PrintWeek India Quality Awards 2014 winners

Book Printer of the Year (Academic and Trade)

Manipal Technologies (Manipal)
Tel: +91 820 2571 149 / shashi@manipalgroup.info

Manipal Technologies wins the first PrintWeek India Academic and Trade Book Printer of the Year Award for its books Thesaurus (for Dreamland), Visual Dictionary (for Penguin India), Textbook of Medical Laboratory Technology (CBS Publishers) and Indian Mammals (Hachette). With run-lengths ranging between 5,000 and 100,000, the books were printed on a Komori eight-colour press. While the Visual Dictionary was sewn on Aster kit, the rest were sewn using a Muller Martini Inventa Plus. Esko Workflow and Flexicrip were used for pre-press and the plates were produced on a Screen 8600 platesetter with autoloader and online processor for all the samples. Gloss lamination, matt lamination and spot UV were also used to increase the aesthetic appeal of the books.

Commended        
Brilliant Printers
International Print-o-Pac
Parksons Graphics
PrintStop
Repro India
Silverpoint Press
Thomson Press (India)

Sponsored by 

Book Printer of the Year (Specialty)

Pragati Offset (Hyderabad)
Tel: +91 40 2338 0000 / harsha@pragati.com

Pragati Offset has triumphed over a range of commendable entries to claim the Specialty Book Printer of the Year Award. The firm impressed the jury members with its entries of Raghu Rai – Trees (for Photoink), Shri Hanuman Chalisa (for Charuvi Designs Labs), Satyapal Sugandhi(for Dharampal Satyapal) and Hampi (for Ganjam Nagappa & Sons). All images for Raghu Rai – Trees were separated into quadtone (two blacks and two greys) while images for Hampi were separated into tritone (two blacks and one grey). Pre-press work for Satyapal Sugandhi required cold foil separation for many of the images. Raghu Rai – Trees, Shri Hanuman Chalisa, Satyapal Sugandhi and Hampi were printed using a Komori Lithrone press in quadtone with online aqueous primer coat, a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000 with online aqueous primer coating, a Mitsubishi Diamond UV press and a Komori Lithrone press in tritone + metallic gold with online aqueous primer coat, respectively. Intricate post-press work was also used.

Commended        
Delhi Press
Jak Printers
Lustra Print
Multivista Global
Parksons Graphics
SFA Print
Srinivas Fine Arts
Thomson Press (India)
Vyoma Graphics

Sponsored by 
 

Brochure & Catalogue Printer of the Year

Lustra Print (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 11 3074 2885 / lustra@lustraprint.com

Lustra Print wins its first PrintWeek India Brochure & Catalogue Printer of the Year for what one of the jury member said was ‘truly awe-inspiring printing, which provides the right amount aesthetic appeal without the overkill of post-press applications’.

The award-winning entries include Relationships (for HCL), M3M brochure (for M3M), Sagrados brochure (for Sagrados) and Arista (for Sunworld).

With a print-run between 1000-2000 pieces for all the samples were printed on a Ryobi 925D five-colour press with an inline aqueous coater. The pre-press included proofing on a Star Proof and colour separation using Harlequin RIP while the entire job was done on an Apogee workflow.

A wide range of post-press applications like back-to-back pasting, border threading, gold metal deposition, spot UV and central thread stitching were used that set Lustra’s samples apart from the rest.

Lustra are an offshoot of Colour Screens, an important point of purchase screen printers, once upon a time, serving ad agencies and direct buyers. The company prides itself in providing good quality at an economical cost, undertaking strict quality measure for all stages of production. Lustra have inculcated a simple fact that ‘proper finishing is what differentiates a good job from a great job’.

