Unlike commercial printers who have all types of customers, packaging converters are generally driven by brands. In the 21st century, innovation is being driven by brands and to some extent by consumers who directly interact with brands to influence their decisions. That constant innovation is the need of the hour for the printers is already an established fact – it is often spoken about at conferences and by printers themselves when we meet them. However, the challenges of meeting the exacting standards of brand owners and coming out with an innovation which would be beneficial to both the printer and the brand is seldom achieved. Nevertheless, Any Graphics is a company that has continuously and successfully introduced innovations for their customers.
A Fresnel lens is a microstructure made of facets thatreflect light like a thick lens. The benefit of Fresnel
lens used on the printed sample is that it reflects light at multiple angles providing a 3-Dimensional depth and look to the product. At Any Graphics, the fresnel lens effect has been successfully used for high-end FMCG cartons, cosmetic cartons and perfumery cartons. Photo PSA
Delhi NCR-based Any Graphics in Noida is a story of both hardship and opportunity. Kuldip Goel, managing director of Any Graphics started out 35 years back by selling stickers. Today, he operates a sprawling 100,000 square foot modern label and carton plant. Its most recent modernization in the carton section includes a brand new fully loaded 7-color UV Heidelberg XL75 plus coater press, a Bobst Novacut diecutter and a Bobst VisionFold folder-gluer.
The new high configuration press and converting equipment will supplement the extensive existing monocarton infrastructure in boosting the company’s solutions for the top FMCG brands in the country. Kuldip Goel says, “We considered several presses with varying
sizes initially. After speaking to my friends in the US and Europe and with my own understanding, I was convinced that this was the best press and the correct size for
packaging which suited my requirements. It has double circumference impression cylinders, registration is perfect and the controls are better. With the efficiency of the high
configuration Heidelberg 7-color press which has some useful customization, we hope to create a new kind of opportunity such as the ability to add opaque white with finer print quality, print FDA approved food packaging on virtually any substrate.”
An ingredient for the success achieved by Any Graphics so far is the ability to provide key value addition for customers, says Goel. “I started from scratch when I was 14 years old and one thing which I understood quickly is that to be successful you need to be unique. My priority has been to provide value-addition to my customers and not do any mass replication of a process which has already been carried out elsewhere. Many people talk about doing best half-tones and vignettes but we try to do something on top of that. And this sort of thing can only be done through innovation.” Goel says that Any Graphics is only the second company in the world and the first in India to have introduced a lens effect in the carton market. “Innovations such as natural feel cartons and fifth panel cartons have also been done by us. We do the same things as others but try to do them differently.”
Innovations such as these are done neither easily nor cheaply. Continuous investments in infrastructure and machinery are vital to stay ahead of the competition, says Goel. “In the last four years — the period when we entered the carton segment, our investments have been more than Rs. 70 crore. In this year itself, we invested about Rs. 30 crore in getting new machinery and equipment. This is because implementation of ideas needs good equipment.”
Kuldip Goel along with the newly installed BobstVisionFold folder-gluer. Photo PSA
Naveen Goel, director of Any Graphics and the son of Kuldip Goel has taken a lot of responsibility in the production processes of the plant. He says, “Value addition, innovation and quality are the three pillars on which our company stands. After we got into cartons four years back, there was a bit of scepticism in the market regarding the response or the success that we could achieve and we are happy to say that it took us less than a year to establish our reputation in this new segment.” At the moment, Any Graphics is in the FMCG, cosmetics and pharma segments although it is looking to further enhance its penetration in pharma and enter new segments such as alcobev.
Naveen Goel says that in the last few years, packaging has evolved from a more artistic focus to a mass-production focus. Competition has increased enormously over the last few years as packaging has attracted several well established printers in search of greener pastures. Consequently, getting repeat work with a fair amount of margin has proven tough for these printers. Nevertheless, since it does niche work, it has not been as tough for Any Graphics. Kuldip Goel says, “Our customers know the value-addition that only we can provide. Our turnover may not be huge but we have earned a solid reputation in the market which is difficult for others to emulate. Even then, in the last year financial year, we grew by an exact 100%. This year, we are on course to grow by another 50% at least. However, for us this has not been stressful at all since print is not only our business but has been our passion for the last 37 years,” concludes Goel.
