Michelman Innovation Centre for Coatings opens in Mumbai

The cornerstone of MICC is a Kroenert dual coater-laminator on the ground-floor. During a detailed demo, it is clear this equipment can be deployed for various coating methods or adhesive application, multiple printing processes, ability to coat a wide range of substrates up to 400-micron thickness, UV top and heat nip lamination capability.

In addition, there is a full-fledged formulation lab and application lab equipped with high-end equipment like WVTR and OTR testing machines and Gelbo tester among others.

This means, the Michelman team is in a position to work closely with flexible packaging converters, film manufacturers and brand owners to develop innovative laminate structures, tweak formulations for customer-specific requirements, run trials and test packaging performance under one roof and also quickly commercialise new packaging.

Speaking to PrintWeek India, Shifman, said, “India is a vibrant flexible packaging market. India is entrepreneurial, energetic and there’s a lot of desire for change, the government is interested in taking waste out of the packaging stream, promoting less toxic materials and more environmentally friendly materials and that’s what Michelman is all about. So, India is a very important place for us to be.”

Michelman has been doing business in India for a long time. In 2015, it acquired its long-time sales and service partner, Supack International, making it an integral part of Michelman India and started building the team in India. It appointed Shailesh Nema as the country manager for India operations in 2016.

Talking about the role of MICC in contributing to sustainable packaging innovations, Shifman said, “Stringent environmental regulations are a big opportunity not only for us but also for the entire environmental economy. What we have found over the years is that people generally want sustainability and something that is environmentally friendly, the challenge is that it hasn’t been economically viable. We are working very hard to make our technology and our solutions not only environmentally friendly and sustainable but also economically viable. We think the marketplace is encouraged by this. By partnering with the industry, together we can make a very significant change.”

Nema said, “Indian government has certain plans to implement compliances. That’s where our innovation centre comes into the picture. Here brand owners and converters can prototype different packaging structures and choose the most optimised one for their requirements. Plus Michelman has a global capability in the regulatory and environmental regulations that can be leveraged here.”