Over the years, the annual event “Print Summit,” organized by
BMPA, the Bombay Master Printers Association, has attracted a lot of interest
from the printing fraternity. The event initiated in 2005 has grown immensely.
The recent edition titled PS2025 and themed “Unstoppable” held at Mumbai’s
iconic Tata theatre in Nariman Point area, had over 1000 delegates coming in
from all parts of the country. The hall was busting at seams, with many
standing to witness the deliberations.
The event that originally was looked
upon as the one for offset printers has completely transformed if we look at
the diverse delegate profile. We saw participants from all printing formats
like offset, flexo, screen, gravure and digital. It was not only an event where
owners of family managed companies attended but it was largely evident that
those who visited included besides business owners, Industry stalwarts, print
buyers, professional managers, sales executives, production people, industry
suppliers, media and whoever had the interest in this segment.
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| Faheem Agboatwala |
In words of
Faheem Agboatwala Chairperson of PS2025, who also moderated the event
wonderfully, “This is the Mahakumbh of Print”. Mahakumbh is a mass pilgrimage
of Hindu religion attended by millions. Faheem was drawing a comparison referring
to the ever-growing patronage of this event. It appears that BMPA will have to
consider the next event to a larger venue. Mehul Desai past president of BMPA
after presenting the activities and work of BMPA handed over the stage to Tushar Bhotica to deliver the welcome address and initiate deliberations. He
stressed the importance of resilience,
innovation and sustainability.
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| Mehul Desai |
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| Tushar Bhotica |
The quality of presentations and the selection of speakers
was excellent and left the audience spellbound, rising for standing ovations
multiple times to applaud. Though most of the presentations were exceptional
yet there were some that left the audience in awe.
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Anand Kripalu
|
Anand Kripalu Managing Director and global CEO of EPL, came on to stage to
deliver a highly inspirational presentation sharing his vast experiences in
renowned companies that have a global footprint, he reminisced about the
important turnaround actions, journeys and experiences in his time at companies
that include Unilever, Cadbury, Diageo, and EPL. His words, “Perfection
requires focus” delivered a strong message.
The most applauded presentation and panel discussion came
from Milap Shah, founder and chief product officer at PrintStop,
industry leaders Shiva Viswanathan, co-founder and CMO at Catenate, and Manu
Choudhury, director at CDC Printers. They unveiled the magic of artificial
intelligence, while Manu demonstrated the amazing adaptation and usage in his
business. He demonstrated live, how his customers can put across an enquiry
through WhatsApp which is processed by AI and with linkage input from his ERP,
instant quotes are generated. Additionally, customers can negotiate with the
system without interference from Manu or his team. It left the audience
spellbound. Milap and Shiva too gave valuable information on usage of AI.
Neelendra Singh, the general manager at Adidas India, traversed the history
of Adidas globally and its journey to become the largest brand in India with
drive to encourage sports and sportspersons. Conveying the company’s mission to
empower the ordinary citizens for sport, he quoted the slogan “Hum nahi karenge
toh kaun karega” (If we do not do it, then who will?).
Tejas Goenka, the managing director of Tally Solutions, had his father Bharat
Goenka on stage in a panel discussion. They ran through the 38 years of
Bharat Goenka’s journey in establishing Tally from scratch. It was an
interesting eye-opening discussion hearing how he peddled his software at a
time when there were just a few computers with businesses. He also dwelled on
how he achieved the succession of his company to son Tejas who had no interest
in family business . Tejas also spoke on his taking over and carrying forward
the legacy of his illustrious father.
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| KBS Anand |
K.B.S. Anand, a graduate of IIT Bombay and IIM, CEO of Asian Paints who
has spent decades in the company in various roles reaching a pinnacle. He recounted
the history of the company from its humble beginnings to reaching a whopping
turnover of over Rupees 35,000 Crores. He said, “the secret of success is that
managements must give talent freedom to take decision and implement these
decisions without fear besides keeping complete transparency with customers.”
Iqbal Kherodawala of Printline Reproductions Pvt. Ltd., started by explaining what
a maverick is. He explained that he is a person who challenges norms and brings
innovative perspectives to life and business and sees opportunities where
others see limitations. He narrated the inspirational stories of two stalwarts
of the printing industry, whom he presented as Mavericks through two films. These
are Khushru Patel of Jak Printers, Mumbai, and K. Selvakumar of
Lovely Offset, Sivakasi. Khushru Patel and his partner started their printing
press Jak Printers in modest 375-sqft premises and expanding it to a huge facility
in the heart of Mumbai. Jak Printers has been a recipient of 33 international
and 400 national awards, it shows his dedication to quality. A hard working and
committed businessman Khushroo is a family first person. Pursuing his other passion,
he acquired a huge farmhouse in Lonavala where he created a lake within. He has
love for horses, given his acquiring riding skills and has cattle at the farm
exhibiting his love and care for animals. The other maverick K. Selvakumar is a
modest and humble personality from Lovely Offset Sivakasi, operating from a
facility spread over 30 acres catering to an international customer base. They
have 1,000 employees, generate solar power in excess of their own need, and have
transformed Sivakasi’s water table through rainwater harvesting. Creating forests,
he has planted 300,000 trees and vows to reach a crore of trees in a year. He
has also invested in water channels to revive catchment areas, transforming
barren land for environmental rejuvenation. His efforts have resulted in the
water table rising from 800 feet to just 25 feet. Society needs more mavericks
like K. Selvakumar.
There were awe inspiring sessions by Sascha Fisher from lead
sponsor Koenig & Bauer, Sunanda Leelaram, Harsha Bhogle and the icing on
the case was a scintillating performance by maestro Taufiq Quereshi ending with
a standing ovation!
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| Sascha Fisher |
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| Sunanda Leelaram |
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| Harsha Bhogle |
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| Taufiq Quereshi |
Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited
New Delhi January 2025
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