Lombardi installs first Invicta i2 in India

Prakash Printers and Coaters, originally known as Thakur Printers, has been operating in the packaging industry since 1975. Thakurdas J Shivlani, founded the business by trading labels – purchasing them in Mumbai and selling them in Ahmedabad. Today his son, Prakash Shivlani, serves as director oversees sales and marketing, while Mayur Shivlani manages fi nance, purchasing and export sales. The converter delivers products to a range of brands in diverse segments spanning food, FMCG, cosmetics and industrial. The company is reportedly doubling its capacity every year. 

L&L spoke with Mayur Shivlani, who says that when Prakash Printers and Coaters first started manufacturing in-house, it began with screen printing in a 300sqft space on the first floor of the family’s residence. 

Over time, the converter upgraded its equipment and now boasts seven printing lines – one Etirama installed in 2005, one Multitec Ecoflex 330 mm added in 2007 and five Lombardi presses with the first Synchroline 430 mm press installed in 2017. 

With our new line, production is faster than ever

The facility also includes four coating lines for release and specialty coatings, a hotmelt coating line that operates at 400m/min, and several finishing machines including die-cutters and slitter rewinders. 

‘We produce our release paper and label stock in-house, supplying only printed labels as finished goods. We focus on adding value to the paper we produce rather than selling raw materials. We also manufacture metalized transfer paper in-house,’ adds Shivlani. 

In addition to self-adhesive labels, the product line features PVC shrink sleeves, in-mold labels, BOPP wrap-around labels, and flexible laminates. The converter also performs a significant amount of confidential job work for fellow printers in the industry. 

Prakash Printers and Coaters’ manufacturing facility now spans 550,000sqft, with 100,000sqft currently in use. An additional 60,000sqft is under construction and expected to be completed by April 2025, leaving ample space for future development. 

Expanding flexible packaging production

Over the past three years, the company’s focus has been on flexible packaging, which now accounts for almost 50 percent of its business. A significant portion of this involves jobs for other converters in the industry, who previously relied on conventional gravure printing with cylinder-based systems. 

‘Since our process is cylinder-less and uses flexo polymer plates – costing less than 50 percent of traditional cylinders— fixed costs are greatly reduced. We have received numerous inquiries for short runs, often with more SKUs but smaller total job volumes. When looking for a new press, CI flexo was an option. We chose not to use solvent inks due to environmental concerns. 

Similarly, gravure printing was not considered for the same reason. We have always been committed to avoiding solvent inks to protect both the environment and our workers’ health,’ Shivlani explains. 

The Invicta i2 stood out with its lower fixed costs for printing plates and cylinders, small footprint, minimal job changeover time, minimal setup waste, speed of up to 300 m/min, and web width of 880mm. It also offers value-added enhancements such as cold foiling and cast and cure. 

‘Additionally, due to our requirement for a wider web width, our options were a bit limited. We considered several reputable names, but having worked with the brand on the previous four installations gave Lombardi a clear edge. They were always a great choice. The new press offers double the web size and double the speed, effectively quadrupling the production capacity of a single press,’ Shivlani says.  

The press investment was finalized in September 2023 at Labelexpo Europe 2023, and the installation was completed by June 2024. With the increased output, the converter anticipates a growth of 25 percent in the first year after installation. 

The new press offers double the web size and double the speed, effectively quadrupling the production capacity of a single press

Feedback from the converter’s press operators has been outstanding. ‘They have never seen a machine like this before,’ Shivlani remarks. 

Prakash Printers and Coaters can now serve its customers with a wider web width with the new press. For example, in flexible packaging, the converter previously could handle up to 2kg of flexible packages, it can now print up to 30kg of flexible packaging. 

‘With our new line, production is faster than ever. We’re excited to connect with new customers who previously couldn’t fit within our capabilities due to our former printing width limit of 530mm. Now, we can accommodate up to 880mm,’ he notes. 

This machine has been specially designed for Prakash Printers and Coaters to meet its specific job requirements. 

