As the year 2021 comes to an end, we explore what industry experts have to say about the year that went by and the year ahead.
Anantshree Chaturvedi (UFlex), Arnab Maiti (Esko), Biku Kohli (SP Ultraflex), Jens Bauer (BillerudKorsnäs), Jhankar Dutta (B&R), JK Sharma (Yansefu), Khushal Patel (BST India), Kuldeep Malhotra (Konica Minolta), Pankaj Poddar (Cosmo Films), Puneet Agarwal (Manjushree Innovations), Ranesh Bajaj (Vinsak)
Anantshree Chaturvedi, vice chairman and CEO, Flex Films International
The year 2022 is just around the corner and this is the best time to give ourselves a pat on the back for overcoming many challenges and earning accomplishments as UFlex family.
The waves of COVID that engulfed the world led to an uptake in flexible packaging and we rose above the row of challenges to deliver safe packaging in a short turnaround time that bolstered our leadership position.
Going further, we need to think ahead and strategize about what the new year holds. I believe 2022 will unfurl a host of trends that will turn out to be a big opportunity for us. For a long time, I have been emphasizing on sustainability which is only set to gain more impetus in the coming years, as regulators across the world enforce stringent actions on plastic use and waste treatment. Apart from that, I see the flexible packaging industry is driven by packaging designs that are not only sustainable or recyclable but also do not sacrifice other critical virtues such as ultra-high barrier and clear barrier performance.
With consumers of today being extremely cautious of what and how they consume, we are likely to see more of vintage-inspired packaging that induces emotional engagement and makes them feel connected with the goodness of the product packed inside. As a global leader with an extensive product portfolio, we already have or are close to making advancements in packaging that aligns us with these trends.
We have seen input price pressure on account of volatile raw material prices and higher freight costs this year and I do see this continuing in early parts of 2022 as well which could impact our long-term planning to some extent, however, these are momentary bottlenecks. What concerns me the most is, how soon will sustainability transfuse across the packaging ecosystem and how quickly will the packaging fraternity adopt sustainability in products and processes?”
Arnab Maiti, Esko
As we head into 2022, I think it will be wise to look at some of the key trend indicators from 2021 which will have a lasting impact into 2022.
After years of grappling with price erosion driven by ultra-competition and excess capacity, we are at the cusp of a pervasive price increase across the board that no one will be able to deny. This will create more level playing fields for the suppliers and customers alike, and businesses will have to focus back on the following to embrace the new reality:
Mergers and acquisitions – We have started seeing consolidations in the Packaging space which will continue to grow as businesses find the right value drivers to grow inorganically while preserving their core competencies and gaining the economy of scale, profitably. Digital technology and automation will play a crucial and decisive role in these transformations. As businesses become more and more digitally mature, the supply-demand and skill gap of resources will worsen further. So, organizations will have to focus on the development and retention of talents.
One also needs to be watchful of the disruptive changes happening around us with data – from consumer buying insights to industrial production data which can be connected through cloud-based AI technologies to drive intelligent decision making at the point of maximum impact.
Besides all the challenges it has presented to businesses, COVID has also helped accelerate technological innovations. We at Esko have built these learnings into our offerings around packaging pre-press automation, color management, cloud-based collaborative packaging approval and process management workflows, digital flexo platemaking, and inline print inspection, helping to improve organizations’ OEE.
Biku Kohli, managing director, SP Ultraflex
“As per recent industry research reports, the flexible packaging market is expected to grow at a robust rate of 10% for the next five years. Driving this growth is the relaxation in FDI norms by the Government of India. Coming years will see this sector becoming more organized and expanding.
Packaging is a dynamic subject that is constantly evolving with innovations across the globe. The main industry-specific challenge will be to meet the increase in consumption whereas as a manufacturer of slitter rewinder machines, our aim is to serve our customers with versatile machines which can cater to a variety of substrates in this ever-evolving industry.
