Pune-based manufacturer of printed poly laminates, New Digipack Solutions, has recently installed an OKI Pro9542 five-color digital printer and an automatic diecutting machine. Both these machines have been supplied by Mumbai-based Hi-Tech Solutions and were commissioned in September. The two-decade-old company is managed by the duo of Kishor Kadam and Pranali Devjilkar.
Designed for graphic arts and light production use, the Pro9542 delivers CMYK plus high-density white-under single-pass printing on a wide range of light, dark and transparent media. The OKI Pro9542 is ideal for short-run printing packaging, greetings cards, stationery, tags, and labels. It is sheetfed and prints using LED toner-based technology.
The unit supplied to New Digipack Solutions comes with an envelop fuser to print on zip-lock pouches. The automatic diecutting machine supplies is from Hi-Tech’s own stable and is sold under the Hi-Tech brand.
“The primary reason for buying the OKI Pro9542 is to cater to short-run, light printing jobs. The printer can directly print on ready pouches in low quantity with excellent print quality. With the OKI 9542 digital printer, we can now print on various stock pouches and a variety of sticker print media. We also can supply custom shape labels with diecutter in a short period of time,” Kadam says.
Kadam says that he has seen a huge rise in volumes of such printing jobs since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year. “We believe this trend will continue. We are looking forward to working with start-ups, small scale businesses and helping them grow their brands,” he adds.
This is the first time New Digipack Solutions has done business with Hi-Tech. Devjilkar says the experience of working with Hi-Tech has been great.
“This is the first time we have bought any equipment from Hi-Tech. The whole experience was very good. And we are extremely satisfied with both the printer and the diecutter,” Devjilkar says.
Hi-Tech Systems was established in 1989, and since 2007 it has emerged as a leading name in the short run, on-demand, and quick print and print finishing solutions business. The company, which represents multiple global brands, operates from Shah and Nahar Industrial Estate in the central Mumbai district of Lower Parel.
New Digipack Solutions prints and converts items like pillow pouches, three-sided sealed pouches, zip-lock pouches, and stand-up pouches, among others. The company supplies to customers in the agro-business, fertilizer, FMCG, and spices, among others.
The company currently has a gravure printing setup with ancillary equipment. It is also planning to expand its flexography unit in the coming years.
Raw material cost escalation at Digipack
The recent sharp increase in commodity prices has led to a rise in raw material costs in the packaging and printing segments. This has forced New Digipack Solutions to increase the prices of its products.
“The rise in raw material cost has been very sharp, and we had to go for price hikes. There was no other option. This is happening across the industry,” Kadam says.
Talking about the recovery in business, he says that volumes have recovered to a large degree, but they are still a bit below the January 2020 levels. He believes it will take another four to six months for the volumes to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
“We have seen robust recovery since the second wave-related lockdown were relaxed a few months ago. However, it will take some more time to get back to where we were in January last year,” Kadam says.
Talking about further investments, Devjilkar says the company is planning to get a digital foil stamping machine, another OKI 9542 printer, and two more diecutters in the future.
