Packaging industry demands new title: stop calling us converters

The Indian print and packaging sector is pushing for an overhaul of its industry terminology, with a prominent voice calling for the immediate abandonment of the term “converter.”

Tanna branded "converter" as a "clinical, hollow term" that incorrectly positions companies as mere mechanical middlemen. "It suggests that our role in the supply chain is purely mechanical—that we take one material, run it through a machine, and 'convert' it into something else," Tanna stated.

Tanna argues that accepting the title of "converter" limits the industry's perceived value to its machinery, turning sophisticated businesses into commodities where the only metric that matters is price per unit.

The Printmann pharma specialist pointed out that this mechanical description completely disregards the highly skilled, non-mechanical work that defines the industry today. This includes: Late nights spent re-engineering structural designs to ensure product safety and transit survival in challenging environments as well as Eextensive Research and Development (R&D) to create functional, sustainable solutions that effectively keep food fresh or medicine safe; plus navigating complex, shifting regulatory nightmares, such as plastic regulations.

“Those aren’t mechanical tasks. Those are solutions,” Tanna emphasised.

Tanna is spearheading a movement to rebrand the sector as "Packaging Solution Providers." He insists the difference is more than just semantics—it's a fundamental change in market positioning.

"A 'converter' waits for a purchase order and a set of specs. A 'Solution Provider' is in the room when the product is being dreamed up. One is a vendor; the other is a partner," he explained.

He positions the industry as the key entity doing "heavy lifting" for brands, bridging the gap between product vision and market reality—whether by figuring out how to create a "luxury" look at a competitive cost or integrating the latest sustainable material science.

The call to action is clear: after spending decades building an industry with the "technology, the talent, and the engineering grit to compete with anyone on the planet," Tanna believes the industry must shed a label that makes it sound like a middleman.

The move from "converter" to "Packaging Solution Provider" may seem like a small shift in words, but Tanna concludes it represents a "massive shift in how the world sees our worth."

In the past too, the CEOs of Indian packaging majors have stated this from an industry platform. But so far, the term "packaging solution providers" has not gained currency.