanan Bhavsar, marketing director at Shilp.

In February 2018, the company installed a KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide 5080 System, India’s first. “It’s a customer’s choice. There’s something unique about the quality, such as highlighting the dots the KODAK FLEXCEL NX  System can produce, which makes it a popular choice,” says Bhavsar.

Wider is better

Bhavsar says, the corrugation market is booming. Converters are investing in large-sized multi-colour post-print flexo presses. “It did not make any sense to invest in a smaller size system,” explained Bhavsar. That said, it’s just not about the size. “Our customers want gravure result in flexo. So producing a plate that matches the gravure print was very vital. The KODAK FLEXCEL NX System and Plates do just that.”

Following the KODAK FLEXCEL NX investment, Shilp has been able to add new customers. “In jobs which are critical, we put the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System to use. And because of the job satisfaction, we have started to receive more orders. We now export our plates to the Middle East countries too,” says Bhavsar

Much of KODAK FLEXCEL NX System’s success is attributed to the stability of the FLEXCEL NX Plates on the press. Bhavsar agrees. “The repeatability factor is critical. If we supply one job today, and when we supply the same job after three months, the quality will be the same.”

This advertorial was first published in PrintWeek India’s November 2018 supplement – Kodak Special