Post on 08-Aug-2020
42 INTERNATIONAL PAPER BOARD INDUSTRY » OCTOBER 2018
BHS CORRUGATED LINE INSTALLED
ECO LINE HITS THE MARK IN INDIA
VIJAY ANAND PACKAGING INDUSTRIES LLP INSTALLS ECO LINE FROM BHS CORRUGATED AND SETS THE PACE FOR THE LOCAL MARKET.
The corrugated industry in
India is undergoing a major
transformation. More and
more plants with high speed, fully
automatic machines from European
suppliers are now meeting the current
demands of packaging consumers
throughout India. This has resulted
in upgrades and installations of new
corrugators, as well as new players
entering the market with sophisticated
machinery. There is also the situation
that plants running older, manual
corrugators are now buying sheets
from other board plants that have
excess capacity due to the installation
of the latest equipment. For those
plants with older corrugators, the
trend now is to buy modern flexo
printer slotters, casemakers and die-
cutters, rather than take the big step
of replacing the corrugator – this way,
the smaller plants can still make boxes
and stay competitive in the market.
At the same time, some of the
European machinery manufacturers
have now realised the potential shown
by the Indian market and have started
developing equipment specific to
India. This is clearly evident from the
number of machines that have been
sold in India over the last two years by
www.thepackagingportal.com 43
BHS CORRUGATED LINE INSTALLED
companies such as BHS Corrugated
and Bobst. Some local corrugated
producers believe this demand for
European style equipment has been
forced by the changes in the needs
of packaging buyers as follows:
■ Customers have now started
demanding boxes that are lighter
and stronger and therefore more
cost efficient. Many of them are now
re-designing their box specifications
and have started demanding
boxes that should be able to run on
automated packing lines. This is not
only limited to multi-nationals, but
also some of the larger Indian brands.
■ Many consumers are moving
away from Bursting Strength
to Compression Strength as
acceptance criteria for their boxes.
■ This in turn has forced the board
plants to shift from using heavy
liner and fluting to using lightweight
papers (which need to be run on
automated, modern corrugators).
■ Many brand owners have now
installed high-speed automatic
packing lines to overcome
the shortage of skilled labour
in the Indian market, as they
want to minimise problems
related to managing labour.
■ Brand owners now expect to
have packaging produced in
multiple types of flutes for varying
applications. They have also started
demanding boxes ‘Just In Time’
and want packaging producers to
despatch boxes when required.
A New PlayerVijay Anand Packaging Industries LLP
(VAPI) is a part of the family owned
business group, Vijay Anand, which is
headquartered in Hyderabad, India.
The group has interests in various
fields such as textile, kraft paper,
specialty paper and tissue conversion.
In 2005 the group purchased 40
acres of land at Shadnagar, about
30 km from the airport, with a vision
to set up manufacturing units to
supply all forms of packaging, such
as corrugated, folding cartons, rigid
containers, flexible laminates, caps
and closures. The first step in this plan
was to setup a world class paper mill.
“The idea of setting up a packaging
hub came in early 2005, so as to
reap the benefits of a fast growing
packaging industry and to offer
customers a one stop solution
for all their rigid, semi-rigid and
flexible packaging needs,” explains
Rudraksh Agarwal, Partner at VAPI.
“Our group had already bought the
required land back in 2005 to set up
all the necessary units and decided
to develop the corrugated plant
as the next step, so as to leverage
the benefits of integration with the
existing paper mill, which has an
annual capacity of 84,000 tons.”
VAPI had plans to ensure the facility
was on a par with the best corrugated
plants in the world. To achieve this,
the management team visited many
plants in Europe to study and come up
with a blue print for the new plant. “We
wanted to create a world class plant
here in India, so we visited many types
of plants with our chosen suppliers
in Europe,” continues Agarwal. “We
came back with a clear idea of what we
needed and started building plans that
would see a large, warehouse-style
facility that would allow us to grow our
business without being constrained by
physical limitations of a small factory.”
“WE WANTED TO CREATE A WORLD CLASS PLANT HERE IN INDIA, SO WE VISITED MANY TYPES OF PLANTS WITH OUR CHOSEN SUPPLIERS IN EUROPE.”
RUDRAKSH AGARWAL, PARTNER AT VAPI
44 INTERNATIONAL PAPER BOARD INDUSTRY » OCTOBER 2018
BHS CORRUGATED LINE INSTALLED
The company was setup as a
limited liability partnership with
four equal partners in March 2016.
Construction of the plant was started
in October 2016, with a capital outlay
of INR 60 crores (approximately
€7.5 million). Installation of the
machines was completed by August
2017 and commercial production
began in the same month. The plant
now houses a 1.8 m Eco Line from
BHS Corrugated with CHC starch
kitchen. Stacks of board are handled
by the BHS Dücker plastic chain
conveyor and palletiser system. In
converting, VAPI opted for a four
colour Bobst 8.20 Discovery flexo
folder gluer, complete with in-line
Mosca UATRI 2XT bundle strapper.
