As the name clearly indicates, Ahmedabad-based Pinmark Blocks started its business in making wooden blocks, glass blocks, zinc blocks and related products in the 1960s. The company has expanded its operations into flexographic prepress by manufacturing a wide range of standard flexo plates available in the market. Mr Rutul Zaveri, Partner, Pinmark Blocks, narrates how they gained progression in flexographic prepress over the years in a freewheel chat about how the company has expanded its operations into flexographic prepress by manufacturing a wide range of standard flexo plates available in the market with Labels Flexibles & More.
Run by a team of knowledgeable technocrats who have witnessed the evolution of prepress and Flexo technologies, Pinmark Blocks boasts of offering one of the finest ranges of flexo plates, tailored to meet the exacting demands of printers who create best print outputs. “In a way, I would say we are one of the pioneer in Flexo Prepress technology in India. We have come across different phases of technological changes during our presence in the industry over the last four decades of business. I myself have witnessed how people in the industry are shifting towards flexographic technology,” tells Mr Rutul Zaveri.
He adds, “After all, we are proud to be the third generation in the business of Pinmark Blocks, which is now completely into flexo technology. Currently, we also make joint-less Elastomer sleeves for flexo printing, uniquely for CI flexographic presses. Just like a pneumatic cylinder, these specially designed sleeves create seamless prints by eliminating the visible joints that would typically occur when two ends of the printing plate are joined.”
When it comes to recognising the hallmark of excellence of Pinmark Blocks, it would be worth mentioning that a host of the company’s clients are recognised with prestigious awards and accolades at both the national and international levels for their outstanding works and services. In this, Mr Zaveri mentions, “Recently, at the 2024 Asian Packaging Excellence Awards in Vietnam, two of our customers, viz. Flexure Print N Pack and Letra Graphics from Ahmedabad, bagged a total of 8 awards—2 in the flexible category and 6 in the narrow web category.”
Mr Zaveri continues, “Many of the pre-press jobs of the two award-winning companies were done by us. Among the two jobs in the flexible category, one won Gold and the other won Silver. We prepared the plate for the Gold-winning job at 208lpi screen dot resolution. For the winners in the narrow web category, we prepared the plates especially for hybrid presses. Both Flexure Print N Pack and Letra Graphics have been our longstanding customers.”
Telling about the groundbreaking plate-making technologies they adopt, Mr. Zaveri mentions that Pinmark Blocks has marked many firsts in introductions of new products and solutions in India over the last 20 years. He says, “We were among the first in India to introduce several advanced technologies- LAMS (Laser Ablative Mask System) technology in 2005; thermal processing technology in 2007, Flexcel NX in 2011, and many others.” He adds, “We quickly adopt any new plate-making technology and offer it to our customers who wish to add more value to their print production.”
According to Mr. Zaveri, the best plate-making technologies they currently use are the LAMS and Flexcel NX for which they acquire equipment from Dupont, MacDermid, and Miraclon. He further mentions, “Initially, LAMS did not deliver optimum results compared to other technologies. However, recent advancements in screening and system updates have significantly improved its performance, which in turn delivers clearer texts, barcodes, no dots, etc.” Notably, Pinmark Blocks also offers flexo plates specifically designed for white ink applications, ensuring excellent ink laydown.
Mr. Zaveri emphasises that the label market is growing at a steady pace, while the market for flexible packaging is expanding rapidly because of the increasing demands for gravure jobs in it. He gives reason: “This shift is driven by environmental concerns and rising production costs, particularly as gravure printing increasingly sees demand for short-run jobs. As a result, the flexible packaging sector is experiencing significant growth opportunities.”
Pinmark Blocks has been consistently serving customers across India and also catering to international markets through exports. “We are committed to serving our customers in the quickest and most efficient manner possible,” asserts Mr. Zaveri.
A unique attribute of Pinmark Blocks, which Mr Zaveri says every single client of the company knows very well, is the consistency they maintain in making perfect & high-quality flexo plates.
