In a significant development for the flexible packaging industry in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the leading Indian gravure press manufacturer Kohli Industries has tied up Multigraph Machinery Company Limited (MMCL). MMCL is the trading wing of Manugraph, the leading Indian web offset manufacturer with a wide sales and service network spread across India, Africa and the Middle East. Both organizations are headquartered in Mumbai and the plan is for MMCL to market the complete range of rotogravure presses and lamination machines manufactured by Kohli Industries
“This tie-up gives Kohli Industries the time and energy to focus on its core competence, that is designing, innovating and manufacturing. Multigraph with its vast experience in sales and service can concentrate on marketing our products. Through Multigraph we will also get feedback about the kind of products and services the industry wants,” says Kaku Kohli, director of Kohli Industries.
The president of the Packaging Division of Multigraph, Hiten Mehta, is a packaging industry veteran familiar with Kohli Industries over many years. Mehta who recently took the initiative in establishing the business relationship with Kohli Industries, is excited about the opportunities that this collaboration can bring to both organizations. Mehta says, “We can now reach out to a lot more players in the flexible packaging industry with Kohli Industries as our principal. We can make our customers aware and familiarize them with the Kohli Industries’ product portfolio while expanding our reach in the packaging industry. With Kohli Industries’ strength in manufacturing and Multigraph’s core strength in marketing, the tie-up is a win-win for both companies,” Mehta says.
Multigraph’s strong presence in Africa and the Middle East is expected to be of great advantage in enhancing Kohli Industries’ brand in these markets. Kohli Industries plans to give complete training to Multigraph personnel about the working of its various machines so that they can handle the after-sales servicing issues as well.
Commenting on their plans in the next one year, Kohli and Mehta say, “We will work on all the necessary ground level and nitty-gritty work as soon as possible and we expect that the partnership will be fully working in another six to seven months. However, work will start immediately and we even hope that the tie-up will lead to closing at least one deal within a month or two.”
Both Mehta and Kohli are extremely optimistic about the continued high growth of the Indian flexible packaging industry. They believe that the biggest driver of growth in this segment will be the size of the Indian population, with more and more people demanding packaged food. “There is a large section of the population which is becoming relatively affluent and is now demanding packaged products, even in rural areas and small cities. In bigger cities, with changing lifestyles more and more packaged food is being consumed. All trends point to a very robust future for the packaging industry in India,” they say.
Kohli Open House events in January and March 2016
In January 2016, the Rhea AR-225 entry-level gravure press with a mechanical line shaft will be demonstrated at Kohli’s plant in Mumbai. At the Open House@Kohli in March 2016 the Thea AR-360 high technology gravure press with electronic line shaft will be demonstrated at Kohli’s plant in Mumbai.
Light weight films, medium weight paper and foil laminates will be demonstrated in short, medium and long runs. At the open house events customers requiring special printing trials with their own printing cylinders are encouraged and invited. Contact Kaku Kohli at +91 98201 52585 or eMail kohli@kohli.org
Packaging South Asia is the cooperating media partner for drupa 2016 which is scheduled to be held from 31 May to 10 June at Dusseldorf, Germany.
