Drupa 2024: Bobst signs seven Indian deals

According to Venugopal Menon, zone business director of BU printing converting, Indian sub-continent at Bobst, the company boldly focused on shaping the future of the packaging world rather than showcasing machinery at Drupa. “The idea behind this is that Bobst doesn’t just sell machines, but offers productivity and solution.”

To achieve this, Bobst introduced the Bobst Connect system that allows machines to be connected, gather data, and enable analysis for performance improvement. “This system is integrated into various packaging solutions such as label, corrugated, folding carton, and flexible solutions. The goal is to offer connected machines that can provide valuable data for optimising performance and application solutions,” explained Menon.

Automation has been one of the areas in which Indian packagers are showing interest, said Menon. “Every customer we speak to wants to depend less and less on people. For example, one of our customers who has installed an FFG line in corrugated has already put a robot line in place to collect the bulk bundles and palletising.”

In 2023, Bobst acquired Ducker Robotics as part of its vision for the future of the packaging world, where the entire packaging production line will be connected and much more automated.