Koenig & Bauer is also actively addressing key market trends such as digital transformation, connected packaging, sustainability, and the vexed issue of worker qualification and shortage.
Deepak Anand Oulkar, carries on the legacy of the family business established in 1935, in Belgaum by his great-grandfather, the late Shambhu Appaji Oulkar. Initially known as Shambhu Appaji Photo Art Studio, the business thrived under the guidance of Deepak’s father, the late Anand L Oulkar, and his four brothers who in 1973, ventured out and started their own enterprise named Subhash Photo Studio. Eventually, this expanded to cities like Kolhapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri, and Goa.
Jose Joseph, the founder of Printers Castle in Ernakulam, passed away on 15 January 2015. Ramu Ramanathan finds out about the man of many parts; and why he is adored in Kerala
I am fortunate to be a part of the team that did a brainstorming a few years ago in bringing this signature title ‘Print and Beyond’ and this platform. Today we all came to a stage where we need to think much beyond ink and paper. We have to take pride that we became stronger and more influential as torchbearers of data, information and communication,” said Dr Rajendrakumar Anayath, vice-chancellor, DCRUST University.
K Selvakumar, director of Lovely Printers in Sivakasi delivered a stirring talk at KMPA's Print and Beyond seminar. Highlights of the talk which was delivered in front of 200 delegates at the Blu Radisson hotel in Kochi on 25 February.
P Narendra of Pragati Offset and Pragati Pack speaks about Print in the Post Covid era: Opportunities & Challenges at KMPA's Print and Beyond seminar in Kochi. He said, Last three years we have seen the world affected by Covid, supply chain and logistics nightmare, unprecedented price rise, the war and the China lockdown. How can India rise up to these challenges?
On the eve of the Print and Beyond full-day seminar, O Venugopal, director of Anaswara shares his Print Miracle 2023 report. Also the master printer provides a peek into what’s happening in Kerala’s print circle
During a roundtable discussion with Kerala’s next generation printers, Ramu Ramanathan engaged five industry professionals on 22 February at the Blu Radisson in Kochi. They shared their accomplishments over the last 12 months, the toughest challenges they faced in a project, and their future goals
POD (print-on-demand) started in India in the late nineties. Some say POD started around 1999 when Xerox launched its Safida. But it was a decade later that it became a staple part of the industry.
At the 8th edition of the Print & Beyond conference organised by the Kerala Master Printers Association, Raghabendra N Dutta Baruah, the president of the All India Federation of Master Printers had a stirring message for the print and packaging industry.
Being sustainable is not only good business practice but is increasingly a crucial requirement for many customers. Karthik Narayan Ravi, director of Multivista Global Print Solutions, shares the book print firm’s journey thusfar
Close on the heels of acquiring Gujarat-based MK Printpack, Parksons Packaging, the Warburg Pincus-backed packaging giant in India, has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Fortuner Packaging’s business by way of a slump sale.
He might be new to packaging, but EPL’s managing director and global CEO, Anand Kripalu says, he’s a sucker for accepting challenges, and will do what it takes. Kripalu opened up to Ramu Ramanathan to discuss EPL’s business, innovation, growth sustainability and journey ahead
Besides helming operations at Vakil and Sons, Arun Mehta, in his capacity as the president of BMPA and AIFMP, endeavoured to make technology accessible by organising Pamex in different parts of the country – Bombay (now Mumbai), Bangalore (now Bengaluru), and Calcutta (now Kolkata). In addition, Arun Mehta masterminded one of the first Indian print industry surveys when he was at the helm of the AIFMP. A tribute by Ramu Ramanathan.
Reflecting the print and packaging industry’s theme of respect for our natural world, Akil Contractor spotlights the science behind green standards
From recyclable laminates for coffee packaging to a recyclable solution to replace multilayer packaging for pulses, ITC's Packaging and Printing Business has ramped up the sustainability index in its factories. In conversation with WhatPackaging? magazine
From catering to British merchants in pre-Independence India to servicing the multinational brands today, Kanpur’s Solar Press (established as Star Press in 1904) has an enthralling history spanning more than a century. Govind Bhargava of Solar Press tells PrintWeek in this Sunday Column.
Precision is the key to the Echaar process. For the engineering of the flexo machine walls, Echaar leverages its material science knowledge in being a preferred supplier to the defence, atomic energy and windmill sector. The managing director of Echaar, Kirti Panchal shares his CI Flexo journey with PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines.
Nasim Uddin of TechNova passed away on Friday night (13 May). He returned home to Kanpur after a 200 km drive - and collapsed. The 59 year old Nasim is survived by his wife and two sons, Alquama Nasim (25) and Almaz Nasim (21).
Ramu Ramanathan talks to Akil Contractor of Print Dynamic about the impact of inks on multiple applications, plus the importance of sustainability
Despite the Omicron threat, DIC India is still eager outline its plans for its future journeys. DIC India’s managing director Manish Bhatia discusses how DIC India navigated through the Covid-19 challenges and managed growth. Bhatia in conversation with PrintWeek’s Ramu Ramanathan
Reprographic was established in 1983 with an electronic typewriter, a cut-and-paste table, one manual photocopying machine to make a foil master, and a Swift 150 offset press, at a tiny location in Secunderabad. What many people in the print industry don't know is, it continued to operate from Secunderabad and gradually, it created a pro-women environment. “Over 40% of our 50+ employees are women," said Jatin Vasandani, who passed away on 19 January.
Years ago, PrintWeek had asked a print technologist what has been the best purchase ever made. The reply was inspired, "The red colour has actually the coolest temperature of all the known colours of the visible spectrum of light in the electromagnetic spectrum. And a device to measure colour is the best investment for a press factory." Keeping that technology mantra in mind, Ramu Ramanathan put forth that question to seven industry leaders.
The value of commercial print has plunged. In this time of strife, Ramu Ramanathan tries to comprehend the dilemma of a self-made printer in South Odisha
Shirish Yadav, vice president of ITC-Foods talks to Ramu Ramanathan about the solutions that packaging manufacturers should develop to address changes in food manufacturing, processing and handling
Sachin Shardul, 43, is no more. He passed away on 5 October at Lilavati hospital in Mumbai due to Covid-related health complications. The print technologist, who was technical editor at PrintWeek from 2008 to 2014, is survived by his parents, wife, daughter and son.
