Challenges are nothing but Opportunities in waiting

Twenty-Five Thousand Rupees and a knack for spotting opportunities, was how the journey began into the world of labels and packaging. Thirty-five years thereafter, Kris Flexipacks Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Shailesh Sheth are names to be reckoned with, in the Labels and Flexible Packaging industry, not only in India but in entire South Asia.

What started as a simple wave printing operation, is now a multi-location manufacturing powerhouse, with pan India footprint for shrink sleeve labels, roll feed labels, laminates, speciality printed packaging and hygiene packaging. The Next Move (TNM) interviewed Mr. Shailesh Sheth (SS) for its inaugural interview section.

TNM: If asked to look back and sum up the journey of three decades in three sentences, what will you say?
SS: One could say that it is a journey from being a small trader to one of the largest player in this market. However, the way I see it:
1.    It was a journey to make Kris Flexipack a “Process Focussed” and “Talent Focussed” organisation
2.    A journey where OGSM (Objectives / Goals /Strategy / Measures) became a one-page guide path for the whole company
3.    A journey to make Kris Flexipack an efficient company and sustain its continuous growth
It was a journey to make Kris Flexipack a “Process Focussed” and “Talent Focussed” organisation

TNM: If asked to pick up one thing, that differentiates Kris Flexipacks, what will that be?
SS: Flexible Packaging is a fragmented and commoditised market. While innovation has its place, industry is quick to replicate and competition can always catch up pretty fast on the technology front. What takes time is the customer’s experience of dealing with the organisation over the years. That faith, reliability and reputation takes years to build and cannot be copied by any competition overnight, remains our differentiator.

TNM: What are your top of the mind three things to keep you awake?
SS:       1.         Country’s regulatory policies
            2.         Competitive landscape and overcapacity in the industry
            3.         Finding the right balance between continuous innovation vis-à-vis sustainable business practices

TNM: What is your strategy and response to these challenges?
SS: I have always been a strong believer in challenges being the other side of opportunities; they are in fact opportunities in waiting. 
For example, in recent times, when the regulatory framework about flexible packaging changed, that opened up new vistas in bio degradable packaging, compostable packaging. So as an organisation, we need to excel in looking for alternate choices and never take our eyes off continuous progress. 
We need to be always in motion to maintain the lead. Building People Capability, Process Capability and Technological Capability have to be our continuous focus. 

Challenges are in fact opportunities in waiting 

TNM: As a Talent Focussed organisation, what is your Talent Strategy?
SS: We believe in growing Talent from within the organisation to fill up identified talent gaps. Organisation culture is moulded to attract talent and keep attrition well below industry rate. We are focussed to ensure that people get enough freedom, their goals and objectives are well defined, performers are rewarded appropriately, family involvement is kept minimal and Kris Flexipacks is run as a professional driven organisation. 
Further, few years back, we identified 5 key skill areas as critical for our growth plan; since then have been investing significantly in training and capability building for these skills along with the right culture fit.

TNM: How do you bring process focus in the organisation?
SS: Apart from continuous benchmarking within and outside India, we ensure that our leadership-level is well exposed to the globally emerging trends and practices. This requires investing in travel and participation in key events and exhibitions. In this journey, we believe that system and process are true enablers for us. Also, we understand the significant role of legal and compliance in our business. We have clearly identified which functions and areas are core for us and which are best outsourced, like forex.

As part of our process focus, we have established:
•    New Product Development function
•    Pre-Press function
•    Corporate quality function

TNM:  How has your role evolved with time?
SS: In an entrepreneurial model of organisation, the entrepreneur has to wear all the hats from being the sales person, to being the technology guy or the finance person.
While in the early days, sales and marketing used to be my key focus area, these days most of my time goes to ensure the right governance and look into next 3-5-year horizon.  I can always do my managers job, but then, who will do my job. These days with a talented team in place, functional side of the organisation can now run well enough without my daily involvement.

I can always do my managers job, but who will then do my job

TNM: What do you see as the next frontier for Kris Flexipacks?
SS: On the technology side, we see cutting edge packaging concepts like stretch sleeve, which can provide 360 degree wrap around for large size containers or bundles, which was either too expensive or not possible earlier with traditional shrink sleeve or wrap around labels.
On the geography side, it is now time to look beyond India.
On the marketing side, it is now time to invest in the brand and its presence in the digital space.

TNM: How can The Next Move help a company like yours?
SS: To execute the next frontier initiatives, internal talent bandwidth is not adequate. It is also not feasible to hire expensive expert resources on role. Thus, it is time to unleash the power of the gig economy and harness the power of partner professionals. 
However, The Next Move has to ensure that quality and commitment of the partner professional is always up to the mark, as that will be the critical success factor. At a concept level, I must say about The Next Move is an idea, whose time has come.

Mr. Shailesh Sheth is the Chairman and Managing Director of Kris Flexipacks Pvt. Ltd.