Harveer Sahni

Total Post: 292

Labels on the move-growth in India-2018

Labels on the move-growth in India-2018
Fifty years ago, 80% of India lived in villages.
 
People are moving from villages to cities to experience the modern-day city life as they see on TV and internet. 





 
The scenario has transformed over the years. As a result of ongoing urbanisation, the urban population in India has now grown from 19.4% in 1968 to 33.5% in 2017. The shift has a direct impact on the consumption of household goods, as daily needs in city dwelling are obviously different and more than that in villages. More so due to the impact of a growing rate of literacy level which is the percentage of people aged 15 and above who can read and write having increased to over 72% percent from 40.76% in 1981. People in the working age group 15-64 years has escalated to 66.2%, from a level of 55.4% in the last 50 years. In 2017 the median age of the country, which is half of the people to be younger than this age and other half older, was estimated to be 27.9 years. In a country of 1.32 billion people a growing need for household goods or consumer goods also referred to as FMCG or “fast moving consumer goods” means there is an ever-growing huge demand for labels and packaging that are a part of the consumables they buy.

 

According to a report in The Economic Times dated May 01, 2018, consumer products market grew
13.5% in the Financial year 2018, with eight of 10 leading companies posting double-digit value growth, FMCG being the 4th largest segment of the economy. Online sales of consumer goods is also seeing an enormous rise as number of online users is poised to cross 850 million by 2025. According to a report by marketing research firm “eMarketerOnline” retail sales in India are expected to grow by 31% this year to touch $32.70 billion, led by e-commerce players Flipkart, Amazon India and Paytm Mall. Retail market is estimated to reach US$ 1.1 trillion by 2020, up from US$ 672 billion in 2016 further expected to boost revenues of FMCG companies to 104 billion US Dollars. The data herein mentioned indicates a definite, constant and escalating demand for labels and packaging.

 

 

Indian Label industry has been witnessing challenging time since demonetisation of currency and later due to implementation of GST. While these measures may be beneficial for the industry at large, yet they slowed down the trade impacting margins and revenues. With capacity growth already committed by existing label companies who had already placed orders for new equipment and by those entering the segment in this period, slow down impacted adversely the positive sentiment in label industry. The Label printing and converting equipment was being upgraded globally by machine manufacturers to achieve efficiency in production, reducing wastages, producing to economies of scale and was becoming more expensive. An industry that was used to a quicker ROI (Return on Investment) and better margins found the situation challenging, decided to be cautious and held-back investing decisions. While the economic parameters of growth as mentioned in the earlier part of this article were on the move all the time, a pause or back stepping for two years created a gap that has resulted in now a positive situation whereby new investments to increase capacity are being made. However still, label printers are apprehensive that this sudden indulgence may result in over capacity, promote unhealthy competition resulting in lower margins and make servicing of loans a little difficult. Despite this the positive sentiment in the label industry is evident as those who have excelled are committed to expand and maintain their position.

 

 

Change is the only permanent in a growing scenario, also stagnation leads to deterioration so one has to keep improving, innovating and expanding to remain in reckoning in a vibrant colourful industry. The label industry, much to the discomfort of the existing peers of the industry is seeing a lot of investment from the sheetfed offset printers. The sheet offset industry is used to big time investments in equipment and voluminous sales justifying their lower margins with massive turnovers. They were content with ever growing toplines, yet when the bottom lines needed strengthening labels appears to be a solution. While this would not add much to the top line but would surely contribute positively to their bottom lines. In a conspicuous effort to make their balance sheets look more presentable, it seems the offset printing industry is becoming indulgent in labels. It is for this reason we see label exhibition stalwarts Tarsus targeting the offset printers for their upcoming Labelexpo India. This is much to the discomfort of existing label industry constituents as it would add to the intense competition bringing pressure on already depleting margins in terms of percentage.

 

 

The label demand in India continues to grow and investments in label printing and converting equipment is on the rise. Though not much authentic data is available, yet the author based on experience and time spent in the industry has attempted to reach a reasonable size of the market. There are about 1000 label manufacturing companies in India. These include very small and big plain label, barcode label and product label manufacturers both in roll and sheet, spread all over India. The number of machines that each of these companies possess varies from just one machine to multiple machines, in many cases the machines installed are in double digits. On a very modest estimation if I assume an average of just two machines per label company, the total comes to 2500 label converting machines. The number of rotary machines announced in media in the recent past as installed in India over the years till now by leading label suppliers like Mark Andy, Gallus, Nilpeter, Omet, Bobst, Edale, MPS, Weigang, Orthotec, etc. coupled with those supplied by local manufacturers like Multitec 200 machines, RK label 150 rotary plus 600 flatbeds, Jandu 135, Alliance, Webtech and others, is well over 1500. Now if we add the used machines, the intermittent and other flatbed/rotary options, the figure is definitely over 2500. Working backwards for converting capabilities with realistic downtime, the per capita consumption of labelstocks is well beyond 1 square meter.

 

 

Calculating quantities of label stock manufactured from the number of coaters installed with Labelstock manufacturers we have, according to the author’s personal estimation, Avery Dennison is leading the pack and SMI following, together they account for over 40% of the production in India with almost 48 Crore or 480 million square meters per year. According to Jandu Engineers, who have been the main coater laminator supplier to the unorganised sector, they have till date installed 150 adhesive coating lines in the country. While Jandu asserts that his coaters run at 100 meters per minute but for a realistic estimation their speed with down time has been considered at 50 meters per minute. Added to this is the production coming from numerous Hotmelt coaters installed and together with the stock lots used, the total again justifies the 1 square meter per capita usage. Another evaluation done with base consumption that most in the industry had agreed at 0.25 square meter in the year 2003. Applying a year on year growth rate of just 10%, this year we cross the 1 square meter per capita usage. The estimation is the author’s personal estimation only, many of the industry peers may not agree with the author’s estimation yet it appears that we have come a long way in the last 20 years. The self-adhesive label production and consumption in India all including roll, sheet, stock lots etc. this year seems to have reached a whopping 1.30 billion square meters!!!

 

 

Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi India September 2018

 

Make in India: Producing Magnetic Cylinders and machines for labels

Make in India: Producing Magnetic Cylinders and machines for labels
Pioneering efforts and firm dedication, established Sanjeev Atre of PGI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. as the first Indigenous manufacturer of magnetic cylinders in India. Sanjeev belongs to a typical Marathi Brahmin family from Pune. His father Prabhakar Atre, an accountant working with a CA firm in Pune got transferred to Aurangabad just one year after Sanjeev was born in 1957. Aurangabad eventually became the family’s Karmabhoomi (land where fate locates a person to work and be active in). Even though his family had no experience in running a business enterprise, Atre left his job in 1964 and decided to try his luck in business. Initially he tried his hands at book-binding but soon moved on. Those days, people were using treadle letter presses to print letter heads, bill books, posters, etc. and for printing variable information they would lead typefaces that were typeset or assembled as a block that would finally be used for printing. Prabhakar Atre started a type foundry to produce typefaces. This was the family’s first tryst with the printing industry. Integrating forward, he bought a treadle press to start printing as well.

 

Sanjeev after completing his schooling, finished college with B.Sc in Physics and took up a job in 1976. Just 2-3 months later he gave up his job to join his father and help him in business because his elder brother Bhalchandra, instead of joining the father’s business had preferred a job in bank. In 1980 Sanjeev wanted to invest in a small offset printing press but his father was worried how the money could be raised. They somehow managed a loan from NSIC (National Small Industries Corporation) and since he was very active in the printer’s association, friends helped him raise the Rupees 10,000.00 margin money. They acquired their first small offset printing press, a single colour Swift of size 15 inches X 20 inches. To start with they got some small odd jobs from Brooke Bond India Ltd. who had a meat exporting unit at Aurangabad. An opportunity came their way when an order for labels came from Brook Bond for 500,000-600,000 labels each month. Nostalgically Sanjeev remembers that he produced the label in 5 passes and got his first regular label business. By 1986 the father son duo, were ready to invest in their second single colour press. Five years hence in 1991 they further upgraded by investing in their first multicolour printing machine, a two colour offset. They followed it up with yet another similar machine two years later. All this business was under their company titled Mudranika, Aurangabad.

 

 

 

The label industry in India started to evolve and grow around the mid nineties. Sensing the future trends, Sanjeev decided expand into self adhesive labels. In 1996 they finally made their entry into production of self adhesive labels in roll form by investing in a pre-owned 7 inch wide 5 colour CI letterpress Kopack machine. Sanjeev worked hard to succeed in this new venture. He was committed to serve his customers with timely deliveries. For a particular job, he needed a different magnetic cylinder. The supplier quoted him a price that was high and Sanjeev was not comfortable with it. On repeated requests for a lower price, the supplier knowing Sanjeev’s dilemma, did not relent. An annoyed Sanjeev decided to make his own magnetic cylinders and started work on the project. In the same year 1996, Sanjeev Atre made his and India’s first indigenously manufactured magnetic cylinder! Proudly Sanjeev reminisces that the Cylinder worked excellently. Kopack on which he installed it, on was sold in 2005 and he proudly says, “It must still be working well on that machine, wherever it is working now”.

 

 

In 1994, Sanjeev Atre’s elder brother left his job in a bank and together they setup another sheet offset printing unit in 1998 under name and style of Prabhakar Print Pack Private Limited. They started with a four colour machine and all allied equipment. Sanjeev continued to concentrate in the self adhesive label business. In 2004 a 10 inch Mark Andy 2200 flexo label press was acquired and a year later after selling their Kopack they acquired yet another Mark Andy 2200, 13 inch press. Even though Sanjeev was expanding in labels yet in his heart he still wished to replicate his success in manufacturing magnetic cylinders. In 2005, he again indulged to produce these under his new enterprise Precise Graphics.  In his early days on entering the self adhesive label industry with a Kopack press, Sanjeev got a lot of help and advice from Manish Desai of Mudrika Labels in Mumbai. Mudrika already had three such Kopack presses and mentored Sanjeev to success. When he initiated his new venture he apprised Manish Desai about the magnetic Cylinder produced by him. Manish was excited on hearing this and immediately asked  Sanjeev to produce one for him, even though when offered by Sanjeev to supply on cost, Manish insisted and prevailed upon Sanjeev to add his margin and supply, also assuring to refer him to other fellow printers. So Mudrika labels became the first customer of Precise Graphics for magnetic cylinders. Sanjiv remains indebted to Manish Desai who has been instrumental in his success because of the support provided to him and proudly says, “This was an encouragement of Make in India concept”.