Nitesh Jain, director, CRISIL Ratings believes that robust demand, supported by heightened hygiene consciousness, growing in-home consumption, and benign input costs will improve the operating profitability of packaging film companies to a decadal high of 19% this fiscal. In an exclusive interview with WhatPackaging? magazine, Nitesh Jain looks at the role of the pandemic in giving a push to the industry.
Kamal Vyas, who has died due to Covid-19, was the last of the gentlemanly salesperson. I have seen him preside over deals with a nawabi nazaakat. This is no doubt due to his lineage, which linked him to the third chief minister of Rajasthan, Jai Narayan Vyas. Every time I met him he regretted two things, the decline of tehzeeb and the declining margins in print.
I broke my vow to myself and attended three closed-door Zoom meetings in June. There were four themes that seemed to resonate with some of India's biggest print and packaging businesses
Ramu Ramanathan, editor at PrintWeek India talks about the culture of print businesses. Ten years ago, it was very different from what it is now. It is important for all of us to ask the question – "How do you see print and packaging engage with the new generation of print?"
Parksons Packaging has become the first company in India to take delivery of an HP Indigo 30000 digital press for folding cartons. The new investment will enable Parksons to produce high-quality, B2-format (20x30-inch format) applications allowing brand owners to communicate with end-users customers, provide a lean and agile supply chain, faster speed to the market, including on-pack messages. "You talk about customisation, providing better security features, and a direct to consumer connects. These are becoming very important for brand owners," said Siddharth Kejriwal, director at Parksons Packaging. Siddharth Kejriwal, in an exclusive conversation with PrintWeek India.
How do young people look at print and packaging? What are the lessons we can learn? Ramu Ramanathan tries to find out
'Very tough market condition' - four words that have been doing the rounds since the past two to three months.
In April this year, Dr David Clark, vice president - sustainability, Amcor USA visited India to examine the new Bharuch plant and deliver a keynote address at IFCA seminar. In conversation with Ramu Ramanathan, Clark talks about multi-layer plastic, innovations, and EPR models
I M Doctor was president of the Bombay Master Printer's Association and a high ranking member of the All India Federation of Master Printers. Ramu Ramanathan doffs his hat to a rare gem.
I came across this quote: “Contributors should have some pity for the editor and poor compositors. We should take pride in writing a clear and beautiful hand in our own language ...
There's an Austrian glassmaker Claus Riedel. He taught us: red wine needs a wider glass for the fuller aroma, while white wine needs a smaller, narrower glass for the more delicate flavour.
The best gyaan I have ever received about printing was 33 years ago. As a young man, I was told, “You should have thought of that before you got us into this mess.”
Beatrice Klose, the secretary general of Intergraf spoke in Mumbai during the WPCF conference on 8 January. She mentioned new EU legislative challenges and highlighted the target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, transition to a circular economy and a zero pollution Europe.
The expansion programme at the multi-locational pre-press trade shop Creative Graphics Solutions shows no signs of slowing down. The Delhi headquartered firm has added another Kodak Flexcel NX at the company’s Mumbai branch. This latest investment is the third Flexcel NX system since 2016, when the first arrived at Creative Graphics’ Delhi factory.
The future is a question mark. And since there is no one answer, for the 12th anniversary issue of PrintWeek, the team spoke to more than 100 industry leaders to get some clues on what to do next. Instead of an editorial, we have selected 12 statements that are helpful
Covid-19 has made our world topsy-turvy. Since the 21-day lockdown, everyone I know has become a coronavirus expert. To paraphrase Socrates, "The one thing that is guaranteed to multiply on our planet is stupidity." Because stupidity is contagious. The amount of forwards and cut-and-paste on social media platforms has been baffling.
Manugraph India, a leader in web offset printing presses manufacturing expanded its portfolio into packaging printing. This includes manufacturing of central impression (CI) flexo printing machines in collaboration with the Italian manufacturer Carraro SRL. Pradeep Shah, director, Manugraph India speaks to Ramu Ramanathan in an exclusive for WhatPackaging? about Manuflex and packaging.
A Balachandra of Rajhans Enterprises says, "The packaging plant in Bidadi makes Rajhans one of the unique companies that offers all processes. We have a full-fledged offset i.e web, commercial, web packaging, adhesive label and stationery." 100 seconds with one of the industry's major players.
The reason we have a KODAK FLEXCEL NX Technology Special is in honour of its success rate. Consider the stats: in the last eight years, Kodak has notched up 27 installations of the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Systems in India. Two of the 27 are installed at Ahmedabad-based Pinmark. Minesh Zaveri, director at Pinmark says, “KODAK FLEXCEL NX technology of imaging on a laminate meant one more step in the flexo platemaking process. It was a new technology, so we were a bit cautious. We keenly observed, saw, read and experienced the technology, and were thoroughly convinced that, here is a technology that will be helpful to us, and to the Indian industry”.
The Indian ink industry is optimistic about growth in the country, and are making investments into production facilities. This explains Hi-Tech Inks’ new plant in Vapi. The factory will be three times the size of its existing plant and shall boast double the capacity. Built in a total construction area of 100,000 sq/ft, the plant will have an installed capacity of 21,000mt of inks per annum.
Reifenhäuser (India) Marketing (RIML) was founded in 1993 as a 50-50% joint venture with Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, Germany. RIML has completed 25 years of operations in India. Manish Mehta, managing director, RIML talks to Ramu Ramanathan about the Indian packaging industry
Books Day – Books For All was born during PrintPack 2019. Ramu Ramanathan discusses why gifting one book to a child you know - and one to a child you don't know is so important
Line O Matic's founder and owner Uday C Patel was the recipient for the Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by the Mumbai Mudrak Sangh. He delivered a short speech at the Sahara Star in Mumbai in which he said, "I am thankful to the Mumbai Mudrak Sangh for this honour." Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Medha Virkar, Immediate Past President of MMS.
The DB Group has invested close to Rs 200-crore in Bihar. If you look at it from the publisher’s point of view, this market is bigger than Madhya Pradesh, or Rajasthan. It is actually bigger than or Gujarat, all these states have population of around six-crore. Madhya Pradesh has a population of five- to six-crore. For Rajasthan and Gujarat this figure stands at six and a half. The population of Bihar is 11-crore. So from the perspective of reach and penetration consumption, Bihar is a huge market.
