He is the brain behind Indiapack and the face of most things packaging in the country. He speaks of patents and developing new packaging cities. All this being a road map for India to become a dominant force in packaging. Excerpts of Dr N C Saha's interview with Ramu Ramanathan
Industry leaders during the inauguration ceremony of the Indiapack expo on 8 October. The showground covered 10000 sq/mt and featured around 200 exhibitors with the special pavilions by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and attracted buyers from 10 countries
Yes Minister. In an extempore address to the World Packaging Congress (WPC) gathering, the union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal highlighted the government’s commitment to 42 mega food parks (MFP) which could be operational by 2019. A rough estimate suggests this will yield a potential investment of about Rs 14,000 crore and should benefit 12.5 lakh farmers plus generate 3-4 lakh new jobs, too
The president of Asian Packaging Federation and business development director, Indonesian Packaging Federation, Ariana Susanti said, "Packaging technologies have developed very fast in the last five years and Asian countries are no exception."
In that sense, Thomas Schneider's talk on 10 October, at the World Packaging Congress, was a boost of sorts. He said, "India is making strides as the middle class demands it. Innovation can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, articulated needs, or existing market needs." Schneider is CPP, member, Packaging Hall of Fame President, World Packaging Organisation
Pune-based Emcure Pharmaceuticals had its packaging development manager strolling the expo and the Congress. And he is a happy man. He said, "Coming from a pharma company, I can see a lot of options for automation, which earlier were manual operations."
Shri Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, IAS, additional secretary, the ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, in his address said the Government is a partner but the industry has to come forward. "The Government is keen to facilitate standardisation and ensure the industry adopts the standards."
In this another company speak, Ashok Jaipuria of Cosmo Films, breaks the myths around plastics in packaging to PrintWeek India. He stated, "Plastics have applications in almost any industry. Today India generates 5.6 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually, of which 60% is recycled." Read the interview here
AVPS Chakravarthi of Ecobliss explains the importance of packaging a product, and why innovation in packaging design will drive the market in the future
S Shekhar of Resource Management Group Plus sought the big brand names at the expo. With little disappointment, he admitted, "Indiapack 2015 is an all encompassing show. We found a lot of unheard company names, which is not a bad thing, but the bigger brands would have given the show a further boost."
Dr Reddy's G V Prasad explained the strategy DRL adopts in terms of automation, cost savings, and more importantly, packaging innovations
On Day One, Harveer Sahni of Weldon Celloplast: "There are a number of flexible converters but not many materials suppliers."
Visitors' Speak: Diwakar Shetty, chairman, Shetron and Fibre Foils UV and multi- colour printing on metal are encouraging developments. The retail market with branding is driving the change, and that’s good for overall packaging. Read all, here...
The plenary sessions at the World Packaging Congress discussed the concept of ancillary material, automation and logistics plus automation in packaging and robotics. NLN Raju of Signode speaks about end of the line system and various integrated packaging lines
In full attendance, all ears...More than 1,200 Indian and international packaging technologists and executives gathered at the two-day congress
The five talking points at the WPC: Can-Pack’s Marek Kura, Vimal Kedia of Manjushree Technopack, Marek Miszczak of Gerresheimer Plastic Packaging, Mukul Somany of Hindustan National Glass and Industries and Pradeep Tyle of Uflex
IIP dazzles with its first patent. This is for the sale of Vishwa Bangla
The two-day Research Conclave, which was inaugurated on 9 October, concurring with the World Packaging Congress, saw 19 oral presentations and 48 poster presentation by five scientists, research faculty and students from across the country
The customers' man: Nordson's Suprotik Das says customers are an important part in the success of a product while he talks about the company’s business - precision in dispensing of fluids - with Noel D'Cunha. In length, here...