 

 

 
The initial success was followed up with support from another industry stalwart Vijay Jain of A and A Labels Delhi. Thereafter there was no looking back and Precise Graphics started to exhibit their products at domestic and international exhibitions. They now have customers spread all over India, USA, MENA region and other countries. They sell between 750-800 units each year and aspire to keep increasing their footprints in the growing industry. In 2008 they developed and started marketing plate mounters followed it up by offering rotary die cutting machines for blank labels in 2012 and slitting and intermittent die-cutting machines in 2014. 

 

 

 

 
Encouraged by his success Precise Graphics was in 2014 renamed PGI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. to concentrate in producing engineering and technology driven products for the label industry at large. In 2015 Sanjeev Atre quit the printing business, leaving that to his elder brother. A year on he launched his first flexo rotary 6 colour tower type label printing press, a machine that he displayed at Labelexpo India 2016 was self designed, built in their factory with CNC machined parts and not copied from any other press. This, Sanjeev says, is conforming to the Make in India concept to which he is committed. The machine as displayed at the 2016 Labelexpo India in Greater Noida was running at 60 meters per minute, however this has been further improved and in their factory the press has run at 80 meters per minute with water based inks and hot air drying. Also at the same event they showcased a new development that they were taking up, a turret re-winder with die cutting and rotary slitting for non-stop production of blank labels. The final version of this machine will be displayed at the upcoming Labelexpo India in November 2018.  Even though demonetization and implementation of GST did impact business adversely yet PGI Tech was able to sell eight machines in one year to satisfied customers.  They endeavor, as also continue to upgrade their products on an ongoing basis adding new features and automation to them. They presently operate out of a factory admeasuring 6500 square feet with 26 people. Expansion is in progress and they are in process to acquire a 1.25 acre plot with 18000 square feet built up area, enough for the immediate future plans.

 

Reminiscing a challenging situation in his early days in printing labels and the innovative streak in him to solve the problem, he narrates a time when a customer rejected a whole lot of 10-12.5 million labels due to over punching because the web was breaking on automatic label dispensing equipment. He took back the entire consignment, laminated the liner with BOPP film and returned to the customer. The shipment was accepted!

 

 

This year after renewing business strategies to escalate the fast growing domestic as well as export business of tooling, Sanjeev has consolidated the Tooling division within the manufacturing with the entire operations under one roof including gear tooth profile grinding facility as well. While there is push for increasing the prices in the industry, Sanjeev has publically announced a price reduction in tooling owing to the savings from of this strategic initiative.

 

 

Sanjeev has active support from his wife Namita who is a home maker. His elder son Pinak decided not to join his business and moved to Pune taking a job in IT, planning to launch his own venture in partnership with a friend at a later date. His younger son Ajinkya has joined PGI Tech and is still under training in the company while pursuing a course in architecture alongside. With Ajinkya also in business, Sanjeev has more time on his hands and has tempted him to pursue his hobby of photography and presently he is studying different birds and their migratory streams. He travels to bird sanctuaries and patiently indulges in catching in his camera, the unique images of birds in their natural habitats. It helps him relax, unwind and return to work rejuvenated to indulge yet again in creativity.

 

 

Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi April, 2018

 

Mark Andy’s Mike Russell- Manual Labor to flying planes and selling label presses!

Mark Andy’s Mike Russell- Manual Labor to flying planes and selling label presses!
Mark Andy, Vice President of International Sales, Mike Russell was born in St. Louis where he grew up and went to school in the suburb of Kirkwood, Missouri. After completing his undergraduate studies from WestminsterCollege, Fulton, Missouri in 1974, a college where Winston Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain Speech in 1946, Mike encountered a problem of acute unemployment. America and the western world were at that time facing recession. As per Wikipedia; 1970s recession was a period of economic stagnation in much of the Western world. It differed from many previous recessions by being a stagflation, where high unemployment and high inflation existed simultaneously. Unable to find a regular office job Mike took up his first job doing manual labor of laying rail tracks for Norfolk and Western Railway. Son of a Self employed lawyer, who also sold life insurance, and mother being a home maker, he aspired to succeed in life despite the challenges this earlier part of life threw at him. Six months after his first manual job stint, he joined a small company which supplied air pollution filters to Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems as their lowest paid employee. At this company he did all kinds of jobs that included managing receipt of materials to quality control. 3 years later in 1978 Mike Russell left this job and joined ALCO Controls division of Emerson Electric, to look after production and inventory control. Those days of recession it was the job that was important and not what duties came with it. While at this job he worked during the day and later attended night school for four years finally receiving an MBA degree. Fortunately the company paid for this study. Another 7 years later it was time to move on and he started to apply in various companies, on basis of a good CV and armed with an MBA degree he got selected for a job to look after planning and production in the module assembly department of Mark Andy Inc. He had on 4th of November 1985 finally reached the company where has spent the next 33 years of his illustrious career.
Mark Andrews Sr.

 


In 1946 Mark Andrews Sr. started to print scotch tapes and also built a tape printing press in his basement machine shop. Mark Andy named after its founder Mark Andrews was started as a small family venture. With Mark’s hard work and foresight, the company went on to invent, develop and build rotary label presses that were called Aniline presses prior to be named Flexographic and becoming the leading name in flexo printing and converting presses. So as to grow the market Mark Andrews Sr. with help of one of his machinist, Richard Roseman developed rotary dies to run on presses manufactured by him. He later encouraged Richard to start his own company to produce rotary dies which he did and Roto Die Company Inc. was founded in 1957. Roto Die Company subsequent to its merger with Micrometrics Inc. was renamed Rotometrics.


 
Mark Andrews Jr.



Mark Andrews Sr. passed away in 1980 leaving Mark Andy Inc. to his son Mark Andrews Jr. who had been at the helm since the late 1960s. While the father was an innovator, the son was a businessman. Having no secession plan for his family, and realizing the company needed to invest more that he was willing toward the future, Mark Andrews Jr. sold his stake in Mark Andy Inc. to Dover Corporation in 1995. In 2006 the company was acquired by Morganthaler Partners, an Investment group and then in 2008 Mark Andy Inc. was acquired by American Industrial Partners (AIP) and MAI Holdings. In the summer of 2014 former Mark Andy CEO P.J. Desai and the Desai Family, along with the Mark Andy Management Team and two co-investors, completed the acquisition of Mark Andy, Inc. from American Industrial Partners (AIP).




 

 

Mike with the plane that he co-owned with his friends
After Mike Russell had spent two years in Mark Andy, Dale Bunell Vice President Sales brought him into the sales Department. Dale who is the recipient of the first ever R Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2004, had a liking for Mike. Dale found out that like himself, Mike was a Private Pilot, a hobby which they both enjoyed. Mike reminisces, he loved everything with a motor, may that be trains, planes, automobiles or motorcycles. Mike along with six other partners, owned a single engine Cessna 172 four place airplane.
 
The plane flying over Missouri Countryside where Mike lives
 
 
Gourav Roy, Mark Andy’s Indian agent ecstatically remembers the time in 2000 when Mike flew him in that plane to Cincinnati to visit the Comco factory, which Mark Andy had acquired in 2001, for a plant visit and sales training on the Comco line of presses.  






 
Mike Russell and Harveer Sahni during
Labelexpo Europe in Brussels
 
 

 

 

 

Though posted in sales department yet Mike did not have to travel much as he was looking after sales administration making contracts and quotations. In 1995 when Mike became International Sales Manager looking after sales in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific that he started to travel around the world. Before this Mike’s only interaction with customers was when they would come to the company for trials. His first international sales trip was made to Australia where he could register the first sale under his leadership, an MA 4150 Label press, followed by visits to Malaysia, India and China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Sullivan and Mike Russell of MA with Mike Fairley
visiting Formula1 in greater NOIDA during Labelexpo India

Mark Andy was earlier represented by EAC Graphics, the graphic arts business division of Denmark's East Asiatic Co. Ltd. which was subsequently acquired by Heidelberg. With Heidelberg buying 33% of Gallus in 1999, Mark Andy parted ways with EAC as business interests clashed. Mike Russell’s second international sales visit to Malaysia was due to Claus Larsen who had joined Mark Andy because of him and earlier worked for EAC Graphics in India. This also led to Mike’s next visit to India in 1996 when EAC was still their selling arm there. Here he came into contact with Indian label industry veterans Sudhir Samant, Gourav Roy and Vijay Pareek, all three were employed with EAC Graphics India Pvt. Ltd. to sell Mark Andy presses. Now Mark Andy is represented by Flexo Image Graphics led by Gourav Roy. Talking about his first visit to India “This was perhaps the most challenging time” says Mike. Flexo was not developed in Asia, letterpress was the dominant printing process employed in label printing in this region. Mike soon realized that India followed by China were more likely to accept the flexographic printing technology. This made him indulge extensively and succeed in selling the presses making the brand Mark Andy popular in India. Following the initial ground work, there was no looking back and Mike would travel extensively at least once or twice each month to different parts of the world finding success in promoting sales of Mark Andy products. He asserts that in last 5 years the biggest growth has come from the re-established Europe. It accounts for the highest number of presses sold in any region even including the United States. However, the US market still brings in the most revenue due to a higher percentage of complicated configurations, along with the parts, consumable and service revenues inherent to the US market. During his career, Mike has never been part of the North American Sales team.
In an evolving market scenario and intense competitive situation, to remain in sound health Mark Andy has invested in new printing converting and decorating technologies. The major addition was the establishment a little more than 5 years ago their Digital Division making their own Mark Andy HD inkjet hybrid press in San Diego, California. They have also added finishing and other offline process equipment to their product program. In 2008 they acquired Rotoflex International (established in 1973), substantially expanding their brand portfolio to include the inspection and rewind solutions. Subsequently to retain a continuous sales and cash flow they decided to set up a consumables division to expand outside the conventional press selling business as well. In 2012 they acquired Print Products Inc., a distributor of flexographic supplies and in the following year in 2013 they acquired the offset supplies portion of Presstek, Inc., establishing distribution of a variety of prepress, pressroom supplies, consumables, and chemistries which includes the renowned A.B. Dick brand. They intend to be the total solutions supplier to the global label industry.