With the upcoming launch of TIE, TechNova Imaging EcoSystem, for its newspaper customers, TechNova is all set to reinvent itself as much more than a solutions provider. According to the company, TIE is TechNova’s unique endeavour to offer its customers a “unified experience” beyond products and services, which will help customers “connect all the dots” in pre-press, pressroom and post-press - with products, equipment, services, advisory, inventory management; transactional efficiencies - giving customers a single touchpoint for all their requirements. Pranav Parikh, chairman and managing director, TechNova, explains in an interview with Ramu Ramanathan
When Faheem Agboatwala introduced Henrik Müller-Hansen, the CEO and founder of Gelato before his PS 19 presentation at the Tata Theatre, it was quite impressive. The highlights are: Henrik Müller-Hansen and his team launched Optimalprint in 2007. As Optimalprint grew so did the idea on how to improve the profitability and efficiency within the print industry. This led to the launch of Gelato in August 2012. Earlier, Henrik Müller-Hansen worked at Tele2, a telco challenging the traditional industry. He held positions like CEO-assistant and head of the Business Customer Area in Sweden. From 2003 to 2006, he was CEO of Tele2 Norway, growing the company from 1.5 billion NOK to 3.2 billion NOK. There is academic rigour behind the rough-tough business life. Be it: an MSc E; Major in Managerial Economics from Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden. Plus there is respect for two of Norway's literary legends, Henrik Ibsen and Jon Fosse. Henrik Müller-Hansen has a chat with PrintWeek India about Gelato's plans for India.
From humble beginnings in 1993, SMI has evolved into India’s leading labelstock manufacturing company. Ajay Mehta spent time with the WhatPackaging? team at SMI's Ambernath factory version 2.0 on 31 January even as the who's who of the label industry were present. Ajay Mehta and son, Rohit Mehta led delegations in groups of 10-15 through a show-and-tell of SMI's labelstock journey. During the two-hour walk-though, visitors saw the manufacturing process of more than 300 products with a choice of emulsion acrylic or hotmelt adhesives in permanent, peelable, semi-freeze, deep freeze and low migration variants.
The print industry is bracing itself for another wave of paper price rises. There are two reasons for this. Paper mill manufacturers have said that in 2019-20, the price is expected to soar as raw material cost is likely to continue its rising trend. And then, there is the news that India may impose anti-dumping duty (ADD) on uncoated paper from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore for three years to protect the interest of domestic companies against cheap shipments.
Prabuddha Dasgupta was an advocate of the "10-sec test". This is a concept he deployed to conduct a series of brand/product experiments during his days at Unilever. "It’s not a memory test, it’s about what registers in the minds of people," he used to say. Every packaging item gets only one shot to make a first impression, and less than 10 seconds to impress someone.
Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.
A strong ‘we’ll do’ and a positive attitude from all involved is must for innovation.
Madhav KC, president, Federation of Nepal Printers' Association.
XXX
Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India and WhatPackaging? looks at what the top brands are saying about ink on paper and paperboard; and more importantly what are their expectations from print fraternity
The USD 40 billion packaging market in India with a fragmented supply side consisting of over 30,000 vendors has a feisty new kid on the block. Bizongo is an online business-to-business marketplace and Aniket Deb, CEO and co-founder of Bizongo, tells WhatPackaging? how its USD 22 million funding will be a leap forward for his company with 2,500 registered small and medium enterprises plus brands such as Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and TataCliq
Technology aided by its country-cousin science, is optimising-disrupting our lives. In this digital age, paper is much more than just paper. Therefore, this defence of paper.
Fujifilm acquires Xerox for USD 6.1-bn and combined it with Fuji Xerox to create a new USD 18-bn turnover giant. What does this entail? For one, the combined Fuji Xerox would leapfrog rivals Canon and Ricoh in terms of printing revenues, and will be a close second to HP in terms of scale. Two, the potential addressable market is approaching USD 120-bn. So lads and ladies, the game is afoot!
With employment generation of over six-million in 2016 and an investment of USD 18.84- billion lined up this year, the Indian food industry is ripe for another growth spurt. . Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India and WhatPackaging? looks at how this sector is expected to hugely benefit the packaging in the coming years
Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India and WhatPackaging? shares how packaging and pre-media services firm play a key role in print.
There is no stopping Uflex in its forward leap with a Rs 1,700-crore investment plan for Uttar Pradesh. The founder, chairman and managing director, Ashok Chaturvedi, tells Ramu Ramanathan what makes Uflex an immovable force in the flexible packaging industry
Sudarshan Dheer is no more. He was the Indian logo legend in the new born arena of corporate identity designs. This was the Frank Simoes era. Liberty Shirts ads which scorched the newsprint. Plus the first tiny steps towards creating the Raymond brand. Halftones were the in-thing.
Khushru Patel, along with his childhood friend Aspi Forbes, started Jak Printers in Mumbai in 1984. Since then, its motto ‘quality never goes out of style’ and the slogan, ‘We make a difference’ have made them a top-quality printer in India, picking up NAEP Awards for nine consecutive times and for 12 consecutive years. Patel was in conversation with Ramu Ramanathan during the KMPA’s Print and Beyond seminar in Kochi.
Anand Limaye, the honorary general secretary of AIFMP and head at India Printing Works is trying to draw a new map for the Indian print industry. Last week, he lodged a plaint against paper cartelisation. Also he is attempting to take the message of print to the society, and with his latest passion, Inking Innovations, sharing the wealth of Marathi literature to a larger audience. Anand Limaye in conversation with Ramu Ramanathan.
In a chat with Ramu Ramanathan of PrintWeek India, Kirit Modi, chairman and managing director, Horizon Packs and president, The Indian Corrugated Case Manufacturers Association (ICCMA), discusses paper supply disruptions and emphasises on the need for smart investments, trained manpower, and best practices.
