Manipal Group grows in Nigeria

Manipal International Press claims to be the leader in Nigeria’s self-adhesive label printing industry, fully leveraging the benefi ts of being part of a multi-national group that reaches across to Kenya and India.

Manipal Technologies Limited (MTL), based in Manipal, India, was started in 1941 as Manipal Power Press offering print services to banks. The company developed into one of the top general printers in India offering services and products such as security printing, self-adhesive labels, books, bank cards and stationery.

Today the Manipal Group in India is involved in print and digital media and software development across a range of sectors including educational Institutions and hospitals and includes packaging companies based in Ahmedabad and Chennai.

By 2008 Manipal was ready to expand into Africa and founded a plant in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. An important part of that growing business was supplying labels to multinational customers in Nigeria.

The logistics challenges involved in shipping labels from East to West Africa led Manipal to establish a subsidiary plant in Lagos, Nigeria in November 2013, with operations starting in September 2014 with two narrow web 8-color fl exo presses. This proved to be a key moment in the development of an indigenous label industry in Nigeria.

Comments BT Patil, CEO of Manipal International Press: ‘Before we came to Nigeria, most multinational and major local companies were importing labels from India, China and the Middle East as there was no confi dence in the Nigerian label Industry.

‘The customers started believing only when we opened our plant in Lagos and demonstrated our facilities. Gradually people started developing labels with us as well as other local label printers and stopped importing.’

Press fleet

In 2018, Manipal International Press, Lagos, started a period of expansion by adding two more flexo printing lines. Later in 2020 one of these presses was replaced with a wider web, 10-color automated flexo press. This was followed by another 8-color press a year later. The installed production capacity was increased from 500,000sqm to 1,500,000sqm of labels printed in a month.

Along with these top-line flexo presses, Manipal has installed a range of slitting, counting and inspection machines. Manipal also has a customized finishing machine incorporating a facility to print variable QR codes and numbering.

There is a system in place to carry out 100 percent inspection of finished rolls by a QA/QC team to check the proper winding and print-related defects.

“We get our raw materials ordered centrally through the regional headquarters in Kenya and stock of raw materials is our strength”

The biggest market for Manipal is the spirits sector, contributing 30 percent of the company’s business and mostly fulfilled with local Nigerian brands. This is followed by lubricants at 20-25 percent, pharmaceuticals at 20 percent, then cosmetics, health and homecare, food and beverages.

Challenges

One of the key challenges facing Nigerian label converters is the long lead time and unpredictable costs of procuring self-adhesive materials, inks, tooling and other consumables, which must be imported mainly from China, India and Europe. This is where Manipal has a great advantage, leveraging its multi-national group assets.

Patil explains: ‘We get our raw materials ordered centrally through the regional headquarters in Kenya and stock of raw materials is our strength. We keep three to four months of stock through a regular ordering process, which makes us the strongest label printer in Nigeria.

‘Manipal being an esteemed customer to its suppliers is enjoying the assurance of continuity of raw materials supply even when the international supply chain breaks down. In case of emergencies, Manipal air lifts raw material consignments at an extra cost to meet customer’s requirements.’

Manipal runs its Lagos plant on a gas-powered generator and has a standby diesel generator of the required capacity. ‘It is important to maintain the generators in good working condition always,’ says Patil.

The future

Manipal’s Lagos operation has proven a remarkable success. Starting out as a 600sqm facility in 2014, the packed production floor has expanded to a size of 2,000sqm today. There is no better measure of that success than the 20-25 percent year-on-year growth registered by Manipal since its inception.

The next stage is the construction of new warehouses on recently acquired land close to the existing production facility. Manipal has plans to diversify its operations at the new facility.

This will be an exciting new chapter in the development of Manipal International Press in Nigeria which L&L will be sure to track in the coming years.