Commended        
Almats Branding Solutions
CDC Printers
Jak Printers
Pragati Offset
Silverpoint Press
Vishwakala Printers

Sponsored by  

Creative Repro Company of the Year

Studio 6 (Bengaluru)
Tel: +91 99861 78846 / mail@studio6.biz

Studio 6’s creative reproduction for The Thinking Machine and Lowe & Partners illustrated their excellence in the use of retouching, masking and colour correction. The company picked up its first PrintWeek India Awards with Creative Repro Company of the Year Awards. Working out of its 1800 sq/ft premises in Bengaluru, Studio 6, since its inception in 2013, has been able to amass an impressive roster of clients, including brands and corporates like Urban Ladder, Tanishq, Tata, Titan, Sieko, TVS, Reliance Mart, Proline, Mom & Me, Brigade Groups, Roadster, Cool Colors, Roush, Kalyan Jewelers, GRT Jewelers, Lenova, Original Source and IBlues.

Commended        
Group FMG
Honeycomb Creative Support
Olympus Premedia
Pixel Brush
Repro India
Rexam HTW

Cross Media Company of the Year

Silverpoint Press (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 98201 37943 / sales@silverpointindia.com

Silverpoint Press wins the first PrintWeek India Cross Media Company of the Year Award, thanks to its exemplary work with Augmented Reality on Rajguru Fashion Catalogue, Landmark Desk Calendar 2014, Ogilvy One Worldwide and Nerolac Colour Styles 2013/14 Catalogue. The samples were powered by Silverpoint’s Xploar, which brings together print and digital media to provide a unique experience. All the jobs were run using an Apogee workflow and GMG colour management tool. The printing was done using a Heidelberg LX five-colour with online coating. Die-cutting, silver foil stamping, spot UV and satin aqueous coating were used to enhance the visual appeal of the samples.

Last year, Silverpoint launched a brochure to introduce its AR prowess, the first press in India to venture and offer end-to-end AR-based solutions. According to Silverpoint’s Saifee Makasarwala, augmented reality takes print beyond the usual, ink-on-paper, to a level where one can connect to the digital world through print. 

Commended        
Vakils Premedia

Direct Mail Printer of the Year

Mail Order Solutions (I) (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 22 4033 0010 / rita@mosindia.biz

and

Vishwakala Printers (Bengaluru)
Tel: +91 80233 70647 / babu@vishwakalaprinters.com

Mail Order Solutions (I) and Vishwakala Printers bag this year’s Direct Mail Printer of the Year Award in a competition which remained neck-to-neck throughout. The entries of Mail Order Solutions included acquisition mailing for FRSA, acquisition mailing for MDM, pop-up New Year card with book for Prime Focus and Vadodara direct mailer for Shopper’s Stop. The samples were printed in CMYK using an SM 74 Heidelberg press with plates created using Kodak Trendsetter 400 III Quantum. The jury members were particularly impressed by the pop-up New Year card with box, which according to MOS, was a challenging job.

Mail Order Solutions (I), with 16 years of experience with both domestic and international clients, is one of the few service providers who specialise in handling printing needs from start to finish. This includes a fully integrated, digitalised print production facility with specialists manning every stage of operations: creatives, pre-press, digitalised printing, offset printing, binding, fabrication solutions, dispatch, and logistics. MOS has recently acquired new equipment across the board in order to maintain its growth numbers.

Vishwakala Printers, a PrintWeek India Award winner in 2011, shares this year’s Direct Mail Printer of the Year Award for the entries which comprised of Tanishq for Titan, Friday footwear and Spring Summer’14 for Allen Solly and PE Casuals Jackets for Peter England. All the jobs were printed on an Heidelberg XL 75 four-colour press with online coating and IR dryer. All the jobs used an Apogee-X workflow. The mailers achieved their final avatar after a host of post-press work, which included matt lamination, insert laser-cutting, centre-pinning, perfect binding, pouch pasting and punching. Last year, Vishwakala inaugurated its new 40,000sq/mt press block at Yeshwanthpur Industrial Suburb in Bengaluru. Vishwakala is known for its execution of coffee-table books, brochures, catalogues, table-top calendars, tags for apparel industry, paper carry bags, corporate stationeries and a lot more.
 

