A day in the life of Inder Kumar

When you read your early morning newspaper, besides half tones and colour reproduction you look for...
 I try to look at the happenings around the world.

When and how do you begin your day?
I get up at around 6:30 am and start my day with an hour’s work out, check emails and by 9 am I leave for work.

Do you plan your day, meticulously? Or is it ad hoc? Or is there a blueprint for the day?
There is certainly no blueprint for the day and specially being in the digital segment, there is always an ad hoc task lined up for us. We work like an army and plan on the go. All we know is that everyday we have to win a battle.

One person with whom you like to share your daily drive to office. Why?
My son. Because we hardly get time to discuss non-business related topics while at work and we usually work till late.

What’s the first thing you do on entering the office?
I move around and check if everything is in place. We prepare a to-do list every evening for the next day and I monitor it every morning.

How frequently do you interact with print production supervisors? What do you discuss, commonly?
I am always in touch with my production guys. We have a small team so this makes me accessible to every team member. We discuss everything from important jobs to issues in production, their solutions etc.

Which press does the best printing in India? And why?
I am sorry but it’s hard to name one.

How do you rate your press as compared to leading printers the world-over?
We have seen a few presses abroad and we do need to improve a lot in terms of managing jobs but we certainly feel we are on the right track.

If you won Rs 10 crore through Playwin which printing equipment would you invest in? Why?
HP Indigo 10000. It is my next dream machine.

Today, we hear of innumerable printing presses closing down or being on the verge of closing down. Why is this happening? And, what does this portend for the future of the industry?
Yes, this is really unfortunate and I think the reason is very much evident from the fact that print runs have gone down. Indigenous market is not enough to feed all presses and on the other hand China too has impacted exports. So, the overall situation has left many with unutilised capacity.

I would not say that the industry has a dark future but certainly there will be issues in maintaining high capacity equipment. So, I think we all need to gear up and prepare ourselves to move towards quality rather than quantity.

The best breakthrough in print technology in the past hundred years?
Offset was certainly the best breakthrough.

Most printers, repro houses and graphics art professionals - complain about the manner in which profit margins are being squeezed. Are you encountering these problems? If yes, then why and how?
At the end of the day, it’s your call whether to squeeze your margins or not.  According to me it is a disregard to your team, your organisation and your goals if you do not earn what you deserve to. Indian market has been tagged as price sensitive and this is the reason that very few take the courage to work towards quality and utility and not price.

It is very important to make our clients understand that it takes a lot of pain, effort, creativity and risk to do a job. Our industry works on a 90-120 days credit. I strongly wish and hope that our industry gets the stature it deserves. And above all we printers need to stand for it.

Your favourite adda? Also which is your cell phone? Pen? Car? Wrist watch?
I have no Adda. I am a non smoker, non drinker. I really like my iPhone. I drive a Honda car. I wear a Titan watch.

For a working lunch if you met Johanes Gutenberg (the father of modern printing), what would you talk to him about?
I will ask him to join Chanakya Mudrak.  

How do you motivate your sales and marketing team? Any new promotion strategy?
My son handles the sales and marketing team. Strategies and promotions is his ball game.

The most frequently used mantra in your organization. Your corporate philosophy.
We believe in one mantra - Never give up.

The craziest deadline, you've come across?
Every other day we have a crazy deadline to go for. The recent one was to print and deliver 200 books in 4 hrs.

Your favourite excuse to your family when you’re late?
I have never given an excuse to my family for being late rather I feel they get surprised when I am home early.

Has the domination of the printing industry reached a plateau with the arrival of new competitors?
For the time being, yes. But then the trend will change in the coming years and the industry will revamp for its own good.

Please comment of the technology and machines (press / pre-press / post-press / others) that you have invested in, in the past few years?
We had invested in HP Indigo and lately in Scodix. Machines for cutting, fabrication and pre-press is an on going investment.

In India, the two most important barriers are technology and cost. What advise do you have for the printer?
My only advice to fellow printers is to invest in new technology and command a price for your investment so that you come out as a healthy and profitable organization. Selling cheap is suicidal.

How do you stay in touch with technological developments? In this sense, please comment on your official view on CTP technology and digital printing.
We have always promoted and encouraged digital technology as being one of the first commercial printers to enter the digital offset printing segment. We keep reading and try to understand the newest technologies. And not to forget that a lot of credit goes to you guys for keeping us updated.