Agarbatti packaging specialist Prakash Industries benefits from Komori and Bobst kits

Prakash Industries started in 1960 as a printing playing cards player. When playing cards took a dip, due to lottery, it ventured into agarbatti (fragrance sticks) business in 1995 with the brand Tiranga. Today, the company produces seven lakh agarbatti boxes per day and the agarbatti business is worth more than Rs 100 crore. To meet the demands, the company has invested in new kit.

15 Oct 2018 | By Rahul Kumar

Last year, Prakash installed fully-loaded 25x37-inches Komori. Brijendra Sharma of Prakash Industries says the company opted for the Komori because it was an economical investment and after-sales services were good. 

The Komori is the first brand new printing press in Kanpur. 

The company also invested in a Bobst Visionfold folder-gluer in December 2016 right after demonetisation. “Previously, we had five India-made folder-gluers. Each required five people. This single folder-gluer has replaced three India-made kits and the productivity has increased five times,” Sharma says.

He adds that the company wanted to go for an Ambition folder-gluer, but after attending the Bobst open house, it settled for the Visionfold. “Right now, we are running the folder-gluer at the maximum speed possible since most of the boxes are straight line and we produce an average between six- to seven-lakh boxes in two shifts. We are producing side pasting and lock bottom for the moment and planning to produce hexa pack soon,” Sharma says.

In any case, Prakash is the oldest Bobst customer in the city, with a die-cutter purchased in 1998. 

The company converts around 350 tonnes of board and paper per month, while it outsources Rs 50-lakh worth of corrugation jobs. To avoid quality and delivery issues, there is a plan to establish a corrugation plant to manufacture E and narrow flute.  

Prakash recently started ghee packaging for Kanpur Gaushala. There are also plans to start print production for spices. 

“We are launching our own calendar this year, especially panchang. We produced five lakh calendars last year and people liked them very much,” says Sharma.

That’s not all. The company also wants to get into stationery manufacturing as the next generation of the family is ready to enter into the business. And it’s possible, as the company has a strong market hold in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. “We are among the top agarbatti brands in all the states. We were awarded India’s most trusted brand of 2016 and 2017,” Sharma says. 

Now the plan is to achieve Rs 500 crore mark in the next five years.