The Indian packaging industry is poised to touch US$ 5 billion in the next couple of years. But when it comes to high quality packaging machinery, there is a serious dearth of companies producing the same in India. Moreover, the machinery that is available in the domestic market is not up to global standards.
This created a huge demand for sophisticated packaging machinery in the country. In order to tap the burgeoning market for high-tech packaging systems in the country, Krishnamachari Ravi established Hassia Packaging in 1997 at Sanaswadi, Pune.
As the MD of Hassia Packaging, Mr Ravi is responsible for overseeing the overall strategic and corporate affairs of the company, including product development, operations and exploring new market opportunities.
He has travelled to various parts of the world and has over 23 years of experience in sales and marketing. In the last 3 years, Hassia Packaging has grown by 30% on a year-on-year basis, and has a workforce of 100 employees at present.
Background
Born on June 11, 1959 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, Mr Ravi completed his graduation in Chemistry from the Delhi University. He followed it up with a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune.
Line of business
Since the last 50 years, Hassia has been designing and developing customised packaging systems for a diverse range of food products including dairy, malted food, health drinks, snack food, tea, coffee, sugar, salt, detergent and agrochemical industries. Mr Ravi’s sharp business acumen has been instrumental in the company’s overseas expansion. Today, Hassia has clients in the Gulf countries, South Africa, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
On an expansion mode
Mr Ravi’s thrust on ongoing expansion becomes clear from his statement that there is no point in running a business, especially if it is engaged in manufacturing without having a consolidated expansion strategy in place.
He gives prime importance to research and development in view of the ever-changing market dynamics. In his words, “Presently, the company’s product development team is working on three new kinds of machinery equipment, which will produce packaging materials in the form of pre-formed cups, tubs and bottles.”
According to Mr Ravi, Hassia’s business plan includes achieving a turnover of over Rs 30 crore by 2012.
Today, Hassia has captured a large share of the growing packaging machinery segment in India. Speaking about his success in the domestic market, Mr Ravi says, “Our ability to offer superior products that employ the latest technology, at a competitive price has helped us gain an edge over our competitors.”
Tasting success
Mr Ravi’s strong emphasis on improving the quality of its products and establishing Hassia has propelled the company to expand its capacity in the overseas market.
Today, leading Indian brands such as Wheel, Surf, Tide, Ariel, Bournvita, Horlicks, Kohinoor, Daawat, and Tata Tea, are all packaged using Hassia machines.
His motivation to innovate and design unique products helped the company earn the Pac Machine 2000 Award given by the Indian institute of Packaging for excellence in design and development. |
