Veepee outlines its future plans - online exclusive

Veepee Graphic Solutions has become one of the first Asian companies to adopt Esko Full HD Flexo and obtain the Full HD Flexo certification, continuing its long-term partnership with packaging pre-press specialist.

Established as a design studio in 1961, the Bangalore office, a part of the Veepee Group, supplies flexo plates to flexo converters. Among its key customers are Pragati Packaging, Sai Packaging, Multiflex, ITC, Ajanta Packaging, Positive Packaging, Kalpana, Propack and Universal Print Systems.

It started working with Esko technology in 2006 with the installation of a CDI. Other investments over the past years include licenses for a raft of Esko pre-press software options such as PackEdge, FlexRip and Plato to name a few. In 2009, Veepee Graphic Solutions installed the first CDI with in-line UV and HD screening in the Asian region. Recently, it has followed the development of Esko's Full HD screening and in-line UV technology.

‘The installation of Esko's CDI with Full HD Flexo technology and the subsequent certification has put us in a select group of elite operations, globally certified to Esko Full HD Flexo,’ says Jai Chandra, managing director of Veepee Graphic Solutions.

‘With numerous developments in the flexible packaging industry favoring flexographic printing, there was a need for higher solid ink density and better ink lay to match the quality of gravure printing.’

Full HD Flexo was added last year by Veepee Graphic Solutions, which enabled the company to increase its production capabilities. ‘Working with Esko Full HD Flexo, we achieve higher solid ink densities with the existing press parameters,’ says Chandra. ‘We can print clean solids and extend the color gamut thanks to the microcell technology, and we can eliminate the halo around text and lines – a common phenomenon with flexo printing.

‘Thanks to these benefits, we took label and flexible packaging printing to the next level and produced results that can be readily compared to offset or gravure. A lot of trials are being undertaken in corrugated post-print, which is the next emerging market for flexographic printing. Our decision to invest in Esko Full HD Flexo was a game changer.’

Chandra adds: ‘The flexo pre-press business is expected to grow in the next 10 years, with an important part of that growth in the flexible packaging and corrugated sector. As business is getting more localized, we will be looking at a 'spoke and wheel' model, where pre-press will be done at a centralized location and multiple plate processing units close to our customer sites. This will help us service our customers better with faster turnaround times and also reduce investment costs on software and infrastructure.

‘With stable imaging systems such as Esko CDIs with Full HD Flexo, we are confident to make this business model a big success.’