August issue of PrintWeek, WhatPackaging? out

PrintWeek mapped 234 firms across the country in order to understand the current capacity utilisation rate in the industry. The findings were – 90% capacity utilisation in packaging, 85% in book printing, 50% in labels, and 120% capacity utilisation in tags. With the market opening up after a two-year slump of the pandemic, there is a sense of optimism among the printing fraternity. There are issues and concerns, of course, but the overall outlook is that of hope, the report by Noel D’cunha and Dibyajyoti Sarma reveals. 

With 1 August being celebrated as Paper Day, the August issue features an in-depth piece on the turmoil in the paper turf. PR Ray explains how the paper industry has faced drastic changes since the beginning of 2020 and how it is essential that we understand and appreciate these dynamics of change for our benefit, so we can tune our activities accordingly to deliver optimum results.

Meanwhile, Noel D’Souza speaks with newspaper publishers to learn how their publications have evolved from 1947, the challenges they face, and how they can remain relevant in a digital world.

Also read the report on Paper Day celebrations on 1 August where the industry highlighted how paper is wood-positive; besides being sustainable and biodegradable.

In the open house section, Rahul Kumar visits the Yamir Packaging plant in Kadi, Gujarat to attend the Bobst open house and has a conversation with Hyuma Mahadevia, executive director, Yamir Packaging on the importance of investing in new machines.

In the eCommerce section, Noel D’cunha takes a close look at Flipkart’s sustainability drive.

In the case study section, Himanshu Pandey of Avantika explains how the company has initiated a new service at its Greater Noida unit to make it easy for its customers to take advantage of the Ghent PDF Output Suite 5.0 Conformance Certification for digital presses and its digital printers that use EFI Fiery digital front-end (DFE) print servers. 

The August issue of WhatPackaging? supplement that comes with PrintWeek highlights the issues of sustainability and the fallout of the single-use plastic ban.

In the big interview section, Chakravarthi AVPS talks to Yugal Sikri, managing director of RPG Life Sciences. Since his appointment as managing director, Sikri has boosted the EBITDA margin and ROCE expansion plus he has improved operational efficiency by investing in building brands. He reveals the key aspects of Indian pharma packaging.

In the opinion section, Vinod Malshe, chief technology officer at Nichem Solutions talks about the benefits and challenges of banning single-use plastics and sheds light on what needs to be done by manufacturers.

Use of mineral inks can end up in foodstuff, which could be harmful. In the ink section, Jatin Takkar, head PSR of Siegwerk India looks at the potential risks of ink migration from substrates used for food packaging.

Vacmet has commissioned a third BOPP film line at its existing facility near Indore in the last quarter. It’s a 10.4-metre line with a capacity of 55,000 MT per annum. Charmiane Alexander reports.

Tetra Pak has come up with a fibre-based barrier to replace the aluminium layer in the standard Tetra Pak carton. Ashutosh Manohar, managing director, Tetra Pak, South Asia Markets, tells Mansi Gupta.

These and more, plus the regular features in the August issue of PrintWeek and WhatPackaging?