COVID-19 turned out to be a gamechanger for the flexible packaging industry, primarily for the food and pharma sector. With growing emphasis on hygiene and contamination-free products, the role of packaging has come into the limelight with increasing demand from pharma, food, hospitality, aviation, transport sectors and more. And this positive change is here to stay.”
Jens Bauer, global sales director, specialties segment, business area sack and Kraft paper, BillerudKorsnäs
We will close 2021 with a very positive result. The business environment has been very positive despite COVID challenges, and we have no signs that 2022 should look different. The trend, moving plastic into fiber-based packaging solutions, intensifies further and has triggered a very strong demand for paper in the European and Overseas markets. The converters’ challenge will be to secure paper supply for 2022 and forward the increased costs to their customers.
The main challenge for the paper industry for sure is to make enough paper available and to secure logistics in a difficult environment. The global logistics systems are still in imbalance, and we do not see improvement at short notice. Lack of containers, no space on the vessels and shortage of truck drivers characterizes the current situation. Another challenge of the paper-making industry is the sharply increased costs of raw materials and logistics.
COVID has not had any negative impact on our business. Some applications have suffered a bit but the main part of our business fields, for example, the medical, building and food sector have compensated that well. Therefore, we look forward to a positive year 2022, where we can continue to challenge conventional packaging for a sustainable future.
Jhankar Dutta, managing director, B&R Industrial Automation, India
After a series of lockdowns and restrictions, many of the manufacturing industry is finally getting back on track and experiencing business success. However, to make this growth sustainable in the longer run, still there are several challenges on industry performance, productivity, profitability, and investment decisions over the coming year.
One of the major challenges for the manufacturing industry is rising costs for raw materials, energy, labor, transportation, and distribution. Especially the global chip shortage has fueled the crisis dramatically. This, in return, will put pressure on manufacturers to look at trying to further optimize their costs. It’s worth thinking about how the technology can better add value to optimize manufacturing costs.
To optimize the manufacturing costs, the industry should adopt technologies that can advance production, efficiency and flexibility. Motion and robotics for enhanced performance, inspection systems for improved quality, and simulation models for faster development and diagnosis. This may mean further investment in the new breed of manufacturing technology, i.e., the adaptive machine. The adaptive machine draws from a combination of new and existing technologies. The defining components are; Track-based transport, machine vision, integrated robotics, and digital twins.
Sustainability will also continue to grow – not as a trend but as an actual change in corporate mindset. It must become fundamental to the brand itself. Sustainable expansion and reduced environmental impact should remain a primary agenda globally.
The pandemic has had an enormous impact globally and at the same time the situation also spells out great opportunities for the manufacturing industry. Strong marketing, prospecting, and follow-through are imperative. Make the exact moves and take decisions to give your clients or partners more control and assurances which will create a successful business environment.
JK Sharma, CEO, Yansefu Inks & Coatings
COVID-19-Beta-Gamma-Delta-Omicron, partial-complete-regional-national-global-lockdown-shutdown, shipment-cancellation-ban-hope-despair, panic-dilemma-sentiment-up-sentiment-down, plan-amend-cope up; and what not – everything has happened to the global industries and commerce, where the industries have experienced all sort of volatilities and predicaments one can think of. Especially in the printing ink industry, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on supply chains globally.
During the epidemic, sea freight and local freight cost substantially affecting the whole supply chain was unprecedented due to the adverse impact on the global ocean market together with the shortage of containers severely affecting operational capacities in several international ports. In addition, the increase in jet fuel costs and shipping container costs have also badly affected air freight. Also disruption to logistics due to difficulties in the road transport with a shortage of drivers and equipment and rise in crude price impacting the cost of diesel directly impacted quality, supply and reliability. Global freight, logistics, crude and supply constraints and cost increases together with abnormal consumer purchase behavior straining both air and sea freight capacity have all resulted in costs being passed throughout the supply chain.
Many important raw materials required for the production of printing inks such as vegetable oils and their derivatives, petrochemicals, pigments, resins, additives, specialty chemicals, etc. are experiencing supply and demand mismatches, creating severe disruption in supply chain management.