 

The Russell Family
Mike Russell is blessed with two daughters. The elder Ashley is an economist in the oil industry and located in Houston. The younger Lauren is married and works as a nanny or a care taker. Michele, his wife worked in the insurance industry until Ashley was born and later preferred to remain a homemaker. The Russells live in Chesterfield, Missouri, USA, which is very close to the Mark Andy facility. Due to problems with his back he underwent an operation last November, because of which his travelling is reduced now. Mike is starting to think about retirement, as he now wishes to spend more time with wife and children and elderly parents. Since he has never been in charge of the USA market, he has travelled the world but has not had a chance to see as much of the United States as he would like to. Once he retires and has more time on his hands, he and his wife Michele wish to explore their homeland in leisure with an occasional international trip.

 

 

Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi India June 2018

 

Printing Magazines are permitted to reproduce this article giving credit to author.

Maiden edition of Labelexpo SEA Bangkok, a success!

Maiden edition of Labelexpo SEA Bangkok, a success!
When the Labelexpo Southeast Asia at Bangkok Thailand was announced by the Tarsus Group, there was mixed reaction all around the industry. Yet another Labelexpo! It meant more investment in shows by exhibitors and dilemma in minds of visitors as to which edition of Labelexpo was the most appropriate for them. Undoubtedly Labelexpo Europe remains the flagship show that attracts international label fraternity across the globe to Brussels every two years. As many industry constituents have said, “It is the Mecca of Label industry and the biennial visit to Brussels is an imperative, so as to remain updated”.  Other than that there is Labelexpo at America, China and India. One can understand the regional organizing of this industry event as it brings important exhibitors to the region for at least for those printers who cannot travel to faraway destinations or for those who aspire to invest in manufacture of labels. The regional shows do bring in new enquiries that otherwise are extremely difficult to locate due to an extremely widespread industrial base. The show also contributes to the regional growth of labels in various geographical zones where it is held. However still given the relatively smaller size of label industry in Thailand as compared to Europe, America, China or India, Bangkok as a venue for Labelexpo was surprising. One would imagine that the show would have more of those visitors who wished to enjoy this holiday destination. A two in one motive would bring in the visitors driving in value for exhibitors and organizers. Surprisingly the show registered success.
 
Labelexpo SEA was held on May 10-12 2018 in one of the halls spread over 4100 square Meters at BITEC-Bangkok which is a world-class venue with a total event space of 70,000 Sq. Meters. having large food courts and impressive infrastructure. The vast, column-free event venue has been custom-designed for ease-of-use and can accommodate up to 40,000 delegates within fully flexible spaces that include 10 expansive exhibition halls, 6 grand convention halls and 28 breakout meeting rooms. The turnout of visitors at Labelexpo SEA was impressive as visitors came from the entire spread of Asia Pacific region. 7934 visitors came to visit the show from 62 countries! One could see visitors from Thailand, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. It was a show that was not restricted to just one country. Most of the regular exhibitors of Labelexpo registered their presence at the show lending to it the importance, indicating their efforts to expand the label markets to different geographical zones that have potential of growth. As the established western markets show signs of saturation Labelexpo moves to centers in the midst of countries that have double digit growth despite substantial population.
 
Omet Stand
Nilpeter Stand
 
 
 
 
Leading press manufacturers exhibiting at Labelexpo SEA included Nilpeter, OMET, Mark Andy, Bobst, Lombardy and Weigang. Other leading industry suppliers who exhibited include Epson, Flint Group, GEW, HP, Konica Minolta, Lintec, UPM Raflatac, Xeikon and Yupo Corporation.
 
 
 
 
 
Weigang stand with Amit Sheth and Rohit Mehta




 
Mark Andy and other stands











 
With Sanjeev Sondhi, Zircon.
 
 
 
A large number of Indian visitors were seen, leading printers who were present from India included Sanjeev Sondhi of Zircon, Anuj Bhargava from Kumar Labels, Deepak Gupta of Shree Lamipack, D Sarkar of Classic Image Offset, Vipul Gulati from Alpine and Anbhazagan R from Retail Solutions and Technologies. Indian Labelstock manufacturer Stic-On papers was an exhibitor while suppliers who visited the event included Rohit Mehta of SMI Coated Papers the largest Indian labelstock manufacturer and press manufacturer Amit Ahuja from Multitec. When asked about their experience at the show, most people expressed satisfaction and felt that given the fact it was the first show in this sector, it delivered well.  Commenting on the success of the show
With Jade Grace, Lisa Milburn and Andy Thomas


Lisa Milburn Managing Director Labelexpo Group said, “We are extremely happy with the event and have excellent feedback”
 
 
Some comments and images:
Jakob Landsberg Sales Director Nilpeter

 



Jakob Landsberg, Sales and Marketing Director Nilpeter: I felt the first Labelexpo show in SEA was a good beginning – despite some few challenges in the setup and tear down phases. We experienced a good volume of quality visitors from all over Asia – and even a few Africa, Middle East and South America. We closed deals, took leads and found new projects that have to be handled in busy months to come. 



 
Paolo Grasso hosting the OMET dinner
Paolo Grasso, Head of Sales – Labels Business Unit press OMET – S.R.L.: Labelexpo Southeast Asia went beyond any possible good expectation we had. A great amount of visitors from all over Asia and some other parts of the globe as well. Nice and clean venue where all the exhibitors could build top-quality booths was comparable to the best of European standards. Good demos, lovely people and especially lots of prospects to work on for the next two years. Congratulations to Tarsus and to the Thai staff of each company because they all did a great job! We’re looking forward already for the 2020 one!

Mike Russel Vice President International Sales Mark Andy: I was very impressed by the turnout of so many influential customers from all over Asia-Pacific. This is the type of visitors that we need to make it a truly regional rather than country specific show. I am hoping that the next show expands on this.
Ranesh Bajaj at Visak Stand



Ranesh Bajaj, Vinsak: The country and the venue are good as expected. Surprisingly, there were more Indian visitors than those from Southeast Asia. Overall, a good show for being a first one. I am sure it will get better footfall with time.



 
David Ho and Hope Hu at Martin Stand


Hope Hu, Martin Automatic: There were many visitors from Thailand, Indonesia, India and other countries, we saw new prospects as well.



Amit Sheth, Label Planet: Being the first show, it has been very encouraging and productive for long run.
David Jones, Alphason



David Jones, Alphasonics: We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and number of visitors from across the world. The next event should be interesting.




Vipul Gulati, Alpine Containers: Enlightening, informative and futuristic! No new inventions are complete without new discoveries.
Anuj Bhargava, Kumar Labels: Saw new products in addition to the regular ones. Well organized as always.
Rohit Mehta, SMI Coated Products: Labelexpos organised and hosted by Tarsus have always been successful. Labelexpo Southeast Asia is yet another example, visiting the show and seeing the footfall and quality of exhibits shows that Southeast Asia has huge potential of opportunity and growth.
Sanjeev Sondhi, Zircon Technologies: Like all Labelexpos, this one also delivered value; the opportunity to see and network with such a diverse congregation of printers from across Asia Pacific gave the credence and immense value to this event. I look forward to the next edition already.
 
On the penultimate day Tarsus held a party for the exhibitors at Hard Rock Cafe. Lisa Milburn enthralled the guests by going on stage to sing. The audience were left in awe by her talent…
 
Images at the show and of the exhibitor evening.
 
 
 
                               

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Lisa Milburn and Douglas Emslie Grp. MD.Tarsus
Lisa Milburn on stage singing and performing
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Written by Harveer Sahni, author and Chairman, Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi May 2018
Printing Magazines are permitted to reproduce this article giving credit to author.

P C Jain- Pioneer who introduced variable data labels in India

P C Jain- Pioneer who introduced variable data labels in India
Nine years after a supermarket cashier in Troy, Ohio-USA, on the 26th of June 1974, scanned a barcode for the first time in history on a 67 cent 10 piece pack of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum, Prem Chand Jain popularly known as P C Jain, introduced variable data labels to India in shape of price marking labels. This was in 1983 as a precursor pioneering in barcode labels. Another seven years hence in 1990 he yet again led the country’s indulgence in producing and using barcode labels. This was almost 40 years after Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernhard Silver patented the barcode co-invented by them in the shape of conclavic rings of varying widths in 1951. Twenty years later in around 1971 George Laurer with support from Woodland, his colleague at that time in IBM, created the present day barcode. Barcodes have eventually become an absolute essential in modern day organized retail. The usage of barcodes that was initially limited to mega malls and retail stores have now found extensive usage in small local colony stores, industry, logistics, banking, travel and almost all segments of society. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), another invention whose history can be traced back to 1940 during World War II, has also found application in variable information labels in recent times. Jain’s company Great Eastern Impex now renamed GreatEastern IDTEDCH Pvt. Ltd. which he heads as Chairman, has truly pioneered the introduction and proliferation of variable data labels in India!
 
