Citrus Packaging invests in Spande S7 flexo press

Hyderabad, India-based Citrus Packaging has invested in a Spande S7 8-color flexo press. Chenga Reddy, founder of Citrus Packaging, visited the Spande factory in Shanghai to familiarize himself with Spande’s flexo technology and sign the deal. The press will be displayed at Labelexpo Europe 2025 in Barcelona before being installed at the company’s plant in the last quarter of 2025.

Established in 2017, Citrus has several flexo and offset presses, including those from Lombardi and Miyakoshi. The company specializes in security tamper-proof labels, multilayer labels, pharmaceutical labels, ophthalmological applications and medical hangar labels. Citrus now has a plant in Bengaluru as well.

The Spande S7 8-color press features two die-cutting stations and a lamination unit. It will also have a sheeter for carton production. Each print unit has 8 servo motors, intelligent auto-registration (iVision) and automatic pressure adjustment (iPressure).

For carton production, the press can handle and print on 450 gsm board. Additionally, it can handle labelstock and unsupported films and papers in thicknesses ranging from 12 to 450 microns. It will also have chilled impression cylinders for printing on thin and extensible materials.

The press features a hybrid curing system that utilizes a combination of LED-UV, UV, and hot air cassettes.

Talking about the press, Reddy said: 'Even a layman can operate this press. All they have to do is feed in the substrate thickness, drop in the flexo plate cylinders, and then press the start button.'

Citrus’ investment in this new flexo technology reflects its forward-thinking approach and aligns with its upcoming expansion into RFID labels and tags for premium retail, pharmaceutical, and luxury segments.