Anniversary Issue: Seven Wonders of Print - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Anniversaries are often celebrated within the confines of offices, and it is fun to play the part. Last week, we set about compiling a 200-pager issue. It's Saturday night, and the team is at work, heated arguments over syntax, makeshift food and banter about our Pharma Man from Konkan. This Sunday Column is about sharing the making of the Seventh Anniversary Issue, plus all the previous ones including the inaugural issue in May 2008.

10 May 2015 | By Noel D'Cunha

Things are getting heated in the PrintWeek India office.

It's 11.46 pm on a Saturday night. The entire edit team and the design team are in office.

Occasionally I hear Monica Rohra, and her little lambs (Shreya H, Kripa G and Abhay K), bleating. It's a 200-page issue to celebrate seven years of PrintWeek in India. Thankfully, there are hundred plus advertisers.
 
Advertisers spending money is always a good barometer that the industry is on the up.
 
This is a good time, as any, to look at the baby steps, even as the magazine continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s print companies.
 
Ten seconds with the inaugural issue and the anniversary issue.
 
Ten seconds with May 2008
A modest 60+ pages plus a print run of 13,000+ for the inaugural issue. Lots of help and support from our colleagues in England and Germany plus the first print magazine to be printed on the Komori System 38S heatset web offset press at Kala Jyothi. All eyes on Drupa 2008. Plus a superb compilation of all the CTP platesetters which were sold in India.

 
The USP of this issue: We did "a breaking news" story about TechNova's 36 million sq/metres new factory in Taloja.
 
 
Ten seconds with May 2009
This issue notched up hundred pages. We focussed on the technology strides in the book factories at Gopsons and Sona. Plus the quirkiness with corrugation at Jayna Packaging and a quick print shop like Welldone.
 
Interestingly enough, there is a feature of the small team of BMPAites who spend time at a print institute in Chennai. Later, this group evolved into BMPA's Share To Benefit; helmed by Faheem Agboatwala.
 
The USP of this issue: We published The 100 list. This was a survey snapshot of the best print firms in India based on their shopfloor production habits and P&L health. Lots of brickbats, but lots of blessings from industry icons.
 
Ten seconds with May 2010
The issue heralded the new 75,000 sq/ft Parksons Packaging plant in Pantnagar. In a way, this issue completes the circle, what with the announcement of the KBA 106 eight-colour + coater UV with cold foil at the very same plant. This press, says KBA, is the best in its class in Asia.
 
In addition, we published a Technology Report of the Sheetfed Offset Press. Plus the spotlight on Printer Dharnas in North India protesting the hike in paper price.

 
The USP of this issue: The hundred-page issue previewed Ipex which was the last edition that was hosted at Birmingham.
 
Ten seconds with May 2011
We profiled 126 of the most powerful CEOs in the Indian print industry. In addition, we provided previews and reviews of Ipex (in India), Printex, Sign Plus Digital Expo plus Pamex and the Fespa digital show in Germany. Both Pamex and Fespa occur this year, too.
 
By then, PrintWeek India was focusing its attention on discovering new print plants like Patna Offset who aimed to print 4.5-crore textbooks.

 
The USP of this issue: Pranab Mukherjee (the president of India) discussed his favourite print job.
 
Ten seconds with May 2012
It was 2012 and so it was all about Drupa, Drupa, Drupa. The 15th edition of the show at Dusseldorf dominated the printscape in India. But it wasn't all about the new launches and how the Drupa halls were packed to the rafters. The PWI team also profiled the innovation in print sectors like Surat.
 
The USP of this issue: We cast our cover on the Indian print and publishing industry at the London Book Fair. This included the Indian Noon seminar where India was the flavour of the show.
 
Ten seconds with May 2013
This 140+ pager had five special covers. The coup was Rajhans Enterprises as our cover story. Again it's serendipity. Since on 14 May this Bengaluru print power officially inaugurates its flexible packaging unit in Bidadi.
 
The issue had a masterclass by Purnendu Sen, my newspaper guru and Iqbal Kherodawala who selects five (since it was five years of PWI) of his favourite printing plants. Insider's tip: Iqbal features in the Seventh anniversary issue with a rare and unique surprise.
 
 
The USP of this issue: Smartphone gifts if readers could de-code a simple print quiz.
 
Ten seconds with May 2014
The highlight of this 160+ pager issue was a survey compiled and authored by my three brilliant colleagues (all exiting from PWI in a month) Rushikesh Aravkar (packaging pharma development at Dr Reddy), Mihir Joshi (law) and Anand Srinivasan (exit to RIT in the USA for post-grad studies).
 
The document had key trends about print production and consumption in the country, which was mapped in a special PrintWeek India survey with more than 30 tables, graphs and infographics. In addition, our junoon for Made India was grabbing attention.
 
 
The USP of this issue: Focus on print cities like Coimbatore, Kanpur, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Raipur, Patna and Rajkot.
 
May 2015
 
Wait and watch.
 
But this is a two hundred pager; so please ensure you get your copy.
 
Meanwhile on behalf of our team, all I can say is, you will enjoy and discover things which you may not have known before.
 
I praise my three designers Sachin Rajwadkar, Sujeet Mandivkar, and Anil Kushare for having done the most incredible job on the issue.
 
Please send an eMail to urvashi.chudasama@haymarket.co.in  to book your copy of the May 2015 (200-page issue) that celebrates one of the finest industries in the country.