The Printmann Group is in the business of providing high-quality printed products since 1987. The company caters to the demand of both Pharmaceutical and Commercial printing & packaging segments. Due to ever scaling demands and to provide unmatched customer service, Printmann has established two printing facilities, i.e., Printmann & Printmann Offset Pvt Ltd.
In an exclusive interview, the director of Printmann, Mr. Tejas Tanna, shares the insights and working strategy of the company.
Printmann History
Bipin Tanna started The Printmann Group as a commercial offset printing company in 1987. Before starting the business, he was a working partner in a printing firm where he acquired all his knowledge about printing proficiency. In those days, all the leading printers were supplying to the FMCG sector, but there were no organized players to cater to the pharmaceutical segment, so after much emphasis from the existing clients, Bipin decided to enter into packaging for pharmaceutical companies.
In 1994, Printmann acquired a designated Pharma plant, VK Graphics, in Wagle Industrial Estate (Thane), where the company started manufacturing Cartons and Inserts for pharmaceutical companies. As the company grew bigger in strength and production, in 2004, Printmann bought a new 8000 sq.mt. premises MIDC Rabale.
In 2007, the company decided to add a new vertical in the Pharma segment and hence explore the arena of Labels printing with an installation of the hybrid press, a combination of Offset and Flexo. In 2010, Printmann started printing Outserts for pharmaceutical companies. (Outserts is a leaflet that gives all details about the product).
Tejas Tanna (elder son of Bipin Tanna) joined the business in 2005 after completing formal education and a three-year diploma from Pune MIPT. Additionally, to gain expertise in printing, he also studied in RIT (America) for four years. The younger son, Ankit Tanna, joined in 2010 after completing MSc finance from Manchester, UK.
One of the significant landmarks was in 2016 when the company entered into the business of aluminum foil printing, where they do printing and specialized coating on foils bought from Hindalco, which is later supplied to the manufacturer.
Carton, Leaflets, Labels, and Foils are the four main source products of Printmann to any manufacturer.
Catching-up with the Growth Economy
Speaking on the slow-down in the economy, Tejas said “Hopefully, there will be an upswing in packaging demand in 2022. Because, ultimately, the packaging sector will grow faster than any other industry. More-n-more people are getting aware of the hygiene level, considering that there will be many requirements in the packaging in coming years. People today want to be safe, even if they buy any food items from any local vendor, there will be an increase in demand also in Pharma segment.
As per my outlook and prediction, India will be looking at double-digit growth in 2022, and from 2023 onwards, it will consistently achieve double-digit growth.”
The Expansion Plan
“There is no null period for us and every year we have added new equipment in our production premises. In 2017, we bought a new 10000 sq. mts. plant adjacent to the existing plant in Navi Mumbai. And for the upcoming plant, we have already booked a brand new A7 color UV press for Carton, a conventional press, and four folder gluer machines. We also plan to explore Flexible Packaging sector in near future.”
The Innovation Center
“Printmann is a service-oriented company and during Covid times, we have set up an innovation center where we have a dedicated team to create new concepts and products.
Recently, we have invented a Child Resistance Foil, Child Resistance Carton Pack, Short Run Flow-Wraps for Flexo, Temper Evidence Features, Various Embellishment features in Flexo to create uniqueness in a regular Gravure foil pack. These new creations are presented to clients during our meetings. We think for our customers and admire the product from an end-user perspective. If you invent an out-of-the-box product but if the manufacturer is unable to run at his packing line, it is still a failure.
In the pandemic, we have realised that we need to have some dimensions and uniqueness to stay ahead, maybe we are planting those roots today, but the effect will come tomorrow for sure. We offer our unique high-end product to many Pharma customers who want to differentiate their premium product from their regular product. Though premium products have high chances of getting copied; hence we have added more temper evident features so that they cannot be easily copied.”
Automation – A Way Forward
“We strive to shift towards automation from labor-intensive areas. During the pandemic, we have identified areas to optimize the process with small investments. Hence we can utilize our existing labor force effectively. For example, we used to do manual checking for certain products, and ultimately, we implanted a camera on a folder gluer that helped us eliminate manual checking and eventually increase our productivity.
One innovative development is SMART PACK – the advanced conceptual packaging where end-to-end track and trace is possible by adding a 2D code in packaging. We can track the packaging from the beginning where the product was manufactured till the final consumer purchase. It eventually helped in improving the product quality and the entire supply chain.”
Evolution of a Leader
“Continuous self-awareness is the way forward for improvisation. If we know our limitations and start working on those limitations, we will evolve as individuals and as a company. If we keep improving on our negatives somewhere, we will keep evolving as a leader because nobody is born as a leader; leadership is a quality that needs to be developed. Initially, leadership was all about aggression, but now the word aggressiveness is replaced by assertiveness. You need to understand every part before taking any decision.” Concludes Tejas.
