Silverpoint installs India's first HP Indigo 12000

Managing director, Shabbir Muchhala, said "We are familiar with digital print. The team and I have been visiting HP's Dscoop event for the past eight years, and seen a clear re-positioning in print. We have a new workflow where jobs are shorter, the manufacturing process is cleaner, the wastage on a job is zero, and productivity is all about how quickly the paper comes in one door and the end product goes in through the press and out the door."

Muchhala added, "Printers have to embrace change because it is a changing world out there. The speed end-customers want things in, and the types of projects in terms of digital print, it has been a real step in the last year or so."

He continued, "In the past few years, I felt we had a lot to offer the market and we weren't treating digital with the interest that it deserved. Now we are poised to provide a solution to our client base in the corporate sector whom we can offer business solutions with the Indigo 12000." With the new B2-sized press, Silverpoint hopes to move into new markets, in addition to its traditional base of publishing and commercial print.

Saifee Makasarwala, the COO at Silverpoint said, "The seven-colour HP Indigo 12000 is a major boost to our capacity. The press is capable of printing at 4600 sheets per hour on paper that ranges from 70 gsm to 400gsm." Besides being able to print on "2500+ type of HP-approved substrates", Makasarwala is impressed by the "on press quality alert system" and "one shot printing".

"Having a B2 Indigo could not only meet better and consistent printing quality as compared to litho but gives us the flexibility to offer fully variable images and data in short run lengths, which we are unable to do at the moment at the quality level people are looking for," added Makasarwala.

Launched at Drupa 2016, the HP Indigo 12000 will eventually replace the Indigo 10000. It can print at speeds of up to 4,600sph at a resolution of 2,438dpi, and takes sheet sizes of up to 750x530mm.

Meanwhile in a concurrent development, the third-generation at Silverpoint, Daniel Muchhala announced the soon-to-be launched PrintNation portal. Daniel said, "This exclusive web to print portal will facilitate B2B jobs that Silverpoint hasn't previously taken on and work as a marketing tool to promote the new side of the business." A sneak preview of PrintNation shows a nifty design portal where business houses and brand owners can browse and use the online feature to create a range of effects such as personalised designs plus ready-made templates. The module makes it a hassle-free option from creating content to fulfillment.

Daniel added: "Silverpoint is fairly nimble mid-sized print firm, and we'd like to see PrintNation becoming the platform for Silverpoint's core business; and gradually take on new products and services."

Silverpoint now has a total of more than 100 staff, located in the head office in Parel and its digital and litho site in Mahape.

The HP Indigo 12000 and the digital studio will operate out of its three-storeyed 50,000 sq/ft premise. It anticipates a healthy double digit growth to the end of 2017 and the Muchhalas feel both the Indigo and PrintNation will play a significant role in the re-positioning of Silverpoint.