Repro India aims to double its capacity to produce 12,000 POD (Print On Demand) books a day from 6,000 a day in the current financial year. This is because of two additional units which the Mumbai headquartered book firm hopes to set up in Delhi and Chennai. The plan is: Delhi and Chennai will each produce 2,000 books a day, and the Mumbai facility will produce 8,000 books per day. In addition, the Mumbai headquartered book factory will be eyeing the online sales market. Pramod Khera, e
Ashish Pradhan, CEO, Siegwerk India, of Siegwerk is very keen to take sustainability to a new level. When PrintWeek India visited the Siegwerk factory, this was the main theme that resonated in its Bhiwadi facility.
I was walking on the Fort pavement from Bora Bazaar (the paper district in Mumbai). I was heading towards Churchgate railway station when Bhamaha’s Kavyalkankara exhorted me, “Buy me, Buy me”. I picked up a copy. For Rs 20 only.
Abhijit Pandit passed away on 18 April in Nashik City. Social media was abuzz with his colleagues, students and admirers expressing "shock" at his untimely death due to a cardiac arrest.
Ramu Ramanathan tells the tale of the paper cup in India
It is news that sent shock waves in the print industry. The brutal death of Navin Shah, promoter of Navneet Publications in Ahmedabad has resulted in an outpouring of grief among the who's who of the industry.
It is news that sent shock waves in the print industry. The brutal death of Navin Shah, promoter of Navneet Publications in Ahmedabad has resulted in an outpouring of grief among the who's who of the industry.
It’s been a year since Ashish Pradhan has helmed operations at Siegwerk India as a CEO and already the changes are visible with a young team of professionals. The “new Siegwerk” with a futuristic outlook is galloping on the road to success, Pradhan tells Ramu Ramanathan
H V Sheth, president of Indian Printing, Packaging and Allied Machinery Manufacturers' Association (IPAMA) and owner of Sheth Printograph speaks to Ramu Ramanathan about the future of the Indian print industry, GST, and PrintPack 2019 from 1 to 6 February.
Started 10 years ago, Parakh Group’s packaging business boasts a basic extrusion capacity of 8,000 tonnes per annum and prints a capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum. Ramu Ramanathan and Rushikesh Aravkar take a tour of the company’s 12-acre flexible packaging plant in Bhandgoan near Pune
Malayala Manorama is known for its quality news and superior publications. Ramu Ramanathan visits the print units in Kerala in order to grasp the ops
VK Seth, the managing director of the Gurugram-based Sakata Inx India and member, International Advisory Board Sakata Inx Corporation, Japan demystifies the Indian printing ink industry – both in terms of the business and the technology – and speaks to Ramu Ramanathan about Sakata Inx’s presence in India and globally
Konica Minolta Business Solutions India’s managing director Daisuke Mori and his colleagues Yoshinori Koide and Manish Gupta speak to Ramu Ramanathan about the company’s philosophy in India
Silverpoint Press has taken delivery of an HP Indigo 12000 and trials and training are on with the machine, at the company's dedicated print site in Mahape in Navi Mumbai. The 12000 which will replace an older HP Indigo will co-exist with the firm's fleet of four-colours and five-colours presses, and its pre-press offerings.
Children, when was demonetisation born? Asks the school teacher in 2116 A thousand years ago, the children reply A hundred years ago, the children reply Last month, the children reply No one knows Children, what does this demonetisation do, asks the school teacher It does good, the children reply It does bad, the children reply No one knows In 2116, like in 2016 No one knows
Established in 2012, Delhi-based manufacturer of signage and a master of thermoforming, Creatique has grown exponential in the last four years, staying true to the two words that make up its name – creative and unique. The company’s three Acuity flatbed printers from Fujifilm have been an integral part of this growth story. Two of the machines are in the company’s Delhi factory and one in Mumbai. During his recent visit to Delhi, Ramu Ramanathan talks to the husband-wife team of Creatique, Amarj
SN Venkataraman, divisional head of marketing ITC Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division (PSPD) shares insights on the latest safety regulations and compliance for food packaging.
Consider the numbers. Automatic lines contribute to 40% of the capacity with a conversion ratio of 2 million MT, as opposed to 2.7 million MT output from 1,2000-1,4000 semi-automatic lines.The shift to automatic corrugating lines has begun.In the next three years, India will double the number. Ramu Ramanathan surveys the scenario
Tappan Patel, managing director, BST eltromat, India shares the details of BST’s acquisition of Eltromat, the new IPQ colour solutions, the trajectory of the company’s rise and why the future is hybrid technology, in a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan
Nilesh Dhankani, CEO of Quarterfold Printabilities reveals his plans to Ramu Ramanathan about how to bridge print and content for the African market
The shortlist is here. Huge congratulations to all those in the running for the coveted PrintWeek Prism trophy on 2 November, the big night.
On the one hand, corporate India is on a growth path and on the other hand, printing of annual reports is witnessing an overall slowdown. In addition to the current climate of business uncertainty, there is a problem of rogue print firms who are not delivering as per the terms and conditions to their corporate and PSU (public sector undertakings) clients.
Mehta found fame in making corrugation "chic”. In a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan he talks about his journey and his voracious appetite for all things corrugate
Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India highlights the all the happenings in the printing and packaging segment from the year 2017
Komal Sharma, managing director of Kodak spoke about a range of new products including its latest process-free addition to the Sonora family of plates as well as the launch of a new inkjet printhead, Ultrastream that could see Kodak re-enter the wide-format market. , Business
Moving away from the earlier format of organising a Jury Day for a single day to shortlist the entries received for the annual PrintWeek India Awards, this year we decided to have a weeklong Jury Week. The reason is simple. We had such large amount of entries and of such diverse quality that one day was never going to be enough to do justice to all the entries. And we did not want to miss out on something great because we did not have the time.
132 print firms and 1000+ entries were pared down to 88 shortlisted print firms by the 28 member jury. This included 12 first-time Award winners.
A legacy name and three generations (or five, depending on whom you are asking) of print experts – would it be enough for Kerala’s ST Reddiar to prepare itself for the digital disruptions? Yes, says Mahesh Karthik, the scion, while highlighting the importance of a committed workforce. The increased involvement of the efficient performers in matters outside of their routine has been helpful in making them feel ‘I am doing this for my own’, he says. The pride of being the ‘first in Kerala’ is also
The Gurgaon-based label printer has been spreading its arms over the years. The father-son duo of Rajesh and Aditya Chadha, directors at Update Prints, share the secret of its success to Ramu Ramanathan and Rahul Kumar.