P C Jain was born in a family of hosiery traders in the small town of Patti some 45 KMs from Amritsar in Punjab. After initial schooling the family moved to Ludhiana, the industrial town of Punjab. Alumni of star college of Ludhiana, after his college education he took employment in a hosiery unit owned by the Oswal Group, where he worked for 3 years. He gained knowledge and experience of handling exports of yarn and imports of machinery, raw materials and equipment at a time when documentation and procedures were licensed, complicated and cumbersome. Coming from a family of businessmen, in 1966 Jain decided to venture out on his own. He took selling agency of some Ludhiana based hosiery companies and for the next 4-5 years he was selling for them to customers in MENA region countries. Nostalgically he reminisces that he used to carry two bags as baggage, one was always full of samples to demonstrate his offerings and book orders. He would never leave any city until the LC was established by the buyers who placed orders with him. There were times when he would even interact with buyer’s bank to expedite matters. Achieving a sale of 500,000 rupees at that time was a substantial amount with the exchange rate at just Rs.7.50 for one US Dollar! By 1975, he had made some good earnings and indulged further by starting exports of T-Shirts to UK, Germany and USA.  However when exports of these items became difficult due to quota restrictions imposed, he shifted focus. He started to import heat transfer presses and printing solutions to print on T-Shirts. His biggest customer then was the makers of Smash T-Shirts that gave him enough money to buy his own office in central Delhi’s Rajendra Place.
In 1983 he started Great Eastern Impex Co. in partnership with his brother in law. At that time he came in contact with Harjit Singh Kochhar of Giggles gift shop in New Delhi’s Connaught Place. This connection was the starting point of P C Jain’s journey into the world of variable information printing labels. Kochhar, during one of his foreign trips had bought a price marking hand labeler. When he ran out of labels he requested Jain who was experienced in import procedures, to help him import labels. Great Eastern Impex imported a full carton of price marking labels for Giggles from Monarch Marking Systems USA; that was their first indulgence in labels. The US based company Monarch saw an opportunity in Great Eastern Impex Co. and soon their sales person Cliff Cuttele landed in Delhi to meet P C Jain. He demonstrated the usage of labelers and how to open and load labels, Jain found it so interesting that they immediately headed towards Connaught Place to visit shops and asses the interest. Almost all customers wanted these machines. When they landed at Harjit Singh Kochhar’s shop Giggles, Kochhar was excited about the prospects of the business for his friend and took them all for dinner to his home and it was that day the decision was taken for Great Eastern Co. to be Monarch’s exclusive agent in India. In 1985-86, P C Jain and his brother in law decided to part company in business, so Jain in a new partnership with his clearing agent Prem Khanna and Surinder Singh Bakshi, a financer joined hands in their new venture GEIPL (Great Eastern Impex Private Limited) and became exclusive agents of Monarch Marking Systems USA for the next five years. They would import the Monarch Labelers and labels and distribute them. In 1986 A S Shekhawat who came from a publishing company joined GEIPL as a manager to expand their sales network and setting up dealership network across the country.
In 1991 GEIPL entered into a technical collaboration with Monarch to manufacture and sell labels in India with a Japanese ITOH label press that was re-engineered by Monarch in USA to their particular specifications to produce 5 different types of labels. This press was supplied by Monarch to GEIPL under a royalty agreement of paying 5% on sales to their foreign partner.  In 1992 Bakshi left the company leaving the reins of the venture in hands of P C Jain and Prem Khanna. In 1996 HSSIDC allotted to them a 2100 square meter plot in Gurgaon on which GEIPl built their double storied 25000 square foot factory building. By 1990 barcode usage had surfaced in India and GEIPL had already made up their mind to indulge. At almost the same time Shobhana Shah Dharia, an alumni of Wayen State University and working as a software engineer in Symbol Systems USA had migrated back to Mumbai India. She launched bar code scanning technology in the country to make complete Barcode solutions available.  With GEIPL being the first entrant in the trade to offer barcode labels and printers and Dharia offering scanning solutions the Barcode, the technology was available in totality. Proliferation of Barcodes started and by 1995 it was fully developed and being widely used.  There were two organizations that were offering barcode symbologies i.e. EAN or European Article Number from Europe and UPC or Universal Product Code from USA. GEIPL opted for adopting the European symbology.
IIP (Indian Institute ofPackaging) was identified by Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, for establishment of EAN India for the introduction of Bar Code Technology for export in India. The then Director of IIP P V Narayanan called a meeting in this regard and it was attended by  P C Jain, Shobhana Dharia and Sameer Parikh of Intellicon. It was decided to first form EAN India with license from EAN Europe and supported by IIP and Ministry of Commerce. In 1990, the country code 890 was allotted to India followed by the manufacturer’s code. The typical configuration of a barcode is; the first 3 digits is the country code followed by manufacturer’s code issued by EAN India and then the product code. The barcode becomes complete when the last check digit is added. Eventually to bring global uniformity in language controlling barcodes business, in 2005 EAN and UPC merged to create one body called GS1(Global Standard1) worldwide. In India the business is controlled by GS1 India covering all Indian manufacturers from segments like retail, Pharma, automotive, fmcg, cosmetic, liquor, etc. By the start of new millennium GEIPL had added another unit called Rachna Overseas Pvt. Ltd (ROPL) in its fold. ROPL was formed with wives of P C Jain and Prem Khanna as partners to produce thermal transfer ribbons for barcode printers and to be supplied to GEIPL. 16 years after being together as partners in 2002, Jain and Khanna, over a luncheon meeting decided to split amicably. ROPL was taken over by Prem Khanna while GEIPL remained with P C Jain.
 
P C Jain’s wife Usha is a home maker, their only daughter Ekta was born while they lived in Ludhiana. Ekta is now married and her husband is in business manufacturing injection molded cones for textile mills with factories in Ludhiana and Bhopal. Their son Shakti was born in Delhi in 1977 who, after schooling in St. Marks School Delhi, graduated in commerce from Venkateswara College New Delhi and followed it with an MBA in finance, sales and marketing from Rochester School of Technology in 2001. Shakti now manages the company as Managing Director while his father is the Chairman. Proudly P C Jain says, “Under Shakti Jain’s leadership the company’s sales that had initially dipped after division of assets amongst erstwhile partners, has doubled”! Carrying his father’s vision of moving ahead of time, Shakti foresaw that RFID labels will be the future. In 2012 Shakti and his wife Neha, who is now the Executive Director in the company, visited Spain to be trained in RFID technology and to see the RFID inlay insertion machine. In yet another pioneering step they bought this machine and became the first Indian label company to offer RFID Self adhesive labels. At this time they even changed the name of their company to Great Eastern IDTech Pvt. Ltd. so as to project its modern approach and indicate their digital offerings.  Great Eastern has had steady and smooth operations however the only challenge came when they took up a complete barcode and RFID project for Government’s warehouse management systems. They had estimated to complete the project in 3 months and it kept on getting delayed due to technical issues. Persistent efforts helped them achieve success in implementing the systems in one year. Their biggest order came when they supplied, installed and commissioned 2500 barcode printers to HDFC Bank in all their branches, some in distant places.
 
Great Eastern IDTech Pvt. Ltd. now has their manufacturing facility spread over 25000 square feet with 135 employees. They have five offices besides their head office in Gurgaon. These are at Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata. Sales that fell to Rupees 10.00 Crores after the split between partners in 2002, but after achieving a steady growth over the following years, it is expected to reach Rupees 32.00 Crores by 31st March 2018. Two third of their business comes from consumables and one third from hardware and software. Barcode technology accounts for 85% of sales, RFID 5% and price marking is 10%. They sell 200,000 square meters per month of thermal transfer ribbon, convert 150,000 square meters per month of labelstock and sell 1 million RFID labels per year. Visualising future the father son duo expresses that by the year 2020, they will reach a turnover of Rupees 50 Crores just by organic growth.


 
In progressing years P C Jain has tried to give back to the industry and society that gave him success and recognition. Other than spending his quality time with his best friend, his grandson Samar Jain, he is involved with many charitable institutions. He initiated the formation of AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) Associationof India and was its founder president for the first two terms of 3 years each. The association was started with just 30 members and has now grown to 150 members with pan national presence. In 2012 the AIDC Association at its annual conference in Kovallam resort Kerala, conferred upon P C Jain the “Lifetime Achievement Award”!
 

Written by Harveer Sahni, Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi February 2018

First published in Printweek India.

LMAI Brand Owners event at Delhi

LMAI Brand Owners event at Delhi
Label manufacturers association of India (LMAI) organized an event for their Printer Members in the evening of 30th March 2018 titled:  “Brand owner’s perception of labels in changing scenario” at RADISSON BLU MARINA HOTEL CONNAUGHT PLACE New Delhi. The program had lead sponsors as AveryDennison, SMI Coated Products and DuPont. Support sponsors were Vinsak, FIG, Creative Graphics and J N Arora Group.
 
Speakers at the event included:
Barun Banerjee: Head of Packaging Nestlé South Asia region, Nestlé India Ltd.
Rahul Bhargava: Vice President, Packaging, SUN Pharma

KOUSIK SAHA: ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – HEAD PACKAGING COMMERCIALIZATION, PEPSICO

Amiya Pradhan AM- Corporate Packaging Dev., Dabur IndiaLtd. (FMCG division).
Deepak Manchanda: Packaging Expert
 
Sandeep Zaveri
 
 
 
The event having been restricted only to printer members and sponsors comprised of label printers and sponsors to the event yet it was fully booked and over 100 delegates attended. Past president LMAI, Sandeep Zaveri of Total Prints Mumbai who anchored the evening, opened the event by welcoming the guests and introducing the speakers to the audience. 

 

 

 

 
 
Kuldip Goel
 
 
LMAI President Kuldip Goel, Managing Director of Any Graphics NOIDA speaking next apprised the audience of his programs. He dwelled on his efforts and successful implementation of tree plantation in NCR Delhi; this would in time be undertaken at various places across the country. He informed that this brand owner program would also be conducted in different zones of the country. He also announced the launch of a web Portal “Advantage” that would help label printer members of LMAI to offer their surplus left over raw materials and excess equipment to other members. Lastly he announced that LMAI will be hosting the LMAI awards on the sidelines of Labelexpo in November this year and will also be hosting the L9 Meet at that time. L9 is the global confederation of nine leading label associations in the world.
 
 
Barun Banerjee
 
 
Speaking first and setting the tone for the evening Barun Banerjee from Nestle, speaking from food perspective, expressed the imperative need for change and asserted that change is the only constant in an every evolving packaging scenario. He said that there are now three megatrends: 1. Visual & Tactile Changes 2.Green Initiatives and New Technology. 3. Digital Print and Personalization. He also spoke about the different decoration technologies that the brand owners are looking at to enhance the shelf appeal, sustainability and reducing the adverse impact on environment as also the need of combining digital capabilities in label production so as to enable variable data and personalization.
 
