Gravure grow in the Gulf

13 November 2006



Print and packaging has grown quickly over the last 10 years in the UAE. Emirates Technopack provides quality gravure print on state of the art Rotomec presses


Dubai based Emirates Technopack, which together with sister company Kangaroo Plastics is ranked as one of the major flexible packaging printers in the Middle East, was set up in 2003 as a gravure printer and converter to satisfy the growing demand for high quality flexible packaging in the region. Located in Dubai's Jebel Ali Industrial Area-2, the company currently produces 400t of high end graphics/year, comprising both single and multilayered flexible packaging materials for food and non food applications for both the home and export markets.

The company's gravure printing operations cover a wide range of applications produced on two Rotomec gravure printing lines.

“We entered the gravure printing market in 2003, when we acquired our first Rotomec gravure press,“ explains general manager Qudrath Salamullah. He stresses that the company was not a newcomer to flexible packaging converting, having been able to benefit from the reputation of sister company Kangaroo Plastics which had almost 30 years of experience in this sector of the market. Kangaroo Plastics is well established in the region as a leading flexo converter of flexible packaging for a variety of industrial and consumer applications.

Flexible packaging converting activities in Dubai and the UAE began around the mid 1980s, when the first local companies were set up and started manufacturing products that were previously imported from Europe and Southeast Asia. “The printing and packaging industry in the UAE and most particularly in Dubai, has witnessed a very rapid transformation over the past decade,” comments Qudrath Salamullah. “It has sustained this evolution by adopting the most up-to-date printing technologies, which provide the highest level of printing quality and productivity.

“Having decided to enter the gravure printed flexible packaging market three years ago, we set out to look for a fast delivery machine that would enable us to meet both the fast paced growth of this market sector and the increasing demand for high quality printed packaging materials in this region.”

He continues: “After careful consideration, we deemed the Rotomec press the most suitable equipment for our specific requirements as it could provide not only superior printing quality, but it also managed cost effectively to combine advanced technical features and the utmost user friendliness and simplicity of use.” This was critical for Emirates Technopack. As Qudrath Salamullah points out: “This was our very first experience of gravure printing, hence it was extremely important that we were able to rely on full technological and process know-how and support from the press manufacturer. Rotomec provided comprehensive support and training on how to operate our new eight colour press. As a result we were able to achieve optimum performance and become competitive in the market very quickly.”

Emirates Technopack's high end gravure press, combined with extensive facilities for converting the printed materials, enabled it quickly to expand operations and its customer base in the prime consumer food packaging market for products such as confectionery, coffee, snacks and bakery products. Applications range from shrink labels, lidding and stand-up pouches. It also produces flexible materials for non food segments.

In 2005, Emirates Technopack decided to expand its gravure printing capacity to meet the increase in demand from its widely expanded customer base both in the region and abroad, and consequently specified a second nine colour Rotomec press, equipped with the latest Electronic Shaft (ES) technology.

“We take pride in always being at the cutting edge with our equipment. This is reflected in our latest investment - the first Rotomec gravure press with ES technology for printing flexible packaging materials to be installed in the UAE,” states Qudrath Salamullah.

This latest press is a trolley type machine designed to provide ease of operation with simple and rapid work sequences to be performed by the operator on the press for very fast job change-overs. Because converted packaging substrates and films are expensive to produce, reducing waste is a priority. The electronic shaft, together with rapid and accurate register setting, is said to reduce the waste substantially. The web path length is also approximately 20 per cent shorter than that of a more traditional press with a mechanical line shaft.

The ES system integration with the register control system - a recent Rotomec proprietary development - allows for as much as five times faster register correction, claims the company.

“The new Rotomec press is extremely versatile, efficient and very reliable,”he concluded. “It has provided us with flexibility, short makeready, quick job change-over times and reduction of waste during both start-up and running. These have been essential requirements in providing our domestic and international customers with the much improved product and faster turnaround they demand. This has also given us a leading competitive position in the Arabian Gulf's converting industry.”



Contact

Rotomec
Tel: +39 0523 493306





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