Gujarat-based flexo press manufacturer AKO Flexo is setting up its production unit in Mundra seaport for sales in India and overseas and is participating for the first time at Labelexpo India 2022. It will display its 8-color flexo press at the show.
The company already has a manufacturing plant in China that will continue to operate for the local demand. The new India plant will be operational by March 2023.
Starting in 2014, AKO Flexo is a flexo press and label finishing equipment manufacturer. The manufacturer has over 80 installations in several countries, including the US, Italy, the Middle East, Africa, Canada and India.
The new 20,000 sqft production unit is currently under construction and will facilitate exports from India.
The company has invested 3 million USD in the India plant. Around 1m USD is already invested, and the rest will be invested once the factory is set up. The development will take place in two phases: assembling quality control and fine-tuning machines and adding automation capabilities.
AKO will also focus on marketing from India. It already has a demo center in India for the purpose. By the end of this year, the manufacturer will have installed eight to 10 flexo presses in India. AKO has sold eight flexo machines in India in 2022. Out of the nine machines installed, five are already in production.
The raw materials suppliers’ presence in India and China also plays in favor of AKO.
AKO will manufacture full servo-driven flexo presses in the new plant run by a new team. The Chinese counterpart produces flexo presses and other equipment, including hot melt coater and label finishing machines.
Its flexo presses come with inline units for roto gravure, rotary screen, and turret rewinder. The company is developing flexo and web offset combination press which will be launched next year.
The combination presses can be customized for specific applications. The company has installed its combination press at one of the largest converters in China.
Ashish Patel, CEO of AKO Flexo, says: ‘We see a bright future for combination presses for laminates and shrink sleeves. We receive more demand for them, including flexo roto gravure and wide web presses.’
AKO currently offers 520m wide presses and is developing 650mm presses which will be available by March 2023.
The company will participate for the first time at Labelexpo India 2022 from 10-13 November 2022 at India Expo Mart and Centre, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India. It will display its 330mm 8-color flexo printing machine with add-on features.
