ProductWatch: Shandilya Sons' Dotclean plate cleaner

Dotclean description.
Dotclean is an indigenously developed flexo plate cleaning machine. We have three variants - Dotclean 450, 650 and 850. Dotclean 450 is for narrow-web flexo printers while 650 and 850 are for mid and wide-web flexo printers respectively.

What is the USP for this module?
The machine is built with 100% stainless steel. It ensures thorough cleaning without affecting the integrity of the flexo plate. The transition of plates from one cleaning cycle to another is absolutely smooth causing no bends or curls. It takes only 90 seconds to clean, wash and dry a plate in our Dotclean 450 model, which is suitable for narrow-web flexo printers. Conveyors can be added at infeed and outfeed.

When was it launched in India?
We initially started manufacturing Aniclean - ultrasonic anilox cleaning machine in 2010. With the huge success of Aniclean, many of our customers started enquiring for flexo plate cleaning machines as it was an impending need and a major issue faced by label printers. The plates are very delicate making it difficult to be cleaned by any strong cleaning agents, often leading to damage and mishandling by workers during the process. We started developing a plate cleaning machine, and Dotclean was launched in India, in 2015.

What is the target market?
Our target market is label and flexible packaging flexo printers - both narrow and wide-web.

How easy is it to use and also install on the shopfloor?
The machine is "plug and start" and it is very easy to install and use. The machine is durable and offers easy maintenance with parts that can be replaced or repaired at ease. The plate transition time, chemical, water and temperature are all controlled without the operator's intervention. The operator's only job is to feed the uncleaned plates.

How many installations so far?
So far we have installed 92 machines in India and abroad. International presence with Dotclean spans through Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Iran and Russia. Our Indian clientele comprises Huhtamaki (label division), Kumar Labels, Pragati Flexo, Barcom, Signode, Amul fed Dairy, Marks Group, Classic Image, Skanem and more.

What kind of manufacturing compliance does Shandilya Sons follow in India?
We are following ISO 9001:2015 for our Aniclean and Dotclean Machines. We use machine parts from reputed suppliers who are mainly CE certified and also have good reach to ensure unstinted post sales services.

What’s the tech support your company provides?
Along with a machine manual, we have a dedicated team to give any technical support required by customers.