 
 
 
Rahul Bhargava from Sun Pharma gave information about requirements in respect to pharmaceutical packaging. He explained the need to adhere to statutory requirement and compliance through information on labels and packaging. Stressing that it is expected of all pharmaceutical and health care products to be labeled correctly for consumer safety, the responsibility is clearly with Brand Owner. Besides the aesthetics the label should have space for Product Name, Active/ Inactive ingredients, Strength, Directions for use, Warnings, Purpose & use of drug product, Drug facts etc. He also mentioned the need to ensure that the migration of solvents or plasticizers from inks on labels or adhesives into the plastic containers does not take place as it would impact the performance of the products. Lastly he informed about the font sizes that need to be adhered to while providing information on labels.
 
Kousik Saha
Kousik Saha of PepsiCo focused his presentation to beverage labeling and mentioned the four imperatives i.e.
 
  •         FMOT (First Moment of Truth) which was about brand positioning, Label Printing and Decoration. He spoke of the decoration technologies needed to catch the consumer’s eye.
  • Brand visibility/product positioning/consumer engagement/marketing campaign’;  Here he mentioned the impact of personalisation by adding variable and personalised images on labels.
  • Regulations/Legal/ Claims.;  He spoke on amendment of PCR 2011 which deals with Font sizes of Net quantity, Best before, MRP, Consumer helpline to be 1.0mm and above as per principle display panel area. Guidelines of legal metrology
  • Barcode/MRP, Date of Mfg / Expiry/Net content etc.;
He summed up by talking about performance parameters that were needed like GSM variation – Label orientation on gripper drum, release from vacuum drum leading to line stoppage, Elasticity – cut length variation, Eye-mark to eye-mark distance – cut length variation, Core damage – alignment of reel, loading on labeler, Static on label – Unwinding, labeler stoppage, etc.
 
 
Amiya Pradhan from Dabur spoke in reference to the labeling needs of the FMCG segment. He stated that a label projects the identity of a brand or the product, so it needs incorporate Branding Elements (Brand/ Sub Brand), Mnemonics (Major Ingredients), The Prepositions, Aesthetics, Visual/ Sensoria and Legal Metrology and other details. He extensively impressed upon the need to dress up the label so as to appeal to demanding consumers. He asserted that good “Branding & Packaging” can do magic in generating millions even from a freely available Item and that labeling and packaging can involve and engage target customers. He also spoke on the need for quicker response and turnaround times when developing something new.
 
 
 
 
 
Deepak Manchanda
 
 
Deepak Manchanda, packaging and design consultant, despite being extremely unwell that evening, made a huge effort to stand up and make a wonderful presentation titled “EMERGING NEEDS OF LABEL DESIGN; Delivering customer delight in an increasingly Regulatory Environment”. Stressing that design is the foundation of a good label or package as it  delivers Brand Communication, Design – Delight- Desire and  dwells on Disruption–Experience and Regulatory needs. The design establishes relationship between packaging and communication with the end user. He gave examples of designs that contributed to success of brands and products.
 
 
 
 
In the ensuing panel discussion moderated bay Harveer Sahni, all the speakers together with
lead sponsors represented by Pankaj Bhardwaj of Avery, Ajay Mehta of SMI and Prasenjit Das of DuPont, discussed besides other issues, sustainability. Rahul Bhargava mentioned that they were going thinner on grammages to reduce the impact of wastage on the environment, Pankaj Bhardwaj informed that Avery Dennison was pioneering in efforts to make recycling of release liners possible and Ajay Mehta stressed the need for interacting with brand owners to offer products that were sustainable. Barun Banerjee and Kousik Saha informed that the industry brand owner constituents were coming together to recollect plastic materials and recycle in their efforts to aid sustainability. He also appealed to suppliers to offer a single polymer substrate rather than multi substrate ones so that recycling becomes convenient. Harveer Sahni updated the audience about Any Graphics NOIDA and Mudrika Labels Mumbai having been announced the winners at World Label awards and also appealed to label printers to participate in forth coming LMAI awards.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
Dinesh Mahajan, Prakash Labels and treasurer LMAI proposed a vote of thanks after Sunil Jindal made a presentation on the new LMAI portal announced by LMAI president.
 
 
 

 
 
 
The author had requested comments from those who attended this event, their responses are reproduced as here under;
 
Rajeev Chhatwal, Kwality Offset Printers; The presentations given by the brand owners were helpful in understanding needs of the Industry, this should help us all in planning our way ahead. Hope to see more such events in near future.
Honey Vazirani, Leap Digiprint Pvt. Ltd.: The event was well organized and well executed. I was also quite impressed with the companies and the delegates that LMAI managed to get as speakers. The last panel discussion should have also had a label printer on the panel because our industry is already stuck between giants (big customers and big suppliers!). Food was good as well! Overall comment: An informative and pleasant networking evening!
Ajay Mehta, SMI Coated Products: It was a very innovative and successful event which is well appreciated by us. This is the need of the hour and we have been suggesting that we to do this kind of programs where there can be an open interaction between brand owners and Label manufacturers. We look forward to many such events in future. 
Gaurav Nema, Pragati Global: I must say the event that happened on Friday was one of its kind and it made us learn about the aspects of packaging from the brand owner's perspective. Sustainable and re cycled packaging is need of the hour globally and this aspect was covered well. I however feel that a dedicated session should be organised for this aspect alone.I suggest that more such events should happen in different cities so that fraternity gets the maximum advantage.
Sandeep Zaveri, Total Prints: Printers should have more time to interact with brand owners, the idea is to improve our industry and stop the price war, reverse auction and many other aspects.
KPS Shetty, Sai Printers: It was an excellent event. We could listen to brand owners about their expectations.
Anuj Bhargav, Kumar Printers: Great initiative. More such interactions would truly help the industry.
Barun Banerjee: Thanks for creating that interactive space for user and label partners forum.
S. Mahesh, The Manipal Group: It was a great experience in terms to understand brand perception towards to label industry. It is motivating us to work towards their expectations.
Deepak Manchanda, Design and packaging consultant and speaker: "The event was a rare type of occasion where well recognised brand owner packaging representatives were available to mingle informally among competing label convertors as well as raw material suppliers. This is indeed a welcome initiative by LMAI to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and break down formal business processes into more innovative and networked ways of working together. It was impressive to see participants who had specially flown in from other cities to attend also."
Trilok Mittal, Wonderpac: The event was very fruitful for label manufacturers. Brand owners created awareness which today is the need for smart and security featured labels. We would like to attend such programmes as we become aware of the changing needs of brand owners.
Vivek Kapoor, Creative Labels: Great Work! 
Prasenjit Das, DuPont: It was one of the better events that I have attended after a long time. The idea of calling Brand Owners and listen to their views was very unique and informative. In most of the events we as a supplier listen to each other’s product benefits but in this event we could understand the views of the end users. This will definitely help us understand the VOCs much better and plan our strategies to meet those.
Mukesh Goel, Gopsons: It was indeed a great event and helped us in understanding the brand side as to what they need and their future expectations. It will definitely help us to realign our future strategy.
 
 
Amiya Pradhan, Dabur: It was a privilege meeting you people and sharing our views in front of the association. It was indeed a nice platform for the exchange of valuable feedback from both sides (the user and the converter industry). It really will strengthen the partnering between users and vendors towards sustainable innovation and value engineering.
Sanjeev Sondhi, Zircon Technologies: It helped us to prepare ourselves for future investments based on customer's requirement.
Pankaj Bhardwaj, Avery Dennison: The event was very useful in getting brand owners perspective and some very useful insights. I also liked the panel discussion bringing some very important points to the fore.
 
Written By Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi March 2018
 

 

Print magazines may publish this article giving credit to the author.

 

Creating Innovations in labels

Creating Innovations in labels
In a largely populated country India, the normal of growth of population itself, translates into large volume growth in demand. For label industry growth in India estimates have been made at 7-15%. Even if we assume a 10% growth, market will probably grow by 100 million square meters adding a whopping 2500 million Rupees or about 38 million US Dollars to the existing market size. One is left wondering that with demand growth in double digits, why is then the label industry, facing intense competition and stressed margins? One simple conclusion can be that in a growing economy with government encouraging new industrial investments and banks ready to finance, people start looking for areas that have stable growth over the years, labels do move into their focus. Packaging industry in an effort to offer a complete bouquet of packaging products, keeps on adding labels in their manufacturing program. The capacity seems to be growing a little faster than demand. This leads to a situation whereby to service their debt and stay afloat, printers flock toward leading brand owners who pitch sellers against one another to get lower prices. There are other reasons like increasing raw material prices, reverse auctions and short runs which bring further pressure on margins. In such a situation it becomes imperative, that to achieve a better bottom line, there is need for “creating innovations in labels”. Many label companies in India have already moved into this direction by investing to enhance capabilities to create products that do not fall into the commodity or simple label range. Even brand owners who are in a race to catch the consumer’s eye while shopping, are on the lookout for such labels that make their premium products on the shop shelves being picked up faster.  They are willing to pay higher if the label has unique features escalating their brand image. Some of the printers who have moved in this direction are listed below with details of their moves to create labels that are different.
Gautham Pai

Gautham Pai lead Manipal Technologies, is a multi product and multi location company that has made substantial investments in label manufacturing. Though they have units located in India and abroad, a tour of their facilities in Manipal leaves one in awe of what they have achieved. The company has integrated backward and forward with investment in extremely diverse technologies enhancing capabilities to innovate. As for labels, they produce their own holograms, security labels, security envelopes, etc. They also produce their own self adhesive labelstocks on a Nordson hotmelt coater. 
 
 
 

Recent developments include; Electroluminescence Label: This is an eye-catching and low power consuming optical lighting system developed in-house with strong competency on printed electronics. It works best for promotional activities with various activation options using any of the touch sensitive, pressure sensitive, motion sensitive sensors. This can be adopted for both labels as well as carton packaging.
 
Glow in the Dark: The Glow-in-the-dark feature will completely transform packaging by hiding messages, creating a nightclub atmosphere, or an element of surprise.
 
