Udaipur-based Miraj Multicolour, a part of the Miraj Group, is in the business of packaging printing, book printing and stationery manufacture. The company started in 2001 by manufacturing stationery products and exercise books. It entered the packaging printing and converting segment in 2011 and expanded in a big way with the inauguration of its 150,000 square foot dedicated and purpose build packaging plant in October 2013.
The state-of-the-art plant is not only the first packaging printing plant in the region but also one of the first in Rajasthan. The plant has equipment from leading suppliers including a new Heidelberg CD102 5-color offset press, a Bobst Novacut 106, a Visionfold 110A2, a Perfecta cutting machine, apart from other ancillary finishing and converting equipment.
Heidelberg running at full capacity
“We did a lot of research before we finally bought the Heidelberg. We went abroad and consulted many experts. The 5-color CD102 was installed in July 2013 and looking back it was a great decision to buy the press,” says KG Sharma, director, Miraj Multicolour.
According to Sharma, the new press is easy to operate, produces high quality results, has practically no breakdowns and is extremely operator friendly. Currently the Heidelberg is running at full capacity. Miraj Multicolour prints cartons for the pharmaceutical and FMCG segments in the main. Prominent brand owners amongst its customers are Godrej, Amul, Vadilal and Mother Dairy.
Lalitkumar Lamba, regional sales manager, Heidelberg India, notes, “With the objective to upgrade its packaging printing, Miraj looked for a highly productive, fully automated, and operator-friendly press with a UV option. The Heidelberg CD 102 matched its requirements perfectly to a tee. We recommended the Speedmaster CD 102 5-color plus coater to Miraj, after a thorough assessment of production requirements for each shift. Today, Miraj is a happy customer.” Madan Paliwal, chairman, Miraj Group says, “I’m glad I made the right decision to go for the CD 102. Business is booming and I can meet the exacting quality standards set by customers and deliver on time.”
Next steps in packaging expansion
With the Indian packaging industry witnessing strong growth in recent years, Miraj Multicolour wants to further expand and diversify in this area. “The packaging segment has a strong growth visibility, especially in the state of Rajasthan. We want to capture the growth prospects in the region by making further investments and diversifying our products and services,” explains Sharma. He says the company plans to add more machines from Heidelberg and Bobst and also add corrugated cartons. The plan is to install a 6-color Heidelberg with UV option as well as a diecutter and folder-gluer from Bobst.
“The year 2014 was a good year for us in terms of top-line growth and we have set a growth target of close to 50% for the coming few years for which these investments are necessary. And given the experience we have had with Heidelberg and Bobst we would like to continue our association with these leading supplier brands,” Sharma concludes.
