As you enter the premises of Paharpur 3P (A Division of Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd), the extended greenery makes you wonder - Is it a packaging plant or a botanical garden! Sujit Shome, Director of the company tells us, “Nature brings in positiveness and keeps the environment healthy.” True indeed! And where '3P' stands for People, Passion and Packaging, the company assures an inclusive and wholesome career oriented environment to all its employees, which helps them perform well and bring in innovative ideas to the company's benefit.

Here is a look at some of the distinctive attributes of the company.

The Origin
In the late 80's and early 90's, the flexible packaging in industry was evolving and was driven by the lubricant and tobacco industries. Paharpur 3P was the brainchild of Mahendra Swarup (Founder Chairman of the group) who was looking for a sunrise sector and seeing the opportunity and the growth rates (35- 40 percent annually) in the industry, decided to diversify into flexible packaging with a start-up unit in Sahibabad Industrial Area. That is how Paharpur 3P originated in the year 1994, with a green field project having modern state of the art technology imported from Europe. Since then Paharpur 3P has come a long way under the visionary leadership of Gaurav Swarup, Chairman of the company.

Talking about the initial challenges faced by the company, Sujit Shome, Director, Paharpur 3P says, “In the process of creating an identity in the packaging industry, Paharpur 3P faced the challenge of the industry being at a nascent stage. Markets were not defined and the availability of skilled manpower was not easy.”

Plant Preview
Paharpur 3P is situated on an 18 acres plot wherein 33 percent of the area is utilised for corporate office and manufacturing / storage facilities. And the balance area is maintained under green cover reflecting the group's penchant for environmental safety and beauty.

The manufacturing operations for flexible packaging in the plant includes pre-press, plating, cylinder engraving, printing, lamination, extrusion coating, slitting, blown film plant, pouch making, bag making and ink making. Sharing some of the plant potentials, K. Anand, Vice President - Operations & HR says, “The fully integrated unit has the capability of producing high quality laminates and pouches for various packaging applications like beverages, confectionery, bakery, cosmetics, personal care, edible oil, lubricating oil and many other products.”

The organisation believes in being environmentally responsible. The focus is on reduction in wastage and effluents and recovery of heat, wherever possible and Navin Jain, Assistant General Manager- Maintenance & Resources, takes care of these company conditions and says “We use CFL lamps for lighting and almost 67 percent of the plant area is maintained under green cover,” he states.

Commenting further on the ecological practises adopted by the company, he adds, “We use natural ventilators for air circulation in the plant and storage areas and make effective use of natural light. Rain water harvesting system has been put in place and we monitor the ground water levels and quality of ground water through PIZO meters. The water discharged from our cylinder making department is treated through effluent treatment plant and is re-used for irrigation.”

Paharpur follows the ISO 9001: 2000-Quality Management System and the ISO 22000: 2005-Food Safety Management System. It also complies with the requirements of Occupational Health and Safety Management System - OHSAS: 18001.

The Products
Paharpur 3P has the distinctive identification of being the first company in the world to consider packing of lubricating oil in stand-up type flexible pouches. And today, the company manufactures various types of pre-formed pouches for all type of products, including retort pouches for ready to eat products and flexible laminates for the entire food chain from seeds to ready-to-eat, referred as 'Farm to Fork'.

The company has flexible packaging solutions for beverages, snack foods, bakery, culinary products, staples, oils & fats, cosmetics, shampoos, detergents and wrap around labels for pet bottles. It even has packaging material for aggressive products like floor and toilet cleaners. It has the technology to manufacture the highest quality of co-extruded three-layer poly film to meet the requirements of all types of products. “While we cater to the packaging needs of a wide spectrum of products, we see food and liquid to be the volume and value drivers of the future and have shaped our development and marketing strategy around it,” adds Sagato Mukerji, General Manager – Sales & Marketing.

Talking about the recent additions in the product list, Sujit Shome says, “The latest additions in the portfolio is the Extrusion Coating and Lamination machine for making high barrier laminates for packing of snack foods. We also offer Spouted Pouches for liquid packing for ease of dispensing and Shaped Pouches for shelf appeal.”

“We carry out product development and innovations in consultation with the customers to meet their requirements,” adds Nitin Narkhede, Sr. General Manager – Manufacturing.

Presence - National & International
“Paharpur 3P caters only to the organised sector of the Indian market,” says Anand. And how does the company define the unorganised sector? “Well, products like Pan Masala, Gutkha fall in that sector,” explains Anand. “The high ethical standards of our group restrict us from dealing in those products,” he adds.

For Paharpur 3P, the buyers in the organised sector are major FMCG companies like Unilever, Nestle, Cadbury, Pepsi, Britannia, Heinz etc. The company is in the premier category of manufacturers of Flexible Packaging and rated among the top five players in this field.

The company has its marketing branches in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. Sharing his observation on the volatile Indian market, Ritesh Shroff, Sr. Manager – Finance states, “The Indian market is evolving towards the low unit packs and majority of the FMCG companies are bringing products in price point categories. The second major development is taking place in the organised retail segment under private labels. The market is very price sensitive.”
Talking about the international presence of the company, Dharmesh Zavery, General Manager - International Sales & Marketing says, “Paharpur 3P is present in SAARC countries, Middle East, Africa and Europe”. As far as imports are concerned for the blown film plant, granules are imported from renowned suppliers like Dow, Exxon Mobil and Ampacet.”

The Recognitions
Paharpur 3P has always been recognised by its customers for its innovative ideas, product, quality, service and new developments. The company has several awards and recognitions to its credit like the Indiastar Awards, Asiastar Awards, Worldstar Awards, PFFCAstar Awards, Best HR Practices Award and the Eco-Friendly Company Award.

Future Focus
The future plans of Paharpur 3P include increasing the plant capacity from the present 7,000 MT to 12,000 MT per annum. That will also involve addition of new equipment at several stages of production. “We have plans to increase the market share of retort pouches and laminates and we also plan to aggressively increase the marketing of spouted pouches for liquid packaging,” affirms Sujit Shome.

<anand@pilpack.com>