The Italian inspection system, colour control and registration specialist is confident of its achievements Andrea Toschi of Grafikontrol tells Benjamin Daniel, that those years are a testimony of his company’s products’ quality and service
Benjamin Daniel (BD): Can you tell us a little about Grafikontrol and its presence in the packaging space?
Andrea Toschi (AT): Grafikontrol is an Italian Company. It was founded in 1969 and we completed 50 years this year. We are in the packaging market since quite some time with our colour register. There are few customers in Dubai who are still using our colour register. Grafikontrol has progressed and from register we are moving to 16x viewing camera and to 100% inspection.
BD: Industry 4.0 is being discussed with many manufacturers aligning their equipment for compatibility. They are collecting data and analysing it for print and conversion. Where does Grafikontrol stand as far as Industry 4.0 and its instruments and systems are concerned?
AT: Grafikontrol is working towards industry 4.0, and automation in a small way, as we are a small company. Since packaging is only a part of our business we have done some implementation with certain press manufacturers and also with certain customers in automating the parameter setting while starting the system. This is to avoid manual or using the operator. These parameters will be loaded directly by the press. For this we are connected with the press manufacturer to provide us with all the data required to work this out. The press manufacturers give us the data from the pre-press. This is one way of automation. Now we are working to create a workflow because inspection systems have a function to inspect and identity the defects. This workflow will identify all the errors with a code and whatever data is collected by the inspection system can be transferred to the next level maybe the laminator or the winder / slitter machine where the data is automatically loaded and will make the machine to stop at the point of defect automatically without any intervention of the operator.
BD: In terms of automation, do you have any new plans for any new systems?
AT: No. As of now we are concentrating on the cameras, inspection systems, registry controls, spectro photometer. Of course we are now concentrating on using high quality new technology for better performance. For example, we will soon be using the 8k camera. With the change in technology automatically the performances improve. Therefore we have not started any new concept
After two years of research, we have made a new system for coding and mapping that can help in automatically stopping the machine. We already have six installations worldwide for this system. In USA, Indonesia and of course in Europe. This is something which is going very well. For new projects we are still looking at the market demands because our inspection systems can cover not only printing machines but also blown film machines. If the market demands something more, we shall see.
BD: Similar to Grafikontrol, there are five to six global companies doing the same solution of 100% inspection, colour control and register. What is your USP? What is so special about Grafikontrol? How do you set yourself apart from your competition?
AT: There are two things. One is service. We believe that one of the most important things is service to the customer and this is our plus point. As I mentioned in the beginning we have customers that are working without systems for more than 25 years and we still support them. Second is, our prompt reply to the customer. If a customer calls me today, he receives an answer today.
BD: Finally, what is your message for the packaging converters – labellers who are not using your system in this region? Why should they pick Grafikontrol as solution for their colour register, inspection and other things?
AT: We have been in the market for a long, 20 years to be precise, and that’s a testimony of our products’ quality and service. Isn’t that a good reason to pick us as their partner? I can assure you that we are with our customers today and we will be with them in the future too. That’s our commitment.