With an investment of two million USD, Hyderabad-based labelstock manufacturer Stic-on Papers has expanded its infrastructure by installing a silicone coater and a hotmelt coating line earlier this year.
Karan Reddy, director at Stic-on Papers, says: The silicone coating machine coats on paper as well as polyester substrates and is currently running at 30 percent capacity. The new hotmelt coating line, running at 50 percent capacity, coats clear on clear labelstock primarily catering to beer label segment.
Running at 400m/min, the silicone coater can produce 300,000 sqm of release liner per day. The market is growing and we will soon run full capacity on the machine, Reddy assures. The Stic-on factory is spread across an area of 60,000 sq ft with further scope for expansion to a total of 120,000 sq ft. It runs two hotmelt coating lines, two water-based coating machines, two silicone coaters, one lab coater each for hotmelt and water-based lines as well as four slitting machines. With these installations, the company is now increasing its product portfolio for the label industry.
Participating at Labelexpo Europe for the second time, Stic-on Papers will launch coated labelstock targeted mainly at the inkjet label industry. Both pigment- and dye-based inks work well on this substrate.
Talking of the inkjet market in India, Reddy says, It has grown by 20 to 30 percent in two years. Henceforth, I foresee a growth of at least 30 percent in the next three years because of the availability of inkjet machines at lower prices. There is huge scope in the market. Many companies are offering printing machines at competitive prices and in a variety of models.
This growth needs to be supported by material suppliers, he adds. We don’t shy away from supplying lesser quantities of material to small players to fuel the growth of the industry. The minimum order quantity (MOQ) for filmic labelstock and other specialty material is 1,000 sqm. For more popularly used materials, Stic-on Papers offers a MOQ of 5,000 sqm. The company is ready to supply a MOQ of 100 sqm of labelstock to inkjet printers, if required for sampling or short run jobs.
While there is an increase in volume, the company has had to decrease its prices by five to seven percent in the last three years. Reddy says, We are unable to increase our prices because small printers are unable to pay more. Service to clients becomes even more important as the profit margins get slim. Our aim is to tap the volume market.
Stic-on Papers also supplies thermal transfer ribbons manufactured by Ricoh Thermal Media, Dynic Corporation and Dai Nippon Printing. We offer good service and quality as well as customizable products so we are doing well in this segment, says Reddy. The company imports jumbo rolls and slits them at the facility according to customer requirement.
Stic-on Papers has been growing recently at 15 to 20 percent a year. In 2017-18, it expects growth of 30 percent thanks to changes in the local tax system (see boxout). Export to the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia contributes 40 percent of the companys turnover. The company clocked a turnover of 55 crore INR (approximately 8.5 million USD) in 2016-17 and expects to touch a mark of 70 crore INR (approx 11 million USD) by the end of the current financial year.
