Industry hubs like Faridabad and Amritsar and Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru and Coimbatore have poured their products into the show. Amritsar which is my janmabhoomi and karmabhoomi manufactures corrugated box making machines, die-cutting machines, paper cutting machines and small machines for perforation work. Around 125 die-cutting machines a month are produced which is 80% of India’s total production. Other centres have equally impressive numbers.

Besides the traditional print, look out for digital printing which is blossoming. This is indicated by the players who provide print on-demand options, variable data, and inkjet. According to a print survey, on-demand printing is a about estimated Rs 13.2 billion (5%) of the Rs 264 billion print business in 2014. By 2018, the estimates are that it will grow to Rs 26.18 billion (around 7% of Rs 374-billion print business) in India. At the show, visitors will see software and machinery companies alike provide options. 

The big buzz at PrintPack over the next five days is: packaging. The Indian packaging sector is being reshaped as the humble carton becomes a vital marketing tool for brand owners and retailers, and a source of consumer information on the pack to aid the traceability of products. 

Most of the exhibitors are adapting to the widening scope of packaging in the marketing of products by broadening their own role in the supply chain, particularly in the area of services. I had a walk through the PrintPack halls in the past 24 hours and the trends I see: development of new packaging products; printed materials that are organic and biodegradable; the issue of migration of dangerous chemicals from packaging inks and coatings into packaged food; checking information from barcode scanners against data held in central databases. 

The mantra at PrintPack is innovation and more than 390 companies will be talking the tech about their capabilities in R&D and product innovations.  

Happy PrintPack to all of you.

KS Khurana

President of IPAMA

IPAMA is a part of Global Print, an international federation of printing industry members created to further the interests of manufacturers of printing, paper-making and converting machinery, equipment and consumables.