Sidel opens packaging & tooling centre in India

India has one of the fastest growing economies, with soft drink sales increasing at an annual rate of 9%. The per capita consumption has increased from 2.9 litres in 2006 to 6.4 in 2011. Sales of other beverages such as water and low-calories drinks are also on the rise. Hence, time-to-market becomes even more essential to beverage suppliers. To support its customers in India, Sidel established a packaging & tooling centre in Pune.

The official opening of the new site was the highlight of the company’s ‘Value Creation’ day which was held late in 2012. The event gave the company the chance to show off the centre, whilst demonstrating the most recent innovations in the liquid foods packaging industry to its customers.

Ravi Prasad from Coca-Cola Water and Development Alliance (WADA) said: “On discovering the new packaging & tooling centre, we appreciated Sidel’s closer proximity. From our visit, we could see first-hand Sidel’s global packaging and tooling expertise, as well as the passion and capability of their local team. It was also enlightening to hear of new developments taking place, as we are naturally interested in any energy-saving and quick-changeover opportunities.”

Global experience and local expertise

The desire to provide a more local service lies at the heart of these regional centres. From bottle design to line engineering, from offer to commissioning and complete life cycle management, these centres offer the company’s global competencies on an integrated, local scale, and focuses on the market’s specific requirements. These include closer partnerships with customers and shorter delivery lead times, says Andrew Pooch, SEAP zone vice president at Sidel.

With a current capacity of 1,500 units per year, the newly built mould shop will help significantly reduce the time required to introduce new products to market. “The Value Creation day was invaluable for end-users like us, focusing on Sidel’s global solutions and customer care and showing future market trends,” explained Ganesh Sahoo, technical manager (PET) at Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd, which has beverage factories in Hyderabad and other parts of the country.