'Automation will improve efficiency'

The Indian paper industry needs to go in for automation to meet the challenges of gradual lowering of customs duty, low return on capital, raw material shortage and continued globalisation, said paper industry representatives at the one-day symposium "� Paper Tech 2005 "� organised by the Automation Industry Association of India (AIA) in Hyderabad on Monday.

According to Ravi Uppal, vice-chairman and managing director of ABB and president of AIA, out of the 540 paper mills in the country, while the big ones (around 15 ) are fully automated, many medium-sized ones (around 50) are semi-automated with the 475-odd small ones not being automated.

Pradeep Dhobale, chief executive of ITC Limited (paperboards & specialty papers division), said, "The present per capita consumption of paper, ie 5.5 kg, is slated to double in a decade's time. But there are challenges in the form of customs duty that has reduced from 55 per cent earlier to 15 per cent now and to WTO-induced zero per cent later. Besides, while the return is already low on capital, hiking prices of our products may not improve profitability either. So, improving the efficiency of mills through automation is a probable solution."

The industry needs to ensure automation as it will help deliver consistent quality, deliver on time and full (OTIF), reduce costs and lower environmental impact, he added.

"With automation, we at ITC have been able to enhance plant efficiency by 105 per cent besides reducing power consumption from 1,456 kwh to 999 kwh per tonne in the last six years. Therefore, investment in automation may bring the highest return on investment (RoI) in our industry," he said.

"In India, we produce 5.26 million tonnes of paper while the installed capacity is 6.7 million tonnes," K S Kasi Viswanathan, director (operations) at Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited, said.

"While in Japan, the productivity is 605 tonnes per employee, in India it is just 30 tonnes per employee," he said, adding that in such a scenario, automation will improve competitiveness that is necessary for long-term survival.