Industry pays tribute to Vijay Sivaraman

Founded in 1992, Shakti Udyog had a manufacturing unit in Chennai. Shakti Udyog manufactured equipment for the printing industry, which includes a conventional plate exposing frames and plate processors for thermal, violet and conventional PS plates.

PrintWeek recalls the joys of birth of Shakti Udyog's CPX 860 which was equipped with special features that provided the user with faster service. All as Sivaraman had said, "This made the machine an alluring prospect and more than 1,500 units were installed in India and the international market. Of this, 30% are Indian newspapers."

He leaves behind his wife Uma and his two sons who are well known musicians in their own right earning a name for themselves in Tamil Nadu.

Industry veteran Suhas Kulkarni of DKHS said, "Way back in 2004- 2006 while at DuPont we had collaborated with him to design indigenous flexo plate processors."

Kulkarni added, "We made two - and what you have today are smart copies of those. But Vijay and his zealous team spent nights and days,  burnt the candle to procure the right pumps, bristles , brushes and pipes to accommodate the nuances of flexo plate making . Although they were very much into offset plate processors , this was a new ballgame since it required understanding on how to process a photopolymer plate." 

Kulkarni said, "Vijay even visited the DuPont customer technical centre in Kuala Lumpur and spent time with me and my tech team to understand the process."

Nitin Wani said, "Very sad to hear this news. Lost a real gentleman and a great man. The first time I met him was way back in 1989, during my Proteck interactions along with Bala, Shrini and Alan. Then from exhibitions to exhibitions.... Feel sad. Shradhanjali.".

Natarajan Vaidyanathan of Aura Print Solutions said, "Vijay was gem of a person. A good friend and a great soul. Om Shanti".

Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek said, "The last time I met him was in 2015 in Chennai. As always he spoke about how the Indian print industry needs better technology to use our production skills in terms of engineering. Vijay said, the print industry needs to invest time in R&D; because R&D will definitely boost our manufacturing.”

Ramanathan added, "Vijay felt that Brand Print should be boosted and an Indian press manufacturer should be on par to Apple or IBM in the eyes of the lay person."

Kukarni concluded, "Vijay's zeal and focus, overshadowed all the pains he and his team had to undergo. They don't make them like Vijay Sivaraman no more."

Read: Tribute to Vijay Sivaraman of Shakti Udyog

If you want to pay your respects to Vijay Sivaraman, please email charmiane.alexander@haymarketsac.com