AMI equips the 50cr. facility with top-class machinery to bring end-to-end printing-packaging solutions under one roof. The company aims to repeat its 30 years’ growth in coming few years.
Today, customers prefer their every demand is met under one roof, says Mr. Nilesh Agarwal of Agarwal Matpack Industries (AMI). AMI is an end-to-end printing, labeling and packaging solutions provider. Their Jaipur based facility has an extended capability ranging from design to print, laminate, corrugate, foil, die-cut and paste boxes – be it mono cartons or corrugated boxes – everything under one roof. AMI has been providing a complete satisfaction to its esteemed customer base, largely coming from the FMCG sector. “In addition to all this, we are also capable of providing labels as well as rigid boxes for all our customer needs in-house,” adds Nilesh.
Nilesh holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. A son of a retired Principal of an Engineering college, Nilesh always wanted to have a business of his own. He got his first chance in 1993 which resulted in ACI (Agarwal Corrugating Industries), their corrugation unit starting in that year. “I always had in my mind to do something new and innovative and that very spirit put me into business,” says Nilesh.
The new entity, AMI has invested over 50 crores in infrastructure – building and machinery (excluding land). The ACI facility has utilized its capacity equipped with fully-automatic lines to convert about 1500 tons of board each month for both corrugated board and mono cartons.
PRESSIdeas was invited to the inauguration of their brand new unit at Prahladpur industrial area near Jaipur. The unit is a pillarless covered area of about one hundred thousand square feet with machines for all the processes involved in efficient handling of customer orders, and is ready to spell new growth progressions for AMI.
Nilesh underlines the fact that our industry is an extremely resilient one. He backs his statement with the example of the hard times during new tax regime change to GST as well as the Covid epidemic and before that the demonetization. “The industry’s bouncing back from such adversities was a clear hope and we got our impetus to invest, expand and provide more efficient services to our customers,” reasons Nilesh. “The market for packaging is only bound to increase in the near future with almost all products needing to be packaged to be placed on the shop shelves for consumers to choose and consume. We probably are one of the few in the country to have all such elaborate facilities under one roof to cater to the needs and demands of the printing and packaging industry,” he asserts.
Keeping a step ahead with latest technology – the Komori Lithrone G40
ACI, which started almost 36 years back has always kept itself abreast of the latest technology to remain a step ahead of its competitors and this has been further fortified by the efforts of its team.
The recent Komori Lithrone G40 advance acquired by ACI is a 7-colour plus coater workhorse. The G40 joins two previous Planeta machines – a 4-colour and a 6-colour of size 28×40. The Komori machine with its huge capabilities is taking up jobs AMI had been outsourcing earlier. The cooperative and encouraging Komori management was instrumental in AMI’s decision to go for the Komori Lithrone G40. “We felt comfortable with the machine both in terms of performance as well as economics. The whole process of making the final decision on choosing the Lithrone G40 was smooth and we straight away went ahead with our acquisition,” shares Nilesh adding, “Similarly, the decision to have a 7-colour plus coater press was a prompt one. It was a natural choice – to differentiate ourselves; to be able to give an additional option to our customers; and also to keep us a step ahead of the competition.”
“The G40 advance acquired by AMI is just the epitome of efficiency in the entire industry,” declares Mr.Jitendra Rohilla, GM at Komori India. “The Lithrone series from Komori is a proven machine in the printing and packaging industry. In the last financial year, out of the 65 machines imported to India, 49 were Komori alone. This proves Indian printers’ and packagers’ trust in Komori machines and their record of giving the best return on investment (RoI),” reveals Jitendra.
An Ample Postpress complimented by DGM
The latest addition to AMI’s postpress is equipment and solutions from Ample and DGM. Ample has supplied AMI with a Lamination machine (KFM106) which they claim to be a ‘Value for Money Series’. From DGM they have installed a Technocut 1050S Automatic Die Cutter with Waste removal; a TechnoFoil 1050FC Automatic Hot-Foil Stamping with Die Cutting; a TechnoFold 1100PC Automatic Folder Gluer with Straight Line and Lock bottom features; and a SmartFold 1100SL Automatic Folder gluer with all options included.
The Ample KFM106 has a size of 1060x1060mm and comes with a Pre-pile and continuous delivery system. The machine speed is upto 100 mtrs/min and is equipped with a Powder Removing Device and a Shaft for Strip Lamination. The Rotary Disc Knife for BOPP Film lamination saves time and at the same time reduces power consumption. The machine boasts production speed of up to 11,000 sph. Ample has also installed a High speed Flute Laminator with flip flop stacker; a Window patching machine with V notch from Furman (920L); a Stripping machine; a Hole drilling machine; a 2 ply Corrugation line setup along with a semi automatic Rigid box making setup which included a cylindrical grooving machine which is considered the best in the industry.
