Rajasthani commercial printer started carton production in the pandemic

Udaipur-based COPL Print-O-Pack has seen solid growth in its monocarton business started a couple of years ago. The company prints, converts, and supplies monocartons to customers in the pharmaceutical, FMCG, food, ice cream, and electrical appliances segments. COPL Print-O-Pack is the packaging arm of Chaudhary Offset, a commercial printer for more than 40 years. It started operations in the middle of 2020 with a new Heidelberg CD 102 6+L UV press, a new folder gluer and die cutter from Eterna, and a lamination machine from Ample Graphics. 

“We have been using Heidelberg presses in our commercial printing division for many years and we are familiar with their technology and the team. We are very happy with the CD 102 press and the quality that it produces. We were converting about 60 tons of paper and paperboard every month about one year ago and now we convert about 120-130 tons. Our volumes have doubled and a large part of it is due to the quality and technology of the Heidelberg press. Our customers are very happy,” says Digvijay Choudhary, managing director of COPL Print-O-Pack. 

Choudhary explains that another reason for the quick growth is the comparative lack of quality carton printers and converters in the Udaipur region. “There are very few carton printers and converters who offer quality service. Earlier, customers used to go to Gujarat or Delhi to get their work done. Now that has changed as we offer top quality at a very competitive price. We also make sure we deliver the cartons as quickly as possible,” he says. 

COPL Print-O-Pack’s 40,000 square foot manufacturing unit is situated on a land parcel of 200,000 square feet. The company employs 150 people and has customers across India. Talking about the reasons for setting up the packaging business, Choudhary says that the commercial printing business was on the downturn even before the Covid-19 pandemic and the diversification of packaging was needed for the company to achieve the next phase of growth. 

“I represent the third generation in the family business and I was keen that our company enters the next growth phase. That was not possible by expanding our commercial printing operations and the natural progression was to enter packaging, for us. And the growth that COPL Print-O-Pack has witnessed proves our decision was correct,” he says. 

COPL Print-O-Pack is now preparing for the next stage of growth and planning to set up its second printing and converting line for monocartons and a new corrugation unit. The second monocarton line will be similar to the current one except that the company is planning to get a 7-color press. In the corrugation unit, COPL Print-O-Pack is planning an E and F flute machine and a flute laminator. 

“We expect to sustain the growth momentum at COPL Print-O-Pack over the next few years and for this, we are preparing for the second monocarton line. We also see great potential in corrugated boxes and that is why we are planning a corrugation unit. We have enough space to accommodate all the new machines. Our main focus areas will be the pharmaceutical and FMCG space. We hope to start placing orders for the machines by the fourth quarter of this financial year,” Choudhary concludes. 

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.

The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.

Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.

As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.

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