Chennai's Vijayashree Packaging is not a story about diversification. It is a story about inevitability.
In the mid-2000s, when most commercial printers were still riding the dependable rhythm of book production, Chennai Micro Print was already sensing a quiet shift. Orders were steady, exports flowed to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and yet something about the business felt finite. The pages would keep turning, yes, but the growth curve would not. Packaging, on the other hand, was not just growing; it was relentless.
V Ramesh saw it before most. “Book production is a seasonal business and has lesser growth,” he says, recalling the early inflexion point. “Packaging is continuous. Every manufacturing company needs it month on month. That continuity changed our thinking.”
What began as a small experiment with a die-cutter would, over two decades, evolve into Chennai Micro Print, a fully integrated paperboard packaging business that now treats print not as its identity, but as its muscle.
Print hits the ceiling
The shift from books to packaging was not a dramatic break. It was a slow realisation that the fundamentals of the two businesses were fundamentally different. For nearly a decade, Chennai Micro Print ran both tracks in parallel, with book printing still commanding emotional and operational priority. It had scale, it had export markets, and it had familiarity. But it did not have visibility.
Ramesh puts it plainly. “Book production is seasonal and has lesser growth. You get orders, you complete them, and then you wait. Packaging is continuous. Every month, every week, there is a requirement.”
That difference, between episodic demand and rolling demand, reshaped the business logic. Packaging offered something printers regularly get predictability, annual contracts, forecast-based planning, and steady payment cycles began to replace the stop-start rhythm of publishing.
The more the company leaned into cartons, the more it began to understand that this was not an adjacent vertical. It was the core.
By 2012, the writing was on the wall. ePublishing had begun to erode long-term confidence in books. The company explored digital avenues but found the pace and capital intensity prohibitive. Packaging, meanwhile, was still underserved in Chennai, with few specialised players. The gap was not just visible. It was actionable.
By 2014, the two businesses were equal in size. One was stable but static. The other was expanding without friction. The decision to have two separate business verticals within was less a strategic gamble and more an acceptance of reality. One business would continue to operate within known limits, while the other would define the future.
Identity reset
The renaming to Vijayashree Packaging in 2020 was not cosmetic. It marked the end of internal ambiguity.
For years, the company had operated with two identities under one roof. Book printing had its own systems, its own teams, its own rhythm. Packaging had begun as an extension, borrowing machines, people and processes where possible. That overlap created efficiency in the early years, but it also blurred focus.
The split forced clarity. Book printing moved out with a partner. Packaging became a standalone proprietorship under Ramesh. What followed was a clean reset of priorities, investments and intent. “We are a purely packaging company,” he says, and the emphasis is deliberate. Yet the past has not been discarded.
The discipline of book production, particularly in handling volumes, maintaining consistency and managing tight deadlines, continues to inform operations. Even today, the company produces leaflets and manuals for packaging clients, drawing on its legacy capability, converting about 500-tonnes a month.
Beyond job work
One of the most decisive strategic shifts at Vijayashree has been the move away from transactional work to relationship-led business. It is a shift that many talk about, but few execute with discipline. Ramesh has effectively exited the daily marketing grind. There is no aggressive chasing of one-off jobs, no race to the bottom on pricing. Instead, the company aligns itself with customers who have predictable, repeat requirements. “I work with customers who give continuous business.
One-time marketing and continuous service,” he says. This approach has structural advantages. Production planning becomes more accurate. Inventory management improves. Cash flows stabilise. More importantly, it creates mutual dependency. The customer relies on Vijayashree for consistency, while Vijayashree relies on the customer for continuity and visibility. The product mix reflects this thinking. About 70% of the business comes from fluted carton packaging, which inherently supports volume and repeat orders. Mono cartons account for roughly 20%, while paper bags and related products are being added as complementary lines. Operating from a 50,000-square-foot production facility supported by a 25,000- square-foot warehouse, the company has built a physical backbone that supports this continuity.
The separation of storage and manufacturing allows a smoother flow of material, reduces internal congestion and enables better planning of inbound and outbound movement. Trucks move in and out with frequency, reflecting a business that is not on the rise. In many ways, this is where Vijayashree departs from the traditional print model. It is not chasing jobs. It is managing relationships, capacity and continuity.
Integration that works
In packaging, integration is often spoken about in broad terms.
At Vijayashree, it is built into the process, equipment and flow. “We have around 50,000-square feet for production and another 25,000 square feet for the warehouse,” Ramesh says. “That helps us to separate material handling and production. Otherwise, everything will get mixed up.” The distinction matters. Raw material inflow, work-in-progress and finished goods each have their own rhythm.
By isolating storage from manufacturing, the company reduces internal congestion and creates a cleaner production flow. In a business where delays often begin with misplaced pallets and cluttered shopfloors, space becomes an operational lever.
Inside this footprint sits a mix of legacy and new-generation equipment that reflects a gradual but deliberate evolution. “We have two Heidelberg offset and stack flexo for printing, Yilee film lamination, Bobst Novacut die-cutting and folder-gluer machines, Lamify flute laminator, corrugation machine,” Ramesh says. “We also have folder gluers from Bobst – Fuego and Novofold, window patching from Suba, automatic tape pasting, double-piece pasting, paper bag machines from Sunhope and Oyang.”