Just over one year since start up,
the company now employs 60 people
and they are converting around 1.6
million sqm of board for boxes per
month, as well as producing around
500,000 sqm of board for sheet sales.
further 10% of production is utilised
by general industry, while 20% of the
production off the corrugator is sold
as sheet to other local converters.
Of the boxes produced at VAPI,
80% is single colour, with 10% being
two colour and 10% four colour.
Four colour Bobst 8.20 Discovery flexo folder gluer, complete with in-line Mosca UATRI 2XT bundle strapper, which recently set a production record.
The corrugator is running on a single
shift, while the converting department
is running two shifts per day.
Around 70% of all work produced
at the plant is used for food and
drink, being supplied to customers
up to 700km away from the plant. A
THE COMPANY RECENTLY SET A WORLD RECORD IN TERMS OF SURFACE PRODUCED IN 8 HOURS ON AN FFG 8.20 DISCOVERY. THEY PRODUCED A SURFACE AREA OF 69,387 SQM. THIS TOTALLED 118,612 BOXES, THE SECOND HIGHEST NUMBER OF BOXES PRODUCED ON AN 8.20 DISCOVERY WORLDWIDE.
46 INTERNATIONAL PAPER BOARD INDUSTRY » OCTOBER 2018
BHS CORRUGATED LINE INSTALLED
Eco LineThe Eco Line has been developed
by BHS Corrugated as a corrugator
for board plants with a monthly
output of 1,500 up to 3,000 tons in
markets with challenging production
conditions. Based on experience
gained in such markets, the Eco line
is designed to handle frequent
power fluctuations (or even shut
downs), a diverse range of papers
and especially for narrow paper
reels, in combination with many
order changes.
The Eco line is only available in
1.8 m, as this is the predominant
working width in India, as well as
the African continent, all due to
paper availability. It has a maximum
production speed of 150 m/min.
The automation level of the Eco
line is very much state-of-the art,
including features like Rest Roll
Computer, Splice Synchronisation,
automatic order change and also
the well-known AC energy pool
to optimise energy distribution
and convert brake force into
useful electrical power. This all
leads to low consumption of raw
material, in line with a constant
production speed and top quality
board, according to international
standards. It offers easy operation
and maintenance, which is essential
in markets with low-skilled labour.
The design of the key machines
is based on other BHS Corrugated
machines, like the Quality Facer
QF-P, of which there are almost 500
units running all over the world. This
Eco Facer uses the well-known BHS
Corrugated ‘Soft Touch’ control
for glue application, to guarantee
even and low glue application
across the entire working width and
eliminate possible operator errors. Starch Kitchen Reel Stands on the Eco Line from BHS Corrugated
Single Facer from BHS Corrugated
THE AUTOMATION LEVEL OF THE ECO LINE IS VERY MUCH STATE-OF-THE ART, INCLUDING FEATURES LIKE REST ROLL COMPUTER, SPLICE SYNCHRONISATION, AUTOMATIC ORDER CHANGE AND ALSO THE WELL-KNOWN AC ENERGY POOL.
48 INTERNATIONAL PAPER BOARD INDUSTRY » OCTOBER 2018
BHS CORRUGATED LINE INSTALLED
On the Double Facer DF-150, the
latest DualBoost technology helps
to increase speeds of doublewall
production, even with the short length
of the complete Double Facer.
With future growth in mind, the Eco
Line can easily be modified, allowing
for additional features, automation
tools or speed upgrades to produce
higher output. This will allow the plant
owner to increase production on
the machine as their business grows
over time.
“Vijay Anand is producing some
of the highest average speeds per
shift on the Eco line anywhere in the
world,” confirms Dawid Firla, Sales
Manager, BHS Corrugated Singapore.
“They are reaching average speeds
anywhere between 120m/min and
138m/min on a corrugator which has
a maximum design speed of 150m/
min. I think this is quite remarkable
in such a short time after start up.”
One Year Completed“We have been very happy with the
start up phase of our corrugated box
plant,” confirms Agarwal. “Having
a paper mill in the group means
we get around 90% of our paper
supplied internally, leaving only 10%
of our requirement being sourced
from other suppliers. It makes us
lean and fast in our reaction time.”
He concludes, “Using the latest
European designed machinery sets
us apart from our competitors and
we are setting production records on
the corrugator and the casemaker.
The direct input and training from
all our suppliers has made us one
of the most efficient plants in India,
something we will continue to
improve on as we build our customer
base throughout the region.” ■
Above: Control room on the corrugator. Below: BHS Dücker materials handling
“USING THE LATEST EUROPEAN DESIGNED MACHINERY SETS US APART FROM OUR COMPETITORS AND WE ARE SETTING PRODUCTION RECORDS ON THE CORRUGATOR AND THE CASEMAKER.”
RUDRAKSH AGARWAL, PARTNER AT VAPI