Apart from being an innovative and frequent award-winning label converter, Noida-based Any Graphics produces cartons, rigid boxes, chrome stickers, logo, graphics, POPs, overlay panels, and publicity materials. Its client base extends from the Delhi-NCR across the country with exports to Europe and the Middle East.
With his profound understanding of the production processes and the shelf impact that packaging and labels need to have, Any Graphics’ founder Kuldip Goel manages to inject a great deal of creativity into every project. Focusing on uniqueness, innovation and impact instead of fighting the price war, Goel says, “Every member of our team contributes in delighting the customer instead of simply satisfying him with a lower cost product.” He insists that customer demand decides the company’s plans and the strategy works well and propels word of mouth publicity to the extent that he has never felt the need for a marketing team.
Not every innovation is practical, according to Goel. “Nine out of 10 innovations are wasted as they are found to be impractical for long-run production. They can be quite useless for the industry or too disruptive for the supply chain. You must be a designer, creative visualizer, production manager, and know your target customers to get ahead in a fiercely competitive industry,” he says. Innovations may comprise just 3-4 % of the company’s turnover, but they help in bringing in 25% of the customers.
A label is not just a piece of printed material, it represents the brand and to highlight the brand should be the prime motive of a label printer. “We must fight the competition with three tools – innovation, value addition and service,” he argues.
Any Graphics has a wide array of equipment for paperboard packaging and labels and doming labels, a niche that it has pioneered. Goel sees these machines, including his comprehensive prepress section, not as equipment but as the instruments of an orchestra that can be used in his plant (which calls a studio), to create unique pieces that happen to be label and packaging products.
For labels, the company sources 80% of its materials from Avery Dennison India while 20% of label stocks are imported. Using the best certified materials, the company’s 360 degree solutions also help brand owners and consumers in differentiating between authentic and counterfeit products. Holography, Fresnel lenses, PRI and brush finish effects add both security and a unique feel that is close to impossible to reproduce or counterfeit.
Goel experiments with metallic enhancements, vignettes, varnish and layers of colors. Under his leadership, a systematic approach is maintains quality by the joint efforts of the prepress, production and creative teams. A wide array of testing and inspection equipment assure quality and consistency.
National and international recognition
Any Graphics has been recognized time and again for by the Label Manufacturers Association of India (LMAI) with national awards that are conferred in 23 categories. At this year’s awards coinciding with the Labelexpo India exhibition in Greater Noida, the company won the first prize in seven categories for brands such as Fiama, Dabur and Vintage and was a runner-up in three label categories. The winning categories were combination printing – color; jury award – innovation; letterpress; color process – digital printing; flexo printing – wine & spirits; and, screen printing – all including wine & spirits.
The LMAI award winners are eligible to participate in the annual World Label Awards with a jury of 15-20 label professionals from across the world. Any Graphics has won the first prize in two categories and the runner-up award twice in multiple categories for the winning labels in the 2018 LMAI awards.
Challenges in the Indian label industry
Goel says that since commercial printing was substantially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, several commercial printers migrated into labels and packaging. According to him, the newbies are unable to quickly understand these niche markets and end up purchasing low cost or entry-level machines that may not be fit for purpose. This has lowered the overall quality standards and led to price wars by newcomers as they struggle to survive. At the same time raw material prices have been increased four or five times within a single year.
