Rukson Packaging installs Bobst Expertfold 80 A2 to support growth

Bobst India installed the Expertfold in December 2022, and since then, Rukson has been producing close to one-million cartons per day. The Rs 40-crore turnover Rukson specialises in carton packaging (metPET and paperboard), catch covers, labels, stickers and leaflets. The company operates from a 35,000 sqft site in Rabale and, on average, converts close to 400 tonnes of paper and paperboard per month.

"The Bobst Expertfold 80 A2 can run at speeds of up to 450 mtr/min and is a future-ready machine in our portfolio. It can straight line boxes even up to 70mm open width and crash lock bottom up to 146mm as standard and with our unique speciality for CLB, even up to 115mm open width is possible. The machine at Rukson is configured to do multiple designs of boxes and fitted with our Accubraille GT,“ said Suraj Sharma, regional sales manager for Bobst India.

“We are growing 20%-30% year-on-year for the last few years. We need service quality and the jobs done on time. We are increasing our sales. Now we have already crossed 40% growth as compared to last year, and this year we are expecting 50% closer to our turnover with the same team,” said Gobind Punjabi, director at Ruksons. Punjabi manages the company along with his father, Kishin, who established Ruksons.

In 2016-17, Rukson pumped in almost Rs 20-crore in a raft of machinery. These include Esko’s Kongsberg XE10 sample maker and Esko’s pre-press workflow, Komori Lithrone LS 32 six-colour plus coater press and a platesetter by Cron. This is in addition to the investment it had already made in Bobst Expertfold A1 folding and gluing machine, a Bobst Novacut die-cutter, a Heiber Schroeder window patching and liner machine and a Zhongke lamination machine to strengthen our post-press.

“All these machines have proved to be an enabler and have helped us raise our ante. We had bagged the Reliance Jio job, which was a game-changer for us. We used to supply two-lakh Jio sim card kits per day,” said Punjabi. “With Bobst machines, we could cater to this quantity and quality job effectively and on a timely basis. These investments have helped us reach out to a wider client base and acquire larger volumes of printing and converting.”

In December 2020, Rukson installed a brand new Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 five-colour plus coater press. The highlight of this new press at Ruksons is that even during the lockdown, the company could employ the press to run at full capacity (15,000 sheets per hour). “There was a continuous flow of jobs. For example, we could execute an order of 20-lakh cartons from a leading FMCG brand in the desired time frames.”

Rukson’s product portfolio includes 80% of jobs catering to the food and pharma industry; FMCG accounts for 15%, and the remaining 5% is cosmetics. “The bulk of our business comes from food and pharma segments. “Investing in the additional folder-gluer is to service our clients better. We can’t make our customers wait because of bottlenecks at our end,” said Punjabi of his decision to invest in the third Bobst folder-gluer.

Punjabi also explained the reason for fitting additional attachments like Accubraille GT, and four- and six-corner/speciality boxes modules. “The demand for Brallie on pharma packaging was already building up, and we expect it to become mandatory. We believe that if we have a machine capable of running jobs like Braille, four- and six-corner or speciality boxes, we will definitely attract new customers and business, even as we continue to serve our existing customers better.”

Rukson Packaging factfile

Established in 1996
Location Rabale in Navi Mumbai in a 35,000 sqft site
Speciality Carton packaging
Equipment Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 five-colour plus coater press; Komori Lithrone LS 32 six-colour plus coater press; Bobst Expertfold 80 A1 and A2, Bobst Ambition and Novacut die-cutter;  Heiber Schroeder window patching and liner machine; Zhongke lamination machine; Cron platesetter; Esko’s Kongsberg XE10 sample maker and pre-press workflow
Turnover Rs 40-crore
Employees 125

  (r-l) Punjabi and his father, Kishin with the newly installed Bobst Expertfold 80 A2