Speaking to PrintWeek, Varad Deshpande, director at Pratham, said the feedback from customers is highly positive. “We have finalised deals worth Rs 12-crore. The iRPF 53 running live at the stand will, in all probability, be installed at a prominent packager in Germany.

The iRPF 53 has several automation features, including a creasing pre-setter, job recall setting, fold length setting, a see-through cover, patented sliding right-angle folding, size inspection for quality control, and manpower savings through a super tray packer (STP).

Deshpande said the STP is an automatic tray packing system for picking and placing outserts for tray packing and loading, tray feeding, and tray mechanisms.  “It can be retro-fitted with any other make machines.”

Pratham’s appearance at Drupa will mark the public debut of the new machine. “We had hoped to unveil the concept during Drupa 2020, but it was cancelled. However, we have brought a brand-new machine with the robotic system at the end,” said Deshpande.