The three Gulati brothers, Aman, Amit and Vikas, who manage Galaxy Offset have fully commissioned their greenfield carton plant in the Ghiloth Industrial Area in Rajasthan. The new plant 70 kilometers south of the company’s Manesar plants on a seven-acre plot, has a 2,50,000-square-foot environmentally attuned building with three highly configured packaging lines currently in production. The investments in land, plant construction and new machines including a new 7-color coater UV press, a die-cutter and several ancillary machines have entailed an overall investment in the region of Rs 100 crore.
The in-house STP and water treatment plants are an indispensable part of a green manufacturing facility. Designed for the linear process workflow of high-value cartons from the unloading of raw material and paperboard at one end, and the despatch of printed and converted cartons at the other, trucks can comfortably circle the entire perimeter of the plant.
Natural light and ventilation are a feature of the green building concept of Galaxy Offset’s plant in Ghiloth Photo PSAThough the land was purchased in 2021, the three brothers took nearly one and a half years to get the plant up and running. The new Manroland sheetfed 7-color coater UV press and die-cutters and folder gluers started production in eighteen months, while the shifting of the two complete packaging lines from Manesar meant that the new plant in its entirety was commissioned only in April 2024.
The L-shaped factory has a vertical store to keep paper and other supplies with clean battery-powered vehicles to retrieve stocks and an independent ink kitchen supported by the Hubergroup. A solar panel array of 1MW capacity with a Net Meter facility, makes the carton production process energy efficient, reducing its carbon footprint.
The well-researched and thought-out plant has an in-house segregated corrugation and lamination facility for the company’s requirements. It is adjacent to and connected with the plant’s paper and board unloading docks and the vertical storage area to be digitally organized for efficient access.
Galaxy initiated production in Ghiloth with its brand new Manroland Sheetfed Evolution 7-color plus coater UV press in October 2023. The Evolution 700 7-color plus coater has UV interdeck curing and UV and IR at the end of the machine. It is equipped with the new upgraded version of the Evolution feeder and an enhanced dampening system. “The excellent Manroland Sheetfed service team pushes us for regular maintenance. They recently brought a team of German engineers to inspect the new machine in production,” shares Aman Gulati.
The new Manroland Evolution 7-color plus coater offset press that started off the production at Galaxy Offset’s new Ghiloth plantPhoto PSA
In recent months the Heidelberg CD 102 7-color plus coater UV press, and the Heidelberg 6-color plus coater UV press have also been moved from Manesar and installed in Ghiloth. While the 7-color plus coater presses are used only for UV cartons, the 6-color plus coater is used as a combination press.
The packaging lines have been completed with the earlier die-cutters from Bobst and the Masterwork diecutter cum hot foil stamping machine and the folder gluers from Bobst and DGM. A new Bobst diecutter and several ancillary postpress equipment such as a lamination machine and a new Polar cutter system were added to the new plant at its inception.
Top management of Galaxy Offset: father Satish Gulati (second from right) with sons Amit, Aman and Vikas GulatiResources are the force plus ambition with the desire for rapid growth
Among the three brothers, Amit Gulati is the marketing force. Loving to sell print he is constantly and proactively searching for new customers including the food industry. He is confident that he can deliver top-class packaging to mostly Indian consumer product companies. Galaxy Offset recently completed the BRCGS audit for food safety.
Aman Gulati manages finances and purchasing. Purchasing and importing the right paper in the right size and at the lowest price is a key component in being competitive and profitable. Vikas Gulati, the youngest brother, is the production head.
“We don’t want to limit our carton production to a particular product or company. We have to have varying percentages of monocarton production for customers across pharma, cosmetics, bathroom fittings, and household supplies,” Amit Gulati shares. “Prospective customers need to be good in payments, have a sizable business, and at least give us a fair margin for value,” Vikas Gulati added.
“The edge is our responsiveness – everyone from the top to the bottom of the company is accessible to the customer’s teams,” Amit Gulati says. There are 17 – 20 HODs who manage the operations of the Ghiloth plant while another 7 – 8 HODs manage the commercial printing operations of the Manesar plant under the guidance of the Gulati brothers. They have brought their key managers and skilled teams who they value, to the new plant, while there are several novel human resource ideas for the company’s continued rapid growth.
Galaxy has grown steadily in the carton segment becoming one of the structured and organized carton suppliers to consumer product companies. Apart from the brothers’ belief in quality, hard work and teamwork, they truly enjoy the creativity that print offers and are ready to go the extra mile to add value and viability to their customer’s packaging ideas.
Many obstacles or blips have been overcome in the construction and commissioning of the Galaxy Offset carton plant in Ghiloth. It is a grand achievement already, but the Gulati brothers are keen on continued rapid growth.
A fourth packaging line in Ghiloth is not just a thought or a plan. We get the feeling that it is imminent and will happen sooner rather than later – a matter of months and not years. At the same time, the Galaxy team is turning the two buildings in Manesar with their RMGT multicolor presses into a specialized commercial printing plant. There is a surplus hunger and ambition beyond these ongoing projects too – to join the ranks of multilocational carton suppliers servicing clients across India.