In order to overcome the huge dependency of the printing ink industries on overseas markets for raw materials, India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-dependent India) campaign needs cooperation and coordination among the industry and suppliers.
While the printing ink and packaging industry is eagerly waiting to realize normalization in the global supply chain, however, it cannot be expected to happen anytime soon owing to the increase in production costs in China, Europe, Japan, the USA, Korea, Taiwan and India. I expect the supply chain disruption will be back to normal not before November or December 2022.
The industry is going through a very tough phase and may still travel in a further difficult terrain in the coming days due to the continual reduction in the profit margin combined with the operating working capital already increased by 100-150%. At this critical juncture, it is essential for everyone in the ink and packaging industry to extend support to each other by keeping a check on the price of the raw materials and the cost of supply, so the cost advantage can be transferred to the end-users in order to stay sustained until the industry as a whole comes out of this crunch. Even as the disruptions continue, supply networks throughout the world have begun to pick up the pieces and join them in order to recover, and the industries across the globe have already geared up to shift from alleviating risks and uncertainty to leveraging future growth and transforming survival mode to revival and thriving in 2022.
Khushal Patel, director – sales and marketing, BST India
The last two years have been challenging for the entire world. First with the lockdowns and now with the shortage of semiconductors and chips. I can only hope for the situation to improve in 2022.
Though the overall consumption and production of flexible packaging will only increase exponentially, the future belongs to the non-woven segment and allied industry segments catering to renewable energies. Such as solar energy, Li-Ion battery production, etc. We expect a huge boom in this segment and are gearing up towards catering to them.
We are already grappling with two critical challenges that will continue to affect our business in 2022: Firstly, staying competitive in terms of product pricing. The prices of iron, steel and other raw materials seem to be increasing on a quarterly basis which is directly affecting our procurement and production costs. Maintaining a uniform cost of production for an entire year to ensure a fixed selling price to our OEMs and thereby maintaining the balance between our margins and costs is going to be a key task for us in the coming year.
Secondly, the crisis of short supply for integrated circuits (commonly known as semiconductor chips). The lopsided ratio between the supply/demand of these chips has severely affected our production and delivery schedules of our current products and also the go-to-market (GTM) launch timelines for the new and upcoming products. We hope that this crisis will reduce substantially, and the supply of the chips fulfill the global demand soon.
In 2020, during the first lockdown, BST India conceptualized and developed innovative, cost-effective web control solutions for the printing and converting industry. We added, AlphaMix (a two-component adhesive mixer and dosing system) and the Eagle Eye (100% print inspection system) to our portfolio. The trials of these systems have been carried successfully at our customers’ plants and we have received positive feedback from them.
We are optimistic about the performance of our recently launched products and the competitive edge that these products give us. The kind of quality, technology, support and service, BST India offers to customers is always appreciated and we always strive to leave no stone unturned to exceed our customer’s expectations. Many customers, who had initially deferred their projects due to the pandemic are now reassessing and reviving them. We are already in discussions with all of them and together we aim to achieve our goals and move forward.
Kuldeep Malhotra, deputy managing director, sales and OP marketing division, Konica Minolta
2022 is likely to bring hope, growth, and recovery in the form of new beginnings. There will be many developments and technological breakthroughs as we are working very hard towards a more collaborative and efficient workspace. We will see shoots of rejuvenation as the world recuperates from lockdown. Overall, we aim to evolve with digitization and welcome a progressive new way of working. Despite the impressive growth and recovery pace, the pandemic remains a primary business challenge, presenting a broad range of interrelated issues. But we have managed to sail through and come out stronger. In fact, it has only pushed us to innovate further.
At Konica Minolta India, we strive to understand our customers, their needs, and pain points and innovate our services accordingly to deliver the best solutions. We have utilized the best use of technology to automate and accelerate our work with every right person at the right time. We believe in giving shape to ideas and fulfilling the commitment to serve our customers and resolve their challenges.
