Ink makers aim to provide solutions at AIPIMA conference

The thing that emerged was how the Indian packaging sector is being radically reshaped as packaging increasingly becomes a vital marketing tool for brand owners and retailers, and a key source of consumer information not only on the pack itself but also online.

Ink makers and manufacturers are adapting to the widening scope of packaging in the marketing of products by broadening their own role in the supply chain, particularly in the area of services.

Torsten Schmelich, regional head of technical service, Eckart, Jesus Santamaria, business manager, South Asia for Lubrizol, and Sinta Lay, marketing head- dispersion and resin, Asia Pacific for BASF pointed out how they have positioned themselves as not just ink suppliers but solution providers. This can mean extending their activities into areas requiring expertise well beyond those of ink chemistry. Others are building up a strong presence in niches. 

While brand owners and retail chains like have been pressing their suppliers for lower prices, they are also demanding that their products have high levels of sustainability, like light-weight materials, and recyclability. Naveen Damseth also wants printing quality which make the packaging eye-catching.

During the final panel of the day, VK Seth of Sakata Inx, Ashwani Bhardhwaj of Micro Inks, Yasuo Ikeda, COO of DIC India and BS Kampani of Toyo Inks stated how they are working closely with printers and converters to help them reduce costs, improve colour management and be innovative.

As a result, alliances are being formed between ink manufacturers and newspaper giants that not only assist in the development of new products, but ensure their quality and competitiveness throughout their life cycles.
   
Many of the trends are driven by new regulations at both the national and international levels.

During the session with A Venkatrangan of Huhtamaki-PPL on flexible packaging it was pointed out how organisations lay down strict limits on the types of packaging they will accept for recycling. In many cases they effectively ban printed materials from their plants unless the inks are proven to be organic and biodegradable.

On the issue of migration of possibly dangerous chemicals from packaging inks and coatings into packaged food, IK indicated that international brands will stipulate the types and amount of chemicals that can be used in food packaging.
   
The other themes that resonated at the conference were: specific legislation on food packaging migration; plus consumer information on packs and packaging data to aid the traceability of products; and finally the drive against counterfeiting of medicines which may result in pharmacists being able to authenticate a drug when dispensing it by checking information from barcode scanners against data held in central databases.
   
As inkmakers pointed out, these changes will require improvements in the quality of the inks used in the coding of drugs. The inks will have to have a higher resolution and above all much greater stability than at present.

The main aim, as Ajay Mehta said will be to ensure labels are legible, understandable and not misleading. As Mehta said, “Today, sufficient space has to be allocated for obligatory information on the package so that it is not given a minor position in small print. The regulation lays down minimum font sizes and other graphic rules.” Therefore converters will have to attach importance to design, colour and other visual features.
   
One trend that was discussed was how inkjet and other digital process predominate in the segment, expertise in printing equipment and processes is being combined with that in ink chemistry. Advances in technologies for portable or hand-held printers have offered the opportunity for the development of specialist inks for the devices.

At Interpack 2014 in Dusseldorf, coding and marking companies were emphasising their capabilities in R&D in ink. 

“Our conferences aim to analyse and improve workflows in the ink room, pre-press, print job set-up and finishing to achieve higher efficiencies,” R Y Kamat, president of AIPIMA, said.

“With the backing of national and international players, Micro Inks has the ability to take full advantage of the need for advice and expertise by owners of brands and private firms for the betterment of ink products,” Kamat concluded.