The results are there in the high-gloss, brightly printed and tightly registered pouches that Satish Sharma shows off to visitors as he tours the CMM show. "A 100 percent billboard," he says with pride. "That's the impact of the standup pouch." They're produced at Nina Plastics, a state-of-the art, 95,000 sq. ft. plant in Orlando, FL, founded by his father Sardari in 1979, of which he is now president and owner. The company employs 110, with 2003 sales estimated at $18 million. Sharma, along with vp of operations Jim Snell, is at CMM to continue shopping for additional converting equipment needed to continue expanding their manufacturing capabilities. This includes further purchases of machinery to develop the standup pouches and other packaging-related products they convert.

"We are a fully integrated supplier," he says. "Our $5 million capital program, which includes printers, extruders, slitters and pouchmaking machines, gives us complete control and faster execution for our customers. We have also added capacity for products that we have been producing for some time, including lawn and garden bags, shrink bundling film, furniture bags and food packaging," he says.

Sharma's company entered the standup pouch market in the mid-1990s—in itself not surprising. What is eye-opening is the size of the investment Nina Plastics has made in top-flight converting equipment and ancillary capabilities in order to bring more of the graphic design, printing and pouch making in-house—in effect controlling more of the process.

This is in sharp contrast to many of his competitors in the pouch-converting market, who perhaps print but don't form the pouches, or who form pouches from purchased roll stock, or send the formed pouches elsewhere to be fitted with spouts. At Nina Plastics, they can do it all.

From in-house graphic design, to plate making and ink mixing, Sharma and Snell pride themselves on a hands-on approach to making customers happy.

When they decided it was time for a new extruder (they already had nine) and state-of-the-art flexographic printer, they found a supplier whose disciplined philosophy matched their own.

"We took a great deal of time with a variety of suppliers and eventually narrowed our choice down to three main companies," Sharma recalls. "Once this had been done we traveled to specific installations to study the equipment first-hand. The last trip was to Lengerich, Germany to visit Windmoeller & Hoelscher and their managing director, Peter Steinbeck, to view both the film line and printing equipment.

"Prior to our visit, W&H had visited our factory in Orlando and refused to sell us a film line unless we agreed to raise our roof by an additional 15 feet. Although this initially alarmed us, it did indicate the desire for W&H do things right, and this in turn assured us that they were not trying to oversell the machine and its capabilities.

"The production facility in Lengrich was impressive and their attention to detail was obvious," he continues. "The gearless Novoflex offered many advantages, including quick job changeovers, infinite repeat length and quality of print, whereas the film line proved to have superior gauge control, as well as cutting-edge technology in regards to the die and upper oscillating nip haul-off.

"It is my understanding that Nina Plastics is the first company in the U.S. to enjoy both the Nostic Plus noncontact turning bar system, along with the Filmatic T Dual Turret Winder," says Sharma. "The technology and quality, coupled with the knowledge and attention from the sales staff and management at W&H—in both Germany and the United States—finalized our decision just a few hours before our flight back home. Within eight months of our trip, the line was up and running and has continued to run at full capacity since installation."

Consumers are becoming accustomed to seeing snacks and grated cheese in colorful standup pouches, but according to Sharma, next up are some applications where the pouches will be replacing some longtime packaging standards."

"Some food applications that will be hot in the next few years for the standup pouch include spices, sugar, flour, rice, and salt," he says. "These are products that are currently packaged in paper bags that are prone to potential leakage, and which do not offer the added benefit of reclosable zippers.

"Spouted or zippered pouches really add a level of convenience to these products and also enable marketers to use billboard graphics and re-close ability to differentiate them from the competition. Snacks, confectionery, pharmaceutical products and lawn and garden goods like potting soil; fertilizers are other markets where the pouch will penetrate in the next few years."

A typical Nina Plastics standup pouch is a 1/2 mil, reverse-printed polyester with a 4-mil LLDPE/ metallocene sealant layer, which results in the desired rigidity, gloss and barrier performance customers look for when buying standup pouches. Nina Plastics has partnered with such companies as Presto Products for their Fresh-Lock zipper, and can also provide spout fitments when desired.

In an economic climate where many converters are cutting back, not adding new product capabilities or spending on capital equipment, and are also wondering how they're going to stay in business over the next few months or quarters, Nina Plastics is an example of an aggressive competitor whose management intends to make the necessary investments to build the business.

This attitude, in addition to the bullish outlook for the standup pouch in general (see "Standup pouch demand set to soar, says study"), and a firm foundation in other converted plastic products, means that Nina Plastics is solidly positioned for the future.