“Ample Graphics, especially Mr.Sachin Kala (a partner in Ample) has been a confidante for more than a couple of decades and has been advising us on various aspects in the implementation of the new unit. “Our confidence in Sachin of sorting out any problems in the machines, even if it arises at a future point has weighed heavily in favour of Ample while acquiring our many machines from Ample Graphics,” praises Nilesh.
Believing in personal relations more than anything else, Nilesh adds, “For our two Folder Gluers together with the Foiling and a Die cutting machines from DGM, Mr.Puneet played an important role. He has been an associate for a while now and we already have two of their folding gluers at our existing corrugating unit. It was quite easy to make a choice as DGM quality and service both proved correct and reliable. Both Sachin and Puneet have been absolutely understanding and cooperating suppliers leaving little room for any complaint. Whether it is installation or service, they have been perfect. Sachin is an amazing consultant too!”
While Komori is a Japanese manufacturer, both the other suppliers are from China. “The underlying feeling of doubts of acquiring a Chinese machines is a long gone aspect as far as reliability and quality is concerned,” says Nilesh when asked about his choice. “Since the best manufacturers are manufacturing in China to supply all over the world, including Europe and America, it’s not an issue today,” says Rajeev Jagga, partner at Ample Graphics. “We have sold over 1200 different Chinese manufactured machines to the printing and packaging industry since we started. Besides, we provide best of service – complete help in acquisition, importing, installation as well as servicing of all the machines in India,” he avers.
Puneet confirms that they have sold over 200 machines from DGM in India. “Our every customer is a testimony not only of the quality of our products but also the unequivocal service standards we provide to our every single customer,” he says. By the way, DGM India is a subsidiary of the Chinese company with machines in stock for sale for urgent deliveries.
The new Jaipur unit of AMI also has a label printing and finishing line from Faridabad based Alliance Printech, a fast growing manufacturer and a known force in the Indian Label industry. “AMI has opted for our top of the line Nova A5 model. The press is based on a fully servo platform and is a truly multi-substrate, high speed press with online embellishments like cold foil, lamination etc,” informs Aryaman Julka of Alliance Printech. To complement the NOVA A5, Alliance Printech has also supplied the ACER inspection slitter rewinder with E+L Smartscan camera for high speed digital inspection which are in line with the high quality standards at AMI. The 370mm wide press also features GEW’s Swappable LED cassettes for power saving and is capable to run at a speed of of 150m/min.
Enabled by all this sophisticated set-up with state-of-the-art machines and equipment, AMI is well positioned to achieve its past 30 years’ growth in the next couple of years, believes Nilesh. They are already planning to put their Rigid Box making machines and the Label converting machines to run on a 24 hour basis. The Komori Lithrone G40 however will attend to a 12 hour shift currently.
The ACI management team includes: Mr.Nilesh Agarwal, his elder brother Deepak Agarwal, their sons Manan Agarwal (Business management from Britain) and Nimit Agarwal (ISB, Hyderabad). Nilesh looks after Purchase & Marketing, while Deepak heads production and maintenance. Nimit is responsible for all the back office operations while Manan controls the production aspect of the company. The complete team consists of about 400 staff members supporting the management in different positions at the plant. The principal industries being catered to by ACI presently comprise the FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Gifting and Sweets. “With increased production capabilities at our unit, we shall now be targeting more segments from other industries – not only locally but also across the adjoining states,” concludes Namit. The sky’s the limit for AMI!
Lithrone G40 advance – World Class ROI Printing Press
The Lithrone G40 advance presses deliver high productivity and print quality with easy operation. Based on the Connected Automation concept, strengthened collaboration and optimization between processes as well as high-level automation with presets based on information from high-end systems, the G40 displays productivity improvement throughout the entire printing process. The press offers a maximum printing speed of 16,500 sheets per hour and delivers very stable high-speed operation with a wide range of sheet thicknesses from ultrathin to thick sheets. The Asynchronous Automatic Plate Changer (A-APC) significantly improves working efficiency and greatly reduces preparation time. Fusion of the KHS-AI integrated control system and the H-UV/H-UV L (LED) system shortens makeready time, cuts paper waste, and reduces printing time to the utmost while maintaining the high print quality and high productivity that are characteristic of offset printing. Both – ultimate short-run competence and short job cycle times – are achieved. Besides, it saves energy and resources, reduces harmful chemical substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during printing, and reduces noise. The Lithrone G40 advance is an environmentally responsible press. The 7 colour plus coater at AMI has a Max. sheet size of 29×41 inches which means it can print in an area of 27×40 inches.
