Established in 1991, Sai Paks (Formerly known as Sai Arts Pvt. Ltd.) is a pioneer in the print & packaging industry. Sai Paks offers comprehensive printing solutions for companies of all sizes, but has been able to carve a niche out to support brands and startups as a one-stop shop for all their print and packaging requirements. From innovative and trendy packaging to conventional packaging and everything in between, they have various options for all brand needs.
Labels Flexibles and More editor spoke to the man behind the company, Mr. Deepan Samarth, Managing Director, and his sons Tejas and Tushar Samarth, Directors of Sai Paks India Pvt. Ltd at their plant in Chinchwad, Pune.
The Evolution Journey
Elaborating his printing journey, Deepan said, “I started business from manual screen printing in 1991. I used deliver products to customers by bicycle in those days. Gradually, those two wheels became motorized in the form of a scooter. In 1994, I bought the Multifite brand of tabletop offset machine of size 10×15 through which we used to cater to orders of bill books and challan books for a lot of companies in Pune. We then ventured into stickers in 1996-1997. The stickers were manufactured manually through a screen printing process. We began servicing clients like Bajaj Auto, Century Enka, etc. I did the very famous HAMARA BAJAJ sticker. We had 200 square feet of space with 12 team members. In 1997-1998 I bought another offset machine, this time of a larger 19 x 24 size”.
“In 2005, we entered the label business with a flexo machine purchased from RK Equipments, Ahmedabad. We used to supply barcodes and labels to companies in the Pune region. In 2009, we bought our first Zonten flexo press; subsequently, in 2010, we purchased our second Zonten flexo press. Over the next few years, we guided our business through challenges before shifting our plant to another location. We then acquired a Mark Andy P5 flexo machine in 2018. Our strategy is to fuel consistent growth, with an investment towards this growth every two-three years.”
Today Sai Paks is converting 55 tonnes of paperboards, 6 lakhs square meters of label stock& 45 tonnes of Shrink PET material for shrink sleeves, per month.
The shift from Labels to Flexibles
“Due to intense competition, the labels’ margins have shrunk tremendously; hence we have planned to diversify into flexible packaging.”
Previously, the converters’ perception was that ‘the label is sold per piece and flexible packaging in per kilogram.’ That perception is now a myth.
“Recently, we have established another gravure printing unit, where we will set up a rotogravure machine from Sanmach, Ahmedabad. With this acquisition, we have officially entered into the flexible packaging business. We have taken the lamination and pouching machines from XL Plastics, Vadodara. We are planning to buy another offset device from Heidelberg of size 28×40.”
The Incapability of Digital Printing
“The major drawback of digital printing is that its color gamut cannot accurately and consistently match the standard Pantone shades, print by print.. . For example, print samples taken at different points in time, or on different digital presses, may or may not match with the same consistency as a standardized print production process owing to different production factors and variations. Flexo is a highly standardized production process; the same print given after a month, will yield the same result if print production parameters are accurately managed. “
“Due to our skillset and tight production controls, we are able tosupport customers with short-run job orders, but eventually, the print cost increases due to additional development costs. However, we support our customers to deliver even very short runs.
The USP of Sai Paks
“We are a one-stop-shop for all printing needs, Offset printing to Screen printing, and from Flexo Labels / Flexo shrink sleeves to Flexible Packaging, we can provide everything under one roof. Our portfolio consists of different products like tamper evident labels, pharma labels, shrink sleeves, cosmetic labels, dry peel labels, prime labels, destructive labels, Mono Cartons, METPET Cartons, and now Roto-Gravure printed Flexible multilayer laminates for high volumes, etc. The customer can get low quantity run jobs at a reasonable price. Specifically for Labels, we prefer Miraclon’s KODAK FLEXCEL NX plates for printing because it gives an excellent white effect. We can efficiently do short run pouches jobs on our flexo presses with FLEXCEL NX plates.” Said Tejas Samarth.
In 2020, Sai Paks won 3 National Award for Excellence in Printing.
Supporting Startups with their Packaging requirements
Startup businesses are multiplying in India, especially in the last two years, we have witnessed many startups. To sustain any product business requires good packaging. Sai Paks collaborate with every startup individually to understand their packaging needs.
Startups have a very unique set of needs and can be hugely benefited from our expertise in packaging. We guide the startups on how to develop perfect packaging that can speak for their product. The packaging needs to be enable startups, which typically require shorter run lengths, to target their market better and evolve with ever-changing demand and business projections. In the dairy segment particularly, we have worked with newer market entrants on their packaging needs, enabling their growth journey as they increased their volume manyfold, concludes Tejas.
