Monthly Archives: October 2016
New Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouch by Uflex is ruling the roost on International Retail Shelves
Amid ever intensifying retail competition, one strategy that no brand can afford to falter upon is ‘Eye Catching’ packaging. In the day and age that we live, ‘Quality’ of product is an absolute MUST HAVE. Beyond quality comes the overall experience that the product offers right from being spotted at the retail shelf up to the time it is consumed. The looks, touch, feel, convenience of carrying the pack, ease of retrieving the product, flexibility of reclosing the pack for deferred use all play undeniably important role in shaping the consumer behaviour. Packaging has absolutely re-defined the narrative of Modern Day Retail.
ALRIFAI – the Lebanese Global Leader in the dry fruit industry approached Uflex with a rather peculiar problem. The pistachios that the brand was selling in pouches manufactured by a European converter were turning rancid much before the expiry date. This resulted in market recall of the product. The R&D team at Uflex delved deeper into the issue and diagnosed the root-cause. Pistachios apart from being hard have extremely sharp edges that rupture the inner layers of packaging thereby disintegrating the barrier. Result— Rancidity of the expensive dry-fruit, massive market recall and the associated mayhem.
With this problem statement at hand, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and Solution Company, Uflex after an extensive R&D of over six months engineered the Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouch with a 3 ply laminate comprising PET (with registered matte coating)/ Metallized Polyester (with registered window)/ Nylon based transparent PE. This worked out to be the Holy Grail for the dry fruit giant. The Nylon based transparent PE layer of the laminate exhibits extensive stretch property and imparts impeccable puncture and tear resistance to the pouch making it strong enough to endure the sharp edges of pistachios besides contributing to the overall barrier to oxygen and water vapour.
The special pouches engineered by Uflex for ALRIFAI have been selling like hotcakes for over three months now and there hasn’t been a single recall.
The Quad Seal Gusset pouch has a brilliant gloss finish on the front and a matte finish with registered gloss on the back giving it a very premium look. The side gussets have de-metallized windows on either side that allow the consumers to see through the pouch and check the quality of the product packed inside before making a purchase decision.
Talking about the unmatched features of Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouch, Mr. Anup Sachdeva, Joint President Packaging (Global Exports) at Uflex said, “This pouch spells immense functional ease for consumers. The final pull for a product always comes from the end user. Talking about aesthetics – An eclectic combination of gloss and matte finish gives the pouch a very niche look. Certain elements of the imagery on the matte side of the pack have been printed in registered gloss finish with 3D effect further adding to the visual appeal. The windows on both the side gussets are achieved through a special De-Metallization process that we carry out with immaculate precision. The pouch with absolutely stunning looks unmistakably stands out on the retail shelf.
The simple D-punch handle that we have provided within the pouch structure makes it convenient for the consumer to carry the pack. The Press To Close (PTC) zipper on the front of the pack allows easy access to the products packed inside. The most interesting part is the fact that even if you retrieve some dry fruits from the pack and then re-close it properly, the barrier to oxygen and water-vapour remains pretty much intact for the pouch thus extending the shelf life of the product. Anybody would love to place this aesthetically designed pack in the kitchen cabinet without having to decant the dry-fruits in an airtight container.”
Notably the infallible PTC zipper solution provided in this pouch could become possible because of the pocket zipper installation machine manufactured and supplied by the Engineering business vertical of Uflex.
Explaining about the demand of Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouch, Mr. Sachdeva further said, “This packaging is gaining a lot of traction overseas and many international brands have approached us for similar solution for their products too. No other company in the world has been able to offer this perforated zipper solution. Just to give you an idea about the swelling demand for these pouches, Uflex Packaging has placed an order on the Engineering Business for seven more zipper installation machines to keep pace with the growing demand of Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouches from across the world.”
Congratulating the team for designing and successfully launching this packaging solution, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Limited said, “The Quad Seal Registered Gusset Pouch is as much a functional delight as visually stimulating it is. This product is the result of a perfect interplay of expertise of Film, Packaging, Cylinder, Engineering, Chemicals and Holography businesses of Uflex. The fact that this superior and innovative packaging solution that is ‘Made in India’ by Uflex is going places and winning adulations from some of the best brands across the world is truly endearing.”
Uflex continually raising the bar of competition in the globalflexible packagingindustry
We are living in an age where competition is the order of the day and the Darwinian theory of ‘Survival of the fittest’ the guiding axiom. Gone are the days when packaging was restricted to merely wrapping and containing the product till it reached the end user. Today packaging has evolved much as an art as the science it already is. A lot thus rides on the shoulder of packaging.
