The Gulf’s fast-growing and highly competitive packaging market takes into its ranks new players from time to time, but few survive and make a mark.

Infinity Packaging LLC of Dubai is one of those few who are meeting the challenges with vigour and foresight and it has reported success in the short time it has been in existence.
The company has graduated from selling fast-moving consumables such as shrink films and “carry handles” to a full range of packaging machinery within two years of its formation.
Its decision to deal with just about everything in packaging that industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and stationery would require was prompted by unprecedented growth in the Gulf’s manufacturing sector, particularly the food and beverages industry.
“We make available products from some of the biggest names in the packaging business, maintain stocks of a range of items and arrange to deliver machinery including customised equipment,” says managing partner Vilas Bisne.
Vilas, who has strong experience of the industry, formed Infinity with the vision of making it a “one-window shop” for packaging machines and materials. “Things you could only dream of will become a reality with Infinity. Packaging and Infinity will become synonymous in the future,” he says.
Vilas and his associates believe packaging is a creative field.  “At Infinity the motto is to be consultants to the clients. We suggest tailor-made solutions to enhance product visibility within their budget. The company will act as a business developer. That’s the reason we introduced a machine segment last November, which is showing great promise and could dominate the business before long.
“We started with the smaller ones, mainly carton-taping and shrink-wrapping machines, but soon took on the bigger ones and now we have complete end-of-line packaging systems,” said Vilas.
 That comprehensive range goes beyond a variety of shrink-wrapping, flow-wrapping, stretch-wrapping and carton-taping machines to filling lines, vertical form-fill-seal equipment and metal detectors.
Infinity also wants to make a dent in the market for the printing side of packaging. “We will be selling Anser-HP machines for large-character printing on cartons. HP has just come up with a product that uses water-based ink and which is to be unveiled at the Gulf Pack show in Dubai,” said Vilas who expects the Anser-HP equipment to do very well as “HP smacks of high technology and reliability while the product gives consumers a good running cost at minimum maintenance and is very versatile with applications in many industries.”
As it awaits the launch, Infinity is kept busy with the machines it has taken under its fold. Snapping up shrink-wrapping and wrap-around machines are mainly food companies with some also going to perfume makers, among others.
Infinity’s main supplier for that equipment is the US firm Arpac. It has just started selling similar machines from Belca of Spain.
Arpac’s DPM-2000 series of standard and customised wrap-around case packers or case/tray packers are designed for a wide variety of products and reach speeds up to 25 cases/trays per minute.
“These rugged, intermittent-motion machines reduce materials costs, minimise labour requirements and increase productivity. They are ideally suited to package cans, jars, bottles and a host of other products. The wrap around case/tray blanks reduce the amount of corrugated board used by up to 25 per cent with additional savings in warehouse space and lower handling costs,” an Arpac statement says.
“Tightly wrapped cases and trays also have enhanced stacking strength and help reduce damage caused by products shifting during shipping and handling. If additional strength is required, partitions may be inserted into the case or tray.
“Arpac’s DPM-2000s are easily integrated with other packaging equipment and into new or existing production lines. The systems are often incorporated with cartoners, shrink bundlers, tray stackers, shrink wrappers and palletisers.”
Another of Infinity’s fast-moving items is vertical form-fill-seal machines, the company representing the Italian manufacturer CIA and the India-based producer Akash Packaging.
Infinity’s stretch-wrapping machines also enjoy strong demand and these mainly come from Belca, while its flow-wrapping range is imported from Rimopak, also Spanish. Infinity plans to market a similar range from Belca for which it will introduce a product stabiliser, which should prove an attractive addition to local customers. The carton-taping machines that Infinity supplies are sourced at the Taiwanese manufacturer Extend  
Infinity is supplying food industry-related metal-detection machines from leading manufacturer CEIA of Italy, which has been in the industrial metal detection field for nearly a half-century. Metal detecting is an important aspect of the food packaging business as there is a possibility of tiny metal pieces from the packaging process straying into the food, which necessitates safeguards that will prevent that from happening.
“CEIA’s THS-FB conveyor belts satisfy the most stringent requirements of functionality, compact construction, accuracy and reliability of response in dealing with contaminated food products,” the manufacturer says.  “It offers total integration between CEIA’s high-performance THS metal detector and an extremely hygienic structure in stainless steel, equipped with digital control of the speed and of the stages of ejection of non-conforming products.
“CEIA’s THS-FB conveyor belts are available in a wide range of sizes covering different application requirements. The supporting structure, the metal detector and the belt control panel are in stainless steel. The conveyor belt is certified fully compatible with food product handling, as is the protective cover of the ejection area, which is a single moulding, and the container for rejected products.”
Vilas stresses that the CEIA machines its supplies are third generation and reflect the latest advances in the field.
“We put a lot of emphasis on innovative products,” said Vilas who also referred to the state-of-the-art printing machines that Anser-HP would be launching for carton packs.
“People are becoming aware of new technologies and we’d like to bring them the best. Since the packaging business has become global, you have to be competitive even in terms of technology, which means you have to keep abreast of the latest systems on the market.”
The Infinity warehouse is located in Dubai’s industrial area of Al Quoz and the company has made provision to provide expert after-sales service. “With growing competition, the service factor will make an impact. We have a complete team of sales and after-service engineers to render prompt attention,” says Vilas.
In the first year of its operation, from July 2002 to July 2003, polyolefin shrink films were the major contributors towards the turnover and they primarily had applications in promotional packing. The company holds large stocks of the item and supplies throughout the Gulf. Infinity also supplies material called “carry handles” which customers find convenient for carrying heavier and bulkier products such as edible oil containers, evaporated milk and tissue paper.
“Between July 2003 and July 2004 there was a 40 per cent spurt in sales with 35 per cent of the sales value coming from machines; we project another 40 per cent increase for the next year,” says a beaming Vilas. Important elements in the growth could be metal detectors and the new Anser-HP machines, he adds.
Vilas feels with the growing market Infinity will be a force to reckon with in the future.