Jatinder Julka came from a middle-class family where most relatives were running their own successful industry or business, in his heart he too aspired to have his own business one day. Having worked for different employers for almost 18 years, in 2007 he initiated his startup venture Alliance Printech Pvt. Ltd. He decided to pursue the business of building business forms presses and offset machinery, an industry in which he had acquired substantial knowledge and experience. Since the foundation of printing industry was established with vendors and other suppliers located within the city by his predecessors in the business, The Printers House, Sud and Warren and Multitec, Alliance was also set up in Faridabad which eventually became a hub for Printing and packaging Machinery – Web Offset Machines, Forms Presses, Sheet fed Offset Machines etc. It was thus easy for such companies or their people to try recent technologies like Flexo Label Presses or other converting machinery.

Jatinder married in 1997 to Rajni Julka who supported him during initial days of his business by working in a school. They are blessed with two children, a son Aryaman born in2001, and a daughter Simar born in 1998. Both are unmarried, Aryaman joined father’s business in 2022 after completing his B-tech (Mechanical) from Manipal University, Jaipur. He is a very ambitious young man and passionate about taking the business forward at a rapid pace. He has been working in various departments and projects in the company, sharpening his skills and capabilities. Jatinder had set up the factory with all departments including design, tool Room, assembly line, stores, electricals and sales to become a perfect training ground to groom his son. The father-son duo now proudly state, “Our presses are comparable with any other European or American presses.”

Director and cofounder of Kolkata based Holoflex, Manoj Kochar was the first Asian chairman of IHMA (International Hologram Manufacturers Association) which amounts to recognising India, and Indian companies as important and competent players in the world of hologram manufacturing. The Indian association HOMAI (Hologram Manufacturers Association of India) was founded in 1998 to represent holographic industry in India. During the tenure of Manoj as president of HOMAI in 2014, it was envisioned that this association was not just for the hologram industry but in actual supports all the authentication technologies.

At this time, the interest in packaging grew in him and he started visiting the Indian Institute of Packaging to study the nuances of packaging at large. The officials in the institute suggested to Manoj to get into flexible packaging, in 1987 he started studying the project and, in an effort, to start, he wanted to import some used equipment that he had identified. Unfortunately, those were the days of licensing for all imports. After making a lot of effort, he could not get the import license and in the meanwhile the equipment that he had identified got sold, so the project had to be shelved. However still, at that time the hologram industry was evolving in Europe and attracted Manoj’s attention. He studied the market and decided to enter the hologram business. In 1991, to initiate the business, he started trading in holograms. At that time Manoj discussed the project with his relatives Suranas, who too got interested and they decided  to join the business. With Ajit Surana’s uncle Kamal Kumar Surana as his co-founder, they started Holoflex in 1991. Ajit Surana joined a year thereafter.

In 2010 they finally started producing self-adhesive labels by installing their first flexo label press, which was a six colour Chinese tower type machine. As for starting off with labels, while they had experience in converting but printing was another ball game. They did not understand inks and the colour gamut. Getting the right people who could run the press for them was a challenge, but they managed to build a good team to take the project forward. They had envisioned that the label industry will boom in India. If we look at it as an overview, label industry in various forms in totality  has boomed. According to the author, if we look at it in the larger perspective it has grown beyond imagination but since labels have transformed into many tangents starting from just glue applied or wet glue to self-adhesive, it has moved also into shrink sleeves, wrap around, inmold, screen or digital on product, thermal transfer labels and much more, the eventual growth has been divided in all segments.

Holoflex operates with around 200 people in employment out of a 25000 square feet shopfloor, which is now falling short for the size of their operation. They have taken up storage spaces around their factory to complement the working space. Being fond of green areas, they have a nice lawn in front of their factory, but the paucity of space is making it an imperative to consider  constructing more on that space as well to get another 15000 square feet to take them through for another two years. Production and head office are in different areas in Kolkata while they have sales offices in Delhi and Mumbai. 

Manoj got married to Vandana Kochar in 1991. Vandana prefers to remain a homemaker. They have two children, and Manoj has never impressed upon them to follow his diktat on selecting their future and let them follow their passion. His son Sidharth was born in 1993, like his father, he also graduated from St. Xaviers college in Kolkata. Following graduation, he  did his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York. Being very clear in thought not to join family business Holoflex, at least for now, on return to India he joined an American Fintech startup Nova credit. Later he quit this job and started working on his personal project in financial services and investing. Sidharth is married to Raashi, who is a B.Sc. Finance from the University of Edinburg and presently working with the company Bharat Pe. His daughter Vasundhara, born in 1996, is a patisserie chef now. She too studied in St. Xaviers college completing her B.Sc. economics, after which she decided to follow her passion to be a baker and joined the Le Cordon Bleu London Bakery School for training and diploma called Diplôme de Pâtisserie which is recognised globally as one of the most respected culinary qualifications in pastry. On return, she has initiated her startup and offering her products under her own brand “Cheesserted” specialising in  cheesecakes besides other items.

