(L-R) Gavin Rittmeyer, vice president sales and marketing at Martin Automatic and Sathis Abeywickrama, managing director of Flexiprint with Hope Hu, regional manager, and David Ho, general manager, Asia Pacific
Flexiprint, a manufacturer of tea bag tags and envelopes in Sri Lanka, has made an order for the Martin Automatic MBS unwind/splicer and the LRD rewinder.
The new machines, which will be installed at the company’s production facility in Colombo, will be the fifth and sixth since managing director Sathis Abeywickrama first decided to fit an LRD to his Gidue Combat press in 2005.
Mr Abeywickrama stated, ‘We were the first in Sri Lanka to install an LRD, and the first with an MBS, and this has all been based on Martin’s reputation for reliability in hardworking commercial environments. We convert around 4000 metric tonnes of paper and board each year, and our inline production system is geared towards zero waste.’
The company began printing with an eight colour 7″ Propheteer, and won an FTA Print Award in its first year of operation. Five more Propheteers followed as production increased to keep pace with demand, before the company switched to 14″ Gidue lines to improve productivity and quality – it now has six Gidue presses installed.
Mr Abeywickrama points to an export business that has grown to make it a market leader, with a major share of the Dubai and Saudi Arabian markets, as well as a growing share in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Yemen and Papua New Guinea.
Mr Abeywickrama explained, ‘We believe Martin roll handling is the best on the market and its MBS and LRD machines allow our Gidue presses to reach their full potential.’
Claiming a reduction in waste of 20% or better, and less downtime on press since the Martins were installed, Mr Abeywickrama describes them as ‘unbreakable’ with minimal requirement for service and none for spare parts. He said, ‘I have no hesitation recommending Martin Automatic to anyone doing long runs with special substrates – the technology has no learning curve because it is not unnecessarily complex, like some of its competition!’
