Provin notches nine RMGT orders at Drupa

Vinay Kaushal, director, Provin Technos, said, "We had a very good response for all the three product groups RMGT, Rotatek and DGM. We have sold nine RMGT presses, one Rotatek and one DGM machine." In addition, immediately after Drupa, Provin has signed three more RMGT orders.

The icing in the cake is the order booking for three six-colour plus inline coater RMGT litho presses. The press which had a demo during Drupa can handle stocks form 0.04mm to 1mm. it has a chamber coater and fully-automatic plate change. The installation will also include RMGT’s wall screen monitor.

Kaushal said: "The beauty of the press is the set-up, the makeready, and the makeready from one job to the other is quick, and that’s Indian print firms prefer it."

In addition to the three six-colour presses, there are orders for a five colour with a coater; four colour with a coater; and the standard four colour RMGT offerings. Kaushal said, "The orders have been inked pan-India including one order from East India. This is a testimony to the productivity of the latest generation of RMGT presses".

Kaushal said, Provin will disclose the names of the Indian customers in PrintWeek India, "very soon".

Kaushal spoke about the impact of Yen’s fluctuation as "a temporary phase" and there was "no reason for India or Indian printers to panic".

However, rumours have been rife and the Indian print industry was in turmoil due to the appreciation of the Japanese currency, Yen. But Kausal said, the structure in India is resilient against market fluctuations. However, the Yen’s extended surge after the United Kingdom voted to exit the EU has taken its gains against the dollar in 2016 to be 17 percent.

According to a market pundit, "This may result in a dip in annual profit among Japanese press manufacturers." Japanese manufacturing profits will decline and how much they will decline depends on how much the Yen appreciates. There is significant risk the Yen could increase very sharply to ¥90 against the US dollar. Most Japanese manufacturers in India who PrintWeek India spoke to, seek "exchange-rate stability” which entails "a business structure that minimises exchange-rate volatility."

Kaushal felt RMGT will continue its approach and maintain production in Japan, especially in the Drupa year. He added, Japanese systems are not dictated by “short-term factors such as exchange rates, regardless of how much the business environment fluctuates.”

During the 11-day Drupa, RMGT used its 1,000m2 stand to unveil its new look presses, including the RMGT 10 B1 six-colour with LED-UV curing, a RMGT 9 SRA-1 eight-colour perfector with twin LED units. It also used Drupa to demonstrate the DP7, its B2-format liquid toner digital press.

Kaushal who had spoken about the DP7, digital press in India during Provin’s pre-Drupa presentations, concluded, "At Drupa, Indian customers were expecting something concrete in the digital segment but that also appears some distance at this moment. Indian market will continue to proceed in the offset direction for some time."