Pankaj Poddar, group CEO, Cosmo Films
The year 2022 is going to be the year of sustainability as we see an increased outcry for sustainability and reduction of carbon footprints across the globe via social media, conferences and summits. The importance of sustainability is going to gain encouragement in the coming years and through continuous efforts in R&D innovations, there are several sustainable products in the market across different sectors.
Cosmo Films is highly inclined towards its sustainability efforts, and with the help of its advanced R&D infrastructure and backed by highly experienced scientists, we are working tirelessly to create products that are not just effective, but also sustainable for our future generations.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related lockdown was felt by all businesses across the world. For us, the business was impacted positively for some product lines such as self-adhesive labels and food packaging while negatively for wrap-around labels, textile and lamination films. We adjusted to these challenges by re-allocating our capacities based on the customer requirements.
At Cosmo Films, we saw this as an opportunity to take our business completely digital. Customers can now use our online ordering system to directly order the required categories and quantities without getting on a call with the salesperson.
We acquired artificial intelligence competence and are working towards complete automation. We are in the process of moving towards the newest version of SAP HANA, which is an in-memory, column-oriented, relational database management system for the customers. Cosmo is rapidly progressing to take the business to a digital epitome.
Puneet Agarwal, director, Manjushree Innovations
2021 is the year the world tide against the pandemic, but 2022 will be overwhelmed by the need to adjust to new realities. 2022, after a miserable year-and-a-half, alternating between lockdowns and new outbreaks, will be a new world, with a reshaped economy and will see more change, savvy leaders are going to use what we learned in the past two years to create a more agile, more resilient, and more creative future for our organizations.
For organizations, this year has been a period of change and adaptation. Because of the health crisis, companies have needed to execute new technologies in record time to keep working, diverse work modalities have arisen and there has been a more prominent need to foster digital skills.
The manufacturing challenge and low-level income have restricted business expansion as well as GDP growth significantly which was projected a few years back. The primary challenge is the adaptability with the new change and adapting new skillset across the organization, identifying technology-oriented manufacturing like Industry 4.0.
The constant appearance of new technologies, and constant changes in the way we interact, represent a challenge for leaders, who must take care that the company’s work environment is balanced and flexible. In general, the well-being of employees is sought on an emotional and professional level.
The flexible plastic industry has some global advantages in general. With more and more people preferring hygienic packaged food and e-commerce growth, the flexible packaging market is definitely a competitive advantage in general. In the last decade, the plastics industry has steadily grown at a rate of about 12% according to the Plastics Export Promotion Council, which hints that India is becoming a much bigger player in the global plastics market. Our people are our competitive advantage and with that we see ourselves to be a prominent player in the upcoming market.
Ranesh Bajaj, director, Vinsak
Supply chain disruptions and price inflation should all settle down in the coming months to ensure a smooth production process. With the business sentiment getting positive, we are also optimistic that capacity expansions and plant modernizations that had been postponed or shelved will be revived and the investment in capital goods should begin in good earnest. In a broader sense, most companies are now working on having at least multiple vendors for each product and these to be geographically as close as possible to ensure minimum disruptions in the supply chain. All in all, we look forward to a future that is balanced, sustainable and equitable not just in the label industry but across sectors.
Commercial print is surely now seeing an earlier end to its existence. Whatever can be digitized will be digitized and this is normal that we have to live with. Labels and packaging will continue to grow exponentially and all those who need to continue to be in the printing business will surely need to retool their kits.
Vinsak has successfully negotiated the tough period of the COVID 19. We did not lay off any staff and had minimum disruption of Service Support to our existing clients globally. Also, the group’s geographically diverse operations across global markets and time zones have helped to even out the curve. The Middle East and African markets have contributed greatly to keeping the balance sheets healthy. Service issues with new technology have really improved and uptimes are higher than ever before. Our differentiator has always been cutting-edge technology which is the latest on the global market and strong after-sales service and the last but not least is the application support. It is not only important to buy the best kit, but also to get proper training and after-sales service to get the maximum value and thorough put from the equipment that you purchase.