A first-of-its-kind event organised in Haridwar, the knowledge-sharing session covered topics such as advances in UV technology; innovation in sheetfed products; way forward with UV LED printing and the latest trends in food packaging.

JK Raghav of Siegwerk shared his inputs on UV conventional and UV LED inks while Paritosh Jha of Siegwerk shared his inputs on latest update of Siegwerk products, including LMLO (low migration and low odour/ PMC & TCO) inks.

Talking to PrintWeek after the event, Sandeep Kumar Jain, managing director, Omega Printopack, said that he has been using printing inks and varnishes from Siegwerk for more than a decade and is happy with the stability of the products.

“Strong technical support and excellent after-sales services are the two key points with the printing ink manufacturer,” he said. “Siegwerk has deployed one technical person in Haridwar permanently. Thus, we always get after-sales service within an hour.”

Jain said since Omega Printopack works for pharma and electronics segments, Pantone colours are an immediate requirement and Siegwerk helped the company establish a Pantone colour ink kitchen in its premise and trained its employees.

He said though printing inks do not cost much in print production, it plays a major role, especially in getting the right shades. “We use normal and Pantone printing inks along with different types of coatings and varnishes. Siegwerk’s inks consumption is less and the inks are stables,” Jain added.

He attends the event with his son Akshat Jain.

Another visitor during the event, Sandeep Kumar Singla, director, BK Print & Pack, told PrintWeek, “We are using Siegwerk products from almost a decade now. These include printing inks, varnishes and UV coatings. We use other printing inks vendors but Siegwerk is far better than the others. It has deployed technical qualified and quick after-sale service supports to the printers in the vicinity. In a nutshell, they are proactive.”

He said Siegwerk constantly works towards innovating in its products line and helping the packaging industry re-define the boundaries. “In one of our jobs, we were having setup issues. Following Siegwerk’s suggestion, we changed the Pantone pigment and were able to get results to the satisfaction of the customer,” Singla said.

‘We proactively involve brand owners, converters in our packaging safety goals’

PrintWeek talked to Ashesh Mukherjee, business unit head, sheetfed business, Siegwerk India, in the sidelines of the event.

Why did you decide to organise such an event in Haridwar?

Siegwerk has a vision of supplying the safest inks worldwide. Siegwerk already has a huge market in Uttarakhand with most of the big packaging companies being our customers. Since packaging safety has always been our focus, we have proactively involved our brand owners and converters in knowledge-sharing sessions on this subject. There is a huge base of SMEs in Haridwar and as the market leaders we would like to connect with this segment on a knowledge sharing platform. An event like this in Haridwar gives us an opportunity to meet many stakeholders from other areas like Roorkee, Muzaffarnagar and Dehradun.

How many printers are using Siegwerk products in the vicinity?

Almost all big players in the packaging industry like TCPL, ITC, BK Print Pack and Omega have been using Siegwerk inks for the last 10 to 15 years. Apart from these, around 40 SMEs are also using Siegwerk products and solutions. Our channel partner Singh Trading has been in the forefront in servicing these customers.

Which products are more in demand?

Since all our customers are in the packaging industry, all of Siegwerk’s packaging inks and ink solutions are in high demand. We have developed migration-optimised inks for all segments of packaging, working on systematic processes to ensure delivery of safe products consistently. We keep channels of communication open across the supply chain to upgrade our packaging chain partners, so that they adhere to packaging safety. Mineral oil free process colours, base colours with highlight fast values and solvent-resistance properties, overprint varnishes (water-based and UV), LMLO (low-odour low migration) inks for food packaging and UV LED inks are slowly gaining momentum in the market.

UV/LED was the most discussed topics during the event…

SME packaging customers and commercial customers have gradually started to print with LED inks, since this technology is very convenient to use and requires less operating capital investment vis-à-vis conventional UV. Moreover, any existing press with the customer can be retrofitted with LED lamps. Now, large packaging houses are seriously thinking of experimenting with LED inks.

How does Siegwerk help its customers?

Siegwerk partners with customers to provide necessary guidance and support to run the inks as well as to perform risk assessment for the packaging materials. More than being just an ink provider, we act as total solution providers. Our three pillars are one, guidance and support where we provide individual advice, including onsite; two, ink performance, where we formulate inks based on customer’s specific requirements and goals and three, product safety, where we provide safety when protection against regulatory risks and product contamination is required. This differentiation strategy is what helps our customers achieve their performance goals.