中文The economics of flexible packaging are changing fastest at the short end of the run-length spectrum, and Echaar Equipments is targeting exactly that space with its new Flexocompact Series — a mid- and narrow-web central-impression (CI) flexo press designed for shorter, more varied production runs, including ultra-short jobs of around 50 kg.
Kirti Panchal, managing director of Echaar Equipments, says the machine emerged from a need the company was already seeing in the market. “Nowadays there are many converters who require ultra-short runs, sometimes even around 50 kg. For such requirements, we believe this can be a better and more economical solution,” he said. A conventional wide-web press can simply be more machine than such a job requires, and the Flexocompact is Echaar’s answer to that mismatch.
The proposition reaches beyond flexible-packaging converters. The CI configuration also gives label converters a route into flexible packaging on a single press that handles both, and Panchal sees rotogravure converters as candidates to add flexo to their mix. Echaar is offering the series in gearless and geared versions — the Flexocompact HR 300 GL and HR 200 GD — with print widths of 700 and 880 mm and repeat ranges from 240/280 mm up to 650 mm depending on configuration, in 4, 6 and 8-colour layouts.
The shorter repeat range is strategically important for short-run work, where plate and cylinder costs can quickly dominate job economics. “Minimum repeat also plays a vital role in saving a lot of cost for these plates and cylinders,” Panchal noted. Beyond that, the compact web width and machine configuration aim to cut substrate waste and optimize plate, sleeve, cylinder, ink and energy consumption, changeover time and utilization — the full set of variables that decide whether a short job is profitable.
The Flexocompact extends a portfolio previously focused on wide-web CI flexo. Echaar has built CI flexo presses since 2020, with machines spanning web widths from one to two metres across the Flexo Master, Flexo Delight and Flexo Smart series. Notably, CI flexo was not a late addition: “We started with CI only,” Panchal said. The company spent its first three years on technology transfer, built its first machine in 2020, and has since installed eight CI flexo presses plus two stack presses and one laminator.
Those installed machines serve a broad application mix — flexible-packaging laminates, hygiene products, milk packaging and paper, across both breathable and non-breathable films, with solutions running at speeds up to 500 metres per minute. For a manufacturer competing against established international suppliers and a growing field of Indian makers, Panchal welcomes the competition. “If you say that some more manufacturers are also coming, I welcome them. The reason I tell you, there is a huge market. India is a huge nation,” he said.
Panchal’s larger argument is that India’s machinery industry has already proven it can build sophisticated printing equipment, especially in rotogravure, and he expects a similar evolution in CI flexo — though he concedes the technology demands considerable manufacturing precision. Echaar manufactures its machines completely in-house and now produces the critical CI central-impression drums internally, with a service team built over nine years and export support through dealers expected to provide both sales and service.
Near-term demand looks strong enough to keep expanding. Echaar is currently building five more machines, with another three orders under finalization. For the company, the Flexocompact is not merely a smaller version of its existing platforms but an extension into a new segment of converters and applications, joining Flexomaster, Flexodelight, Flexosmart and now Flexocompact to cover different speeds, widths, run lengths and needs.
Panchal’s conclusion is that the CI flexo opportunity is no longer confined to high-volume flexible packaging. As converters handle smaller, more varied jobs, a more compact CI platform can give flexo a wider role in the production mix — and Echaar intends to be the one supplying it, with Indian-built precision it believes can scale to global relevance.
India is a particularly fertile ground for this strategy. The country’s flexible-packaging demand is expanding with rising consumer spending, e-commerce and processed-food penetration, yet much of the volume still sits in short and fragmented runs that do not suit giant wide-web presses. A compact CI machine that makes those runs economical could unlock a large base of smaller converters and brand owners. Panchal’s confidence that Indian engineering can rival global CI flexo suppliers reflects a broader shift: the country’s machinery sector, long strong in rotogravure, is climbing the precision ladder into flexo. If Echaar’s bet pays off, the Flexocompact may not stay confined to India; export markets, already served through dealers, could absorb the same compact proposition wherever short-run flexibles are growing. The larger point is that the centre of gravity in flexo manufacturing is broadening beyond its traditional European and Japanese heartlands.
Source: The Packman (by Mahan Hazarika), published 1 September 2026.