 
 

 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kuldip Goel
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kuldip Goel of Any Graphics Noida has repeatedly proven the need to invest time and money in creating innovations. Though he has always wanted to produce the best, stressing on aesthetics yet it was in the start of new millennium that he realized the pressing need to strengthen capabilities to produce labels that were not commodity labels done on one simple flexo press but those with added value by indulging in creativity. Anygraphics have to their credit the world label awards, Fespa awards, only Indian company to have been nominated for Global Label award for innovation, winning Printweek label printer of the year award for five consecutive years in a row, special Printweek Jury award for innovation and many LMAI label awards. 
 
 
 
 
Label created by Any Graphics
 
 
Anygraphics creates innovative labels and packaging using multiple equipment and processes for the same product employing technologies like Screen Printing, Foiling, Embossing, Doming, Narrow web Letterpress printing, Narrow web Flexo printing, Offset printing and Digital printing.
 
 
 
 
Booklet Label by Unick-Fix-A
-Form
Hemen Vasa’s Unick Fix-A-Form was set up in 1985-1986, in rented premises with one small machine (Semi automatic model) for making Booklet/Leaflet labels in Ahmedabad. In the initial years they outsourced printing.  They convinced Bayer-India to be their first customer for their Innovative leaflet labels made by using wet glue, developed for manual application on containers of agrochemical bottles. In 1992 another customer came for these labels in self adhesive format. Since pressure sensitive products were in a nascent stage that time and locally made silicone release paper was not consistent creating problem of label dispensing from applicator, Unick started import of Self Adhesive Paper.  Being the only manufacturer of booklet/leaflet labels those days, their business grew profitably and they expanded by moving into own premises and installing high-end rotary label presses, booklet making equipment and offset press. Their business has expanded to the pharmaceuticals segment with a range of offerings that include Cartons, Labels, in mould labels, Shrink Sleeves, etc. They have won many awards at home and abroad. Their supremacy in innovative leaflet-booklet labels segment has been the main reason for their success and expansion!
 
Pragati Pack (India) Pvt. Ltd., being one of the most awarded printers in the country is hesitant to share their work and endeavours in creating innovations. However still, Hemanth Paruchuri says, they try to bring innovation in labels by investing in the right equipment and pushing the limits of that equipment. Their knowledge and experience gained in the carton, commercial printing areas aids their efforts. The aim is to create innovations that are unique and have a high shelf appeal.
 
U K Gupta, Managing Director of India’s largest Hologram manufacturing company and specialty label manufacturer Holostik India Ltd. says, “Innovation is the key to drive any industry in the ever-changing dynamic world, anything that does not keep changing, ultimately loses track and is out of the race.” He has mentored his team to understand that ‘Change is the only constant’ and therefore they have to innovate with their products. Extraordinary labels, that are not just visually appealing but also render security to the product are now a necessity in view of the fact that security feature of labels cannot be ignored due to the tremendous growth of the counterfeiting business. Holostik has on an ongoing basis been making significant investments to enhance their capabilities.
 
Anil Namugade at Trigon Digital Solutions says, “Innovation is a continuous process.”  They are passionate, entrepreneurial, collaborative and creative to always deliver on their commitments. Trigon Digital established in 2007 has production facilities in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Dubai and an office in Singapore offering services in Pre-press, Print Packaging, Color management and serving over 350 brands including 20 out of top 100 global brands in 12 countries.  They provide packaging mockups on actual substrates with finishes like foiling, embossing, varnishing, lamination etc. for cartons pouches, shrink sleeves, lamitubes and labels. They specialize in Print on Demand, small and medium quantities for shrinks sleeves and Labels with personalization and variable data printing. With an ongoing innovation developing vision they aspire to be the best in the innovative label and packaging business.
 
Anuj Bhargava of Kumar Labels belonging to an extended family of label printers, is excited that his company has been recipient of many label awards in recent times including Printweek label printer of year award 2017. His team is trained to look at the product, its target audience, its selling price bracket and the brand’s desired perception that it wants to create amongst its customers, before proposing a label solution. For them innovation is not just increasing price of a label or adding shots of foil or screen inks. Different brands need different innovations. A mass market brand needs a re-engineered cost effective label stock with which it can reduce its decoration costs. A brand from the same customer, which may be targeted for the upper market segment, may need multiple foils and textured stocks. So no one formula works for all. By utilizing their expertise in print process, machine manufacturing and label stock making, Kumar Labels is able to offer different innovations. They produce their own specialized labelstocks that include textured and unique substrates normally not available.
 
It is evident that to drive in better margins, capabilities in print and decoration need to be substantially enhanced by making the correct and timely investments. Earlier only a reasonably designed and printed label was enough. Now with growing, knowledgeable, and well informed consumers one needs to study the demand perception and design the label to appeal and communicate with the end consumer in a short while that he or she is in front of the shop shelf. Pre-press is extremely important process to draw out the creativity that the design tends to deliver. Selecting the right substrate, the adhesive and shape of the label is another imperative. The label has to last the life of the consumer product as it remains visible until all of its lifespan and keeps delivering value to the brand by its aesthetic appearance. Finally it is the Press that will not only do full justice to the print but also decorate, inspect and finish the label with speed; ease of use and with least waste generation. Productivity and managing production waste are other imperatives that affect the profitability. Brand owners attempt buying at the lowest prices for their established products, however the fact still remains that to stay ahead of competition in getting the consumer attention, they need to dress up their products well. With numerous options available in an already crowded shelf space, brand owners will only consider higher prices if a label promotes their sales. To reach a win-win situation for suppliers and brand owners, printers need to invest in “Creating Innovations in Labels”!
 
Written exclusively for Narrow Web Tech, Germany by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Ltd. New Delhi India December 2017. 

The above article is restricted for reproduction without permission from the author or Narrow Web Tech, Germany
 

Waste matrix removal in label production

Waste matrix removal in label production
Waste matrix stripping or removal in production of self adhesive labels is a very important part of label conversion and is an imperative that leads to a web of labels which can be dispensed on automatic label dispensers in high speed packaging lines. Even though it sounds to be a simple process of stripping the ladder like extra waste after die cutting of labels, yet it remains to be one of the most complex and problematic area of label converting process. A problem with waste removal, like matrix breaking or labels lifting with the waste ladder may slow down the machine or in some cases make it extremely difficult to remove it online. Converters may have to resort to removing the waste manually offline making the process unproductive and costly. A host of parameters affect the process and it is difficult to address the issue in a singular way. With so many variables that impact the waste removal process, it is difficult to predict a simple solution. It could be due to the shape of label, size of label, release liner, face stock, adhesive, die cutting process, speed of conversion, die blades or the design of the waste removal section that may affect the correct and efficient removal at the optimum machine speed. Any of these may impact the final result and slow down the machine and the printing process. No one solution can apply to all problems. The traditional waste rewinding system is gradually becoming unpopular due the fact that tension is the key to efficient waste rewind. The rewound waste matrix ladder roll has empty spaces from where labels have been die-cut and as the roll becomes bigger there is lot of irregular tensions leading to breaks. As the market becomes extremely competitive with rising prices of labelstocks printers tend to reduce the gap between the labels to 2mm making the process even more difficult. This article will dwell on most of the variables mentioned here above.
 
Release Liners: The most widely used base papers as release liners in self adhesive label materials are glassine, super calendared Kraft and clay coated Kraft. These are uniform caliper, densified and non porous papers that have adequate strength and accept a uniform coating of silicone giving excellent releasing properties to become a proper backing for self adhesive papers. In recent years due to possibility of recycling and reducing the tonnage of waste generated, filmic liners also are being used as backing in labels. Release liners play a major role in die cutting and in turn impact the waste removal process. The die blade has to cut through the laminate and stop at the face of the liner so has to achieve a perfect half cut or kiss cut. The uniform thickness or caliper of the liner is an imperative. If the liner has variations, it will create problems at die cutting and eventually at waste stripping. If the release gets thicker the die will pierce the liner making a through cut and exposing paper fibers to the adhesive.  This also may result in web breaks. If the liner gets thinner, the die will not cut resulting in labels lifting with the matrix. Release level of the liner is also very important. If the release level is tight the matrix will tend to break due to tension and if it is too easy, labels will tend to lift with the ladder. Uneven silicone coating or pinholes in coating may also create problems. If the labelstock prior to waste matrix removal goes through a nip roll that has excessive pressure between them, the edges may develop micronic nicks that may render the face paper susceptible to web breaks. The paper rolls may also develop these rough edges in transportation and mishandling. The web needs to be inspected thoroughly before taking up label conversion.
 
 Face Paper:  Paper and films are generally used as face materials. A fairly high strength paper will perform well if all other parameters are addressed. If the gap in labels is too small, 2mm or less, the matrix will tend to break repeatedly. Moisture content in paper should ideally be between 3.5% and 5.5%; sharp increase in moisture will affect the strength adversely. The tensile strength of paper at Relative Humidity (RH) up to 50% is maximum after which it moderately decreases with RH up to 65% and on further increase in RH, it drops sharply. The uncoated papers are hygroscopic, so they tend to absorb moisture faster than coated papers. Evidently weather and storage condition of paper does have an impact on waste removal. Even when using emulsion based adhesive if the adhesive is not dried properly, the face paper will tend to absorb the residual moisture from the adhesive and result in deterioration of paper and affect waste stripping. In case of filmic face stocks, weather may not impact but the condition of die and quality of die cutting does play a major role. If the die is damaged or blunt it may not cut properly resulting in label lifting or film tear.
 
Adhesive: Commonly available labelstocks are coated with either emulsion based or hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives (HMPSA). In both cases for a perfect waste removal it is necessary that the die cuts through the adhesive as well, as otherwise if the coated film of adhesive is not cut, labels will lift with the matrix. Emulsion adhesives have good die cut ability however hot melt adhesives for better die cutting properties have to be specially selected. In case of HMPSA if the waste is not lifted immediately after die cutting the adhesive may rejoin and lift the labels with the matrix.

 

 

Size and shape of a label: These are parameters that are customer driven based on their specific needs, so the converting company cannot request changes from customer.  Small labels have a very limited area of contact and reduced tack holding it to the release liner and with little force the label may fly off or lift off with the matrix. In such a case die makers suggest packing self adhesive foam in the die shapes so as to push the label back on the release liner. Other times printers have found limited success in addressing this problem by increasing speed of the web. Waste ladder removal of irregular and complex shaped labels with sharp corners like in a star shape, is even more complex to handle. This becomes even more difficult in substrates like BOPP where a small nick may lead to web break. Converters need to slow down the machine to a great extent to finish the labels online. Machine manufacturers have addressed this issue of handling complex shapes as explained later in this article.
 
