Mr. Mahendra Mehta is the C.E.O. of Parle Global Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Mehta is a Mechanical Engineer with Diploma in Production Technology and Post Diploma in Management of Small and Medium Enterprise. He also pursued an MBA in Family Business after which he joined the company started by his father & founder Mr. Rajmal Mehta in the year 1993. Mr. Mehta has been associated with Parle Group for more than 20 years. The group is in Joint venture with companies from USA, Japan and S. Korea, dealing with machinery related to Pharma, food, Beverage and Cosmetic applications.
Additionally, Mr. Mehta is associated with IPMMA as President since 2015. IPMMA is the only trade association representing the most innovative & capable pharma machinery manufacturers from India. The association is putting focused efforts to co-ordinate with technology, component suppliers etc. to provide necessary knowledge that could be imparted to its members under a single roof program to help both the supplier as well the industry.
Mr. Mehta is a member of the Board of Governors in the Institute of Packaging Machinery Manufacturers of India (IPMMI). IPMMI is the exclusive national body representing the Packaging machinery manufacturers in the country.
In your long & illustrious career as a technology enabler, what is your impression of the journey for packaging materials for brand owners?
Packaging Industry is ever evolving and you would never come across a stage where someone says, that’s enough. There is continuous effort at the technology level to handle different packaging material and material industry to use latest packaging machinery technology. In between, the big challenge is product security, efficiency in handling and brand positioning by the brand owners. Each day is interesting and a learning experience at all times.
How do you envisage the future of packaging industry in India & worldwide?
Packaging Industry will grow in India as we are still at a stage where we are focusing more on product development and less on packaging development. We need to take inspiration from developed nations on security and efficiency of packaging. The belief that Indian labour is cheap should be removed from our mindset. We need to automate packaging in all areas; Pharmaceutical industry has already done it.
In your view, what are the key challenges confronting the machinery building sector for packaging use?
India is a mass consumer market. The challenge is to have machinery which can work 24/7 with high outputs. Also the packaging material quality and cost is an area which becomes of challenge for the machinery manufacturer. Also the level of automation and support is another area where we have to train users, current training levels are insufficient.
Could you elaborate on the impact of technologies like AI, Machine Learning etc. on machinery building industry for the packaging industry?
Technology has been evolving in the packaging area and with AI coming in picture, it will be interesting to implement and scale up production. It will have more error free operation and less dependency on skillset. The industry needs to invest in training manpower to implement latest technology. This will definitely help them boost quality of production and reduce costs in the long run.
Packaging 360 is a comprehensive knowledge sharing ecosystem for the Indian packaging industry. Our services include an online content platform to deliver news, insights and case studies; organising conferences seminars and customised training; Providing Bespoke Project Consulting, Market Research and Intelligence.
