The UFlex Cylinder Division exhibited its laser-embossed cylinders at the recently concluded PlastIndia exhibition from 1 – 5 February 2023 at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. The UFlex cylinder business manufactures three different types of cylinders – the conventional electro-mechanical engraving lines, robotic laser engraving lines, and laser embossed cylinders. Normal cylinders are produced through electro-mechanical engraving mechanisms and are available everywhere in India and abroad. The robotic laser engraving lines are manufactured using Think Laboratory, a Japanese tech. The third is laser-embossed cylinders where direct and indirect laser engraving is being done: these are from Europe.
“We have cost a leadership strategy for our electro-mechanically engraved cylinders and we have a strategy for the value-added cylinders – robotic laser-engraved cylinders and laser-embossed cylinders. Since we are able to produce our robotic engraving line from Think Laboratory, we can produce low GSM laser cylinders on water-based sustainable inks,” says Parwez Izhar, CEO Cylinder Business, senior VP at UFlex.
In the days to come, the upcoming trend in the flexible packaging industry will be eco-friendly solutions where you need to have compatibility with sustainable inks and Uflex produces such cylinders, Izhar says. “Earlier, people used solvent-based inks but now they are switching to water-based inks slowly as using solvent-based inks means they might be using toluene, which is very hazardous. The cost is very high. Our cylinders are the best fit for sustainable inks,” he told Packaging South Asia.
Innovations in gravure cylinders
UFlex has done a flagship innovation through its laser-embossed cylinders. “We have been making hand-embossing effects for table covers, curtains, and wallpapers. Earlier, people used to go to China to buy these kinds of cylinders. I had been to China in 2019 just before Covid started. People, there are so skilled that they can make very fine flowers and designs on cylinders with their hands. However, China can afford that as the manpower is very cheap. We developed that feature through our technology because our chairman (Ashok Chaurvedi) believes in three things – product innovation, latest technology, and sustainability,” he says.
UFlex has developed cylinders for metal-embossed sheets for home interiors and out-of-home applications. These are used to decorate the interiors of modular kitchens, false ceilings in houses, and to decorate furniture. “These sheets are getting good responses from industries such as corporate sign boards where people prefer lift and metal wall decorations. Companies such as Jindal, JSW and Tata Steel are approaching us for our cylinders for embossing on metal sheets. We are expanding our capability and capacity in that direction so that we can have better orders from companies that are ready to pay us premium prices,” confides Izhar.
Gravure vs flexo
“Gravure is something that is not going to die. We can achieve very high quality features from the gravure industry. Flexo plates cannot match the quality that we get from gravure cylinders. Flexo plates, on the other hand, have some advantages – the makeready time, the turnaround time, and the cost factor are very less,” he goes on to say.
UFlex has two different lines in flexo plates – one is the Flexcel NX Miraclon plates and the other is the DuPont flexo plates. “Both have their own advantages but Flexcel NX plates are the preferred choice for printing flexible jobs. The reason is the unique laser square spot imaging technology that gives 100% flat top dots. What you see on the screen and the result after printing will match 1:1. The ink laydown is very good, and the makeready time is very short and fast for the converters. Ink savings are again very high in the range of 20% if it is white ink with solid content.”
“The Digicap pattern in Flexcel NX plates has been developed in collaboration with Japanese manufacturer Toyo Inks, which is a big success in the case of water-based inks. All the converting companies are gradually switching to water-based inks application and we have aligned our product according to the requirement of our converters,” Izhar shares.
All three gravure lines are manufactured in Uflex’s parent facility in Noida. The electro-mechanical engraved cylinders and elastomer sleeves are manufactured in the Jammu facility while the DuPont flexo plates are produced in Sanand.
“The PlastIndia exhibition happens every three years. This time, the footfall was very high considering that it was not conducted for the last five years. Covid had made people highly depressed. I am seeing a lot of positivity in the entire ecosystem. A lot of my customers or vendors are local as well as from different places in India or abroad,” he concludes.
