LMAI Conference 2023: S Kumar to highlight Zonten

Manish Hansoti, managing director of S Kumar, in his presentation during the LMAI Conference 2023, will touch upon the buyer-seller conversation on the subject of thinking forward: what’s next for today’s label converters. Hansoti said the presentation will focus on how to adopt new technology to create wealth from the label business.

19 Jul 2023 | By Rahul Kumar

Manish Hansoti, managing director of S Kumar

The LMAI Conference 2023 will be held on 20, 21 and 22 July in Jaipur’s Hotel Leela. The theme of the Conference 2023 is – Creativity, Innovations, Sustainability.

S Kumar represents Zonten label presses, which have more than 200 installations in India.

“At the conference, we will talk about the new presses from Zonten. A combi press with offset + flexo + gravure, the machine has all three technologies for flexible packaging, IML, shrink sleeves, lamitubes and of course labels,” Hansoti said.

He added that the machine has been accepted widely in South Asian countries like Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malayasia, as well as Europe.

“Now, the demand is for short to medium-run jobs, and the existing flexo technology is expensive. So, new intermittent offset presses are in demand. At the conference, we are going to explain how offset + flexo is more useful. At present, printers are using small flexo plates to reduce the cost, but are getting less production and spending more on electricity. For short-run jobs, digital printing is a good option, but the average cost per sqmt is close to Rs 25-30 which is again high for above 100/150-sqmt label printing,” he explained.

He said in offset, per RMT cost is up to Rs 3-sqm, and four-colour plates cost Rs 500 per job. Plus, the plates are recyclable, Moreover, now all offset presses come with LED UV. So carbon emission is less. It can also print with low-migration inks.

“I am of the opinion that the time has come to evaluate the right machines for the right marketplace. As an example, printers with two-three flexo presses need intermittent or full rotary offset, which reduces cost. We have observed that small quantities of shrink sleeves, pouches, printed lamitubes and IML have a big market. So less pre-press cost is a vital factor to satisfy customer demand with reasonable rates. So offset and digital will be in demand in the coming years,” he added.

According to Hansoti, embellishment on labels, shrink sleeves, /IML and lamitubes are in demand in the market.