Allflex Plastic LLP is located in Eastern reign of India, in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company is into manufacturing business from last 15 years, starting with production of PP flute board, GPPS sheets, Polycarbonate sheets, HIPS sheets Acrylic Sheets, and other plastic sheets by introducing new production line every alternative year. The group currently produce fourteen different types of plastic products under the brand name, Sunrise.
Allflex started PVC flex banner manufacturing in the year 2016 with advanced production technology from Taiwan, China and India with production capacity of 1000MT per month. It manufactures all kind of frontlit banner in both category (hot/cold), Black back and Backlit to cater to its customers across the country.
The company that claims to have its registered trademark associated with the promise of quality assurance boasts of its highly skilled professionals who coordinate in the production, packaging, and marketing process. We, at Sign & POP World, got hold with Kamlesh Thakker, the company’s CEO to know how Allflex has been successful in creating a space for itself in a market where competition is surging with each passing day. Here’re the edited excerpts.
Which all products & services do you have in your kitty? How has Allflex been fairing in the Indian signage industry?
We are into manufacturing of different types of plastic products from the last 15 years. We started our journey in the manufacturing industry with PP hollow profile sheet commonly known as Fluteboard or Sunpack and further expanded into other products to include PVC foam board, GPPS sheet, Polycarbonate Sheet, Polypropelene Sheet, HIPS Sheet, LDPE Sheet, HDPE Sheet, ABS Sheet, PMMA (Extruded), and PET G. All these products are marketed under the brand name of Sunrise.
Recently, we have started manufacturing PVC flex banner in Kolkata, West Bengal – the eastern region of India wherein we manufacture Frontlit Flex Banner, Backlit Flex Banner, Black Back Flex Banner and Hot Lamination Flex Banner. Owing to our production expertise, we have gained the reputation of manufacturing the best quality product and providing the best business solutions to our customers with commitment and dedication.
Please share about your infrastructure – factory spread, machineries, raw materials sourcing, etc.
Our factory is spread over an area of 1.5 acres where we have complete manufacturing facility of PVC Flex banner. The manufacturing infrastructure comprises calendar machine & hot laminator from Taiwan and cold laminator & inspection unit form China to check the quality after production. Other testing equipment are indigenous.
We procure raw materials from all over the world including PVC – Formosa-Taiwan, LG-Korea and Reliance-India. We have DOP from LG, Korea and CaCo3 from Vietnam. We take the fabric from both India and China.
Our infrastructure is furnished with hi-tech machinery that facilitates bulk production of at any given time. It is complemented with quality testing equipment, consistent power of water supply thereby helping us to develop a product according to the client’s requirements and deliver it within the given time.
What is your USP? How do you maintain quality?
One of our biggest USP is the location, we are situated in. Kolkata itself has its port which makes the import of raw materials and other things cost-effective for us and hence for our valuable customers. We do have stretching technology for manufacturing flex banner, which allows us to make low GSM materials.
Our Group has a big range of products to serve almost every need of the advertisement market like Fluteboard, PVC foam board, PVC flex banner, PET G sheets – all make us a one-stop solution for our dealers.
To maintain quality, we have offline inspection machines and printing machines. Each and every semi- finished product is tested by printing to ensure that there is no printing problem. Further the finished product is inspected and then packed for final dispatch.
Why should one opt for Allflex over its competitors?
Indian market for flex banner is very huge and any one brand cannot server the entire country. There are some regions where we would be stronger than other competitors in respect to price, service and locational advantage. As there are good numbers of dealers in all regions, they would always like to have different brands to avoid price competition on same brand.
How many dealers/distributors does the company have as of now? Any expansion plan in near future?
Currently, we are having 50 dealers all over India. But in the near future, we aim to increase this number to 200.
How do you see the state of flex in the Indian signage industry?
The market is growing with new manufacturers entering the industry, and flex business is going to become more of regional sales where everyone is going to feel the heat. If you talk about signage & advertisement, flex automatically takes its lead position. If we talk about outdoor advertisement, you cannot survive without flex banner. But at the same time, we can’t deny of getting the flex’s position invaded. Definitely, some substitutes would come in the near future.
How has flex been competing with fabric as media? How do you see the market potential for flex in time to come?
Fabric is definitely a substitute of PVC flex Banner, but it is a costlier one. As India is going with the ‘GO GREEN’ mantra, fabric may take some market share of PVC flex banner. However, nothing can substitute of PVC flex banner.
Other than fabric, how has Indian flex been competing with imported stuff?
There are merely two-three brands that are being imported from China and Korea. But continuous improvement in the quality of indigenous manufactured flex, we are observing that the sales of the imported stuff are going down with each passing day.