Commended        
Manipal Technologies
PrintStop
Synthesis Communications

Digital Printer of the Year

Silverpoint Press (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 98198 86478 / sales@silverpointindia.com

Silverpoint wins the Digital Printer of the Year Award for its World Tower presenter HC book, Style Edition catalogue, Serrano Farms booklet and TurnHere design house brochure. All of these were short-run jobs with the highest print-run of 40 for the World Tower presenter HC book. The samples were printed on the HP Indigo 3550 five-colour digital press. Index cutting, spot UV and punching were the post-press applications used on some of the samples. Jury members were impressed with the simplicity and consistency that ran throughout the samples.

Commended        
Any Graphics
Avantika Printers
CDC Printers
Chanakya Mudrak
Diadeis Alia (Alia Premedia Services)
Taco Visions

Sponsored by   

Digital Photo Album Printer of the Year

Sri Sivarama Digital Press (Rajhamundry, Andhra Pradesh)
Tel: +91 98484 59933 / muralidigital9@gmail.com

The samples of Sri Sivarama Digital Press beat close competitions from commended firms to lay claims to the Digital Photo Album Printer of the Year Award. According to a jury member, ‘the entries were truly breathtaking. The finish and the effects were not just top of the line, they were executed with pin-point perfection’. The jury was seeking a company that best demonstrates a combination of good quality colour results, use of unusual substrate, and fabrication of the album, including innovative covers.

Satyavarapu Gopalakrishna who hails from a traditional business family of Andhra Pradesh laid the foundation of Sri Sivarama Digital Color Lab and Sri Sivarama Digital Press in 1996 with a Konica silver halide photo printer. Today they are one of the prominent photo printing solution providers in Andhra Pradesh with 150 branches spread across the state. Today apart from their outlets they also have  an online platform that allows the you to upload, design and order the photo prints to get delivered at your doorstep, Printonica.
 

Commended        
G K Vale and Company
Gee 7
Glo Colour Labs
Klick Digital Press
Macromedia Digital Imaging
Thomson Press (India)

Sponsored by   

Fine Art Printer of the Year

Marvel Graphic Studio (Ahmedabad)
Tel: +91 79 2687 0256 / marvelartgallery@gmail.com

and

Santi Arts Hi-Tech Medias (Guntur, Andhra Pradesh)
Tel: +91 863 223 5605 / santiarts.gnt@gmail.com

Marvel Graphic Studio has claimed Fine Art Printer of the Year for the fourth year in a row. Their recreation of Vinita Karim, Ravindra Salve and Bhanu Shah’s artwork into print, according to one of the jury members, is ‘absolutely impeccable’. All the artworks were printed on 280gsm Natural Evolution paper, except for Bhanu Shah’s Suprematie, which was printed on 140gsm Riverfox Ivory paper. The recreations are painstakingly precise, every stroke of the brush is accounted for and reproduced in these serigraphs. The serigraphs produced by Marvel Graphic Studio can only truly be appreciated by understanding the hard work and skills that are required. The run length for all the jobs was between 23 and 90 days, which included separation and printing.

Santi Arts Hi-Tech Medias’ use of square dot process and manual table printing put it on par with four-time winners Marvel Graphic Studio. Its Mohini with attendants in Darukavana, Low Tide and Divine Procession were all serigraphic reproduction of paintings in the Andhra Pradesh State Museum. Santi’s fourth sample was The Water Palace - Mandu (for Bharathi Soap Works), which was reproduced using an ancient print. Just like Marvel’s work, the works of Santi Arts Hi-Tech Medias left the jury members speechless. A jury member said, “This sort of printing is an art form, which needs to be propagated. This has the potential of unlocking an artistic revolution as one painting can be studied in multiple locations and more people will be exposed to the beauty of the artist’s vision.” The samples were printed on handmade paper or canvas and serigraphed in 17 colours, except The Water Palace – Mandu, which was serigraphed in eight colours.

