Vasai-based Sonic Labels has invested in a nine-color plus rotary die-cutting Gallus ECS 340 flexo press as it looks to cut down on its 15-day order log to less than half.

The Gallus ECS 340 which is under installation at a new site in Vasai, and is expected to be up and running in the next two weeks.

Kapil Vaidya, the managing partner at Sonic, said, the speed, nine-color stations and the flexibility of substrate usage that the Gallus ECS 340 offers will give his company an edge in a marketplace where the customers are looking to get top quality prints in quick time. “Right now we cater to sticker labels, but with Gallus, we will now be able to produce in-mold, blow mold, shrink labels and unsupported films.”

The eight-year-old company was started by Vaidya and his partner Aditya Ojha, both family friends. The two families ran manufacturing units, hence the two young men wanted to venture into a business which was low on manpower requirement but high on automation. “We had family members in packaging and corrugation, which meant labels was the option for us, which we took,” said Vaidya. The duo set up a plant in Vasai.

Sonic is presently equipped with two Donghai six-colour UV presses, which it runs at 30 meters per minute. “Quality is not an issue, but the speed and color stations are,” said Vaidya.

The industrial grade construction of ECS 340 and the automation of job data recall electronic presetting function along with short web and lightweight sleeve system help us faster job set up.

“Features like dynamic print pressure, zero gap print, enclosed ink tray systems, chilled impression cylinder ensures high-quality print at the minimum waste,” said Vaidya. “Today, print buyers entrust their business on basis of the reliability and consistency which come from good infrastructure. We have started to see that trust when we tell our clients of the  Gallus investment.”

The press also features servo drives on each unit, which combines with register control and dynamic print pressure so that print impressions adjust automatically allowing variation in press speed.

The company presently converts 70,000 sqm of labels per months. “With the ECS 340, we hope to increase our production to 1.5- to 2-lakh sqm of labels per month” concluded Vaidya.

Source: Printweek