Each addition has been driven by necessity. “Earlier, we were doing window patching manually. Now we have automatic machines. Same with tape pasting. Wherever possible, we move to machine operations.”
That shift is rooted in reality. “Manpower reduction is very essential,” he explains. “That is why we invested in automated equipment across operations.” But the real insight lies in where those investments are concentrated. “Printing is fixed. The main importance is in finishing,” Ramesh says. “There are several operations. That is where we focused.”
This is where Vijayashree quietly diverges from many print-led converters. Instead of over-indexing on presses, it has built depth in post-press. Laminating, die-cutting, folder-glueing, and patching are not treated as downstream activities but as core value drivers.
The capacity balance reflects this thinking. “One printing machine, we need two die- cutters, two folder-gluers, one laminator, and one corrugator. That will be sufficient. If we expand, we add similar lines.”
Engineering innovation
In many packaging narratives, innovation is equated with visual appeal or premium formats.
At Vijayashree, innovation is rooted in engineering. “In packaging, innovation is in the reduction of material and proper accommodation of the product,” Ramesh says. This involves structural redesign, testing for strength and transport stress, and careful selection of adhesives and board grades.
It is a collaborative process with customers, often driven by annual cost-reduction targets and performance requirements. The outcome is not always visible to the end consumer. But it is measurable in cost savings, material efficiency and performance reliability. Packaging becomes a function of optimisation rather than embellishment.
Interestingly, this innovation does not command a price premium. Customers do not pay more for smarter packaging. Instead, they reward it with larger volumes and longer contracts. “They don’t pay extra, but they give more business,” Ramesh notes.
This engineering mindset extends into sustainability as well. Material reduction, structural optimisation and efficient use of resources directly lower environmental impact, without requiring separate positioning.
Data as discipline
Beneath the physical operations lies a layer of digital discipline that anchors decision- making.
The ERP system is not a passive record-keeping tool. It is actively used to track orders, monitor material consumption, analyse production efficiency and flag deviations.
Reports are generated regularly and reviewed with intent. Each department operates within defined limits. Material consumption is monitored against benchmarks. Output targets are set for machines. “We generate reports periodically. We see where we are and how to improve,” Ramesh says. One number stands out: 70%. That is the threshold within which material costs are expected to stay.
Beyond that, margins begin to erode. It is a simple rule, but one that imposes discipline across the organisation. This layer of control has gained sharper definition over the past year and a half with the entry of the next generation. Jayashree, a printing technologist by training, began her career with ITC Packaging and Printing Business in its flexible packaging division before joining Vijayashree. The exposure to scale, systems and material science now feeds directly into how she approaches operations. Jayashree’s role is particularly significant here with sourcing, procurement of materials, managing work in progress (WIP) and finished goods (FG). With her focus on ERP, data management, product development and material optimisation, she is strengthening the analytical backbone of the company. “Now she is focusing on ERP, data management and how to reduce wastage,” Ramesh says. Her involvement signals a shift from experience-led decision-making to data-supported execution.
Second act begins
For years, growth at Vijayashree was shaped by constraint. The existing facility's limited expansion and investments were calibrated to fit within available space.
The focus remained on extracting efficiency rather than adding scale. That phase is now ending. The company has acquired land on the outskirts of Chennai and is planning a new facility, with a target to be operational before 2027. “Now we are planning to expand aggressively,” Ramesh says.
The expansion will prioritise offset and flexo capabilities, particularly for printed 3ply/5ply corrugated cartons. The shift is towards printed cartons rather than plain conversion, combining structural strength with visual finish. Fluted cartons remain central to the business, but the focus is shifting towards printed cartons rather than plain conversion. Offset-printed flute laminated cartons, in particular, represent an area where the company sees both demand and differentiation.
The growth trajectory already reflects this momentum. From around INR 25–27- crore in 2023, the company has scaled to nearly INR 50-crore in a short period.
The next phase aims to build on this base not by chasing volume alone, but by expanding capability and deepening its position within existing segments.
As Jayashree steps deeper into the business, Vijayashree enters a phase where experience and systems begin to converge. The transition is not abrupt. It is layered, with responsibilities gradually shifting and expanding. Ramesh brings with him over four decades of experience, much of it rooted in print and shaped by hands-on engagement with machines, materials and customers.
His approach reflects a deep understanding of how the industry has evolved, from manual processes to automated systems, from print-led operations to packaging- driven growth.
Jayashree brings a complementary perspective. Her focus on ERP, data management and material optimisation introduces a level of analytical rigour that strengthens operational control. She is closely involved in tracking consumption, identifying inefficiencies and aligning procurement with production needs.
“Whatever my knowledge, I transfer to her,” Ramesh says, describing a process that is both deliberate and continuous. But the transfer is not one-way. The business itself is being reinterpreted, with data, structure and process adding new layers to instinct and experience.
Vijayashree is no longer a company that transitioned out of print. It is a company that has absorbed that legacy and redeployed it within a packaging-first framework.