Commended        
CDC Printers
Jak Printers
Pragati Offset
Prodon Enterprises
Replika Press
Silverpoint Press

Sponsored by  

Industrial Product Printer of the Year

Spectrum Scan (Vasai)
Tel: +91 250 245 2111 / amit@spectrummail.com

The newly introduced category, Industrial Product Printer of the Year Award, was garnered by Vasai-based Spectrum Scan, who through its products demonstrated the power of branding in the consumer market. Spectrum Scan’s Bazaar, a showroom of POP and POS items at its plant in Vasai; an experience lounge with display products produced using the thermoforming technology. The company’s compelling entries came in the form of Pepsi decal for Western Refrigeration; Fair Miracle for L’Oreal India; Jiggly Jelly for Walls, HUL; and Mobile Dal for ITC. The run length of these products ranged from 150 to 1,500 units. The Pepsi decal featured a high impact halftone screen-printed vinyl that had to ensure a three-year outdoor life, for both the printed graphic and the substrate. Spectrum used in-house lab equipped with Accelerated Weathering equipment. “High gloss gave glass effect, but the challenge was the size of the graphics,” says Amit Shah, managing director, Spectrum Scan.
 
The judges were impressed with the Fair Miracle FSU, which was a ‘larger than life’ product replica. According to the judges, the products had an exclusive look and feel for brand visual, and delivered that ‘must buy’ feel with great impact. Spectrum’s two plants in Vasai is equipped with a slew of large-format screen printing machines; multi-colour offset presses; custom-made thermoforming machines, besides in-house pre-press and a complete fabricating unit.

Commended        
Brandmark Solutions
Classic Stripes
Keetronics India
Shree Maruthi Printers

Innovative Printer of the Year

Screen Art Enterprises (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 22 2470 5529 / screenartent@yahoo.co.in

Screen Art Enterprises has beaten some impressive competition from the other shortlisted companies to lay claims to this year’s Innovative Printer of the Year Award for their Om book wedding card. A total 2,100 of these book wedding cards were printed using a four-colour offset press and screen printing on Sun fine paper supplied by Sona Commercial. Post-press solutions used for the wedding card were perfect registration, foiling and punching. But the most unique feature that set it apart was folding of individual pages of the book to recreate Om on the book. It took almost two months of folding pages to get the perfection and achieve the desired result.

Commended        
Chanakya Mudrak
Jayna Packaging
Param Packaging
Parksons Graphics
Prodon Enterprises
Spectrum Scan

Sponsored by  

 Label Printer of the Year (Self-Adhesive)

Any Graphics (Noida)
Tel: +91 120 240 6852 / naveen.goel@anygraphics.in

Any Graphics builds on its last year’s win with another stellar victory in the Label Printer of the Year (Self-Adhesive) category. The samples of Baobab oil, Fiama Shower Gel, Clavo Hand and Foot Mask and SE Special Engines’ Golden Jubilee Celebration were all produced using multicolour web letterpress in combination with roll-to-roll screen printing. With print-runs ranging from 4,000 to 30,000, these labels showcased consistency and flair, which are equally necessary on the shelf. Post-press processes like hot foil stamping and online die-cutting were used to add value to these labels. The jury was also impressed with the opportune use of raised printing, silver hot stamping and thick UV coating on thin fonts. Any Graphics’ state-of-the-art technology is capable of using a wide range of paper, film and foil substrates, complex adhesives, ink formulations, latest colour matching systems, sophisticated graphic designs and reproduction formats. The company has received many national and international accolades for their innovative and industry standard print jobs.

Commended        
Ajanta Packaging
Kumar Labels
Mudrika Labels
Pragati Offset
Unick Fix-A-Form & Printers
Universal Print Systems
Zircon Technologies

Sponsored by  

Magazine Printer of the Year

Thomson Press (India) (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 11 4255 2215 / rpiplani@thomsonpress.com

Faridabad-based Thomson Press (India) has won the Magazine Printer of the Year Award for LMI’s Cosmopolitan June 2013 and Robb Report October 2013, Conde Nast India’s GQ December 2013 and Exposure Media’s Asia Spa for the months of March-April 2014. The Magazine Printer of the Year Award is a newly formed category which has been created by merging Consumer Magazine Printer of the Year Award and Business Magazine Printer of the Year Awards. With print runs varying from 9,000 for Asia Spa to GQ’s 40,000, Thomson’s samples showcased the precision and consistency that is a pre-requisite to be a top magazine printer working under some of the extreme deadlines and delivering quality print time after time. Goss’ web-offset was used to print three out of four samples, while a Mitsubishi Diamond six-colour press was used to print Asia Spa. Post-press applications like perfect binding, cover gloss full UV with Luxor foil, copper foiling, crystal pasting and gold foiling were also used to enhance the magazine reading experience. Thomson Press has three manufacturing facilities across the country covering 59,000 sq/mt areas.