Vinsak is trying to cement its position as a viable alternative to top brands in Europe. Ramu Ramanathan visits the factory and realises that a processdriven approach is the key to successful manufacturing.
‘We keep in touch with customers and keep inventing'
Vimal Kedia, managing director of the PET pre-form manufacturer Manjushree Technopack explains how the new set-up in Bidadi will increase the company's turnover by five per cent.
Nice Prints is homing in on higher productivity after ordering a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 press and a raft of Bobst kit to boost its prospects in packaging., Packaging
It was 4 May 2008. Leicester was playing Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. The team had been relegated to English football’s third tier for the first time. Eight years since that day, the Leicester team, has pulled off what might just be the greatest footballing achievement - some say the biggest sports underdog fairy tale - of all time., Business
Ashwani Bhardwaj, managing director at Hubergroup India is bullish about the Indian print outlook. He says: “The market is growing and so is the competition. Competitive landscape for the printing ink industry in India has changed. With the advent of more players and new capacities, we have to be better prepared for competition. Our focus today is on technology and product offering. We also continue to invest in our manufacturing infrastructure.” This is clear from the plant Capex at
PrintWeek India, April 7 - Ramu Ramanathan documents the trajectory of a printing company that has carefully created its brand, bit by bit over the past few decades
Ramu Ramanathan discovers that Parksons Graphics belies theories that the industry is suffering, by creating printing value for everyone.
In the Indian industry the adage is, Manugraph sets the tone for print. But last year, wasn't the best of year, and it would be fair to say that the "bhishma pitamah of the industry", Sanat Shah was more pleased than most to put 2009 behind him. The good news is that he's starting to see optimism creep back into the industry.
PrintWeek India, April 13 - Anand Limaye, editor of Print Bulletin and mentor to the Mumbai Mudrak Sangh as well as Maharashtra Mudran Parishad; interacts with top printers in the country in order to understand the impact of the Budget 2010
N S Manku talks to Ramu Ramanathan about Indian manufacturers, China and print optimism, as IPAMA gears up for the tenth edition of PrintPack India in January 2011
Bengaluru-based Pyramid Packaging recently unveiled India’s first Bobst FFG 618 Quatro flexo folder gluer, which boasts of changing the way corrugated box is manufactured in the country.
Kirit Modi, chairman and managing director at Horizon Packs and the president of Indian Corrugated Case Manufacturers' Association (ICCMA) tells Ramu Ramanathan why it is important to create awareness amongst all members about protecting the value this industry creates and ensure that it is not diluted in any manner by engaging in an unhealthy competition
Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India and WhatPackaging? looks at the success stories of disruptors in the print industry and what the print fraternity can learn from them
Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India and WhatPackaging? looks at what the top brands are saying about ink on paper and paperboard; and more importantly what are their expectations from print fraternity
The paper industry wants anti-dumping duty as imports surge by 40%. And so, in the six-year period from 2011, paper imports have increased at a CAGR of 18%. The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA), on behalf of BILT Graphics Paper Products, has filed a petition before the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) to initiate an investigation concerning imports of ‘coated paper’ originating in or exported from China PR, European Union (EU) and the USA.
Rahil Gandhi, director at Vadilal Dairy International tells the WhatPackaging? team about the difference packaging has made in the 4.5 lakh tonnes ice creams and frozen foods market
Manish Patel of SIPM presented a grim scenario about the upheaval in the global fibre, containerboard and corrugated box markets during the ICCMA Congress on 4 October. He showed how China’s push to clean up its environment will impact India
Ramu Ramanathan, editor, WhatPackaging?, says "Things will improve only if we learn to treat our people better."
India ranks fifth in the packaged food industry globally with a worth of USD 39.7 billion and is expected to reach USD 65.41 billion by 2020. In all this there is the shocking story that the amount of food India wastes annually is enough to feed a country like Egypt for one year. Therefore the moot question, how can packaging help the food and beverage industry.
Printweek India Post-Press Company of the Year 2017 and Bengaluru-based Brilliant Printers has set its sight on enhancing its bidding in the book manufacturing segment with an Ochsner edge gilding and corner rounding machine. The equipment that was installed, commissioned in the last week of May 2018 – and will target products like luxury books, diaries, journals, dictionaries and religious books like Bibles.
“ The name Brilliant Printers should be a brand-name on the tip of anyone who has a print requirement anywhere in Asia,” says Anil Rego of Brilliant Printers in Bengaluru. He tells Ramu Ramanathan how he intends to bring it to fruition
Sanjay Bhagwat, publisher of Mouj, is no more. He passed away on 3 February at the age of 60, following a prolonged illness. Bhagwat was also a member of the Mumbai Mudrak Sangh and an important member of the publishing fraternity. He is survived by his wife, Bhagyashree, son Anirudh and daughter Manva.
The India operations of Siegwerk recently went toluene-free. Ashish Pradhan tells Ramu Ramanathan how Siegwerk with a futuristic outlook is galloping on the road to success
Bimal Mehta, managing director of Vakils Premedia, which provides artwork and labeling outsource services to pharmaceutical companies globally made a presentation at the pharma packaging and labeling forum conference in Philadelphia.
The panel discussion at Print Summit 2012 with leaders and imapct-makers will feature Saket Kanoria presenting his views on how the team at TCPL has brought rigour to the packaging process and training.
Amila Singhvi is the managing director of International Print-o-Pac (IPP), the PrintWeek India's Company of the Year 2010. Singhvi has been at the helm of the industry for over two decades now. Last year, IPP recorded revenue of Rs 250-crore and expects to double the turnover in two year's time. Singhvi tells Ramu Ramanathan why she is bullish about packaging and book printing and looking at "adding another IPP plant, soon"
C J Jassawala of Thomson Press reveals the strategy for its print operations. In a dialogue with Ramu Ramanathan
Three players are in the news. Kolkata-based Anand Bazaar Patrika sought to buy out Star’s shareholding in the joint-venture, Media Content & Communications Services India (MCCS).
With a stable of 40-plus titles, Spenta's Maneck Davar tells Ramu Ramanathan that he still has ambitions to grow.
