Mumbai label stock manufacturer SMI Coated Products is participating at Labelexpo Europe for the fourth time this year. The company manufactures a wide range of label stocks for both the Indian market as well as exports. A large chunk of SMI’s business comes from exports so Labelexpo Europe is a very important platform for the company to meet with global as well as Indian consumers. At this year’s edition of the show, SMI launched some new products.
“We are participating at Labelexpo for the fourth time this year. There are products that we have displayed at the expo that are manufactured by us for the first time. We want the visitors to see and know about them at the event itself,” says Ajay Mehta, managing director of SMI Coated Products.
Talking about Labelexpo, Mehta says that the event has always served as a great platform to meet up with friends and partners from the industry.
“Whether they are suppliers or customers, we end up having choc-o-block meeting for four days. Many of them are planned and many of them unplanned. The whole experience of Labelexpo is fantastic,” he says with a smile.
This year SMI has been asked by the Tarsus Group to be part of their team which conducted a training program on self-adhesive labels. “We made presentations and conducted training programs on various aspects of self-adhesive labels,” says Mehta.
Nothing alarming about growth prospects of the label industry
There has been a lot of talk about a slowdown in the growth rate of the Indian economy and its impact on the consumption sector. Since the label industry is directly affected by the health of the consumption sector, any slowdown has an impact on it as well. Mehta says that there is a slowdown but it is nothing out of ordinary.
“Yes, there is a mild slowdown in the label industry but we have seen many ups and downs in the last five years and this too is part of that. I do not think this is anything extraordinary or alarming. The long-term growth potential of the Indian label industry is very positive,” he argues.
Mehta, however, says that in order to manage the slowdown in the short term, companies should follow some mantras. They should not get into price wars, should avoid entering into long-term commitments, keep good control on inventory, stay away from bad paymasters, ensure enough liquidity and invest in capital good prudently, he argues.
SMI Coated Products is at Stand 11A27.
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