Die design: The die has a definite role to play in waste matrix removal. The subject is extensive and can take a full article to dwell on the nuances. The blade angle, blade height and coating on the die are factors that lead to ease or difficulty of label conversion.  Thickness of the face materials, type of adhesive and thickness of release liners are all imperative inputs that are needed before a die is put into production. A die that is designed for paper material is not recommended for filmic materials. Blade angle for paper is kept wider so that after penetration of around 80% into the paper the rest of the cut happens by crush or bursting of the material before stopping at the surface of the liner. In case of filmic face material a sharper acute angle is needed to pierce the film as in case of a wider angle the film will stretch and not be cut. An acute angle blade appears to cut better but wears off faster than the wider angle blade dies. Depending on the materials used the die angle varies between 45degrees and 110 degrees. The blade height needs to be adjusted to cut through the face, which maybe paper or film or a laminate, and adhesive without piercing the release liner. If any of the parameters is not right, the waste matrix removal will become a challenge. If the blade pierces the liner even slightly, it may expose the release paper fibers to the adhesive and get stuck to them causing waste ladder breakage. If the blade does not cut through the adhesive, labels will lift with the matrix. In case of coated materials like direct thermal and thermal transfer the coatings on the paper are abrasive in nature and tend to make the die wear off soon. In such case laser hardened dies are recommended. Adhesive sticking and building up on the dies also results in uneven cutting and also resulting in early die wear off. This is more evident where aggressive high tack hot melt adhesives are used. For this reason special non stick, coated dies are available so that the adhesive will not stick to them. The standard gap between the magnetic cylinder and the anvil is also very important as in case of die wear off the gap increases resulting in spaces where labels are not cut and would lift off with the matrix and to get a perfect cut the die pressure is increased. This results in faster wearing off of the bearers leading to a smaller gap and over cutting. Care has to be taken in die storage and handling. Before commencing any job proper inspection of die should be done regarding cleaner blades, blunt edges or nicks. The dies need to be stored in an environment avoiding excess humidity which may result in rusting.
 
Machine manufacturers have been consistently making efforts to address the issue of waste matrix removal to aid faster converting. Some of the steps taken include; 1.Lifting the waste matrix immediately after die-cutting. 2. Taking the die to a larger diameter stripping roller that would support the waste ladder on separation rather than a thin diameter roll that would provide a sharp angle to waste being stripped off. 3. By rethreading the paper in such a manner that the label web is peeled off the matrix instead of the matrix being pulled off. 4. De-laminating the web and re-laminating it before die cutting as this would reduce the tension required to peel off. These measures did help to some extent but complex shapes and a host of issues and factors that impact this process have had machine manufacturers continuously researching this area to keep implementing changes. One such solution that came around some years back was suction of the waste matrix into a suction and shredding system. This does take care of the tension and also manages waste by cutting it to small pieces and compacting it, but such systems have other problems. They are expensive, large in size so difficult to be fitted on presses due to lack of space, costly to operate as they use extra motors, compressor or vacuum and very noisy to run. Yet there is a brighter side to it, there is development going on to separate the waste and recycle it inline so as to reduce the impact on environment.
 
 
The larger established press manufacturers seem to have reached a viable solution. Some years ago they have introduced a big innovation in the industry by designing a simpler contact system rewinder for waste matrix. The idea was very simple; instead of pulling only the matrix up to the rewinder, we pull the entire web up near the rewinder. Here the matrix is peeled off against an idle roll and immediately pasted on the rewinder. Basically this reduces the travel of the matrix from 1 meter to hardly 5 cm and the journey is even supported by a roll. This system has now become the standard with many label press manufacturers
 
 
 
 
 
“Simple solutions are invented to simplify the label converting process however It does not hold true for all jobs, when a problem comes it can be challenging and creating a solution can be another game changer”!
 
 
 
 
Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi January 2018
 
NOTE: This article is exclusively written for magazine Label and Narrow Web USA. Publications desirous of reproducing the article may write for permission to Steve Katz editor LNW : skatz@rodmanmedia.com 

Label Extravaganza!

Label Extravaganza!
From the evening of 18th November 2018 until 25th November; it was celebrations, learning, networking and partying for the global label fraternity congregated in India at Greater NOIDA. Label manufacturers association of India was hosting “L9” world label associations, for four days followed by Tarsus organised Labelexpo India. The L9 meet was held at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort spread across 9 acres, a super luxury designer resort in Greater Noida. The property is strategically nestled at the lush green premises of Greater Noida, this magical creation is enclosed by the abundant sweep of greenery and is a Golfers delight. L9 is the confederation of nine leading international label associations. The alliance consists of LMAI (India), JFLP (Japan), FINAT (Europe), TLMI (North America), LATMA (Australia), PEIAC (China), AMETIQ (Mexico), ABIEA (Brazil) and SALMA (New Zealand).
L9 meet
 
 
International delegates started to arrive at the Jaypee resort from 18th afternoon until late night. 
 
 
 
 
On 19th November morning after breakfast the delegation was taken for a factory visit to Any Graphics, NOIDA. 
 
 
 
 
The delegation on arrival were accorded a traditional welcome after being received at factory gates by LMAI President and owner of Any Graphics Kuldip Goel. 
 
 
Thomas Hagmaier L9 President
 
 
 
 
After application of teeka or an auspicious mark on forehead, guests were served refreshing welcome drinks while colourful folk dancers entertained the guests. Professional Turban tying persons tied colourful turbans on all visitors providing a celebratory aura to their welcome. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At this time factory staff, LMAI Board members and foreign visitors danced with the folk dancers, enjoying their welcome. 
 
 
 
Jules Lejeune, Chris Elliso, Susan Ellison and Harveer Sahni
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Once the welcome was done the guests were led to their huge conference room where Naveen Goel Director Any Graphics made an impressive presentation on the vast capabilities of his company and showcased the global as well as domestic awards won by them. 
 
Naveen Goel
 
LMA
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a visit to their factory shop floor spread over 100000 square feet, guests were taken for lunch in the company’s cafeteria with shehnai music players playing live while the visitors enjoyed a lavish lunch. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Before departing all guests were presented gifts and photographs of their visit to Any Graphics.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The guests were then taken to Raj Ghat Delhi the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, father of nation. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This was followed by a visit to a sound and light program on the history of rulers of Delhi at Purana Qila (Old Fort). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After this the entourage returned to Noida for dinner and cocktails. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Keren(Mexico) and Ajay Mehta
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The delegates were enjoying their visit and danced in joy, they were having fun. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The next morning on the 20th the visitors were taken to Agra to visit Taj Mahal and returned same evening to attend a dinner hosted by Labelexpo Managing Director Lisa Milburn at Hotel Crowne Plaza also in NOIDA. 
 
 
 
 
21st November was the official business meet of L9. It started with board meeting of all visiting international associations with board of Directors of LMAI. They deliberated over ways of collaborating and agreed to meet in Mexico in 2020. 
 
 
 
 
 
The afternoon session was opened to Indian converters and sponsors followed by dinner and cocktails. 
 
 
Carrie Duan-China
 
 
 
 
 
Presentations were made by all visiting international associations highlighting activities in their respective countries. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ajay Mehta-SMI
 
 
The event was sponsored by SMI Coated 
Products and Pulisi. Ajay Mehta MD SMI and the Pulisi representatives also addressed the gathering. The guests visited Labelexpo India next day on 22nd November 2018 and the LMAI Avery Dennison Awards night before returning home the following morning.
 
 
On completing his journey Chris Ellison President FINAT said, “Like India’s warm generous people, India’s label industry is colourful, vibrant and passionate to grow.” Commenting on his experience in India, the L9 President Thomas Hagmaier said, “Family you cannot choose but friends you can. We bring nothing to this world but take out friendship. You are great people, Thank you for a wonderful event”. Jules Lejeune MD FINAT saw it as an interesting ride and thanked LMAI and the L9 team for their great work. Ms. Carrie Duan from China was happy to have attended and said, “we will miss you”. Keren from Mexico said, “There are moments that remain in the heart. These are moments shared with you that will remain in my heart. Thank you for being wonderful hosts. See you in Mexico in 2020”.
Labelexpo-India 2018
On 22nd November 2018, the largest Label event in South Asia “Labelexpo-India” opened its door at India Expo and Mart Greater Noida India. Visitors started pouring in right from the word go to witness the products and equipment showcased by over 250 exhibitors, a 25% increase from the number at last show. The show was spread over four halls, continuous flow of very high-quality focussed visitors made it the best Labelexpo India ever. Speaking at the inauguration Lisa Milburn Managing Director Labelexpo Group reiterated the commitment they have towards India and mentioned that this year the focus will also be towards package printing besides just labels. Besides providing knowledge, Labelexpo is a platform for bringing together peers in the industry for networking and increasing their vision in the field.
Lisa Milburn Managing Director Labelexpo
Labelexpo India 2018 hosted “Brand Innovation Day” took place on the afternoon of Thursday 22 November (Day 1 of the show). It included a series of presentations followed by a short tour of key suppliers, highlighting the latest technologies and showing how brands can achieve stand-out product presence. 
 
 
About 50 brand owners and packaging designers in India attended. The purpose of the program was to equip delegates with expert insight into making the most out of their brand, how they can overcome key challenges on the path to future growth and staying ahead of competition in a fast-paced industry. 
 
Sukhdev Saini-General Mills
 
 
 
 
Speaking at the event Sukhdev Singh Saini, packaging lead AMEA, General Mills said, “Creating environmental awareness in the branding of a product including how to handle recycling of both raw materials and end-use product is imperative now”. Noel D’Cunha editor Printweek in his presentation focused on the use of digital and label and packaging.
 