‘The Invicta i2 represents the pinnacle of Lombardi Converting Machinery’s commitment to providing cutting-edge flexible packaging solutions,’ adds Nicola Lombardi, marketing manager at Lombardi Converting Machinery. ‘Lombardi Converting Machinery is capable of offering solutions for all ranges of printing needs, from labels to flexible packaging, with print widths ranging from 330 to 1100mm.’ 

In February 2024 the Italian manufacturer established a speed record running the Invicta i2 at 300m/min. 

‘The machine achieved the speed effortlessly with perfect register accuracy, printing seven colors on 12-micron thickness PE material, running at 300mmin,’ adds Nicola Lombardi. ‘Our journey to develop the Invicta i2 was driven by our success with the fully servo-driven Synchroline model, which has been an outstanding platform for the narrow web market. With the Invicta i2, we aimed to create an entirely new platform to address the specific demands of the mid-web printing market. 

‘In an industry where some unsupported film jobs are typically run using digital printing technology, we believed that modern flexo printing could be highly competitive. The Invicta i2 provides superb print quality at lower costs, making it particularly advantageous for longer runs.’ 

Adds Shivlani, ‘Lombardi has always been incredibly supportive, and the entire Vinsak and Lombardi team has been enthusiastic and dedicated to delivering excellence on every project. A key figure in all our deals has been Ranesh Bajaj from Vinsak. Our growth has been supported by Ranesh Bajaj, Mohan Pailwan, vice president of Vinsak, and the entire Vinsak team. They have consistently been our technology partners in every installation, and we look forward to many more successful collaborations in the future. Looking ahead, after the i2, the next step will likely be around 1,100mm with the latest technological advancements.’ 

He adds that this installation marks the beginning of a new era in the Indian printing and packaging industry, especially in terms of in-line flexo printing. ‘A decade ago, label presses were never wide web, and flexible packaging jobs were primarily printed on gravure machines.’ 

Massimo Lombardi, general manager of Lombardi Converting Machinery in Italy, says India has always been a key market with a special focus, and Prakash Printers is the company’s key customer, consistently driving innovation. 

‘Lombardi’s commitment to developing new technology is the response to the evolving needs of customers such as Prakash Printers.’ 

Mohan Pailwan, vice president of Vinsak India, adds: ‘Prakash Printers hold a very special place in our company’s heart. They continually challenge us with new converting solutions they require, propelling us to innovate faster and stay ahead of the curve. This drive to find cost-effective and sustainable solutions for them is what fuels our partnership.’ 

The converter has a whole new set of product lines in the pipeline, with discussions underway with leading supplier groups. 

Vinsak Group acquires Rotatek Spain 

Vinsak Group has acquired Rotatek Spain, a Europe-based manufacturer of printing web presses for labels, fl exible packaging, folding cartons, security printing, commercial printing and pharmaceutical inserts. The acquisition was completed in July 2023. The acquired company is now known as Rotatek Printing & Packaging Technologies SL and is run out of Vinsak’s Dubai operation. 

The Vinsak Group was associated with Rotatek from 1996 to 2013 for India, the Middle East and Africa and then again from 2020 onwards. Vinsak has sold more than 100 Rotatek presses including complicated configurations.  

Ranesh Bajaj, director of Vinsak, says: ‘For instance, we sold a machine with 17 units which included offset, flexo, digital, screen printing, die-cutting and sheeting units all in one line to produce high-security products. This press was 120ft long and improved the productivity by five times and reduced production costs of the product by 40 percent.’ 

Around 50 of the Rotatek machines sold by Vinsak are still operational in India. 

In 2023, Rotatek was owned by a PE firm from Spain that was able to run it commercially but not invest in R&D, new software and production methods. In July 2023, the Vinsak Group acquired the production unit, the patents, technical knowledge and the team of Rotatek. 

Bajaj adds: ‘We are proud that we absorbed all the employees and did not make even one person redundant. We are delighted that the core technical team of Rotatek is intact offering their experience and technical knowledge to the world. 

They are also successfully supporting more than 1800 machines around the world including some which are up to 30 years old.’ 

Since then, Vinsak has been working to integrate the company into the group’s business policies, ethics and ethos.