Faridabad, a hub for label presses-The Printers House!

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. 

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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