 
 
 
 
Kuldip Goel LMAI President
 
 
 
LMAI Avery Dennison Awards night was organised by the LMAI on their own. In the previous years it was organised by Tarsus the organisers of Labelexpo. The show was well managed, despite entry being restricted to one ticket per member and rest on payment basis only, over 700 people attended the gala event. A global audience consisting of international and Indian exhibitors, L9 Delegates, Printers, suppliers and visitors thronged the event. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LMAI President Kuldip Goel welcomed the guests and gave a passionate speech comparing the various constituents of the label industry to the four pillars of a temple. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interspaced with entertainment programs the awards for excellence were given away to winners and runners up in 23 categories. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kumar labels, Any Graphics, Huhtamaki-PPL and Update Prints were amongst the prominent winners in multiple categories. 
 
The awards ceremony was followed up by cocktails and dinner. Sponsors for the event included Avery Dennison, SMI, Nilpeter, Vinsak, Omet, Dupont, Intergraphic Pulisi, Gallus/Heidelberg and J N Arora And Co.
 
 
 
 
The show was busy throughout with a continuous stream of visitors not only from India but also from many other countries. 
 
 
Raj K Dua with Weldon team with the press he bought
 
 
 
 
Sales were reported by leading International press manufacturers like Omet, Nilpeter, Lombardy, Weigang, etc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Domestic Label press manufacturer Multitec announced multiple sales and signed a cooperation agreement with Domino to build hybrid presses. There was an increased exhibitor presence in the digital label printing segment. Companies who were prominently displaying their digital label printing equipment included HP, Konica Minolta, Domino, Monotech and Dillli.
 
Gallery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John-Orthotec
 
Raul Silvestre-Lartec Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The article is written and compiled by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi November 2018.

Cosmo Films: Working their way into specialty films for labels

Cosmo Films: Working their way into specialty films for labels
Ashok Jaipuria
Ashok Jaipuria led Cosmo Films Limited, headquartered in New Delhi, is one of the largest manufacturers of BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Poly Propylene) films in the world. According to Wikipedia they are in fact the largest manufacturer of thermal lamination films in the world. Ashok Jaipuria is prided with his lineage from an elite Marwari family (people from the Marwar region of Rajasthan).   Ashok is the only son of his father Late Sri Sitaram Jaipuria, who was an Industrialist and Promoter of Swadeshi Polytex Limited,  Swadeshi Cotton Mills Limited and was a member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India. Ashok started his own firm Cosmo Films in 1976 with an objective to manufacture and market BOPP films. He qualified in Business Administration and Marketing Science in the year 1973. BOPP film was a licensed item those days, visualizing growth and opportunity in this nascent area; he applied for and acquired the license to manufacture it. He setup and commissioned his first BOPP production line in 1981 at Chikalthana, Aurangabad. Being one of the first entrants to produce BOPP in India, the initial years were very tough, more so because customer awareness did not exist and educating them on the product was a challenge. Print lamination and self adhesive packaging tapes were the first target segments for this product. Once settled, there was no looking back, they commissioned their second production line at Waluj, Aurangabad in 1988 and third line also at Waluj in 1996.
 
Entering the new millennium, Cosmo Films was steadily growing, so was the market for 
Cosmo Films Vadodara Unit
BOPP and also the market share of Cosmo for BOPP films. With a positive situation prevailing, they became bullish and registered unprecedented growth in this decade.  In 2001 they commissioned their fourth line and a year later in 2002 they acquired Gujarat Propack Limited, the Karjan Vadodara based BOPP manufacturer which became their fifth BOPP line. In 2003 the sixth line was commissioned and in the very next year in 2004 they decided to go for specialties in BOPP by adding a metalizer, an extrusion coating plant and yet another BOPP line taking their total count to seven. Expanding on coated products, they commissioned their second extrusion coating line in 2005. Encouraged by the success, Cosmo added five more extrusion coating lines. Two were added in 2006, one in 2007 and two more in 2008. Extending their footprint globally, in 2009 they acquired USA headquartered GBC’s Print Finishing Business from Acco Brands Corporation USA. Also in 2009 they enhanced their BOPP production capacity with yet another line at Vadodara, taking the total to 8 lines. 
 
 
Cosmo Films Hagerstown USA
They wrapped up the decade by installing their 2nd metalizer at Karjan, Vadodara. In the second decade of the millennium Cosmo continued on their growth path. Pankaj Poddar also of Marwari descent, a qualified Chartered Accountant, took charge as the CEO of Cosmo Films in 2011. In the ensuing years a new plant was commissioned with their existing eighth extrusion thermal coating line in South Korea. Two more BOPP lines in Aurangabad SEZ and Karjan Baroda were added in subsequent years taking the total BOPP production lines to ten. In addition, they have five coating lines, three metalizers and one CPP (Cast Polypropylene) line. When the first line was commissioned Cosmo’s capacity was only 850 tons per annum, which now has reached 2,00,000 tons from five different locations that include three in India, one in Korea and one in USA, the biggest facility being the one in Vadodara. The production in India spreads over 100 acres of land with 850 permanent employees. Even though volume growth of BOPP was coming from packaging and lamination yet the business had sometime along the way started to get competitive. To maintain their leadership and profitability, they had in the 1990s, shifted focus to specialties in films and label films for wrap around labels, IML (that had started evolving) along with limited presence in self adhesive labels.  Out of their initial endeavours, white film for Parle and production of synthetic paper was vital in their rapid growth. 
 
With Pankaj Poddar at helm, the company became more aggressive especially in the label segment. The label segment comprising of self-adhesive labels, wrap around labels and IML is continuously growing in volumes. They supply these films worldwide with some sales also in China. Today leading Indian Labelstock and other label producers use Cosmo’s products for labels. Label films continue to become a substantial part of the company’s product offerings these are now around 15% of their total production. Cosmo has invested in creating the right products to facilitate top of the line decorative packaging. Their offerings include films that are white opaque pearlised, transparent, solid white, gloss/matt metalized, etc. Their films have a clean surface, have excellent gloss, high clarity and can be printed by different print technologies that include printing by using Water based inks, UV inks, Gravure inks, Thermal transfer ribbon printing and some Digital print processes. According to Pankaj, while the domestic BOPP market is growing at around 10 % per annum, the growth is slightly more in self adhesive labels and IML, yet Cosmo is registering a growth rate above this due to their increasing exports. They are committed to diversify more and more into the specialty segments due to depressed margins of commodity products in a competitive scenario. They will soon be launching direct thermal printable film and paper. Being firmly committed to maintain their leadership, for them delivery of quality and innovative products is a priority. They have invested more than 1.50 Million US$ in their new Research and Development/Innovation centre. The centre has capability to analyse the entire film’s chemistry viz. surface, polymer and chemical analysis.  The centre is also capable of testing all properties of the film right from its concept stage way upto its end applications.  Centre can also conduct in house  printing tests with diverse processes like Screen, UV flexo, Gravure printing, Direct Thermal and Thermal Transfer Printing.
 
Pankaj is emphatic that BOPP consumption will continue to grow at a fast pace, but he wishes to see Cosmo diversify more into specialty segments. They will also be adding a Cast Poly Propylene film (CPP) and metalized CPP film line in 2018; they will also be installing a PET film line. Both product lines will be packaging and label centric. PET will be majorly offered as label face or later for release liner applications. PET liners can reduce the adverse impact of liner waste on the environment by bringing down the tonnage of liners using thinner liners. While most of the present paper siliconised liners go to landfills, PET liners can be recycled. Capacity enhancement for synthetic paper is also on cards. Their biggest competition at global level comes from Jindal Poly films subsequent to their acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s BOPP films division and from Innovia films. However still, Pankaj says, “We will be enhancing capacities. As for specialties, we have no real competition”. Pensively and hesitantly he does agree that digital printing direct on product that will eliminate the substrate maybe a challenge but he is confident it will not affect Cosmo’s growth plans.
 
Pankaj Poddar
Pankaj Poddar is an alumnus of Delhi’s Shri Ram College of commerce (SRCC). After finishing his B.Com at SRCC, he completed his articles to be a qualified CA and then completed his degree in MBA from IMT Ghaziabad. He worked with Ernst and Young for 7 years, for automotive parts company Delphi for 5 years two years each with Reckitt Benckiser and Avon Beauty Products. He comes from a traditional Marwari business family, his father dealt with heavy earthmoving machinery spare parts, brother traded in air-dryers and chilling plants and sister’s husband supplies alloy metal to auto parts companies. Moving away from the tradition Pankaj preferred to be a professional executive. His wife is a dietician and they are blessed with two school going children, a son and a daughter. When he joined Cosmo, the turnover of the company was Rupees 850 Crores (130Million USD) and it has now reached Rupees 1900 Crores (300 Million USD). He was awarded as “Indian CEO of the year” by ABCI, Association of Business Communicators of India at their “Brand India Summit” in 2016.  When Pankaj took charge, Cosmo Film’s share was trading at Rs.80-90 and now it has reached Rs.350-400.
 
Cosmo Films is an environmentally conscious company and continues to make strides in implementing eco friendly measures.  All coatings on their films are water based and they support water based ink printing for conversion of their films. They are an ISO: 14001 certified company. The waste water in all their plants, after effluent treatment, is used for gardening. All plant sites have water harvesting. Natural lighting is used wherever possible. They plan to initiate a solar power plant at their Vadodara site as a first experiment and if found successful, they will replicate in other sites as well. Every employee in their organization has to undergo training. As a part of their corporate social responsibility, they work on supplementing basic education provided to young children in government schools in and around their plants through various sustainable programs like Computer Literacy, basic English Learning, basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. They have trained about 150 rural youth as qualified teachers to be able to execute this and till date more than 25000 students have benefitted from these programs.
 
Pankaj feels in 5 years Cosmo’s turnover will more than double up from the present 300 million US Dollars to 600-700 US Dollars. This he states will be just from the ongoing organic growth. However if they install more projects and happen to acquire some businesses, the turnover may reach USD 1 billion. The present share of specialty films in the company portfolio is around 40%, he hopes and wishes to increase this share to 60% so as to keep adding value to its bottom line.

 

 

 

Written for Packaging South Asia magazine by Harveer Sahni Chairman, Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi, December 2017.
 
Print Publications wanting to reproduce may do so by giving credit to the author Harveer Sahni and by mentioning that it is published in arrangement with "Packaging South Asia"