Nitin Gupta
Managing Director
Dream Plast is an organization that produces toys, promotional toys food packing containers, sporting goods, and childcare items using plastic molding. The company is known for its Good Manufacturing Practices and the care it takes to keep its facilities clean, hygienic, and infestation free. Under the capable leadership of Nitin Gupta, its Managing Director and an experienced and accomplished individual, Dream Plast is already a leading toy manufacturer in India.
CEO Insights recently interviewed Nitin Gupta to know more about his journey, Here are some highlights from our interaction with him.
Throw some light on your professional background and experience. How has your journey been so far with Dream Plast, and what drives you today?
I did my bachelor's in mechanical engineering from I.I.T.Varanasi. After graduating in 1996, I worked at L& T for some time before being hired by the FIAT group. I went through a management training course at their International training center ISVOR at Turin(Italy)for about an year. Upon returning, I was placed in Comau India, where I worked for a long time. At the time of leaving the company, I was heading both Project Management and Sales & Marketing. I then joined G.H.E., another German-Italian company, as country manager. I set up a technical collaboration with an Indian company for localization of their products. Not long after, I joined the JBM group as general manager of business development, overseeing the city bus project.
This required studying the market, the industry, the customers and the competitors, bench marking current products and sourcing partners, identifying international technology partner and setting up a collaboration, finalizing the product design, the capacities, the location, the investments and eventually putting together a full project report and a business plan for execution of the project. Finally, I commenced my journey as a founder member and established Dream Plast in 2010. In the first eight years, I set-up seven factories, which we later consolidated into three large factories. We recently entered into a
joint venture agreement with Reliance Brands for Toys Manufacturing. What gives me a huge drive is the immense toy production potential in India and my own strong belief that we are at the cusp of witnessing something extraordinary about to happen in the Toys sector in the country.
How would you define Dream Plast India as an organization and its position in the market? What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to its clients?
Dream Plast strongly believes in work ethics and professional behavior. Dream Plast , with its policies, methods, and processes, has changed the nuances of the toy manufacturing industry by promoting itself as one of the most ethical and compliant organization in the field. It has positioned itself as an organized corporation with a systematic approach, one that believes that its good manufacturing practices are its USP.
I think that a lean organization should have a culture that encourages people to continually learn and grow. Aligning with the same ideology, we have robust review processes in place. I firmly believe that delegating authority to more and more downstream employees will make them more accountable. At the same time, I maintain a strong review and monitoring mechanism that ensures every aspect of the company's working is timely reported or addressed. In 2018 our organization development program was initiated, and our vision, mission, and values were established. We are now striving to establish better and improved HR practices in order to target a GPTW (Great Places To Work) certification in 2024.
Dream Plast is growing its goodwill and reputation in the industry as well as amongst its clients, and consistently working towards building its recognition and brand.
Could you tell me about the latest technologies you have adopted in your company and will be adopting here after for manufacturing products?
Dream Plast invests in a wide array of processes with an aim to yield better productivity. It focuses on automation and modern technology to keep pace with its competitors. Recent technologies that we've added include Co-Injection molding, Roto Molding, Hair Rooting and Spray Painting and the capability to create toys using conductive materials (that enable play ability on touch screens). I believe that Dream Plast currently manufactures what could be one of India's most sophisticated products, made up of more than 100 child parts. Lately we have gained expertise in compression molding as well.
How would you define Dream Plast India as an organization and its position in the market? What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to its clients?
Dream Plast strongly believes in work ethics and professional behavior. Dream Plast , with its policies, methods, and processes, has changed the nuances of the toy manufacturing industry by promoting itself as one of the most ethical and compliant organization in the field. It has positioned itself as an organized corporation with a systematic approach, one that believes that its good manufacturing practices are its USP.
I think that a lean organization should have a culture that encourages people to continually learn and grow
I think that a lean organization should have a culture that encourages people to continually learn and grow. Aligning with the same ideology, we have robust review processes in place. I firmly believe that delegating authority to more and more downstream employees will make them more accountable. At the same time, I maintain a strong review and monitoring mechanism that ensures every aspect of the company's working is timely reported or addressed. In 2018 our organization development program was initiated, and our vision, mission, and values were established. We are now striving to establish better and improved HR practices in order to target a GPTW (Great Places To Work) certification in 2024.
Dream Plast is growing its goodwill and reputation in the industry as well as amongst its clients, and consistently working towards building its recognition and brand.
Could you tell me about the latest technologies you have adopted in your company and will be adopting here after for manufacturing products?
