Innovation to create value added differentiation is at the core of the business strategy of India’s largest flexible packaging solution company UFlex Limited.
The Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) honored UFlex for two startlingly innovative products.
- VIMAL pouch laminate with registered hologram commemorating 25 years of the product and providing an authentication / anti-counterfeiting device under the Non-Food Technical Category;
- Kohinoor Anti-Slip Bag (for premium rice packaging) under the Technical Excellence Category.
These awards were conferred during AIMCAL’s Management Meeting held in South Carolina on Sunday, 20 March.
VIMAL pouch laminate is a multi-ply structure of reverse printed BOPET Film/Paper/Heat-seal coating used for packaging a saffron-blended mouth-freshener. The special feature of this laminate is the incorporation of a commemorative hologram in perfect register with the print design that celebrates 25 years of the product and additionally provides an overt authentication and anti-counterfeiting device in a business where duplication and counterfeiting are rampant. The hologram is created separately and transferred to the surface of the printed laminate in register with the print design using a special proprietary process. This incorporation process of the hologram into the printed laminate perfect register is first of its kind in the Global Packaging Industry.
The anti-counterfeiting feature can be recognized by even an untrained consumer at the point of purchase without the use of any specialized equipment, scanning devices or having to communicate with the product manufacturer or distributor. The hologram automatically reinforces the image of the brand or manufacturer and can use proprietary graphics like designs, logos or messages. It can also be used to authenticate promotional packages that distinguish them from regular or standard packages simultaneously delivering a unique form of differentiation and shelf-impact.
The innovation quotient of the product is quite high with the overt commemorative hologram being a part of the print design itself. Not only does this impart differentiation to the product but also greatly enhances its visual appeal and shelf impact simultaneously offering unmatched brand security from counterfeited products and look-alikes.
Kohinoor Anti-Slip Bag is used for bulk retail packaging of premium rice (5 kilogram and more). The special feature of this bag is an anti-slip device that prevents the bags from slipping over each other and off the stack when piled one over the other for unitizing (stacking, palletizing, stretch/shrink wrapping and secondary packaging), during transportation and during display on the shelf. The anti-slip property is achieved by using a special micro-embossing process on the finished laminate prior to bag-making. The micro embossing is registered so as to appear only on the central portion of the bag and is not visible when viewed normally. Therefore, it does not affect the graphics or aesthetics in any way. It is so designed that it does not physically puncture the film surface so that barrier properties remain unaffected and there is no development of micro-pores that allow mites or micro-organisms to enter the package. The micro-embossing delivers the anti-slip property by imparting to the surface a very high coefficient of friction against another embossed film surface. This prevents slippage of bags when stacked even several feet high. This system works much better than using anti-slip additives, coatings or treatment on the film that forms the outer surface of the bag.
In an official statement, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, UFlex Limited said, “In today’s competitive slugfest, only those who can deliver innovation at every stroke will be able to survive. Not only is it imperative to innovate but also to create progressively incremental, tangible and quantifiable value to the business of clients is what takes a brand to the next level. With the best in class technology at our disposal and some of the sharpest brains that understand packaging inside-out UFlex will continue to delight its clientele globally. The AIMCAL awards further inspire us to render flexible packaging solutions that are even better than before.”
