One of India’s biggest packaging solutions provider Huhtamaki PPL (HPPL) acquired 51% stake in the leading manufacturer of labels for the pharmaceuticals sector, Webtech, in 2012. In the five years since HPPL’s acquisition of Webtech, the company’s labeling division has seen a robust growth. HPPL is now very strong in pressure-sensitive label for the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, HPPL’s labeling division has five plants across India at Hyderabad, Sikkim, Bengaluru, Parvanu and Mahape, with a combined capacity of 3 million square meters per month. HPPL’s labeling business has also been working on new offerings, such as multilayer labels, Braille, tactile, security and anti-counterfeiting solutions, among others.
“We are now looking at increasing the exports of our labeling solutions, which is negligible now,” said Amar Chhajed, president – Labelling Business, HPPL at the CPHI & P Mec 2017, which was held in Mumbai from 27 to 30 November.
Overall, HPPL has a very strong export market and Chhajed believes that the company’s strong global connect can be leveraged to increase exports of labeling solutions as well.
Another focus area for HPPL’s labeling division in the next few years would be to expand beyond the pharmaceutical segment. “At present, our customers are mainly from the pharmaceutical industry. We want to now diversify and venture into other industries,” he shared.
HPPL will also be strengthening its digital label printing capabilities as it prepares for the future. It is already using digital technologies at its Mahape and Bengaluru plants. “We want to be future ready and be ahead of the curve, and therefore we will be expanding our digital printing capabilities soon.”
Finally, talking about the business environment, Chhajed said that the industry has absorbed the shocks of last one year and is on the growth path.
“All the major shocks that we felt in the last one year have been absorbed and I believe in the next three years the economy will see robust growth,” he concluded.
