In 2018, the leading Faridabad-based textbook publisher, VK Global Publications, got into printing and carton production by acquiring an existing plant in Manesar that had gone into NCLAT insolvency proceedings. The plant, which has extensive book and packaging printing, binding, and converting equipment, along with luxury hard box-making capacity, was renamed VK Global Digital.
The publishing group has taken about five years to learn the commercial print and carton packaging business. The carton and luxury box-making businesses were stabilized and rationalized by producing premium cartons using VK Global’s proprietary metallic hologram and Fresnel lens effects for brand protection and security.
A new Bobst diecutter and a new Bobst folder-gluer were added to the Manesar plant. However, to expand the plant with new printing, postpress, and converting equipment, it was decided to build a purpose-built factory with space for future expansion in Faridabad. Not far from the headquarters building of the publishing house, the elegant purpose-built factory, along with several additional investments in equipment, is humming.
From the drawing board to running with a modern continuous operation workflow with all the material movement on a single floor, the project of moving the machines from Manesar without disruption, the installation of several new machines, and the 1 Mw solar plant on the roof took 22 months.
Bobst folder gluer at VK Global Digital. Photo PSAAmbitious from the blueprint stage, the modern work and production spaces are within the elegant 250,000-square-foot load-bearing factory building. On most of the two acres alongside the building is a hydroponic greenhouse where the first horticultural crop of lettuce and kale was just maturing in mid-January.
Apart from the double-height 100,000-square-foot production space and meeting rooms on the ground floor, the 50,000-square-foot mezzanine contains prepress and open-plan management spaces. Another 100,000-square-foot load-bearing floor is not yet populated.
On one side of the ground floor are the sheetfed multicolor presses for printing cartons. Before the plant was complete, a new Heidelberg 6-color plus coater UV press was installed in February-March 2024. The 6-color coater UV press from Manesar was moved subsequently so that no customer deliveries were disrupted.
In the converting section, alongside the multiple die-cutters and folder-gluers, a new Masterwork autoplaten foil stamping machine critical for incorporating the metallic brand security features was installed. The Mecchi equipment for producing two-piece luxury boxes for electronic, personal care, and confectionery products was brought from the Manesar plant and installed in a dedicated area.
By August 2024, all the equipment from Manesar was moved, installed, and recommissioned. Although not without challenges, the entire closely managed process meant the transition to full production was practically seamless – with few or no hitches in the timely shipment of cartons.
In the double-height pressroom, there are 10 Heidelberg presses, including two 6-color coater UV presses for cartons and two 8-color perfectors for commercial and book printing. Apart from improvement in workflow and material movement in the continuous single–level space, the new converting equipment has smoothened and increased production.
Premium visual effects and brand authentication and protection
Premium metallic effects and brand security on the company’s packagingAll the products produced by VK Global – books, monocartons, or luxury boxes tend – to be in the premium category for its select customers. The quality and consistency of design, paper and printing, embellishment, and brand security stand out. The company’s rich experience in security and embellishment using its holographic technology and expertise is formidable. The company uses its own manufactured transfer films to transfer a combination of metallics with holographic diffraction and optically active surface patterns and Fresnel lens effects for application on paper, PET, and BOPP.
The metallic effects are transferred onto paperboard and carton substrates from recyclable films that the company produces for in-house use and also exports. After use, the brand-secure cartons can be pulped along with other paperboard cartons.
Hence, the company is a global pioneer and exporter in creating completely recyclable book covers, cartons, or blister packs integrated with Fresnel lenses and other holography patterns. VK Global’s transfer films have been validated under EU EN 13430 certification, which classifies the products as bio-degradable. In the case of monocartons and other packaging materials such as blister packs, these effects can authenticate consumer products – easily differentiating them from counterfeit packaging and products.
Technology absorption, process, OEE, and human resource optimization
The most visible aspect of the new Faridabad plant is its architecture and design. However, the less apparent and more significant aspect is the keen desire of the management to optimize the production workflow and processes by investing in the skill development of the company’s human resources. The next-generation director, Namit Jain, manages with a rapidly acquired understanding of printing, binding, and converting processes and their technology dynamics.
Masterwork foil stamping machine used for incorporating the metallic brand security features. Photo PSAEducated in computer science, Jain, apart from his exploration of the production processes, is one of the few young printers or print businessmen who have taken an interest in the digitally enabled concepts necessary to drive efficiency in printing and packaging businesses today. For instance, he has understood many of the Heidelberg Prinect prepress, workflow, and production monitoring features that are talked about but rarely implemented. This is usually because of the large gap between the educated management and inadequately skilled personnel on the shop floor.
He sees the benefits of investing in an expert printer from Heidelberg to train his team in a sustained three-week program. “This may sound expensive, but it’s trivial compared to the cost of the presses and their complexity. To achieve efficiencies that are closer to the capacity of the individual presses and the entire workflow will require continuous training and skilling,” he says. Moreover, he suggests there are several challenges in the hypercompetitive carton business, and while efficiencies and quality need to improve, so must profitability to sustain the viability of continuous investments in human resources.
Jain has implemented the processes and calculations of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) using the Heidelberg Prinect spectrum of digital tools. He uses the Prinect imaging engine in prepress, its scheduling features for production, and its ability to produce pallet tags for production tracking and operational material movement.
The entire project of VK Global Digital reflects a perspective of individuals actively finding out, understanding, and implementing what is already well-established and available in the technology that has been paid for. The attitude of breaking down the business challenges and the production processes is the most exciting thing about the new plant and the persistence of the next-generation management. It is heartening to witness a young technocrat aligning technology, production processes, and human resources with his aspiration to excellence without compromise.
