Pratham exports integrated 12-fold folding kit to Russia

According to Pratham Technologies’ chairman Datta Deshpande, this is the first time Pratham has exported an integrated folding system.  

“The pile feeder is a high-speed feeder where vacuum drum takes one paper at a time and aligns using a side lay before it is fed to the folding machine. The machine is equipped with a non contact type ultrasonic sensor for double sheet detection; double sheets are ejected before the feeder feeds the sheet to the folding machine.”

The 12-fold folding machine is a pile feeder machine that is equipped to handle 450mm wide and 750 mm long papers. The pile feeder is specifically designed for thin bible papers ranging from 28gsm to 40gsm, however, it can also handle maplitho and coated papers up to 150gsm.

When asked what makes the machine robust, Deshpande, said, “It’s the choice of materials. The rollers of the machine are made of PU and metal combination. This ensures a long life of the rollers and avoids static electricity generated in the paper. The gap between two rollers is set by the caliper. The folding trays are made of stainless steel.”

Pratham turns 29

Last month, Pratham Technologies turned 29. In the past three decades, the company has evolved to become a name to be reckoned with in the paper folding machine segment.

When PrintWeek India team visited Pratham's factory in Pune, last month, an 18-fold outsert folding machine was being built at its shopfloor.

“Looking back, the journey has been rewarding. Continuous improvements in our product line-up to incorporate valuable customer feedback into the machines has always been our strategy. The focus now is value addition so as to take automation on the machines to the next level,” said Deshpande.

Established in 1988, Pratham Technologies ventured into folding machines in 1992 with a table top device.

“In 25 years we have continuously innovated our products and we have now the machines with 18 folds, accessories like cross folding machine, parallel knives, pressing machine, stackers, taping machines, vision inspection systems, diverters, mailing systems, folder attachment to cartoning machines, etc and we supply to over 15 countries,” added Deshpande.

The manufacturers exports to countries in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. “We have not yet explored markets in USA, South America and Canada, the plan for which is on the cards.”

Talking about its innovations, Deshpande said, “We have developed electronic tracking system due which if there is any interruption in the flow of papers, the feeder stops feeding further papers. This avoids paper jam and saves papers and machine from damage. Last year, we sold 11 taping machines that throughput at 12 thousand papers per hour.”

He highlighted that the demand for the higher configuration of machines is steadily increasing and that the company has orders for its outserts systems and 12-fold machines in the pipeline.