Indian players must get more efficient

According to Mehta, the Indian players in the label industry need to be more efficient in running their presses to be able to produce economically and stay profitable. ‘Market conditions such as devaluation of rupee and rising prices are something we need to get used to. A company does not invest in a machine because the dollar is behaving in a particular way,’ he pointed out.

Comparing world trends, Mehta said, ‘The quality of material that we are producing on these machines in India is in too many cases far below world standards.’ Pointing out at the challenges, Mehta said, ‘I have seen cases where more efficient players are producing double the amount than some others in the same arena and this is probably because of the way they think and operate a machine.’

Mehta feels that the biggest obstacle with Indian converters is the opinion that the machine, if run at a faster speed, will not achieve the desired quality and will wear out sooner.  He said, ‘It is designed to run at particular speed and it will deliver at that speed. It is time the industry woke up and said that we have to run it more efficiently and then the economics will fall into place. We listen to the operator who says that it should not be run at more than, say, 60 meters per minute.  The economics, thus, are not in place because we are not running the machines efficiently.’

With the announcement of 100 percent FDI in single brand retailing, more multi-national companies are expected to make inroads in the country. ‘They will work more efficiently with procedures and systems and a lot of business will go to them. In some cases, there will be buy-outs too. It is up to us whether we want to build the bridge today or cross it when it comes,’ said Mehta.

Mehta asserts that it is time for Indian players to grow and be technically strong, bring on board QC methods, stress IT by investing in management information systems and most importantly to train people to understand what is right and better for the company.

Growing at a rate of 30 percent year-on-year, SMI has a strong team and a great team spirit where each individual is given due respect. Mehta claims to have very low attrition and said, ‘There is a limit to which the finances will hold back the person to a company. The sense of belonging, however, is important which cannot be bought and needs to be there in the people working in the organization.  We are in tough times and we have to just hold hands and walk.’

Advising the budding entrepreneurs, he said, ‘Be human because that is the only relationship that will help you in your business. We do not have the pressure of targets in the team. We expect the team to deliver to the best of their capability.’

SMI is exhibiting at Labelexpo Europe and has been receiving great response from visitors. Mehta said, ‘We end up meeting good people and clients and we always wind up doing some business at Labelexpo Europe. We are getting good enquiries even on the first day from Egypt, South Africa and France. We have good people coming for supply of material as well. It is a good platform and it has been fantastic for us so far.’