Based on advice from one of his friends, Sachin Gupta started Sain Packaging in 2004. The company, which began with a small investment in a tiny 400-square-yard plot owned by its managing director Gupta, shifted to Rai in Sonepat in the Delhi NCR, in 2005. The friend’s advice has proven to be sound as the company moved once again in 2016 to bigger premises – its present location spread over an ample 2,500 square yards. In addition, it recently acquired an adjoining plot of land measuring 1,500 square yards.
Sain Packaging started by producing monocartons for the pharma industry. Eventually, it branched out to lingerie, food, and electrical product packaging. Yakult is one of the big new food brands that it has recently serviced with packaging materials.
Zero rejection on the new multicolor press purchased two years ago
Gupta recounts, “Two years ago, we purchased a brand new Heidelberg CS-92 5-color with coater (March 2020) as we had only used second-hand machines earlier. After acquiring the new press, our point of view regarding packaging machines changed completely. We are working on zero defects now – we print 1,25,000 to 1,50,000 sheets daily on that machine and there is zero rejection, including color rejection. We have two other second-hand Heidelberg presses – one a Heidelberg CPtronic 4-color and the second a Heidelberg CD102 5-color plus coater – but the new CS-92 5-color with coater has 5 times their production in comparison. There is no match to the new press, quality-wise.”
We have recently purchased a new Manroland 700 Evolution 7-color with coater to replace the two older Heidelberg presses in operation at our plant. These days, monocarton packaging has moved to UV and coating-based textures that are being printed and cured inline – that we have so far been doing offline. With the Manroland press, we will be able to do this work inline, which will reduce our lead times by 3 to 4 days and help control the wastage. We have a three-year warranty on the Manroland press, which will reduce our maintenance cost to zero for the initial three-year period. On average, there is a Rs 3-4 lakh monthly maintenance cost on our old machines.”
“We compared the presses from leading companies such as Heidelberg, Komori, KBA, and Manroland Sheetfed and after a thorough analysis and 1.5 months of comparisons, we zeroed in on the Manroland. The Heidelberg machines are being manufactured in China while the Manroland Sheetfed presses are entirely German manufactured. We also found the Manroland machines to be superior in terms of configuration.”
“We were impressed after interacting with Peter Rego (director of sales and business development at Manroland Sheetfed India) because he led Heidelberg to a top position in India through his diligent after-sales support. Manroland had not installed a new press in India in the last three years. As we are among the first customers to acquire the Roland 700 Evolution press, we are expecting impeccable service support from them.”
Increasing volumes and turnover
Leeford Healthcare from Ludhiana, Amritsar-based Quality Pharmaceuticals, and Sonepat-based Combitic Global Caplet are some of the leading pharmaceutical companies that rely on Sain Packaging for monocartons, pharma inserts, and corrugated packaging for pharmaceutical products. The company closed the last financial year with a turnover of Rs 62 crore and has sights on its turnover crossing Rs 150 crore turnover this year. “Our turnover will increase drastically after the installation of the Roland 700 Evolution press in December. Our wastage and maintenance costs will reduce while the turnaround time and quality will improve. As this machine has the all-important UV curing capability, we are targeting the liquor and cosmetics segments as well. After the Manroland installation, we will become a complete packaging house. Packaging has tremendous scope and we are eyeing bigger clients.”
“Most of the presses in India have the 28 x 40-inch size while the Roland 700 Evolution press offers 29 x 41.5-inches, which is specifically advantageous to us as this size is appropriate for monocartons in the lingerie and hosiery segment. This size difference opens up a world of opportunities for us,” explains Gupta.
Sain Packaging has greatly improved its corrugated packaging operations during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The company purchased a Bobst Expertfold folder gluer with a Baumer HHS gluing gun and online inspection system in 2021, along with the Esko automation engine software to automate its prepress and production process workflow.
“The impact of the single-use plastic ban is gradually showing in the Indian packaging industry. However, due to the political upheavals such as the Ukraine War and natural disasters such as floods in Canada, paper prices have almost doubled which has, in turn, increased the working capital requirements,” Gupta observes.
Although it is widely seen that the younger generations of printers and packagers don’t opt for the family business, Gupta’s son Sanchit has proved to be an anchor of support and stood by him during the ups and downs of the pandemic in the last two years. Gupta asserts that Sanchit has learned the ropes of the packaging business on his own accord, and plans to join the business after completing his studies in the UK.
