Acme Rolltech: Opting for the best Technology to Produce the best

The Ceramic Anilox pioneers have a smart story of success with three friends coming together and founding a company that brings the best of technologies to the anilox rolls industry. Based on an exclusive talk with founding partner Mr. Sandeep Sharma at Labelexpo India 2024.

Established in 2018, ACME Rolltech is the first Indian company to manufacture new Ceramic Rolls & Sleeves. The vast portfolio of offerings also includes, refurbished old rolls, cleaning solutions & roll auditing services. The Ahmedabad based company is catering to a varied market segment and industries like Labels / Narrow Web Flexo, Wide Web Flexo, Offset Coating, Corrugation, CI Flexo & Specialty Coating applications.

Presently, serving industries like Print & Packaging, Paper & Film Specialty coating applications, Acme Rolltech came into being when technocrats with strong fundamentals took a bold step into manufacturing something which was never been done in India. The aim was to give the consumers quality products that are developed at par with international standards.

“We are the first and the only Indian company which is manufacturing Ceramic Anilox Rolls and Sleeves in the country. The products go in various industries – the narrow web flexo is one of them. Besides, we are into wide-web flexo, CI, Corrugation, Films Coating Lines, Speciality Coating Applications etc,” introduces Sandeep Sharma.

“We started our company in 2018 and started commercial production in the year 2019. Three childhood friends came together as partners to create Acme Rolltech which was actually the brainchild of Parag Patel and Parag Koradia who came up with the idea of entering this segment,” says Sandeep. Both the friends were in Gravure Cylinder manufacturing – the laser engraving technology and the flexible side of the business. Before stepping into this business, Sandeep Sharma was carrying his duties by being part of various corporate groups at various times. He had his experience in the flexo side of the business. When the two friends called on Sandeep with the idea – though it was tough call to shift from his present responsibilities – he pondered over the idea and agreed.

Placing the best technology in the world

During the gestation period, the partner friends discussed various aspects of the future course of their new venture. Among them, one key aspect was a guiding story about an industry leader which had been in the same business and had failed miserably. They were very sure about the reasons of its failure, and consequently, very sure about ‘not repeating those mistakes’ to succeed themselves. They kept those reasons in mind and utilised them as check points to avoid any possible start-up shocks. The next thing they concentrated on was putting the best technology in the world in place. “To bring out the best product to the market, you have to produce them in the best possible way, therefore, the first thing we did was to invest in the world’s best technology. We chose a technology which stood against any technology available, be it a US one or a European for that matter,” states Sandeep. “Apart from our investment in the world’s best infrastructure, we got helped by a few chosen technical brains to head-start this project,” he adds with a smile.

Testing in real life situation

“You can make a product but you have to try how it works before being sure of its long-term success,” argues Sandeep. “For this we always had customers who would help us with our new product tests before market launch,” he substantiates.

“Covid was a ‘blessings in disguise’ type of situation for us,” says Sandeep relating the crucial phase of their business that further fortified their relations with their customers. He continues, “In the year preceding Covid outbreak, we already had a lot of traction with customers who were happy with our products and services. As we know, Covid unfurled logistic disruptions in the market, nobody was getting the material and we were there to fill the gap. Due to this, we not only had our order registers flowing but were also able to build on our customer satisfaction.”

By 2022 Acme had invested in its second Engraving Machine. “In the last five years we had a good growth. Now, we are exporting to more than 25 countries; we have partners in 13 countries; and the business growth is exciting. We booked our third Engraving Machine at drupa 2024 and the machine is coming next year,” shares Sandeep.

Speaking further about the latest procurement, he adds, “We have booked this third machine to cater to the demands and further improve timelines.” Acme Rolltech is presently constructing its third plant in Ahmedabad. The new plant will add in-house fabrication facility to Acme’s portfolio. The fabrication for rolls is presently being outsourced and is being done by the partners who are among the best in the industry. “The new facility keeps into account our future needs as to increased demand as well as faster deliveries to our customers in coming years,” says Sandeep.

The business is divided equally among the label industry and wide-web industry at Acme Rolltech; though the whole market being catered to consists of diverse segments ranging from flexo, CI, corrugation, offset and more. 30 percent business of Acme is exclusively dedicated to speciality printing. “There were many applications that were earlier never thought of by us. We are today taking up many jobs that challenge us to be innovative. There are numerous applications that have been moved from Chrome to Ceramic by us. We do a lot of customisations and innovations. Suppose a customer comes to us and asks if a particular job can be carried on Ceramic Anilox, we would take it to our R&D, explore possibilities and if it qualifies the value proposition for the customer we would go ahead with it,” explains Sandeep. “Actually, it is a costly process and ‘value proposition for customer’ is a major deciding factor at Acme,” he reasons.

“Moreover, for us, it is only such new projects that allow us to test our capabilities and push us further to innovate new products and grow our gamut. This is our source of new avenue development. We are always up for new R&D,” emphasises Sandeep. Sandeep Sharma, who has a lot experience working in the corporate world concludes by declaring that he remains extra agile to ensure his customers get their demands answered in the quickest possible time.