Dubai’s Al-Thika Packaging company has won the exclusive United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Bahrain and Qatar distribution rights for the Markem coding and marking products, according to a company press release.
“Markem’s product line is a viable alternative to the resource-intensive ink-jet technologies currently used throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and give excellent return on investment,” said Ian Baker, Al-Thika Packaging general manager. “Current continuous ink-jet and solenoid valve-type printers used by many regional companies are not optimum solutions. They require large quantities of consumables.”
Baker added that in addition to reducing operating costs and providing greater reliability, Markem’s coding solutions do away with solvent odors, liquid ink mess and ink disposal problems. “They solve production line contamination, an issue facing many industries, particularly the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector,” he said.
Starting as a two-man company in 1999, Al-Thika has recently moved to larger, purpose-built premises in Dubai’s Al-Quoz industrial area. “The new premises have offices, a showroom and warehousing facilities,” said Baker. “A temperature-controlled environment and tailor-made racking enables us to store packaging films as well as coding and marking equipment at a consistent 30 degrees even in the heat of summer.”
Markem is an international thermal transfer and laser coding solutions provider for the packaging industry. Its SmartDate range provides for printing real-time clock data and barcodes on packaging films of vertical and horizontal packaging machines. Customization of product details allows a generic film to be used on multiple products. Markem also produces hot wax printers for high resolution coding on both retail and outer cartons, and print-and-apply labeling systems.
Al-Thika will showcase Markem’s solutions at the PackTech International packaging exhibition being held in Dubai next January, which is organized by Fairs and Exhibitions (F&E). A biennial event, PackTech International is the Middle East’s only B2B trade show for the packaging industry. In 2001, PackTech attracted 5,000 industry professionals, suppliers and end users from over 40 countries and generated in excess of three million dollars worth of on-site orders with exhibitors reporting follow-through contracts topping $12 million. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