Ramu Ramanathan investigates whether newspapers continue to remain an advertising power base and how Indian publishers are convincingly creating better opportunities among newer markets
Ramu Ramanathan spends time at an unusual firm and finds out how the foundation was laid down by the indefatigable JP Vasandani and what printing means to Shobha Subramaniam.
Ramu Ramanathan spoke to Noomi Mehta, the chairman of Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) and head of Selvel One Group about Indian OOH
A panel discussion with niche players on day two of the Print Summit will feature Mehul Desai highlighting the exhilarating journey of his seven-and-half year old press.
Sivakasi, long a source of cheap labour and economical print, has re-awakened to the challenges of the Indian and international market with new innovations. Ramu Ramanathan reports
Micro Inks launched its new Maxxima process colour ink set for sheetfed offset. The announcement of launch which was done through a series of meeting hosted in Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai in which top dealers across India participated.
While some Mumbai printers might be ruing the current economic climate, for others the turbulent financial conditions spell opportunities. With more and more corporates slashing their operational budgets, the print buying department is often the first one to go. In a freewheeling conversation with Anand Limaye and Ramu Ramanathan, Pratap Kamat of Uma Offset says print firms require a new mindset to cope with the changes in the marketplace.
Ramu Ramanathan looks at how print trends are shifting due to the changes in the wedding market
A panel discussion with niche players on day two of the Print Summit will feature Mehul Desai highlighting the exhilarating journey of his seven-and-half year old press.
Pranav Parikh, the chairman and managing director of TechNova, highlights the power of print, in a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan, the editor of PrintWeek India.
Ramu Ramanathan discovers what makes Thee Classic Printers run and rival successful print companies.
Philip Faraci, the president and chief operating officer at Eastman Kodak talks to Ramu Ramanathan about digital print in the 21st century and his company's investment policies.
Digital printing? Offset on non-paper? Screen printing? CTP bureau? Amit Shah's company defies all definition as it unfurls one game-changing technology after another, says Ramu Ramanathan
Five years ago, Saill set up the first ink ATM in the country. Today, they distribute 150 tons of ink per month to 700 customers, as Ramu Ramanathan finds out.
Label legend, Mike Fairley has a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan during LabelExpo 2010 about how demographics and lifestyle changes will ensure investments in 130 label presses.
With good quality, timely delivery and fair pricing, one can never go wrong. Khushru Patel of Jak Printers talks to Ramu Ramanathan after bagging the Best Printers NAEP award in 2012
Ramu Ramanathan looks at recent developments at TCPL Packaging, Orient Press, Uflex, Manjushree Technopack and Essel Propack.
Ramu Ramanathan attends the 41st Conference of the Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India hosted along side the Corpex trade show; and says it was an eye-opener.
Ramu Ramanathan speculates about 2013.
Sona Commercial and Gruppo Cordenons hosted an evening to "celebrate the warmth of the season" and eight years success in Mumbai which was an evening of food, drink and launch of two paper grades: Wild and Art Nouveau on 28 September, 2012.
Ramu Ramanathan investigates into how print companies estimate their costs - and tries to find out if these companies can see a rise in profits with a common sense module
The Jak motto: With good quality, timely delivery and fair pricing, one can never go wrong. Khushru Patel and Aspi Forbes of Jak Printers talk to Ramu Ramanathan and Anand Limaye after bagging their fourth consecutive Best Printers award at the National Awards for Excellence in Printing (NAEP).
An analysis of the new agreements and alliances in the Indian label print industry in 2012.
Ramu Ramanathan says, Manipal's production of the tome is great news for Indian firms.
As readership numbers look sluggish, publishers are at a cross-road. PrintWeek India tries to make sense of the behind the scene action in the print media arena.
Anil Krishna, chief executive and general manager at Henkel Adhesives Technologies, shares the company’s passion for excellence and global leadership with Ramu Ramanathan
Dr Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice president for Canon India in a tête-à-tête with Ramu Ramanathan.
Balaji Rajagopalan, the executive director who replaces Vipin Tuteja at the helm is a Xerox veteran. Seated in the corporate office in Gurgaon of the USD22bn digital giant, he is bullish about the Versant 2100 because “it is the latest mid-level production engine, which ups both speed and quality.”
Gautham Pai talks to Ramu Ramanathan about how a $5 million family-run printing business in 1998 has transformed to a $500 million well-diversified print services and business solutions organisation
Gustavo Oviedo, Lois Lebegue and Bhalchandra Nikumbh of Kodak in conversation with Ramu Ramanathan and Noel D'cunha.
Canon hopes to capture 30% of digital print market with the 80ppm printer. Ramu Ramanathan finds out, if the claims that the C800 is designed to make print firms money is true or not.
At the fourth edition of the Awards; one thing is clear: Indian print firms are getting better at designing, printing and marketing. The linkage between new innovations and profits is stronger than ever before. And print angst has produced some extraordinary work in 2012.
The Indian print industry is clocking $21 billion in 2011, a growth of 73%. This along with $8 billion per annum budgetary support for education will boost the book market, says Ramu Ramanathan
10 days before PrintPack 2013 kicks off, Ramu Ramanathan gives 20 mantras .....xxxx****!!!!!@@$
Ramu Ramanathan in a tête-à-tête with Rajesh Kejriwal of Kyoorius, who organises one of India’s foremost design conference - DesignYatra and publishes the Kyoorius Communications magazine
Ramu Ramanathan celebrates the 63rd anniversary of the Constitiution Day on 26th January, with 26 observations about the first 26 days of 2013
Ramu Ramanathan gives 10 mantras, a week before PrintPack India 2013, one of the Asia’s biggest exhibition, kick starts.
Media Expo aspires to be a very focused show. Last week's edition in Mumbai from 15-17 February 2013 was busy and I was amazed at the crowds and appalled by the chaos at the registration desk what with printers breaking down and queues lengthening.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Hi-Tech Systems has more than 400 customers on its roster. As Parag Shah, the head of Hi-Tech stated, "The 1000 installation is one more milestone thanks to our team. All this is due to our focus on customer satisfaction."
