The last Labelexpo India 2022 was
witness to an interesting evolution in the display of high-end label printing
presses. For the first time since the inception of this show, the European and
American presses running live were missing. However, the flexo presses
displayed at this all-important label exhibition were made in India. This was
an indicator towards the Indian press manufacturers to have come of age. These
Indian manufacturers are now, not only announcing sales in India but also
succeeding in the global label arena. An interesting part of this evolution is
that most of the successful brands of flexo presses that have been developed come
from Faridabad, the neighboring industrial suburb of New Delhi. Faridabad is a
part of NCR Delhi and a major industrial hub of the state of Haryana. It is
famous for
henna production
from the agricultural sector, while tractors, motorcycles, switch gears,
refrigerators, shoes, tyres and garments constitute its primary industrial
products. There is reason why most of the leading brands of Indian made flexo
presses are from this city. These presses include Multitec, Webtech, Alliance, NBG, Label
Flex and many other smaller ones. Even UV Graphic technologies now
headquartered in NOIDA, started their manufacturing in partnership with
Faridabad based Multitec.
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| Kishan Das Kohli |
The credit of printing equipment manufacturing
industry flourishing and growing in this city goes to the establishment and
transformation of a company founded by Kishan Das Kohli, a man who fought for
the independence of India prior to its partitioning.
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| K D Kohli receiving his award |
The Printers House now renamed as
TPH Orient group was founded by Kohli in 1946 as an agency house bringing
global printing technology to India. He was responsible for installations,
commissioning, providing technical expertise and operators for the imported
equipment. For the pioneering work he did for the printing industry in India, he
received numerous awards that included the Kohinoor Ratna award. An
enterprising businessman, he started manufacturing printing presses in India in
the mid-1960s initiating his maiden startup manufacturing unit in Faridabad to
build letterpress and offset printing presses there. Around this manufacturing
unit, an ecosystem of mechanical engineering professionals and engineering
companies was built and went on growing. Many companies now making flexo
presses or any other type of presses in Faridabad first started out as their
vendors. Making any type of press requires components such as frames,
cylinders, etc. The Printers House helped create the infrastructure and this
supply chain in Faridabad, which is what makes it ideal for printing press manufacturing
hub. Later another company Sud and Warren led by Baldev Sud, Arora and Ahuja also commenced manufacturing slitting machines and later web-based computer
stationery. The company did not grow as envisaged and some of their
ex-employees are now narrow web label press manufacturers
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| Manmohan Kohli with father |
I, the author, having had two
factories in Faridabad since the 1960s, producing stationery and silicone
release papers under the brand Weldon, had heard a lot about The Printers House and the
kind of work they had done. Weldon’s vendors in earlier days used to print
their packaging on the old traditional treadle presses and when the Mercedes automatic
presses from TPH were launched, it was a game changing moment. The author reminisces
an evening during a party in connection with Printpack India in 1991, he was
introduced a tall smart man who was surrounded by print industry stalwarts of
that time. He was Manmohan Kohli,
heading The Printers House (TPH) and was the son of the founder K D Kohli.
Manmohan was an alumnus of ETH Switzerland, a university of science and
technology from where he passed out as gold medalist engineer. He pioneered the
evolution of printing technology in India. Under his leadership TPH became a
name to be reckoned with globally, having installations in over 60 countries. Manmohan
Kohli, a legend in Indian printing equipment industry, passed away in June 2022 at the age of 83
years passing the reigns of the company to his only young son Rishab Kohli who
now aged 28 years heads TPH as Managing Director.
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| Rishab Kohli |
The first few years of Rishab’s
schooling were at New Delhi based Sanskriti School and thereafter he was sent
to Gordonstoun school in Scotland. Finishing school in Scotland, he joined Georgetown
university in Washington DC where he studied economics and had the opportunity
to go through numerous internships in Washington DC including prominent
lobbyist firms and international organisations. Completing his education at
university, he initiated his career in the United States in finance/investment
banking in the US where he worked between the US and Europe extensively. Thereafter
he returned to India and in 2020 he took over the reigns of The Printers House
now renamed The TPH Orient group, as CEO. Backed by his experience and pedigree
in business he envisioned to create a group of companies in India that would
cater to the printing , packaging, and other industries.
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| Orient Jet Digital label press from TPH |
On assuming the leadership in TPH,
Rishab worked with numerous partners across the globe to acquire technology and
bring it to India. He saw the label segment growing rapidly and felt there is
high reliance on imports on capital equipment in this segment. On his
indulgence, TPH launched their flexo and
inkjet label press, extending their application to packaging as well. Given the
infrastructure available at TPH, Rishab has decided to produce equipment with
economy of scale to make it cost effective and such that customers feel secure
with their investment and service. He felt the technical expertise to produce flexo
and digital label presses of global standards was still needing upgradation, so
he or his team travelled to acquire appropriate technologies.
Rishab mentions that development
of the first fully digital ink delivery system made by them in India that
successfully printed a full color label at high speeds is huge achievement for
TPH. Being the first of its kind developed in India, it will remain as one of
the most memorable moments. With the ability to print at 1200 DPI with in-house
dynamic RIP (RIP stands for Raster Imaging Processor software), it
is a prime competitor to the established leaders in the field of digital label
printing. He gives credit for support, guidance and help to the late Ramani
Vishwanathan who was a pioneer in digital printing in India. He helped Rishab
create this technology. Justifying his move into Digital label printing
equipment he states that Inkjet is crucial for label printing due to several
macroeconomic factors and market forces. With the rise in short run jobs and
customization in packaging, a roll fed digital press is crucial to meet the
needs of end clients. Additionally, with the speeds of inkjet presses
increasing and head technology advancing at the pace that it is, the mid to
long runs may also be catered to by inkjet.
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| Rishab with his flexo press at Drupa |
As regards the flexo press
developed by them, he asserts, “It is the fastest Indian made machine of its
kind at this moment. Additionally, we offer sleeve technology and narrow web
along with wider width options.”
The TPH Orient group is now a
diversified group of companies and a market leader in printing machinery,
packaging machinery , printing consumables , engineering services for defence, aerospace,
and solar. They have 800 employees spread over a 20-acre campus and 6 factories
in Faridabad working in numerous segments. They also now manufacture inkjet
presses, flexo presses, folder gluers, web offset presses, printing chemicals
etc. They have one of the largest CNC machine shops in north India and perhaps
largest in Faridabad. According to Rishab, TPH Orient group is the largest
Indian exporter of printing machines with exports to 60 countries. They have
service engineers and offices in 12 locations in India and presence worldwide.
They are considering extending manufacturing operations in foreign locations.
Talking of challenging times in
his short career, Rishab says, “Covid was a tough period, but we got through it,
taking every day at a time. But a lot was learnt, and we came out of it
stronger.” In his journey so far, a key member of TPH board of directors,
Naveen Chahal, has been a mentor to him. Being an extremely experienced person,
his guidance has helped the turnover grow to over 15 times the figure when
Rishab took over. In printing and packaging Rishab acknowledges the guidance of
Christoph Mueller, director Koenig and Bauer, for his guidance in quality
enhancement of their products.
Rishab Kohli sums up his vision
for the future as, “The key for Orient in the printing and packaging industry
is to provide a holistic solution to the printing and packaging community
worldwide. We have a simple goal which is to be the largest equipment supplier
in our field coming out of India and ideally Asia in this segment. With our
infrastructure , scale, and history this is a realistic and an important 5-year
goal.”
Written by Harveer Sahni, Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited
New Delhi August 2024