Dream Plast invests in a wide array of processes with an aim to yield better productivity. It focuses on automation and modern technology to keep pace with its competitors. Recent technologies that we've added include Co-Injection molding, Roto Molding, Hair Rooting and Spray Painting and the capability to create toys using conductive materials (that enable play ability on touch screens). I believe that Dream Plast currently manufactures what could be one of India's most sophisticated products, made up of more than 100 child parts. Lately we have gained expertise in compression molding as well.
Dream Plast claims to be the best in industry in deco capabilities, particularly Spray Painting and Tampo Printing.
Why was Pune chosen to be the breeding ground of your company? How has the place favored you so far in your operations?
Pune is a fantastic location to do business. Proximity to the Ferrero factory at Baramati is a major advantage. Our factory locations are very close to Nhava Sheva Port, which is a plus point since toys being voluminous, our FOB costs are low.Further, the availability of excellent supply chain bases, abundance of labor and skilled Human Resources, and pleasant weather are some of the major factors behind choosing this location.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate, and what are the challenges that you foresee?
Opportunities in the toy industry are immense in India for various reasons; the primary reason being, post covid-19, the world is realizing the need to rerisk and to consider an alternative sourcing destination such as India. The make in India and make for the world initiatives, mandatory BIS compliance regulations, and increased customs duty on imports of toys are all factors contributing to increasing opportunities for Indian Toy manufacturers such as Dream Plast. Further, with prohibitively increasing labor costs and unavailability of cheap labor in China, India with its abundance of labor and steady costs becomes the new and natural choice for Toys sourcing.
In terms of challenges, there is a need to attract talent to this industry.Presently, we need to hire people from different industries and groom them for this niche segment. There are other major challenges such as meeting customer expectations concerning expanding the range and categories of toys. There are cost pressures too, due to dependence upon imports for certain raw materials, electronic parts and fabrics. China offers incredibly high incentives to this industry, while the same is still missing in India, though recently the government has begun active consultations with the industry for the inclusion of Toys industry in the PLI scheme.
Nitin Gupta, MD, Dream Plast
Currently positioned as the MD of Dream Plast, Nitin Gupta is a very dynamic individual. His wife also has an entrepreneurial spirit and runs a pre-school and daycare in pursuance of her great affection for children. They have two sons, the elder one pursuing his MS in Scientific Computing at the University of Pennsylvania and the younger one pursuing his Bachelor's in Sports Management at the University of Mumbai. Nitin is socially active and enjoys travelling
•Hobbies: Playing the Saxophone, Singing, Riding Bikes.
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian
•Favorite Book: Blue Ocean Strategy
•Favorite Travel Destination: Kenya
Why was Pune chosen to be the breeding ground of your company? How has the place favored you so far in your operations?
Pune is a fantastic location to do business. Proximity to the Ferrero factory at Baramati is a major advantage. Our factory locations are very close to Nhava Sheva Port, which is a plus point since toys being voluminous, our FOB costs are low.Further, the availability of excellent supply chain bases, abundance of labor and skilled Human Resources, and pleasant weather are some of the major factors behind choosing this location.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate, and what are the challenges that you foresee?
Opportunities in the toy industry are immense in India for various reasons; the primary reason being, post covid-19, the world is realizing the need to rerisk and to consider an alternative sourcing destination such as India. The make in India and make for the world initiatives, mandatory BIS compliance regulations, and increased customs duty on imports of toys are all factors contributing to increasing opportunities for Indian Toy manufacturers such as Dream Plast. Further, with prohibitively increasing labor costs and unavailability of cheap labor in China, India with its abundance of labor and steady costs becomes the new and natural choice for Toys sourcing.
In terms of challenges, there is a need to attract talent to this industry.Presently, we need to hire people from different industries and groom them for this niche segment. There are other major challenges such as meeting customer expectations concerning expanding the range and categories of toys. There are cost pressures too, due to dependence upon imports for certain raw materials, electronic parts and fabrics. China offers incredibly high incentives to this industry, while the same is still missing in India, though recently the government has begun active consultations with the industry for the inclusion of Toys industry in the PLI scheme.
Nitin Gupta, MD, Dream Plast
Currently positioned as the MD of Dream Plast, Nitin Gupta is a very dynamic individual. His wife also has an entrepreneurial spirit and runs a pre-school and daycare in pursuance of her great affection for children. They have two sons, the elder one pursuing his MS in Scientific Computing at the University of Pennsylvania and the younger one pursuing his Bachelor's in Sports Management at the University of Mumbai. Nitin is socially active and enjoys travelling
•Hobbies: Playing the Saxophone, Singing, Riding Bikes.
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian
•Favorite Book: Blue Ocean Strategy
•Favorite Travel Destination: Kenya