Putting India on the world map: For this CEO of the biggest flexible packaging solutions provider, Uflex, the Indian flexible industry is as competent as any other country
Suresh Ganapuram of Torrent Pharmaceuticals gives his top tip: Focus on packaging cost reduction, automation
The financials of The Tinplate Company of India read: A standalone total income of Rs 229.11 crore from operations and a net profit of Rs 22.80 crore for the quarter ended June 2015. In conversation with Tarun Daga
Hutamaki PPL focused on flexible packaging. The company currently caters to the food and beverage industry, FMGC and pharmaceutical industry for their packaging requirements. PS The Paper Boat drink pouches which was detour from the traditional Tetrapak pouches used was printed at Hutamaki PPL
From the showground, Giles of Bradman says Indian firms want to compete at the international level
The IIP stall served as a centre for consultancy for packaging professionals and students alike
Manipal-based Manipal Utility Packaging Solutions showcased a range of printed cartons and labels. The company, which has added packaging as its focus area caters to the segments like FMCG, perfume industry, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages
Mumbai-based Welbound Worldwide's top and bottom case sealer for shipper cartons, the Welbound HC500, is “a means to initiate discussions on the huge problem of in-transit losses with the brand owners”. Some of the benefits of hotmelt sealing over other methods are structural integrity, better load and shock resistance, tamper evidence, corrugate reduction and sustainability
The ISO certified Ebullient Packaging, manufacturers of industrial bulk packaging, showcased fibre drums, HDPE drum, and flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) jumbo bags
Navi-Mumbai based Ajanta Print Arts has its in-house packaging development team which provides packaging solutions according to its customer needs. Vikas Khanna is in favour of in-mould labelling and polypropylene packages
Kaira Can, which is targeting the dairy segment with metal cans, has three plants in Gujarat, running five Soudronic can making lines and printing and coating machines from Crabtree. The latest line, installed in 2014, has a speed of 450 cans per minute
Michelman showcased its range of coating solutions, water-based surface modifiers, additives and polymers, especially for the printing and packaging industry. Pankaj Shah, the co-director of Michelman India, said, “We work towards modifying the various characteristic of the substrate according to the end application. For example, we modify a non-sealable material to sealable or make the products sealable at a lower temperature, to make the substrate work on high-speed machines.”
Pune’s National Adhesives promotes ‘go green’ idea with its new product line: Hydra-Print, a print receptive primer; Hydra-Rez, a water repellent coating; Hydra-Print inkjet coatings; and OpaCoat, laser, matt and opaque coating
Pune-based Safepack Solutions is a research and development company, which provides various packaging solution to the pharmaceutical, industrial and FMCG industries. The company has filed two patents for thermal blanket laminate and high barrier foil laminate
Hyderabad-based Mold-Tek Packaging introduced, for the first time in India, the IML in-mould labeling decoration and the latest edition of edible oil packaging, with a target to replace the old tins and provide value addition in the products
Shailja Paper of New Delhi showcased a variety of its packaging offerings, that the company said, compels both the print production designers as well as print packagers to think out-of-box packages
The highlight of Kris Flexipacks at its stall were the flexible laminated products and labels. Nikita Sheth, marketing manager, said, "Of the few issues which the industry needs to tackle, raw material and education are on the top."
Since 2009, Stoosa is the representative of Shenzhen Jialuo Laser Technology for the entire line of die- making solutions, from die board laser cutting machines to bending machines
Mumbai-based Standard Printers Providers, a representative of Fuji Kikai Kogyo machines for over 15 years in India, has installed 10 Fuji Kikai machines so far. These are sheetfed offset printing machines with UV and IR dryers
At its stall, Delhi-based Pearl Polymer showcased its range of pearlpet lightweight jars for packaging and a new in-mould labelling technology
At the Zip-Pak stall, David Atkinson, vice-president and general manager, was showing demos of a zipper packaging equipment
Megha Mehta, founder and CEO of E Design Studio renders very original graphic design work for clients, ranging from petrochemical and manufacturing to the real estate sector plus food and fashion design. Mehta’s work includes packaging design for Befree Sanitary Napkins to Aviation Business Services
Vikas Packaging from New Delhi, manufacturers and suppliers of corrugated boxes, exporter of cartons and designer of boxes. What wasinteresting at the Vikas stall was the structure of the boxes. These ranged from half slotted box to regular slotted boxes to a full flap five line box to a locking cover box and so on
Top 45 moments: The who's who of packaging
101 firms take home 262 IndiaStar Awards. On 10 October, during a gala award ceremony for IndiaStar Awards 2014-15, total 262 awards were conferred to 101 companies. Among them, top five winners of the evening were Pragati Pack (32 Awards), ITC (17), Hindustan Unilever (16), Huhtamaki PPL (10), and Jayna Packaging (10).
Top 45 moments: The who's who of packaging
The Indian packaging industry, which is eyeing the USD 43.7 bn packaging market by 2016, was at full strength during the Indiapack expo and the World Packaging Congress.
The 200 exhibitors parked in 10,000 sq/metres at Indiapack, saw new products and technologies being launched.
The PrintWeek India team, which partnered with the Indian Institute of Packaging for this magnum opus, shares a few glimpses from the event