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