“We think the ink makers are using the age old proven techniques to manufacture their products”

What are the products you produce for printing ink industry? Its application in other industry eg Paint or any coating industry?

As a manufacturer of pigments and toners, we are very well aware about the diverse needs of the printing inks industry. Using an in-house pigments and flushes manufacturing, we have forward integrated into manufacturing offset inks for all applications as we can ensure the quality and consistency of our products by maintaining the quality control standards from the pigments manufacturing stage itself.

The coatings industry has been one of the predominant areas of focus of Kwality Chemical Industries. We have been successful in establishing a strong foothold in the coating industry by being able to offer a varied range of products. To tap further opportunities in the printing inks market, we have now forayed into the manufacturing of resins and varnishes.

With the help of a professional and dedicated R & D team we can now offer a wide range of rosin modified phenolic resins, oil soluble maleic resins, long, medium, short oil alkyd resins and spirit soluble maleic resins. The association with the coatings manufacturers globally has helped us understand their need of quality and cost effective solutions. This combined with our keen technological understanding has made it possible for us to deliver products meeting the expectations of the printing ink manufactures all over.

What new products has your company recently launched and what kind of inks are they used?

We are always in the pursuit of developing and launching newer products which will help in improving various technical properties of the inks. We are also offering products that help in increasing the speed of printing as is the demand of the newer printing machineries.

Are you seeing any difference/change in the buying pattern from the ink industry?

People are slowly becoming cognizant about quality levels and are interested in high quality products. Having said that, due to the variable market scenario, there is a lot of impulsive, on the spot buying as against the planned purchasing, which used to happen earlier.

Do you have a manufacturing plant in India?

Yes, we have six manufacturing plants in India.

Do you supply products manufactured in India? If so where?

Yes, we do. We have a strong pan-India dealer presence that stocks our products manufactured in India.

What are the constraints of manufacturing/supplying raw materials?

Lately, we have seen a crunch in the availability of raw materials that directly affects both our calculations as well as our deadlines. The instability in the Indian Rupee has made it even more difficult to plan for the future. And nowadays with the ever increasing concern of environmental issues, the availability of the raw materials from dependable sources have become a major concern.

 

Raw materials continue to be among the top cost pressures for small and mid-sized manufacturers, and the ability to manage these costs remains a top sourcing concern. How should the procuring company address this critical supply concern?

Stock them. Be actively on the lookout for availability from newer dependable sources. It has become an important part of running a business nowadays and due attention must be given to it.

How are you impacted by the Government initiatives on FTA agreement with other countries in terms of exports or imports of your products or your raw materials?

We have not been able to make use of any such agreements till date.

The print industry has been witness a change in the way print is being demanded. The structure of the traditional process (offset) which is associated with long-runs is being challenged by growing demand for short-runs, now fast getting recognised with digital printing. What do you make out of this development?

We at KCIPL, as a matter of policy keep ourselves prepared for change and newer demands of the 21st century.

As supply chains become more complex and exposed to global risks, what’s the best approach to reduce the vulnerability of this operating environment?

Some things are risk prone and there is nothing you can do about it currently.

Has quality been sacrificed by specifying inferior, alternative materials or components? Are ink makers approaching product design in a different way?

We can always remain quality conscious even at lower rates provided we work with that attitude in mind. We think the ink makers are using the age old proven techniques to manufacture their products.

What other factors, beyond price, should ink makers consider when choosing suppliers?

Your suppliers are your backbone. With the changing times, we are also seeing the scarcity of long term dependable suppliers. Given this scenario, it doesn’t make any sense to consider only the price while deciding about the supplier. It’s wise to even consider the history and locus standi of the supplier so as to understand whether they can be capable of supplying even in bad economic times else the commitment deadline and the product both get compromised. This is best avoidable a situation in our opinion.

Customers of printing ink manufacturer are looking for greener technologies, who in turn would demand raw material which will help them produce such products. How is your company meeting those needs?

We have always been conscious of the repercussions of our industrial wastage on the environment and therefore have adopted quite a few green procedures to assuage the environmental burden, including but not limited to, water recycling at various stages of manufacturing and compulsory rain water harvesting at all our manufacturing facilities.

China has managed to dislodge the global players in technology, volumes and economies. What has stopped the Indian Multinationals or the large Indian companies MNC or otherwise from creating the same scaling operations. –

There are certain, fundamental obvious issues like lack of infrastructural support, unstable Indian currency etc, which narrows down the availability of choices we get to operate from. It’s not surprising to see low standards in decision-making, unfortunately given the current conditions.

What areas are your R&D efforts focusing on for the future?

For quite some time now, we have been consciously involved in researching greener manufacturing techniques. This is one of the areas where our R&D efforts have given good results. The other area is in producing products which have improved technical properties that have a domino effect when they act as raw materials for inks. We are more than happy with the results.

Do you have any further expansion plan?

We always have ongoing plans for horizontal expansion. Our direction of growth is to expand into newer fields, of-course related with our industry. This pattern is authenticated with our 30 years of growth and existence.

Future plans? Does this include diversion into other segments of print, that is, manufacturing of printing inks?

We are onboard with diverting into various types of eco-friendly ink manufacturing as a direct result of our R&D initiative.

The article has been compiled by Noel D'cunha and was first published in Ink News