Pratham’s Supersort reviewed at BMPA’s Carton Forum

The Bombay Master Printers’ Association’s Carton Forum, on 15 January, played host to Pune-based equipment manufacturer Pratham Technologies at Sunville Banquets in Worli, Mumbai.

18 Jan 2016 | By Rushikesh Aravkar

The aim was to take a close look at Pratham’s latest offering, Supersort, an offline carton inspection system, which is aimed at pharma carton manufacturers.
 
The director, Datta Deshpande and marketing manager, Yogeshwar Kumawat made quick presentations highlighting the technical aspects of the machine. The focus was on fluorescent illumination system, its benefits over LED-based illumination, cameras and software.
 
Supersort, which has been developed in collaboration with Germany-based Vision Experts, is equipped with two cameras, which inspect from top and bottom. The top camera inspects for colour deviation, surface scratches, spots, hickeys, mottles, text deviations, etc, while the bottom camera is a monochrome camera which inspects dots, spots, insects etc.
 
The showstopper was Nazim Nanjee of Kalapi Printers, the first user of Supersort. Nanjee spoke extensively about his experience with inspection systems starting with his interaction with four manufacturers at Drupa 2012.
 
According to Nanjee, the differentiating factor of Supersort as compared to its counterparts on the market is its illumination system. “Most of the machines deploy LED lights. Such systems see a lot more than required. For instance, it will identify the see-through of the board. Now you don’t want it to see that because see-through is an inherent defect of a recycled board.”
 
Nanjee claims that they run Supersort at 45-50,000 cartons per hour without any improper ejection.
 
 
Till date, Pratham has installed four Supersorts, two at Bhilad-based Rich Prints, one each at Mumbai-based Kalapi Printers and Shree Sales Pack.