Stationery industry to recover by financial year-end

Line O Matic is one of the leading global manufacturers of notebook-making machines and in recent years it has begun making converting machines primarily for A4 consumer or B2C markets and packaging machines so that these can efficiently reach the customer in ream packs. Unlike previous shows The company is highlighting its paper stationery, converting, and packaging machines at its stand F25-26 in Hall 9B Printpack India. A catalog of its range of products from simple to the fully automated line that includes shrink-wrapping of wire-bound notebooks and at this time likely to see mainly export demand is available at the stand as are the technical team for discussions. One of these automated lines has already been sold to a European customer.

Dilip Golani, senior manager of Marketing at Line O Matic said, “On the first day at PrintPack India, the footfall was less, and we also got a few inquiries. However, on the second day, the footfall is high and we are getting good numbers of visitors at our stand.”

After the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns when the schools and colleges were completely closed there was a deep contraction of the stationery industry. Line O Matic continued to help its existing customers even though some of the maintenance was offered remotely through online tools and to some extent exports continued. However, some of the newcomers to the industry even sold their stationery manufacturing lines in distress with the shrinkage in demand. 

Now that schools and colleges have reopened the demand for stationery has come back but is being met largely by the stocks that remained with suppliers and distribution channels in February and March of 2020. The supply of fresh notebooks and stationery is expected to resume in another six months and so is the demand for new notebook manufacturing machines from Line O Matic. Line O Matic sustained itself in the past two years with its diversification to converting and packaging machines well as its exports to 75 countries. While some customers have been discouraged by the recent volatility in paper prices and supplies, the company expects to make up most of its lost ground by the end of the financial year in March 2023.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.

The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.

Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.

As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.

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