PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2016

TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 33 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 07+08/16 www.petpla.net Interview with Shyam Plastic Machinery March 2, 2016 We met: Samir V. Khakharia, CEO, Shyam Plastic Machinery Chetan V. Khakharia, CEO, Shyam Plastic Industries Keeping up with the customers by Kay Barton Samir V. Khakharia in front of one of his newly assembled machines Ahmedabad-based machine-building firm Shyam Plastic Machinery has been active in the development of plastics processing technology since the early 1990s. Over this time it has experienced consistent growth at rates match- ing those of its regular customers. As we were interested in finding out more about its past and its plans for expansion, we met with this family-owned company in its home city. Mr V. A. Khakharia is the original founder and the father of our inter- viewees: Samir V. Khakharia, CEO of Shyam Plastic Machinery, and Chetan V. Khakharia, CEO of Shyam Plas- tic Industries. The company started out in 1993 at an 800m 2 site with the construction of extrusion lines for PVC hoses, with which it remains involved to this day. It started its second line of business in PET machines in 1997, in response to the then dramatic fall in the price of PET, whose attractive- ness as a material was already clear. Shyam started by developing and constructing hand-operated two-cavity PET blow-moulding machines with a maximum blowing pressure of 10 bars and a capacity of 500-600 bph. This was followed, from year 2000 onwards, by the development of the company’s first semi-automatic machine, which also had two cavities but achieved double the output capacity. The follow- ing year saw the development of its first four-cavity machine, which boasted an output of 2,800 bph; Shyam’s current four-cavity machines have an output of 5,400bph. The company’s product range also includes the semi-automatic SP 500 H blowing machines for 40 ml to 5 l bottles with a 20mm-120mm neck; the SP 25000 H for 20 l bottles; the SP 5000 H-HF for hot-fill applications from 0.1 l to 5 l; and two fully-automatic PET blowing machines with two or four cavities. Shyam has also developed an all-electric blowing machine, which will produce bottles in the 9,000 to 12,000 bph range. This machine is cur- rently the fastest to have been designed and manufactured entirely in India. “In 2016 we will manufacture around 60 fully automatic machines. We are currently growing at an average rate of 25%, and this year, we appear set to surpass 35%,” Samir Khakharia says. “Our primary customer group is the drinks industry. We also have custom- ers in the area of liquid food, however, including cooking oil bottlers.” The com- pany’s key customers include Bisleri, Parle Agro and Manpasand Beverages. While the company’s sales focus is pri- marily on India, recent years have seen exports to the Gulf States and African countries account for around a third of its turnover. “Around two thirds of all our orders go to our regular customers, which means that our growth very much depends on their growth,” Samir V. Khakharia explains. “To all intents and purposes we grow with them, which means we don’t necessarily have to acquire new customers.” In 2015, Shyam’s turnover hit US$ 3.85 million; in 2016, it is set to reach US$5.64 mil- lion. “We have sold 100 semi-automatic machines since April 1, 2015, of which 30 are to be used for wide-mouth jars.” Shyam Plastic Machinery currently employs 140 members of staff, of whom eight work in its development division. It completes all of its work in house. The current company premises occupy a 3,400m 2 site, and multi-phase expan- sions are planned for the next two to five years. In two to three months’ time, production is also set to start at a second, 1,000m 2 leased plot, situated 500 m away. “Although we have been presenting our firm at the K trade fair in Europe since 2004, Europe isn’t our biggest market because requirements are different here in India. A few of our machines are being used there but the numbers are very low. Nevertheless, it could still be a market for the future. Our existing customers value our service very highly, which is certainly one of the main reasons why we see our long term business here.” www.shyamplastic.com www.shyamplastic.in