Pranav Parikh, chairman and managing director of TechNova speaks to PrintWeek India about the marketing alliance with Konica Minolta; and all things about TechNova
Chintamoni Ghosh, Raja Ravi Verma and Mahatma Gandhi are legends. PrintWeek India pays a tribute to their contribution to print in order to celebrate Printer's Day on 24 February.
Some think so. But the evidence is not convincing.
At the LMAI Conference, Amit Ahuja began his presentation on the challenges for the Indian entrepreneur with a quote that said, "Entrepreneurs are people who treat obstacles as a daily exercise”.
Shabbir Muchhala of Silverpoint Press reveals how the firm has pulled the right strings at the right times to have grown at 20% in a competitive marketplace. Ramu Ramanathan understands how a brand was painstakingly built.
Everyone admits commercial printing is in trouble. The offset industry appears to be in decline, and there seems no solution for the humble commercial print firm.
A tiny news item caught my attention. It said, three Indian companies are in contention to print first ever standardised cheques of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). The companies are Shree Nidhi Secure Printing Plc (SNSP), Madras Security Printers Plc (MSP) and Manipal Group, according to sources at the NBE.
In an exclusive interview with PrintWeek India, Ruesch Ferdinand (RF) owner and vice chairman Gallus Group and Samir Patkar (SP) managing director Gallus India and Christof Naier (CN) vice president sales and marketing, label business Gallus Group discuss the business strategy in India and Labelexpo Europe 2013 with PrintWeek India's Ramu Ramanathan (RR).
Ramu Ramanathan traces the journey of the Faridabad-based narrow web flexo printing press manufacturer to how it launched its six-colour printing press in an all UV configuration, Ecoflex VSi.
The Offset Printer's Association (OPA) has a complaint against Adobe. At their executive meeting on 22 August 2013, they raised the issue of "Adobe Systems India threatening letters to the printers, time and again." OPA's contention is, Adobe is sending these letters asking the printers to "send internal technical information about the company and usage of Adobe software in computers." The reply to this reply was to be submitted within seven days otherwise Adobe would take "drastic action".
Since 25 years, Safire has been anchoring film poster printing in India. This has been done through a technology blend for blockbusters as well as niche films.
PrintWeek India - The Salgaokars ensure that Kalnirnay retains its strategic advantage in a competitive market-place, as Ramu Ramanathan finds out.
It's definitely not all doom and gloom. My colleague, Rahul Kumar, informs me about the revival of print in Kolkata and East India.
What is your print firm saying? Is it selling the brand? If it isn’t delivering its core values or adding value, it’s time to repackage. That’s what Vashikaran of Bell Printer says to Ramu Ramanathan
The print growth in Tamil Nadu is lifting from its lows, but will it be constrained due to the 16-hour power cuts, unprecedented price hikes and infrastructural bottleneck.
Shailesh Nema, South Asia director - sales and marketing, UPM Raflatac, unveils the expansion plans with new ‘fit for purpose’ products for Indian market.
Carsten Knudsen, Esko's president and CEO along with Ambar Patel, the managing director of Shilp Gravure and other Esko dignitaries marked the opening of the company’s new India office in Bengaluru on 25 March 2013. There were more than 70 Esko team members and representatives from the parent company Danaher. On the occasion, he responded to a few questions from PrintWeek India.
Sai has notched a series of firsts. India’s first Epson SurePress L-4033AW plus; Gallus granite label press and the first firm in South India to implement Ugra.
Last year, around this time, in spite of the buzz of Drupa, print’s economy was inpropitious. Politically the country was riven with insecurity, as it is now. The spectre of scams was looming large, it’s ripples continue even today. Economically, Indian was on the brink of being downgraded by the credit-ratings; and even optimists predicted only slight improvements. Meanwhile the kind of stories we kept hearing about the number of commercial print firms slipping off the radar added t
Spent the day at an extra-ordinary museum on 19 March in London. A little gem in one of the bylanes off Fleet Street; close to St Paul's Cathedral. This is a narrow street that leads to St Bride's Church (built upon a foundation of seven churches); and the St Bride Institute was created in 1891 to celebrate the glory of print.
Sai has notched a series of firsts. India’s first Epson SurePress L-4033AW plus; Gallus granite label press and the first firm in South India to implement Ugra. Ramu Ramanathan reports.
Micro Inks launched its new Maxxima process colour ink set for sheetfed offset. The announcement of launch which was done through a series of meeting hosted in Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai in which top dealers across India participated.
Sai has notched a series of firsts. India’s first Epson SurePress L-4033AW plus ; Gallus granite label press and the first firm in South India to implement Ugra
The cutting of the red ribbon by Carsten Knudsen, Esko’s president and CEO along with Ambar Patel, the managing director of Shilp Gravure and other Esko dignitaries marked the opening of the company’s new India office in Bengaluru on 25 March 2013.
Ashok Nerker, owner of Unique Photo Offset and Gulf Scan talks to Ramu Ramanathan about the trends in the print market of Mumbai and Sharjah.
Label legend, Mike Fairley has a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan during LabelExpo 2010 about how demographics and lifestyle changes will ensure investments in 130 label presses.
Pragati Offset is a celebrity company – and director, P Narendra is its face. He unravels how his company got its reputation of being a world-class printer. WORDS. Ramu Ramanathan
John Milton says, "Ink is the blood of the printing-press". But it's actually alcohol that makes it run.
Anil Sharma managing director of Avery Dennison India label division spoke to the PrintWeek India team on the sidelines of the LMAI conference in Goa. Sharma said, “Avery is bullish about the Indian label printing industry – and all indicators show that the per capita consumption of labels is likely to grow.”
The three-day show from 21-23 February in Mumbai opened up an exciting world of print opportunities.
Pranav Parikh, chairman and managing director of TechNova and Tadahiko Sumitani , the managing director of Konica Minolta. On the occasion of forging an alliance with Konica Minolta, Parikh speaks to Ramu Ramanathan.
Hyderabad-based Ecobliss highlighted smart innovations in blister packaging at its stall at Indpack. This included a host of packaging options offered by Ecobliss like carded blister packs, dose packs, clinical wallets, promotional packs, drug combination packs, pre-filled syringe packs, innovative vial packs, standy blister packs, etc.
