Trelleborg’s printing solutions operation continues to develop the capabilities of offset printing blankets for the newspaper industry. Visitors to WAN IFRA 2019, from September 18 to 19 in Delhi, India, will be able to discover how the operation is expanding its expert support in the country.

Maniraju Bora, Sales and Technical Director for the South West Asia region, says: “We are embracing the challenges of newspaper printers in India, providing experts in the field that are capable of supporting the demanding requirements of high speed printing presses. We are not only supplying customers rapidly with reliable solutions but also supporting them with an expert team.

“The Trelleborg team has grown larger than before. Beside Sandeep Gupta, Dy. Manager Sales & Technical–(India & Nepal) and myself, the team now includes Kalyan Mushti, who has joined Trelleborg as Technical Manager responsible for the Indian market. With his long experience in the newspaper market, he supports our presence and focus in the newspaper and publication market.”

Trelleborg is increasingly tailoring offset printing blanket solutions to suit Indian printer’s requirements and over the last few years it has been working ever closer with newspaper groups to understand the needs of their pressrooms and how the printing solutions operation can provide a blankets that improves productivity while maintaining consistent quality and cost.

“Products such as Trelleborg’s Vulcan Metal Times, Vulcan 202, Rollin Graffity Plus and Rollin Hipage are household names amongst newspaper printers in other countries and we offer them in India with modifications to local requirements. A couple of new entries are available in 1.70 mm thickness: Vulcan Royal Web and Rollin Avenir,” continues Bora.

Trelleborg has developed several easy-to-use, downloadable software tools, including a ‘configuration’ product that lets users select the correct blanket by entering the application sector, such as web coldset, web heatset, single-width, double-width, combi or UV. Trelleborg has a well-established network of experienced dealer partners throughout India that provide local, on-site support and the company has developed a dealer locator App that offers a simple way of finding the nearest dealer.

“The comprehensive work carried out at Trelleborg’s extensive R&D facilities at the Lodi Vecchio manufacturing facility in Italy has created offset blanket solutions that match the specific needs of the Indian newspaper market,” says Bora, who has more than 50 years of experience in this sector. “Printers need the flexibility to customize blankets according to the type of stock they are handling, the press being used and other relevant factors such as press age.

“Trelleborg’s mission is to provide the Indian printing industry with training, advice and after-sales support that is unrivalled. The blanket is crucial to the profitability of the press and we increasingly help newspaper groups use blanket technology to reduce cost-per-copy on their presses. Our experts provide training on selecting the correct blanket, settings on the press, and maintenance and storage of fabric-backed and metal-backed products.

“An in-depth knowledge is becoming even more important because of the rapidly changing landscape in the industry. For instance, the growing use of different stocks that have their own surface characteristics, the implementation of UV / LED, high-density pigment inks, neutral founts, FM screening, coatings and primers have a major impact on the printing process and the printing blanket.”

Visitors to WAN IFRA 2019 will be able to see and touch all these product and solutions on offer, as well as meet the Team: Maniraju Bora, Sandeep Gupta and Kalyan Mushti, at Trelleborg booth 1.3.