Russian packagers visit India’s Parksons, TCPL and IPP

The visit was a proactive initiative by Bobst India, aimed at dispelling the myth among the western print fraternity about Indian made Bobst machines quality. According to Subhasis Roy, business director-SEA India, mid-east and Africa for Bobst, “There is a general perception that Bobst machines manufactured in India does not match the standard of Bobst Switzerland. Dispelling those doubts was our primary objective.”

He added, “We also wanted the delegation to get a first hand view of the Indian market and the vibrancy of the Indian packing market. It’s our way of showing that Indian packaging industry is at par with its global counterparts.”

Rishabh Singhvi, International Print-o-Pac said, “The visit provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and learn more about the Russian print and packaging industry, growth and trends. It may also allow us to explore opportunities to collaborate and cooperate with our Russian counterparts. Russia is located closer to key European markets and can serve as a base for Indian exports. Russia is also an important source of global paper pulp and can serve as a source of key raw material. It was a pleasure interacting with Russian industry colleagues.”

The Russians were impressed with what they saw at the various units, Yomesh Chothani of TCPL Packaging, said, “All of them were quite impressed to see the organised, plus the neat and tidy shop floor maintained by us. They felt, despite the challenges we face, we are quite efficient and productive at a highly optimum level an... they were quite impressed with the varied nature of our business.”

Singhvi added, "The Indian print and packaging is evolving steadily in response to growing domestic and international demand for high-quality products manufactured competitively and efficiently. India seeks to position itself as a global base for book and packaging exports and interaction with leading firms in other countries is key to achieving this objective. Indian companies are attuned to working under constraints and tight margin pressures. India is also a highly price sensitive market. As a fellow BRICS country, the same holds good for Russia." Singhvi felt, "given our similar positioning, we are sure to learn much from one another."

Alexey Filatov, general director, St Petersburg Exemplary Printing House, who was part of the Russian delegation, said, “This visit was a great opportunity to benchmark ourselves against the operational standards prevalent in India. We thank Bobst India and the three packaging firms that we visited for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity.”