Krishay Paper and Packaging to set up new automated corrugation plant

Carton capacity augmented by Robus JC-1100PC folder gluer

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Krishay Packaging
Krishay Paper and Packaging Carton capacity augmented by Robus JC-1100PC folder gluer.

Krishay Paper & Packaging was formed as a limited liability partnership on 6 June 2020. It is situated in the Industrial Model Township, in Manesar, in the Delhi National Capital Region. Spanning 88,000 square feet, its printing and converting plant is equipped with high-end technology with a view to reaching a production capacity of 20,000 tonnes a year by the end of the next fiscal year.

Currently, the company is printing and converting almost 850 metric tons per month of paper and approximately 10,000 metric tons of paperboard packaging annually. Its immediate target is to convert 1,000 metric tons per month.

The company’s director says, Madhur Bathla “We offer our clients our well-established credentials as a highly specialized printer, with a value proposition of worldwide capabilities and innovative technology to streamline operations, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.” The consequences of the Covid-19 crisis are still being worked out.

From the standpoint of the printing industry, the lower demand in 2020 has been challenging for many printers, particularly the newer ones. Bathla said, “Raw material costs have lately increased by 30% to 50%. In 2021, the lockout resulted in an average 11% drop in business volume for Indian MSMEs, compared to a 46% drop during the countrywide lockdown in 2020. Moreover, government assistance continues to be critical to the success of many of these businesses, particularly SMEs, which account for up to 29% of our GDP. Such difficulties will persist until the effects of Covid-19 subside, and the economy reopens.”

In terms of printing, the company’s sheetfed multicolor offset presses include a 7-color Komori 28 x 40-inch, a 6-color + UV LED, a Komori 28 x 40-inch, and a 5-color Komori 20 x 28-inch press. Three automatic die-punching machines from Bobst and Wen-Hong and three automatic folder gluer machines are used for post-press.

More recently, a Robus JC-1100PC high-speed Rapid fully automatic folder gluer machine with a maximum speed of 60,000 cartons an hour was chosen by KPPL. With an inline brail attachment, the company has opted to improve its existing technology. In light of the increasing demand for packaging, apart from design, prepress, and the pressroom, a key area in packaging is the post-press and converting infrastructure. On the recent converting equipment expansion, Bathla remarks, “We have also just installed a fully automatic laminator machine, and by the end of the year, we will have a fully automatic corrugation plant with a total yearly output capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes.”

KPPL works with leading brands in a variety of industrial and consumer segments, including mobile phones, gift boxes, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, electronics, and white goods. It produces printed folding cartons, corrugated boxes, and rigid boxes with print finishing options in-house, including laminating, UV, foil stamping, embossing, varnishing, and enhanced security features.

“The IMT Manesar (Industrial Model Township) is a huge industrial region part of the DMIC. There are numerous significant international enterprises in the area, including Maruti Suzuki, Jaquar, Toshiba Eco City, and the 170-acre Manesar Software Technology Park. Aside from that, the nearby access to the head offices of major brands such as Nestle, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, PepsiCo, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, The Home Depot, Walmart, and other large purchasing houses provide packaging firms like us an equal opportunity,” says Bathla.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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