Samir Patkar and Manish Kapoor push labels and transformation at LMAI 2015
There were many lessons to learn at LMAI 2015 held from 16-18 July, 2015 in Jaipur. One of them was how not to miss an opportunity to increase profits by the proverbial leaving money on the table.
25 Jul 2015 | 2652 Views | By PrintWeek India
“We have seen clients make common mistakes that eat into their profits,” said Samir Patkar, managing director for South Asia at Gallus. Patkar along with Manish Kapoor, country head for sales at Nilpeter, shared some of the challenges and opportunities that labelers can watch for in their companies.
Patkar’s presentation titled, Cost drivers @ label printing … Who ate my cheese, was laced with slides that contained information on costs of producing different runs using standard and short web presses. "Gross profit is selling price minus cost price. Most of the times the selling price is not in the control of the printers, but the cost price is,” said Patkar.
This may sound obvious but by using new technologies in flexo presses, which reduces the distance between the two web units, you can arrest the costs that can run amok, and ruin profits. “Key influencing factors of cost are the raw material waste, personnel cost, operating, finance and depreciation,” said Patkar.
Label presses with short web and relevant automation can help save considerable material and save money, which ultimately adds up to profit, suggested Patkar.
Patkar’s presentation title was inspired by the book, Who moved my cheese? By Spencer Johnson. And the theme of the book as well as that of LMAI was – finding new ways to deal with unexpected changes.
Manish Kapoor of Nilpeter carried the message of the theme in his inimitable style. He wowed the audience with his presentation – Indian label converter – challenges and opportunities; that drew praise from the audience. “If the label segment is growing at 15%, why am I not growing, is the questions that many ask,” he said. “That’s because our labelers are doing more and more for less and less,” said Kapoor.
His mantra for success was - doing less and less for more and more. “Use less time for more production, less investment for more profit, and less effort for more value,” said Kapoor.
There are opportunities galore for the labelers. The entry-level barrier has risen considerably, growth graph continues to see upward trends, customers realise the virtues of consistency and quality, and new markets are awaiting the arrival of innovative web converters.
“Get new business while retaining existing ones, increase capacity and productivity; increase capabilities to innovate; observe, learn, educate and develop; and lastly think out-of-the-box,” said Kapoor. “It’s time to graduate from being a label converter to packaging solutions provider,” concluded Kapoor.