Kusum Dunglay is the managing director of the thriving label printing enterprise, The Goodwork Company. She is setting example for other women to follow, proving that age is just a number! At 75 years of age, she is heading the company established by her late husband Kartar Singh Dunglay, 68 years ago in 1956. She travels widely, visiting existing customers and new prospects. Kusum, an MBA from London University, was guided by her husband’s expertise to learn the printing business. This foundational knowledge has played a pivotal role in her transformation as an administrator leading adaptation to industry evolutions. Joining the business in 1972, with decades of dedicated leadership, she steered their label business to excellence, widespread recognition and remarkable growth, achieving substantial market share.

Being a female leader, as a trailblazer in the printing business world, joining at a time when few women were in prominent business roles, provided a unique advantage to bring diverse perspectives, foster inclusive workplaces, and contribute to a more balanced business environment. By creating strong business ethics and processes, she expanded her client base with numerous MNCs. She is now leading the company to an exciting phase of expansion, transitioning into empowering the next generation, to take the reins of business. She says, “this strategic shift ensures that our business stays at the forefront of innovation, meeting evolving market demands with excellence.”

Sandhya Shetty, after completing education as a B.Sc., followed by Master’s in Management Studies, started her career, spending 8 years in business research and analysis, working on projects involving Government contracts, Defense sector in the US and in the hospitality sector in India. Quitting the job in 2008, she co-founded Synergy Packaging Pvt. Ltd. with a Nilpeter label press, headquartered in Thane and factory at Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As managing director of the company, she has nurtured it to become a market-changer creating innovative labels for products some of which went on to become market leader in their category. 46-year-old Sandhya is happy that she has created a team that is more like her family, every member has been with them for a decade, this she asserts, is a bigger award than the ones that are received from customers and Industry.

She says, “India’s label printing industry is full of vibrant people! Barring a few outlier experiences, I would say the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur are same as that a man in the industry would face. On the contrary, I have had customers, vendors and others more patient and helpful.” She further adds, “my ‘never say die’ attitude has always been my biggest strength.” At the organizational level we are adding products, aware of present and future trends, we are researching global best practices in our effort creating a phase-wise plan for implementation. Recently she has been inducted in the LMAI management committee as the only woman in the association’s leadership team.

41-year-old Neha Jain is the director of Great Eastern IDTech Pvt. Ltd. founded by her father-in-law Prem Chand Jain popularly known as P C Jain in 1983, as Great Eastern Impex and later renamed. PC Jain pioneered the introduction and proliferation of variable data labels in India! Neha, an Alumnus of FIDT, NIFT (Fashion Designer with Information Technology) and BCA(bachelor’s in computer education) from IGNOU specialising as lead auditor in Quality Management systems, joined Great Eastern in 2005. After joining she spent time in all departments and built departmental procedures, defined objectives and outcome reports that enabled them to achieve ISO 9001:2000 certification in 2006. With the growth of online selling platforms, she expanded her role to manage store fronts in multiple Amazon platforms. She launched web to print platform; www.dinolabeldigital.com built in-house in 2021 to service short run buyer needs with digital label printing services, currently servicing B2C customers with plans to add B2B clients. Moving out of shadows of her mentors and shedding the image of a female from the owner’s family, she created her own space with knowledge and technical knowhow, to be taken seriously as a leader. “Creating a more inclusive work environment, female leaders bring discipline, fairness and attention to detail in the organisation” says Neha.

Tania Hansoti started her career in the advertising industry at DDB Mudra Group, working as  strategic planner for 4 years where she gained exposure to brands such as Adani, Fortune oils, Arvind Fashions, Century Ply, SOTC, Zydus Wellness and Future group. Post marriage 31-year-old Tania joined S.Kumar Multiproducts Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad, founded by her father-in-law Manish Hansoti in 1978. Their label division came into existence in 1997. Tania is an MBA(Marketing) and joined the company in 2020 at a time when the company invested in futuristic Digital label printing by installing a UV digital press from Screen, Japan. Her responsibilities included Improving brand awareness, build a marketing team to increase sales, achieve quick turnarounds and implement marketing campaigns through social media. Though she found it challenging as a woman to communicate on technical topics, yet with sheer perseverance, she overcame this, ”Being a woman makes the team environment less authoritative, less competitive and more cooperative” she says, and goes on to add, “the presence of a woman around keeps them in check and at their best behavior.”

Nalani Jaichandra, a Graduate in Commerce who later did her higher studies in Cosmetics and Nail extension in the UK. She spent many years in the beauty industry before joining as director Veepee Graphic Solutions (P) Ltd. in 2026, a prepress company founded by her father-in-law Late V Peethambaram in 1996 and now headed by her husband Jaichandra. She had established her chain of state of art nail bars when the nail art was in its nascent stages in India. 49-year-old Nalani is a Sri Lankan by birth and settled in Bengaluru after her marriage. After understanding the process of plate making, she gradually took over the plate production department, setting SOPs, hiring, training and setting up quality standards. She indulged in maintenance when needed and during the COVID, she single-handedly installed a new machine because the engineers from Germany could not travel. Now most of the 200 strong workforce from all locations report to her and only the prepress department is handled by her husband. Nalani has been actively involved in setting up the new plants at Pune, Hyderabad and Sri Lanka, gaining experience. She is actively involved in business development in Lanka as she is well connected there. She is now spearheading the setting up of a new plant that will have a complete 42×60 line for plate making.