Ten CEOs highlight top challenges for the next year

Aditya Surana of Indo Polygraph Machinery: The challenges of a skilled workforce, raw material costs, supply chain disruptions, and logistics persist as integral facets of the Indian economy. While improvements are evident, complete eradication remains a distant goal, in my opinion. The ever-growing employment demands along with our rising population, continue to underscore these challenges, necessitating ongoing efforts and strategic planning to navigate and mitigate the impacts on the printing and packaging industry in 2024.

Ajay Nayak of Boxtech Bangalore: The manufacturing supply chain is labour-intensive. The shortage of skilled workforce remains challenging and might continue in the future as well. A critical point of contention is the difference in demand for a younger workforce compared to an ageing workforce. Younger workers expect a higher work-life balance. Supply chain issues will be customer-centric. The best part would be to focus on automation and new technologies to overcome the labour shortage and reduce manual work. In addition, there has been increasing competition in the industry, which has put pressure on profit margins and made it difficult for companies to invest in new equipment and technology.
 
C Sukumaran of Canon: Skilled manpower is the biggest issue facing the printing industry. It will continue in the future. The situation has further worsened post-Covid. Raw material costs and supply chain disruptions are the outcome of various socio-economic situations and can change from time to time. The persisting challenges of the printing industry also provide opportunities for technological advancements to address them. Their integration can offer significant solutions to the printing industry. At Canon, we intend to explore this at greater length in 2024 by providing our customers with the latest innovations in the printing segment.
 
P Sajith of Bindwel Technologies: We have a large number of unskilled workers in India, and it’s our responsibility to train them. We cannot rely on the government to do this for us. There may be logistical challenges due to two ongoing wars and disturbances in the oceans. However, the manufacturing supply chain is getting back on track. In terms of global markets, many African countries are experiencing domestic unrest, and their currency has been highly devalued. The positive side is that we have learned to plan and anticipate disruptions after the pandemic years.
 
Parmeshwar Patidar of Indas Analytics: Yes, these challenges will be there, but the solution is in adopting technology and automating systems. Print Pathshala is our new initiative that trains freshers or industry professionals, making them tech-savvy and imparting knowledge on system automation. This approach, integrating system automation with AI, will be the only option to overcome these challenges and revolutionise the industry in 2024 and the coming years.
 
Ranesh Bajaj of Vinsak: India has achieved the status of a developed nation when it comes to factors like salary levels and transportation costs. Although these efficiencies will continue to improve over time, we must realise that paying the prevalent global rates for all products and services in our ecosystem is necessary. The sooner we come to terms with this, the fewer business challenges our industry will encounter.
 
Sudeep Bhattacharjee of Manroland Goss: A skilled workforce will remain a problem as the younger generation doesn’t want to work night shifts or in a factory setting. The cost of raw materials shows no respite. The ongoing wars and the recent attacks on container ships in the Red Sea have added pressure to the global supply chain. So, yes, the problems would pretty much stay in the first half of 2024.
 
Sheena Parikh of TechNova Imaging System: In 2024, the printing and packaging industry may face challenges due to ongoing technological changes. A skilled workforce will be crucial, and education and skill enhancement will be needed. Labour costs may rise, posing retention challenges. Raw material costs fluctuate due to global factors, and supply chain operations may face challenges from shipping disruptions and cross-border issues, impacting lead times and transportation costs. Digitisation will be key in managing supply chain and logistics. To make informed decisions, data and AI tools will be utilised.

Venugopal Menon of Bobst: The economy, global supply chain and global geo-political situations are very uncertain and volatile, and many unexpected situations will keep popping up across the globe, which directly or indirectly affects the print and packaging industry. Thus, it is of paramount importance for companies to keep their Plan B prepared and be resilient enough to face such challenges. Thus, flexibility in terms of production and supply chain, keeping the workforce motivated and retaining the right talent will be the biggest challenge for CEOs and industrialists. Thus, we see companies who have multi-locational manufacturing and supply chain bases spread across with the right mix of technology and capacities weather such storms and risks much better.

Vinay Kaushal of Provin Technos: A skilled workforce is the biggest challenge. We don’t foresee this problem fading away. The gap between what talent is available and what the industry needs is quite huge. Raw material costs have stabilised a bit, along with logistics. Supply chain disruption is visible and causes delayed machine shipment time. We expect this to improve in the second half of 2024. This is subject to no further disruptions.