Commended        
Galaxy Offset (India)
Jak Printers
Parksons Graphics
Silverpoint Press
Spenta Multimedia

Sponsored by

Newspaper Printer of the Year

Anandabazar Patrika (Kolkata)
Tel: +91 33 22345374 / snehasis.roy@abp.in

Anandabazar Patrika (ABP) makes it two in a row in the Newspaper Printer of the Year Award. With a print run of 9,00,000 copies of standard broadsheets printed on the new Wifag 370S web offset press at 85,000cph. The award entries were counted, packed, and top-sheeted automatically by the Swiss-make Ferag mailroom system. The pre-press work on the samples included the use of Photoshop CS 6, Agfa Intellitune, Binuscan and Agfa Arkitex CTP system.

ABP is a member of International Newspaper Colour Quality Club (INCQC) of Wan-Ifra for the last 12 years. Anandabazar Patrika was chosen as the second best printed newspaper in the world. In the same segment, The Telegraph is ranked third in the world. ABP controls two of the top three spots.  Recently, ABP acquired Naba Mudran, a commercial printing press in Kolkata which has a combination of heatset web offset and sheetfed printing presses. According to Dipankar Das Purkayastha, managing director and chief executive officer of ABP, the acquisition was specifically done because of their plans to increase the production capacity. ABP’s printing shopfloor comprises of sixteen full-colour towers with autopasters and having a high level of automation. The recent addition to it is a high speed Wifag 370S, double width and double circumference runs at the maximum speed of 85,000 copies per hour.

Commended        
Express Publications
HT Media
Jagran Prakashan
Rajasthan Patrika
The Indian Express

Sponsored by 

PUR-Book Maker of the Year

Pragati Offset (Hyderabad)
Tel: +91 40 2338 0000 / harsha@pragati.com

Pragati Offset has been head and shoulders above the competition in PUR Book Maker of the Year Award category. This is their third straight win in this category. Pragati Offset’s submissions of Asian Paints Royale Play-Special Effect Paint, Pramukh-Aranya, Trix-LED Spectrum catalogue and IIID-Awards magazine were so good that it was one of the categories where the jury verdict was unanimous. The judges were looking for the finest implementation of PUR hotmelt adhesive. The parameter used to pick the winners were durability, minimal wrinkling on the backbone and lay-flat quality. Pragati’s samples surpassed everyone on these parameters.

Commended        
Avantika Printers
Glo Colour Labs
Jak Printers
Lovely Offset Printers
Max Packaging

Sponsored by

Packaging Converter of the Year (FMCG)

International Print-o-Pac (Noida)
Tel: +91 120 419 2100 / rsinghvi@ippindia.com

International Print-o-Pac’s pedigree for FMCG packaging can be seen by the huge print-run and diversity of their entries, which included packaging for Gems (for Cadbury), Surf Excel one kilogram pack (Hindustan Unilever), Mother Dairy cartons and Subh Kamna cartons (Britannia). All the sample cartons were printed on Manroland’s R-706 press driven by an Esko workflow. While the Gems and Subh Kamna cartons were printed on 260gsm board, the other two were printed on 300gsm board. The print run for these samples are between 50,000 and 4,00,000 cartons. The finished products were achieved only after a raft of post-press processes had been performed. Some of the post-press applications used are die-breaking, side pasting with online packing, BOPP lamination, semi auto flute lamination and online embossing.

