VINSAK @ Supply Chain Conclave 2014, New Delhi

The brand owners, packaging technologists and logistics experts shared a common knowledge platform at Supply Chain Conclave 2014, held on the sidelines of recently concluded Pack Plus at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, (June 11-12, 2014) in order to address the complex issues across the organisation.

Ranesh Bajaj, director, VINSAK; Kuldeep Goyal, director, Any Graphics and Bijoy Peter, senior technical manager, GS1 India.The Conclave, this year, explored the theme of gaining market value by the creation of the emerging concept of the market driven value network. In an environment of brand volatility and slow market growth, such market driven supply networks are being increasingly sought after to create lean and cost efficient processes. The advent of on-line retail and its attendant sales forecasting and inventory complexity have made the demand even more urgent. It was well attended by packaging users, convertors, equipment and material manufacturers as well as Supply Chain & Logistics professionals.

This Conclave was organized to put together, for the first time, a knowledge based discussion on the role of packaging design in efficient end-of-line and supply chain operations. Knowledge experts from various facets of the industry participated – among which included: ITC, Nestle, Coke, GSK, Barista-Lavazza, Cadbury-Mondolez, Oriflame, Home TV 18, Organics India, Adani, Esko, Omron, Mamata, UFlex, Weldon Celloplast, Kumar Printers and more.

Ranesh Bajaj, director of VINSAK, discussed on ‘Optimising Supply Chain Efficiency across the enterprise with the help of Track & Trace systems’. Other panellists to this session included Kuldeep Goel, director, Any Graphics and Bijoy Peter, senior technical manager, GS1 India. Ranesh discussed about the Brand Protection Solutions – Under Security Solutions – Security Inks, Software, Substrates as well as Track & Trace solutions.

He also opined that competitive packaging and shelf display in modern retail alone cannot help to build winning products, unless it is backed by a resilient, efficient supply chain. Emerging concepts in packaging design, operations, sourcing and distribution logistics seek to build integrated platforms of market driven value networks. The packaging is designed not only with the consumer in mind but also its freight and handling. “The supply chain seeks to go beyond the old adage of “right product at the right place” to being adaptive enough to sense and realign market focus at all times,” he said. Conclave format was planned as a day-night event to start at lunch and end with dinner.

It allowed participants to be free to attend to their “day jobs” in the morning while getting an opportunity to mingle with industry colleagues and experts between the afternoon and evening. It followed with an interactive discussion between an expert panel and participants in order to allow real-time experience and knowledge sharing.

VINSAK has enabled many businesses succeed financially by providing them customized solutions that were well integrated and supported. These include manufacturers of print that extend from large and well-established brands to entities that are in their nascent stage of growth. The vision of VINSAK has always brought solutions that were innovative, high quality and more critically an ideal fit for businesses to succeed in today’s competitive environment.

PackPlus 2014, New Delhi

PackPlus brought together the world wide manufacturers and providers of machinery, materials and services for food, pharma and packaging industry from all over India. Reiterating its significant contribution towards packaging automation solutions, OMRON Automation India showcased company’s integrated packaging solutions. OMRON displayed its key strengths in the packaging automation segment like the pick & place Scara Robot, vision, safety and bottling solutions. “Packaging solutions is one of our forte worldwide as well as in India. Driven majorly by the burgeoning increase in the consumption of packaging material owing to the increase in middle class population, the packaging industry is expected to touch $ 32 billion by 2025 in India (as per one of the McKinsey reports).Our SYSMAC platform gives value addition to the packaging industry by integrating logic, motion, vision & robotics together which enables customers to achieve higher machine speeds, greater accuracy, better quality and enhanced safety,” said Sameer Gandhi, MD, OMRON. While for Avinash Mansukhani, asst manager – customer support, Convertech, it was just another routine show for them as they were busy interacting with existing customers. “The value system and traditional roots have been preserved through its people and personalities. Today, this value system can be seen through our value added services, excellent technical support, on-time deliveries, high quality and cost effective products, tailored solutions, and on-going development of high quality products. And such shows are the right platform to display it to the whole industry.”

The show featuring all leading and customary exhibitors from the packaging fraternity had some new companies joining the list this year. There were some unusual exhibitors as well like Sharjah Airport International Free Zone – SAIF ZONE, the centerpiece of the Sharjah’s government commitment to free trade. “We are here to invite Indian investors. It is located adjacent to Sharjah international airport and a few minutes from Sharjah Dubai and major UAE ports on the Arabian Gulf. It is only 120 kms from port Khorfakkan on the Indian Ocean; investors therefore have access to the east and the west coast,” said Raed A Bukhatir, manager – sales department (Commercial Division), SAIF ZONE, Sharjah.

While, A & A Lables, was overwhelmed with the response they were getting for the third consecutive year. Ashok Jain and his two sons – Anubhav Jain & Saurabh Jain were busy handling customers queries. “We are happy as this time; we are getting mostly new and first time buyers.” Naveen Goel, director, Any Graphics was also happy showing his company’s innovations and products, which will create a revolution in the Indian printing & packaging industry. He shared his enthusiasm about such shows and said, “I feel excited to participate in such industry shows, it helps us in getting firsthand feedback from industry peers and it’s always good to be there.”