While the Indian Plastic Industry is experiencing numerous technological advancements, the BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene) film has come out to be a new buzzword in the industry. With its numerous advantages, this film has gained a lot of attention and great demand all across the globe from the industrialists. Presently, Cosmo Films is one such organization which is a pioneer in BOPP films manufacturing.
In an interview with Insights Success, the Cosmo Film’s CEO, Mr. Pankaj Poddar, gave his insightful views on the innovative products the company provides to the diverse range of customers. Pankaj Poddar is a qualified Chartered Accountant, took charge as the CEO of Cosmo Films in 2011. Under his aegis, the company has crossed multiple milestones such as being felicitated as top 25 value creators in Fortune’s Next 500 companies; being recommended by experts in top ten multibagger midcap stocks to buy in 2017 published by ET Markets.com and finding a place in the top 500 companies list published by Business Today. He has recently been awarded with the “Indian CEO of the Year award” by Association of Business Communicators of India.
- Kindly brief us about Cosmo Films Ltd.
Established in 1981, Cosmo Films Limited today is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination and labeling applications. Its films offerings include biaxially oriented polypropylene (Be OPP) films, cast polypropylene (CPP) films and soon to be offered bi-axially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) films. Company is the pioneer of BOPP film manufacturing and introduced the country to its commercial applications. Today, the company is the largest exporter of BOPP films from India and is also the largest producer of thermal laminating films in the world. Apart from the widest portfolio of speciality BOPP and CPP films, our customers recognise us for the customised innovation that we provide them as part of our strategic relationship and the customer centric approach. Cosmo has five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities spread across India, the US (at Hagerstown, Illinois) and Korea (at Asan); and global channel partners in more than seventy countries. In India, our facilities are located at Waluj (Aurangabad), Karjan (Vadodara), and Shendra (Aurangabad).
- What are the different products and services provided by your company, which is setting you apart from your competitors?
Cosmo Films which provides largest BOPP and CPP films portfolio has recently introduced the conduction retort lidding film for flavoured milk, juices etc as well as universal lidding film which can seal with any plastic material such as food trays, jams, sauces, butter etc. Some of our speciality products include high barrier films, overwrap films, velvet & black velvet thermal lamination films, scuff free and digital lamination films, PSA label face stock films, direct thermal printable films and synthetic paper. Also our commitment to creating value for our customers, collaborating with them on projects, offering them research oriented products and cost management clearly gives us an edge over competition.
Let us look at some of our speciality products in more detail:
Velvet Lamination Films:
As the name suggests, these are thermal lamination films offering velvety touch and feel and intense black colour along with rich velvet finish to the printed surface respectively. Apart from the soft and velvety touch and feel, these films give excellent scuff resistance and are suitable for UV spot lamination and foil stamping as well. Engineered on special matte base films, these films not only protect the printed surface but also enhance the aesthetics.
Synthetic Paper:
It is a replacement of paper in applications where durability and longevity is desired. It is non-tearable, has moisture and chemical resistance and excellent lay flatness. It is printable with most available printing technologies which include wet & UV offset, wet & UV flexo, letterpress, screen, thermal transfer and most of the digital toner technologies. The versatility of synthetic paper is reflected in the vast number of applications where it can be used. This includes areas such as commercial printing, tags & labels, retail & packaging, identification & credentials and outdoors.
- Brief us about the Founder/ Director /CEO, and what was the source of inspiration for your company to be in the Plastic Industry.
Mr. Ashok Jaipuria, Chairman & Managing Director of Cosmo Films is a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist. He pioneered BOPP Films manufacturing in India when he set up Cosmo’s first plant in Aurangabad in 1981. He is a renowned industry veteran and has been on the board of several academic and industry institutions like IITs and FICCI.
- What are few of the challenges faced by the company in the plastics industry, today?
The fallout of overcapacity in the industry can be witnessed in erosion of margins in the business and the price premium. Another challenge the industry faces is, more or less because of the frequent fluctuations in foreign currency and raw material prices.
Our industry also faces a major challenge due to myths around plastics and government regulations. BOPP is an environmentally friendly and recyclable material, so there is a key challenge as well as opportunity in educating the consumers at large about this.
- What is the technology used in manufacturing your products?
We are taking advantage of the technological advancements and have adopted them in our manufacturing facilities to increase productivity. We use PLC, sensory measurement, HMI, SCADA, Profibus etc for automation of manufacturing process.We ensure complete synchronization of manufacturing from raw material feeding to final mill roll production. Our inventory management is done through barcoding & RFID to reduce the loading & unloading time of materials and provides complete traceability. Implementation of CRM (customer relationship management) & Business intelligence tool ensures availability of all decision enabling business reports which help in real time decision making.
- Share with us how the company is contributing to its sector in the industry and what makes you a unique player in this field?
We have a clear new product development process so that all developments are market and customers led. State of art R&D lab is the key differential in packaging sector. We have R&D labs (one each in India and the US) with most sophisticated equipment. We are developing biodegradable films to make the degradation of used BOPP films faster and in an environmentally friendly manner. Work is also on to support water based ink printing and complete replacement of solvent-based coating with water based coatings.
- Kindly explain us your advantages over your peers.
Like any other manufacturing industry, technology and innovation define the success for packaging industry as well as the industry becomes more and more crowded. Therefore speciality products (as tech/value added products get defined in our industry) become need of the hour. We at Cosmo Films have always focused on speciality segments through continuous product innovation.
- What are the benefits gained by your clients while doing business with you?
We want to create symbiotic relationships with our clients that drive mutual growth. Their testimony is case in point which inspires us to continuously adhere to their requirement. We bring to the table excellent governance, management skills along with technology, quality products and historical industry knowledge qualifying ability to service the future growth of the industry.
- How do you see yourself and the company in the future ahead?
Our vision is to be the most preferred global brand offering value added oriented films for packaging, labels, lamination, and industrial applications. We also intend to become a packaging solution provider with variety of film substrates to offer when we meet our customers. Therefore, we have already ventured into production of CPP films. We have also announced plans to set up a speciality BOPET line at our Aurangabad facility which is expected to be installed by the end of FY 18-19. This is our first foray into PET based products and will come with an investment of Rs. 250 crores. As far as medium to long term targets are concerned, we do keep a look out for expanding in related areas of growth and have already announced acquisitions of 34 acres of land in Aurangabad, Maharashtra and 11 acres land in Karjan, Gujarat close to our existing plants with expansion on our mind.
