BST really has no competition in narrow web industry..

Tappan Patel is the managing director of BST Sayona Automations. The company with headquarters in Mumbai, specializes in automation control for printing, packaging and other industries. In a straight talk, Mr. Patel talks about the present situation in the Indian label industry, about emerging trends and the the trends driving the Indian labels market today.

Labels India: What has been the growth of the label industry in India? What areas have changed?

Tappan Patel: The growth of the Indian label industry should be between 17 to 20%. Technology up gradation to a large extent, Servo driven press and UV inks have become the norm these days.

Labels India: How pleased were you with your last Labelexpo India showing? What are your expectations this year?

Tappan Patel: Labelexpo India is still not the same as China or the US. We still need to go a long way. Though the growth is in double digits, the numbers of press sold in India is miniscule as compared to what is sold in China or Europe and hence not many companies are motivated enough to come with machines to India baring the big 4 or 5 giants in the industry.

Labels India: What products/ services are you displaying / launching this year?

Tappan Patel: BST Sayona is launching Q Centre, the most advanced quality assurance system in the world. We have also partnered a new Italian company Renova. We are introducing their products such as brakes, load cells and roll pusher.

Labels India: What are the trends driving the Indian labels market today?

Tappan Patel: Almost all reputed companies are trying to sell themselves off to European and American companies, hence the trend now is to show new technology, good customer base and sell the company at good margins.

Labels India: Which technology according to you will play an important role in label/package printing in future?

Tappan Patel: I expect Barry Landa’s nanography to play a very important role in the near future. Barry Landa NanoInk is comprised of pigment particles a fraction of the size of a human hair. Powerful absorbers of light, these tiny particles deliver high-quality images that are unusually resistant to abrasion. Using a water-based, energy-efficient and eco-friendly process, Nanographic machines print on any off-the-shelf material - from coated and uncoated paper to recycled cardboard; from newsprint to plastic packaging film - without pre-treatment or post-drying. They can print books, magazines, direct mail, labels, folding cartons and flexible packaging for food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and more.

These machines have a smaller footprint than other digital presses, and can print in up to eight colors. User-friendly touch-screens indicate how much ink is left, how much time remains to the job, and many other details at a glance. A single operator can manage up to four presses at a time.

“Nanography is a truly ground-breaking development,” For the first time, commercial printers don’t have to choose between the versatility and short-run economics of digital printing and the low cost-per-page and high productivity of offset or flexo printing. Now they can have both.”

Labels India: There is no such thing as NO competition! Who is the competition and what are they doing?

Tappan Patel: BST really has no competition in narrow web industry.

BST Sayona Automations Pvt. Ltd.
www.bstsayona.com