Avery Dennison, a global leader in pressure-sensitive label and packaging materials, has completed a major expansion of its production facility in Pune that will significantly enhance the company’s production capacity to meet the growing demands of the Indian market.
The ISO-certified Pune facility produces technically advanced pressure-sensitive materials for labeling and packaging and is one of Avery Dennison’s most advanced operations. The expansion, housed in a 100,000 square-foot site adjacent to its current facility, includes a new state-of-the-art, high-speed materials coating machine, the widest and fastest in India, which together with finishing equipment and coater comprise a full production line.
“With this latest expansion, we continue with the next big chapter in our development in India,” said Anil Sharma, managing director of Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials in India. “Our customers across India and South Asia have been our primary focus since we first established operations here in 1997. By expanding in Pune, we will be able to better serve the increasingly discerning requirements of this fast-growing market.”
The move further underlines Avery Dennison’s commitment to India, bringing the company’s total investment to date in the country to approximately $55 million USD. The plant has undergone three phases of capacity expansion since the plant opened in 1998. This fourth expansion puts the facility at 130,000 square feet – four times its original size. The investment is in response to the rapidly growing Indian market demands for label materials as retailers increasingly recognize the importance of packaging and branding to differentiate products and drive consumer choices.
“We are here for a long haul and India is a big growing market providing us opportunities to grow at a high double digit year-on-year,” Dean A Scarborough, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Avery Dennison, said.
He said with the major expansion of its production facility at Ranjangaon, near Pune, and launching of a new innovation centre in Pune and a knowledge centre in Bangalore, the company has invested a total of $200 million till date. He said India was an important growing market globally and therefore, the company has also launched its second knowledge centre in Bangalore after China. “This centre will deliver innovative packaging and labelling systems and branding solutions to our growing customers,” Scarborough said.
He said the fourth innovation centre opened in Pune with 20 top engineers at present, will focus to provide research and innovation development services to the Indian market. “The team will be increased to 200 in the next two-three years to generate global solutions for the company,” Scarborough said. The other three centres are located in USA, China and the Netherlands, he said.
The fastest growing label and packaging materials (LPM) division manufactures and markets products under its Fasson brand, including pressure-sensitive and non-adhesive coated papers, films and foils. LPM products are widely used in brand identity, bar-code labelling systems, product identification and other applications by label converters and consumer product companies. Avery Dennison India has three manufacturing facilities in Gurgaon, Pune and Bangalore.
“Our existing three major businesses in India in labelling and packaging, retail branding and information solution and speciality materials together generated $155 million in sales revenues last calendar year and we are targeting at over $300 million in the next two-three years,” Scarborough said.
Avery Dennison’s Label and Packaging Materials business is the leading manufacturer of pressure-sensitive label materials in India, and has seen year-on-year double-digit growth since its inception in 1997. The business is able to better serve customers thanks to its national footprint, which includes the expanded Pune plant, two plants in Gurgaon and a recently commissioned distribution center in Bangalore.
“We are delighted to officially open this new production line to contribute to the growth of India,” Avery Dennison Chairman, President and CEO Dean A. Scarborough said at the official inauguration ceremony. “The speed, quality and timeliness of the installation demonstrate Avery Dennison’s world-class execution capabilities and reflects the talent and drive of our India team. Through our investments in technology and people, we are committed to delivering world-class support to our growing Indian and South Asia customer base.”
During the opening ceremony, Avery Dennison also announced two more significant developments in India: the establishment of a new Innovation Center in Pune and a Knowledge Center in Bangalore.
The Innovation Center will be the third of its kind for Avery Dennison, which has existing centers in the US and China. It will provide dedicated research and innovation development services for Indian converters and original equipment manufacturers, while simultaneously providing growth opportunities for India’s pressure-sensitive labeling industry. The Pune Innovation Center will be operational by mid-2012 and is expected to grow significantly in terms of dedicated resources over the next two years.
To help nurture and grow the industry in India and South Asia, Avery Dennison is creating a label and packaging Knowledge Center in partnership with original equipment manufacturers. Expected to commence operation in Q2 of 2012, the Knowledge Center is intended to provide training and knowledge transfer on all major aspects of labeling technology from label production materials to pre-press, printing and converting. It will also address the business dimension such as coating and inventory management to deliver an effective and highly comprehensive means of knowledge sharing that will help foster the growth of the industry across South Asia.
