Mr. Amit Gupta born on 25th June 1975, did his engineering and master’s in IT, having a simple lifestyle, like to spend time with family, friends, enjoy movies but he is so passionate about paper that he sees paper in his dreams even. He is always inclined towards getting the best in whatever he does whether ordering an equipment, finding a solution for routine issues or interacting with clients. Being a Director – Technical he always searches for better technologies and solutions which he can inculcate in his mill in order to serve his customers better. During the interaction he highlighted about how he adopted best of technical capabilities in his mill in order to make it efficient and deliver the best quality product. He also shared the challenges, trends foreseen and the policies at Dev Priya Industries Ltd. Excerpts.
Idea Conceived
I joined Dev Priya Industries back in August 1997 and since then we have not expanded our capacity within Dev Priya group. But in 2006-07 we thought to add another wing to our existing plant and finalized to go for a sizable capacity of 250 TPD to manufacture value added kraft paper grades. In April 2007 we ordered paper machine to Ruby Macons and further a good amount of time was taken to convince the management to finalize the stock preparation equipments from Voith. After a thorough discussion, in November 2007 we placed the order to Voith because ultimately paper is not made on paper machine it is made in stock preparation. The project investment was already going high with the kind of technology we had adopted which was further fueled by the forex fluctuation.
It was our first time that we were using high level of automation in our operations. The management had got apprehensions whether it will work or not and my answer to that was, we are working with the top technology provider in the industry and they have the required expertise and knowledge so we need not to worry. We have put all the faith in Voith and finally the success is visible to all. Finally on 29th June 2009 the trials were done and on 1st July 2009 we declared the commercial production.
Technical Capabilities of PM2
The thought was very clear in our mind that if we want to sustain in the market for long term we have to produce good quality product and for that we have to invest in technology. We have invested lot on automation and other equipments for which everything was very specific. We selected specialized vendors for the process equipments, spares and consumables and have introduced standardization in the entire production process. We had stock preparation and consistency transmitters from Voith. Valves and control valves are one time investment so we went for Metso. Pressure transmitter and DPD we had from Siemens. For rewinders we went for Globe Radio and in that we invested extra on the high quality automation because good quality reel is the most important aspect. For electrification and pumps we went to ABB, Schneider and L&T. We have invested once for longer efficiency. Today we can say that we don’t have to invest anything in PM2 and now we are upgrading PM1. We have learned many things from PM2 which will be adapted during the up-gradation of PM1.
Challenges
Power, infrastructure and logistics are the major challenge. Major chunk of the project cost goes in power, water treatment and waste management and in logistics. In countries like China they are least bothered about power, steam, drainage and the infrastructure because the government takes care of all the things. The government here also should provide infrastructure for industries to flourish.
Product standardization is a challenge in India where every day we have to produce paper in multiple sizes & grammages. The corrugators should standardize their sizes and GSM so that it leads to minimum wastage and high production. Also converters need to have a control on the process system with a good unloading & handling system.
“Availability of waste paper is not an issue but price is” if our input cost is going to increase then our finished product price will go up. If you are coming ahead in the technology and you are ahead in selling then you have to be ahead in buying, it’s a demand supply game.
Policies at Dev Priya Industries
Work culture – We try to make the working atmosphere good in both plant and office. We are very open to all our people. If we are true to them they will be true to us, and can concentrate on work. Any kind of problem personal, family or work related they can come to us directly. We have also introduced an incentive system in order to motivate them.
Quality – If you maintain quality then round the year you don’t have to worry about selling your product. We simply follow how, when and why technique to resolve routine issues within the mill. We have standardized production processes in our mill which ensures consistent quality throughout. We also don’t compromise on the input use to produce paper.
Moreover to handle the customer’s complaints we visit to the site and check not only the paper but his process so that we can have best remedial action. If the market is going up you will get hiked first and if the market will go down you will be last person to be affected only if your quality is good. After all money is not everything at least people will recognize you for your quality.
Trends Foreseen
Corrugation industry is witnessing major growth and people are upgrading their machines with highly automated lines. Till date they were converting up to 300 tons of paper a month but now they are targeting 1000 tons and more. So, we need to be ahead of them to support them.
