The pre-Drupa order of two new Rapida 106 sheetfed presses at Parkson’s Packaging isn’t the lone story about the warm adoption the Rapida presses have received in India.  KBA also has received orders from ITC and TCPL, leading packaging companies of the industry. When asked about the orders from TCPL, ITC and Parksons Packaging, he had said, “The machine (showcased during Drupa 2012) is available with us since January 2012. Therefore, there would be no delay in installing them on the Indian frontiers. It was a good strategy at the end of the day. A reason why we could finalise orders for ITC Chennai, TCPL and the two printing presses order from Parksons Packaging.”

TCPL, which claims to the biggest exporter of printed cartons in India, also offers its services to customers in UK, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.  TCPL Packaging now has a powerhouse of sheetfed presses which includes a six-colour Rapida 106 with a Corona unit, a coater and double delivery extension. TCPL currently owns four production plants – three in Silvassa and one in the holy-city, Haridwar. Every plant is DISO 9001:2008 and ISO 22000:2005 accredited. Add to it that that the Silvassa plant is also FSC and BRC/IOP certified.

The Rapida 106 carton press in the Integrated Industrial Estate BHEL Haridwar plant has an additional unit for printing on BOPP films and plastics. Other automated features include DriveTronic SIS Sidelay-free in-feed, automatic plate changers plus roller, blanket and impression cylinder washing units during ink changes (conventional and UV).

In addition, the Rapida 106 is equipped with DensiTronic Professional to monitor and control image quality. This high-performance press shares a pressroom with two Mitsubishi six-colour sheetfed offset press lines and a single-cylinder sheetfed gravure press from Zhengli Printing Machinery, Beijing to enable it to print offset-gravure combination jobs. The plant has also purchased a punching and folder-gluer from Bobst plus three units of Heiber & Schröder Window Patching machines with liner capability.

ITC also opted for a Rapida 106 with eight inking units, a coater and a delivery extension, which was delivered in June to ITC’s packaging plant in Chennai. The company’s units cater to a huge list of customers from food and drink industry, spirits and consumer goods; apart from the cigarettes and tobacco industry, for which the company is the biggest manufacturer. ITC’s customer base includes prominent brands such as Nokia, Colgate, Palmolive, Pernod Ricard, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and many others.

The third big packaging manufacturer, which installed a new Rapida, is Parksons Packaging with over 50 years of experience in print and packaging production. Parksons mainly produces packaging for consumer goods, food and drink, the electronics industry plus pharmaceutical product packaging for the domestic market as well as global players. The company has three production plants – in Daman, Rudrapur and Pune. Production has already started at the plant in Daman on a KBA sheetfed offset press featuring cutting, punching and gluing units used to add the finishes touches to folding boxes. Every plant has its own ink kitchen enabling conventional and UV inks to be individually made.

The two new Rapida 105 six-colour presses with coater and delivery extension are also capable of UV mixed operation for printing on film and aluminium-coated materials. Automatic plate changers, combined washing units for blanket, impression cylinders and rollers during ink changes, and non-stop facilities at the delivery are just some of the presses’ automated features. Additionally, the press features DensiTronic Professional to measure and control image quality.

As the Rapida’s make merry for KBA in India, Surana shared that the newly-found aggressive marketing strategy will not see dilution in the coming times. “The target is very simple — to first retain existing customers, and adding new to the list. More and more sheet-fed presses are coming in to packaging industry. We are targeting five to six more colour printing presses for the year, and we are very close to our target. In fact, we are fully booked,” he concluded.