As KSA marches forward in a period of growth and change, Jamjoom PP General Manager Mohammed Kashif Awaan tells Packaging MEA Editor Ben Daniel about an impressive opening 12 months
Jamjoom Printing & Packaging (JP&P) launched a little over a year ago, and already its GM, Mohammed Kashif Awaan, reckons the company is already the region’s go-to supplier for the region’s pharma industry.
Boasting an impressive array of technology and a diverse workforce at its disposal, and a strategic location for exports, JP&P has enjoyed an impressive first-year performance.
Mr Awaan tells us more: “We started with the blueprint for the project in 2016,” he says. “We started with trial runs and installed all our machines by the last quarter 2018, We launched commercially in January 2019.”
That aforementioned prime location is a plot in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), but in the early days, this was not so convenient. However, the looming opening of King Abdullah Port right nearby convinced JP&P that they would be best placed there – and so it would turn out.
“It was challenging to start here at KAEC,” says Mr Awaan, “because it is far away from the big city, about 130km from Jeddah. But as several big pharma companies, both local and multinational, were also about to set up here, this gave us a good reason to start a folding carton duplex packaging printing and converting facility.”
“We had been using Jeddah port, but King Abdullah Port officially opened for commercial use in the last quarter 2019. It is very close by and therefore makes out supply chain much easier. Once a container reaches a port here, it takes around 15 minutes to reach our company. This is a huge advantage for us, for both imports and exports.”
At launch, JP&P had six customers, and in the year since, it has doubled this client base. First-year business came to almost 12 million riyal (on investment costs of almost 72 million riyal), and the 2020 target is 18 million riyal. Furthermore, it has become the first company in Saudi Arabia to be approved by pharma giant Pfizer. This, Mr Awaan says, is because the firm has already established its quality.
“We wanted to set a standard, and we achieved that,” he says. “Our vision, mission, value and customer support makes us the preferred supplier in this region.”
“What sets us apart is our quality and our service. We use a 100% color management system, whereas some suppliers here use partial color management systems. We do not rely on human skills alone. We believe in automation as well. To be accurate in your production process, you need automation across the entire production cycle.”
“Our designers make the profile based on the color and we submit color proofs, and the colors match 95% to the customer’s expectations. This is why we have two suppliers – one in India and one in China. It’s to minimise the risk.”
As the company expects to grow, so too does the wider business environment in Saudi, as the kingdom undergoes unprecedented change. This is reflected in the JP&P workforce, which Mr Awaan says is one of the company’s strengths.
“The culture has changed here in KSA,” he says. “Now, women are allowed to move freely, they can work, travel. There are women with very high educational qualifications, and many are far more committed than the men. We will soon be increasing our customer service and quality departments, and we plan to hire both men and women in these fields.” Finally, any packaging company can only be as good as the technology it operates, so Mr Awaan tells us what powers JP&P.
“For pre-media and pre-press, we have Nest software and systems,” he says. “On the computer to plate (CTP) front, we have a fully automated B1 format screen CTP. We use Screen Workflow, and for colour management, an Epson proofing system fully loaded with color profiling and checking with GMG built-in.”
“We have AutoCAD from Lasercom, and as for printing, we have a state-of-the-art Manroland 700 Evolution-8 Colour sheetfed offset press designed for folding carton printing which is a combi-press. “For converting, we have a Bobst Novacut ER / LER which is for die-cutting with stripping and blanking. We have Bobst Expert fold (fully loaded) with all the options with cold glue and hot melt glue for four corners and six corners, Braille imposing online plus straight line, crash lock. We also have a glue sensor and we will soon be adding a Plasma gluing system. This is a replacement for hot film filler.”