Niche print firms explore print beyond conventional

Chaired by Ramu Ramanathan, editor of Campaign India and Print Week India along with Iqbal Kherodawala of Printline Reproductions, the CEOs of six print firms included names like Amit Shah of Spectrum Scan, Niten Shah of Vyoma Graphics, Chitti Babu of Antz Innovations, Ashwini Aya of Perfact Color Digital, Mehul Desai of Mail Order Solutions and Munish Aggarwal of Janus Packaging.

These six firms have upscaled their profitability through innovations and customer driven solutions to become super specialty print service providers.

While Spectrum Scan has gone to the extent of investing in R&D laboratory which runs an array of tests on the Weatherometer to check substrate sustainability (weather conditions, sun rays, wind, dust, rains), Antz Innovations has developed an in-house software to provide an effect of process colours other than CMYK on 3D lenticular printing.

Babu said, "Antz has explored the lenticular printing on thinnest to thickest substrate possible for such kind of printing. Plus, we have the capability of proving 200 lpi (lines per inch), whcih is unheard of in the global world of lenticular printing. Combined with this, we can provide security solutions where it will not be possible to replicate the job."

Antz has widened its array of services by providing 3D lenticular for wide-format displays. "It's still in the nascent stage becasue of the angle and the structure of mounting it requires, but we are confident about convincing our customers."

And according to Ashwini Arya of Perfact Digital Colour Prints, once the super specilaity job is delivered "they become loyal or are forced to become loyal and return to you."

Perfact is awash with possibilities like Horoscopes (valid upto 30 years) for Rs 975. Then there’s 100 letterheads which can be printed for Rs 675 and 500 visiting cards for Rs 475. The target is one million business cards in a day. This is a combination of web enquiries and walk-in customers. There is strict control over the colours, fonts, sizes. Arya said: "Having a print engine will not suffice. Having a software will not suffice. It’s brain power all the way."

Apart from the standard print fare and VDP applications, Perfact has created educational tools which reflect their pro-active role. There are plenty of innovative ideas for private schools network.

For starts, Perfact has created nine collaterals for each and every student in a school. This includes: personalised report cards, almanacs, timetables, certificates, entry name tags, birthday, special day posters. Most of this is possible due to data capture. Plus four photographers who are armed with D90s and D7000s, along with four digital photo studios. After the data and image is grabbed, there is cross-utilisation of data through the XMPie software.

Baddi-based Janus Packaging under the helm of Munish Aggarwal, the executive director at Janus Packaging is India’s first print firm to obtain standard ISO-12647-2 Ugra Certificate Process Standard Offset (PSO).

The Process Standard Offsetdruck (PSO) certification to ISO 12647-2 under Ugra’s auspices has fuelled Janus' export ambitions and served a corporate audience.

Desai said: "We never targeted the traditional run-of-the-mill client who prints stationery or visiting cards. Instead we have targeted clients who give us regular business, every month, month on month. This could be sales collateral, direct mailers."