Yesterday, Canpac inaugurated the 1.25-lakh sq/ft full-fledged automated corrugated carton production plant in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu.

The capability highlight of the plant is the high-speed 150 metres per minute line,  which will produce three-ply and five-ply litho-laminated boxes. It will also convert mono cartons with value additions like foiling, embossing and UV textured effect, in some portion of the same premises.

Canpac invested around Rs 40-crore in this new unit. It has two high-speed corrugators from Taiwan, along with die-cutters, four-colour flexo press, Bobst gluer and other finishing machineries. Canpac plans to convert about 25,000 metric tonnes in this unit, which it hopes to target a revenue of Rs 125-crore in the next three years.

All businesses go through lean patches, some learn well and become stronger, others fail to live up to the changed business scenario. If you feel overwhelmed by the turbulence in your business environment today, then think of shifting forces, like Canpac has.

For a company that did run-of-the-mill jobs like simple cartons between 1995 to 2010, strident developments taking place in the packaging segment, it beckoned Canpac Trends, then Canery, to invest into and focus completely on.

 

In 2011, the company went about setting up its Rs 50-crore plant in Ahmedabad’s Bavla taluka, acquiring a 4-lakh sq/ft plot of land. Nilesh Todi, managing director and his team developed a 1-lakh sq/ft plant in the first phase, which was up and running in 2012. It marked an important step towards reforming its print and packaging business; some hopeful vignettes, because previously the company offered print and packaging service, which was more a “bits and pieces” business.

 

Todi believes that if one has to grow, expansion or scaling up is the way to go though you can hit the market with value addition. “I think, both of them are needed. It is true that you can hit the market with value-addition, but if you have to grow at a higher rate, you will have to scale up, bring in new machinery and technology. 

He adds, “Value addition depends on customers, what they want, and there is also a limit to value-add, how much can you extend that? Value addition is not a mantra you can adopt very easily. It is not like you show a new thing to the customer and he accepts it. One has to take a lot of pain to innovate.  It’s a part where you add an element, and if accepted, make a little profit. Value addition, I believe is only for the bottom-line.”

Besides the new plant in Tirupur, Canpac is commenced expansion activities of the plant in Bavla with a Rs 21-crore investment in a 40,000 sq/ft space and machinery. The investment includes: a Heidelberg six-colour hybrid double-coater, and post-press and finishing machineries like Bobst folder-gluer, Higher die-cutter and Wenchuyaan lamination machine. Canpac has projected a Rs 160-crore turnover target for this plant in the next two years.

Canpac is upbeat. It boasts a client list that has companies like Godrej, Amul, Cadila, Lux, and a string of mid-level growing brands, and a team leader in Todi, who says, “Today customers are looking beyond the brown box. With the expansion, Canpac will not just sell boxes; it will go beyond just package.”