Commended        
Galaxy Offset (India)
Manipal Utility Packaging Solutions
Param Packaging
Perfect Packaging
Pragati Pack India
Varnajalam Mix And Match

Sponsored by  

Packaging Converter of the Year (Luxury)

Pragati Pack India (Hyderabad)
Tel: +91 40 2338 0000 / harsha@pragati.com

Pragati Pack’s Raghavendra Rathore box and Singleton 12 Years (for Diageo), Akshaya brochure box and Lapis Bard box (for William Penn) completely fulfilled the criteria laid down for the category and epitomised high-value luxury printed packaging. The Raghavendra Rathore box was printed on a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000 UV press; and the Singleton 12 Years on a Mitsubishi Diamond 1000 UV press, Akshaya brochure box was printed on a Mitsubishi Diamond 1000 and a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000 was used to print the Lapis Bard box. Special print techniques like making cases with curved edges and intricate patterns of raised UV were used for value-addition. Apart from this, post-press applications like strategic embossing, die punching, soft touch lamination, intricate laser cutting and thermoformed flock inner tray were also used.

Commended        
Manipal Utility Packaging Solutions
Param Packaging
Parksons Packaging
Perfect Packaging

Social Stationery Printer of the Year

Screen Art Enterprises (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 22 2470 5529 / screenartent@yahoo.co.in

Screen Art Enterprises have reclaimed the Social Stationery Printer of the Year Award that it had last won in 2012, thanks to its entry which consisted of menu cards for Bubble Design, and wedding cards, with different design elements and themes. Bubble Design’s menu card required both manual screen printing and digital printing apart from post-press processes like foil stamping and fabrication. The wedding card samples were produced on an offset press and were designed in shapes of miniature horse, flower and the Jaipur state. Foiling and fabrication were the special aesthetic features of these wedding cards.

Screen Art Enterprises has two locations in Mumbai, one in Kala Chowkie and the other in Shah & Nahar Industrial Estate, Lower Parel. The company is equipped with a manual kit as well as Grafica’s screen printing presses, and caters to packaging, agency stationery and wedding cards.

Commended        
Almats Branding Solutions
Colour Screen
First Impression
Parksons Graphics
Silverpoint Press
Srinivas Fine Arts
Vishwakala Printers

Screen Printer of the Year

Spectrum Scan (Vasai)
Tel: +91 250 245 2111 / amit@spectrummail.com

Spectrum Scan wins the Screen Printer of the Year, a category which has been very competitive over the years. The Vasai-based firm’s entry consisted of Foster metalise poster, Eon poster, Classic Meteor poster and Onida on-product poster. The Foster metalised poster was printed on silver metalised plastic, while the rest of the samples were printed on polycarbonate plastic. All the jobs were multiple colour prints with special effect printed using screen printing; the exception being Foster’s metalised poster, which was printed with Screen white, CMYK and varnish.
Spectrum Scan’s samples also showcased their flawless and vast array of post-press work. Overcoat varnish, mirror ink printing, halftone printing, raised varnish, undercoat opaque printing and die-punching, all were executed to perfection.

Spectrum Scan is one of India’s leading company manufacturing POP/POS products for Fortune 500 companies.

Commended        
Delhi Press
Prayag Advertisers
Quenby Transfers India
Screen Art Enterprises
Shreedhar Printers

Sponsored by

Wide-Format Printer of the Year

Liberty Graphics (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 22 2494 7537 / libertyg@gmail.com

Mumbai-based Liberty Graphics clinched this year’s Wide-Format Printer of the Year Award for its versatility and peerless execution across different substrates. The entries included printing on soft rexine for Raymond’s book covers, printing window displays on 3mm clear cast acrylic sheet, wall display for Py Bar, which was printed on premium vinyl with matt lamination for different effects when exposed to different lights and a Translite with matt lamination for a popular perfume chain for in-store branding. All the samples were printed on the Agfa 1224 HDC UV printer, except the Translite, for which a HP Latex printer was called into service. Liberty acquired an Agfa 1224 HDC UV last April.

Commended        
Macromedia Digital Imaging
PrintExpressions
S S R Enterprises
SignSmith Displays
Vijas Digital

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