Kanpur’s Ramji Press invests in Heiber + Schroeder machines

Of the two Speedliners, one will be installed at the company’s Kanpur facility and the other at Haridwar. The delivery is expected by September 2016. Sparsh Mehrotra and Ankur Mehrotra, owners of the company, inked the deal at the Drupa exhibition ground in Dusseldorf.

Sparsh Mehrotra, who joined the business in 2009, said, “We work for clients who have to attract customers for their products through the packaging. So the machines were required.”

Mehrotra said the company went for the Heiber + Schroeder kit because of its high-speed output through a robust cross cutting system, an improved liner station, maximum use of space and a wide variety of options available.

Mehrotra was impressed with the technological advancement available at Drupa, and mused philosophically, “Technology brings knowledge but at a cost for printers and print buyers,” he said, “No doubt, the market is competitive and you have to be ready to beat it and accept it.”

Started as Ramji Press in 1929, the family owned company is now run by third and fourth generation leaders, who, Mehrotra said, are working heads and hands on the level of ownership.

The packaging printing company works mostly on duplex boards and manufacture metallised cartons, printed mono cartons, liner cartons, corrugated cartons, calendars and other kind of boxes. The company’s client list includes big names from spice, leather (especially shoe) and tobacco industry.

Beside the mother unit in Kanpur, SBFRP, an ISO 9001:2000 company, has another production facility at Sidcul Haridwar, which came into existence in 2008. The Kanpur unit is equipped with multicolour printing units including a six-colour KBA, which was installed last year and Bobst finishing equipment. Here, the company converts around 600 tonne of paper and paperboard. It also manufactures E-Flute cartons. At the Haridwar unit, the company manufactures cartons mostly with Kraft paper.

Eveready is one of the company’s oldest customers. The association goes back to 1962. When Kanpur-based Goldiee Masala started operating in 1989, SBFRP supplied the first batch of boxes, and it has been doing so since then. “We are based out of Kanpur but our customers are everywhere,” Mehrotra said, “We send our printed boxes as far as Cuttack and Delhi. Customers relationship and retention are important aspects of the business.”

He added, “Our competition is not with a player like us because the kind of expenses we have, they also have similar expenses. However, freelancers are disrupting the market. They do not have any set up and they provide printed jobs at a lower price by outsourcing. This is not a healthy practice for the industry.”

Puneet Agarwal, national sales head, folding carton, Indian subcontinent, Bobst, said, “Presently 65 Heiber + Schroeder machines are in operation in India. This number is expected to go up.”

Bobst India sells and maintains all Heiber + Schroeder machines in India. “We aim to be a guiding partner, helping our customers succeed, whether it is by providing services that help them make the most of their existing equipment, by supplying highly productive new solutions for conventional processes, or by offering disruptive new technologies, such as digital print.”