Making a national footprint with a two-lakh sq/ft factory

Ayush Jain says, Vijayshri’s strong equipment arsenal for packaging and corrugation will convert 2,000 tonnes of paper per month, making it the biggest packaging firm in Central India.

29 May 2017 | By Priya Raju

Q: Vijayshri launched a sprawling new factory last year. What has been the update since?
Ayush Jain (AJ): Since the inauguration of the factory, we have been focusing on getting the various certifications required for a packaging plant. At Vijayshri our focus is on hygiene, standardisation and attention to detail and to develop a greener eco-system. In addition, a lot of our focus has been on hiring and training our existing staff.

Q: Has the new factory opened up new avenues?
AJ: When we inaugurated the two-lakh sq/ft facility, the idea was to offer total packaging and corrugation solution under one roof and ensure the availability of all kinds of surface finishing techniques that includes foiling, UV varnish, drip-off effect and film lamination. Our idea was to cater to pan-India requirements of our clients.

Today, we are compliant to cater to the primary (direct food contact) and secondary food packaging as well as pharmaceutical packaging which we were not catering to earlier. We have already been audited by two pharmaceutical companies and things are moving in the right direction.

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Vijayshri’s new plant ia all set to cater to the pan-India needs in packaging and corrugation segment

Q: You invested in a raft of machines for your new facility…
AJ: When we thought of expanding, we were clear on investing in new machinery. We invested to the tune of Rs 55-crore and today we are capable of converting 2,000 tonnes of paper per month. The expansion has allowed the company to realise our ambitious plans to grow and develop as part of a business with a national footprint and a broader range of capabilities.

Q: How have the performances of the machines been?
AJ: Since the machinery is new, the performance has been according to our expectations. The machines are giving consistent output without significant wastages.

Q: Do you intend to invest or expand in future?
AJ: In future, we intend to enter the rigid-box making line as there is a lot of demand for good quality rigid-boxes in the market. Our aim is to grow with our customers and become a specialist in food and pharmaceutical packaging. Our target is to achieve at least 10% revenue from exports and in the next five years, we aim to double our top-line with 20% year-on-year growth.

Q: Packaging is a tough market, and also price sensitive. Any strategy in place?
AJ: We focus on continuous improvement and redesigning of the existing products, and suggest changes to our customers. This can be about the design of the carton , substitution of boards used and reduction in grammages (gsm) of paperboard. We basically challenge age-old theories and work with our customers. Customers are open to changes in packaging as long as the cost component is reduced. Acquiring new business is quite difficult, plus the existing price and supply patterns are very unfavourable. Hence, we focus on building our existing business based on strong customer relationships.

Q: Your views on GST
AJ: The implementation of GST would open up new avenues of business and we will be in a better position to cater to them since we are centrally located. Also, if we have a uniform tax system, the cost of raw material may go down, since it will nullify the cascading effect of tax.
Tags : GST,packaging,Vijayshri Packaging;