About

Khalsa Packaging is a leading manufacturer of fresh produce and agri-food packaging solutions based in Brampton, Ontario.  The company supplies high-quality flexible packaging to many of the major grocery retailers and food producers across Canada and the U.S.   Khalsa Packaging plays a critical role in the agri-food supply chain, ensuring food safety, freshness, and sustainability through customized packaging solutions.  The company specializes in converging a number of packaging materials into a variety of packaging solutions and then printing this packaging for their clients. 

Project

To remain competitive in the evolving agri-food packaging industry, Khalsa Packaging is developing an AI-driven ink formulation and color-matching system to improve efficiency, reduce material waste, and ensure high-quality color consistency in food packaging printing.  Currently, the company relies on manual Pantone matching and hand-mixed ink formulations, which result in high waste, labor inefficiencies, and inconsistent color quality. Through the support of the Development and Commercialization Program, Khalsa will work with the ventureLAB TDS to develop, test and refine their AI algorithms to drive the color formulation process.

Impact

This project will result in the development of a fully functional, AI-powered ink formulation and color-matching system designed to automate and optimize color consistency in fresh produce and agri-food packaging.  This new system will have significant impact on Khalsa’s operations including a 15% reduction in ink waste, a 20% increase in production speed and a 20-40% reduction in rework.  All these improvements will increase revenues by $1million and necessitate the hiring of 10-15 new full-time staff.