India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and Solution Company is credited for revolutionizing the Indian market with unit packs / sachets back in the eighties. The Founder and CMD, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi at that time had walked the road untraveled andwent about completely changing the landscape for Indian FMCG companies in 1985. That was indeed the turning point.
Making stead-fast progress thereafter with ravishing aesthetics, enhanced functionality; superior barrier properties; foolproof anti-counterfeiting/ brand protection features and upholding the socio-environmental sustainability promise, Uflex crossed several milestones in the flexible packaging industry surging much ahead of the peers.
The company has come a long way ever since, infusing path breaking innovation in all facets of flexible packaging be it packaging films; packaging products like pre-formed pouches, laminate rolls, tubes, big bags; packaging &converting machines; inks, adhesives and polyols; rotogravure cylinders & flexographic sleeves / plates orunmatched anti-counterfeiting & brand protection solutions.
Today the consumers are more informed than ever, thanks to the advent of the internet. Not only do they know about brands, but also are fairly aware ofother names in the same space. They are raring to take chances in experimenting newer products. They don’t mind purchasing expensive product as long as it offers complete value for money. Likewise the brands are leaving no stone unturned for wooing customers in an attempt to grab a sizeable pie of the market.
Here comes the ‘All pervasive’ role of packaging that helps shaping the first and often the last impression on the retail shelf. Since the turn of the century, brands across the world have been increasingly coordinating with the marketing and R&D teams of Uflex to get packaging solutions that are ‘BESPOKE’ in the truest sense.
Being a fully integrated end to end flexible packaging materials and solution company, Uflex has been enhancing its technological prowess through new and innovative product development and substantive process improvements. The sheer strength of the company lies in its proximity with global customers and the ability to ensureany quantum of Just-In-Time deliveries across the world. The speed to market reach further is enviable to reap the first mover advantage. Since no two packaging solution made by the company are the same, Uflex always strives that the packaging solution that it comes up withTODAY is several notches above both in quality and performancethan what it came up with YESTERDAY.
This progressively incremental and steadfast progress by Uflex has significantly raised the bar for competition in the flexible packaging industry not only in India, but also overseas. This has resulted in a shakeout in the market that has successfully filtered out several players in the un-organized sector who could not match the pace and scale of organizations like Uflex.
Over the years Uflex has become the face of the flexible packaging industry in the country and is a driving agent for innovation to create value-added differentiation for its customers across the globe.
Uflex engineers thinnest PET ALOx speciality film
Upholding its commitment towards down-gauging and light-weighting, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company Uflex Limited has launched 9.5 micron speciality ALOx polyester film, FLEXALOXPROTECTTM F-PGX.
Engineered by Uflex’s fully owned subsidiary company Flex Americas S.A. de C.V at the Mexico plant, this happens to be the thinnest PET ALOx film available globally. Despite being the leanest, the 9.5 micron ALOx polyester film exhibits excellent barrier for oxygen and water vapour as W.V.T.R (gm/m2/day) and O.T.R (cc/m2/day) are both < 1.0. No player other than Uflex offers such a thin PET ALOx speciality film with such superior barrier properties.
There is a growing demand for transparent flexible packaging that allows retail customers to see-through and check the quality of the product packed inside to their satisfaction. Conventionally metalized films have been used to impart enhanced barrier properties to laminates, but metallization renders the film opaque. The PET ALOx film can offer yet better barrier properties while still being transparent.
Being a down-gauged film FLEXALOXPROTECTTM F-PGX is 24 % lighter than its 12.5 micron variant and almost 60% lighter than the 23.5 micron variant. Furthermore, the price coordinates are better and so is the yield. While the 12.5 micron ALOx film has a yield of 57.14 m2/kg and the 23.5 micron film has a yield of 30.4 m2/kg, the 9.5 micron speciality ALOx film yields 75.18 m2 per kg. This brings major cost savings for the converters. The fact that the film is transparent and demonstrates excellent barrier properties, the need for a sandwich (barrier) layer which is typically a metallised film is completely eliminated. The PET ALOx film can be reverse printed and then laminated with a sealing substrate. Depending upon the barrier properties required by the product to be packed, ALOx coated films can be used in 2-ply structures right up-to multi-layered laminates.
FLEXALOXPROTECTTM F-PGX i.e. (PET ALOx) film complies with EC and FDA regulations for food contact and finds extensive use in manufacturing laminates used for packing dried meat, fresh food, snacks, confectionery, microwavable foods, retort convenience food, cheese, baked goods, drinks, pharmaceutical and medical products.
