MALAYSIA – Asia Pacific Engravers, a subsidiary of the German company, Janoschka GmbH, has installed a complete MDC Max Daetwyler direct laser cylinder production system with an eye to the Malaysian cigarette packaging market.

Asia Pacific Engravers was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Janoschka and Interprint, one of the leading Décor printers worldwide, and has since become the largest provider of reproduction and cylinder engraving services in the country producing more than 9 000 cylinders in 2005.

Having supplied the Asian market for flexible packaging and decor cylinders, APE is now positioning itself to fulfill all customer demands in the Asian Tobacco industry.

This follows the trend seen in Europe and the USA where customers demand exclusively DLS made cylinders because of their superior print quality.

The installed Laserstar E DLS system is the first newly developed semi-automatic Laserstar system in the world

According to MDC, the Laserstar E combines all advantages of direct laser gravure engraving at an optimised price-performance ratio due to simplified design in terms of automation. The Laserstar E model also considers the reduced need for a fully automated production environment seen in emerging markets.

The Laserstar E will has become the choice for customers in emerging markets due to its cost-efficient design while offering the same high-quality results as with the fully automated LASERSTAR.

The Kuala Lumpur production centre will serve the German company, Janoschka, as the strategic stepping stone into the emerging markets in Asia.