Commenting about the USPs of the speciality film, Mr. J.K. Sharma, AGM, Technical Service and New Product Development (Films) who is credited with the development of ALOx film at Uflex said, “One side of the polyester film is coated with Aluminium Oxide in a special metallizer where aluminium metal is thermally evaporated and reacted with oxygen under high vacuum conditions to achieve its oxide. The ALOx when deposited on clean film surface offers very high barrier against oxygen and water vapour transmission simultaneously giving excellent clarity and transparency to the film.”
Explaining more about the new speciality film, Mr. Pramod Sirsamkar, President – Technical & New Product Development (Films), Uflex Limited said, “PET ALOx is a significantly down-gauged transparent barrier film which by itself is its biggest USP. Besides excellent barrier properties, the film exhibits superior ink anchorage, suitability for retort applications, imparts strength to the ensuing laminate and has optimum coefficient of friction thereby offering great machinability to convertors.”
Speaking about this new development, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Uflex Limited said, “We pay a lot of emphasis on Sustainable Innovation. Development of FLEXALOXPROTECTTM F-PGX is a classic example of the same. The film is down-gauged yet it offers superior barrier properties and machinability. Development of such efficient packaging films enhances the value proposition for converters, brands and the end consumers alike. It’s a win-win.”
Demand soars for the latest Twin Head Four Servo Driven Form-Fill & Seal Machine by Uflex
India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company Uflex Limited has recently launched Collar Type Twin Head Four Servo Driven Form-Fill & Seal (FFS) Machine. The versatile machine is much in demand by packers and brands alike for packing granular materials and powders with unmatched ease and efficiency.
Designed and manufactured indigenously by the Engineering Business of Uflex at its plant in Noida (India), this machine has two heads for forming and filling pouches of different types and sizes. The four servo system coupled up with a vacuum belt helps significantly reducing rejection rate owing to the perfect alignment and movement of the laminate. The machine is equipped with a control panel placed in the centre of both the heads thereby spelling tremendous ease of operation by a single operator. The machine requires lesser space, electricity and maintenance as compared to two separate machines performing equivalent work, there by economising the operating costs.
Furthermore the machine is fitted with a new design of blade that ensures quality perforation between pouches with well contoured notches offering immense ease of tear-opening to the end-users. The especially designed operating programme for the control panel paves way for a user friendly Human Machine Interface (HMI). The machine can form and fill up to 110 pouches per minute depending upon the product to be packed, quantity to be filled, laminate structure & thickness and the filling system used. This machine forms pillow type pouches with a central seal and is ideal for packing extruded snacks, pulses, rice and spices among other products. The filling weight can range between 10gm to 1kg.
Commenting about the features of the new Twin Head Four Servo Driven Form-Fill & Seal Machine [UFLEX–CT4SD Twin (SLIM) Bagger], Mr Ajay Tandon, President & CEO, Engineering Business, Uflex Limited said, “This machine appropriately addresses the pain points faced by the customers in terms of higher rejection rates of formed and filled pouches. Owing to its 4 servo drives and the vacuum belt, the alignment and movement of the laminate is very smooth and perfect thereby significantly reducing the rejects. Further, the seal integrity that the machine offers is of high quality enhancing product safety and customers’ satisfaction and delight. Ease of handling, optimal space utilisation on the shop floor, work flow flexibility and optimised operational costs all put together make this machine a great value for money. We recently exhibited this machine at PackEx India 2016 in Mumbai and the response was absolutely terrific.
The order pipeline is very strong and encouraging. Given the advantages that the machine has to offer, customers looking at capacity expansion or replacement of the erstwhile single head FFS machines are placing orders for the new Twin Head Four Servo Driven Form- Fill & Seal Machine. It took the team almost ten months from designing to launching this machine and I am very happy with the response that it has been getting. In the day and age that we live, time is of greatest essence. Living up to our promise of impeccable after-sales support, we offer real time repair and maintenance assistance from our plant to our customers at their site, through modem connected to internet.”
Amid strong demand for the machine, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Limited said, “The New Twin Head Four Servo Driven Form-Fill & Seal Machine is a classic example of value engineering by Uflex. Upholding our ethos of continuous improvisation of products and processes we have engineered this machine offering immense flexibility to our customers for packing variety of products. It increases the packaging efficiency of our clients thereby positively impacting their business performance. Nothing is more gratifying than to be able to innovate to the best advantage of our clients globally.”