The global publishing estimates rank India as the sixth-largest book producing market in the world, and the third-biggest in English language publishing. Ramu Ramanathan, group editor, Haymarket Media India, chaired a round-table session with leading publishers at the recently held Romancing Print 2014. The panel consisted of Manas Saikia (Cambridge University Press), Vikas Gupta (Wiley India), Sugat Jain (Ratnasagar), Ganesh Venkatesan (Elsevier), and Neeraj Jain (Scholastic India). Edited exce
Re-elected, president of IPAMA, KS Khurana, tells Ramu Ramanathan his team’s global foray is part of a strategy to “revitalise” equipment manufacturing in India.
Wan-Ifra in Bengaluru from 11 to 13 September provided a jolt of optimism, and a chance to focus, which the Indian newspaper industry requires. The show highlights by Ramu Ramanathan.
PrintWeek India visited Replika, the three-time winner of the Post-Press Company of the Year. Bhuvnesh Seth, managing director of Replika, spoke to Ramu Ramanathan a day after his 60th birthday, about the future of the book industry and the future plans for the Kundli-based factory.
In a rare interview, the reclusive, A Balachandra of Rajhans unravels the tricks of the magazine trade and how the firm prints 45 titles (monthly) and six titles (weekly) plus a raft of newspaper titles and mono cartons.
Faheem Agboatwala and Mehul Desai of the BMPA are planning a session on the importance of profits for BMPA’s annual get-together, Print Summit, on 24 January at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai. Ramu Ramanathan examines the vexed issue.
Ramu Ramanathan looks at five print companies, who have been re-inventing print in 2013.
Coimbatore’s Glo Digital has put into service India’s second HP Indigo 10000. The print firm aspires to be a powerful online print service provider by 2015, reveals the executive officer Gamyanth Shren Ramanan in conversation with PrintWeek India’s Ramu Ramanathan.
Prof N C Saha, director of the Indian Institute of Packaging is on the go. Rightfully so. As Saha says to Ramu Ramanathan, “I think awareness was missing in the country especially among the consumer and the manufacturer. This has changed. The retail concept has enabled a boom in the Indian packaging industry.”
The print manufacturing sector in Faridabad is based on the innovation model. The varied hues of manufacturing are to be found here. This includes: product development (TPH, Multitec) and process technology (APL, KK Printing), as well as management (Pressline, Webtech) and marketing skills (Sahil, Kalbro). In spite of poor quality of labour and crumbling infrastructure, the manufacturers have been toiling against all odds to provide reliability and quality assurance. Some are tinkering with mode
Printex is the flagship show of the Maharashtra Mudran Parishad (MMP). In addition to reaching to the print industry in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, the show is expected to raise funds for its training and education programs. According to PrintWeek India, the focus at the show was on ERP, PUR and UV inks.
Sanat Shah of Manugraph and Pranav Parikh of TechNova are print icons. They exchange notes about their mission-vision plan in the seventies and how they created a brand. Plus what were the anti India prejudices encountered during the early days
Cross Cut Road in Coimbatore has the allure of a big city shopping district. Top brands are visible, shopfront fascades are razzle dazzle, the shoppers are stylish. In the midst of this is Glo Digital housed on two floors. Four years ago, when PrintWeek India visited this site, it housed an Indigo 3050. That kit is still churning out prints, but in addition there is: the 5600 and the 7600 and of course the brand new 10000.
Today, (24 April, 2015), Autoprint based in Coimbatore, will commemorate the milestone of 10,000 installations by honouring the proud owner at Hotel Residency in Coimbatore. This is the humble Dion 450+, which has been sold to a printer in Lekhimpur in UP. A face-to-face with C N Ashok
Subhasis Ganguli, vice president (production and content management), Pearson Education speaks to Ramu Ramanathan about the pain points in book supply chain and how printers can play a proactive role in addressing key issues, during the Henkel-Welbound Open House.
Re-elected, president of IPAMA, KS Khurana, in an exclusive, tells Ramu Ramanathan that his team's global foray is part of a strategy to “revitalise” the print equipment manufacturing in India
Madurai-based Olympic Prints, which is headquartered in Madurai, has a digital retail chain in Nagercoil, Theni, Salem and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh booked a C751 from Ricoh during PrintExpo.
Sales have jumped to a healthy level, plus players indicate market is performing much better than the doom-and-gloom forecasts.
The three-decade old Sivakasi-based company, Sel Jegat has managed to transform itself from a self adhesive label manufacturer to a pressure sensitive label player in the country. In conversation with Ramu Ramanathan, V S Raveendran discusses the advancements in the industry and how it has complemented Sel Jegat
Ajay Aggarwal received his BE degree in computer science in 1991 and was recruited as a support engineer by Wipro straight from the campus. He quickly moved into sales as that was his core strength. The turning point came when Wipro tied up with Apple and Aggarwal’s boss told him to handle the sales of Apple Macs, which required technical and solution selling approach. Most importantly, it was Aggarwal’s introduction to the print industry. In a freewheeling chat with Sriram Se
Faheem Agboatwala, of Mumbai-based Hi-tech Printing Services, gives Ramu Ramanathan of PrintWeek India a lowdown of his press, his successes, his favourites and much more during the second edition of the Masterclass session at SIES GST
With HP being the largest single exhibitor at Drupa 2016, the Israel-based digital print giant is expected to make good uproar with all the print power at its disposal. HP's Indigo man, A Appadurai met up with the PrintWeek India team during the super busy CEIF show in Mumbai, where the HP stall (with the PageWide, three Indigos (10000, 7600, 5600), and the other DesignJet and Latex printers was an indicator that Drupa will not be about "Druck and Papier" anymore.
For India to become a dominant force in packaging, a lot more needs to be done. Dr N C Saha, the director of Indian Institute of Packaging knows this. In conversation with Ramu Ramanathan
Replika can deliver a book of 4,000 pages, four-colour, and four hardback volumes in less than ten days.
The August session of BMPA's Share to Benefit could provide an indication about the health of the industry. Most of the 18 members who attended the meeting at the 5 August at the BMPA Secretariat stated print output figures tallied with expectations, orders were up higher and the printing plants reported "busy July". In an informal discussion most there was cautious optimism among printers for Q2.
Most of the team at PrintWeek India has seen Spotlight. I have seen it thrice. All three times, before it won the Oscar for best picture. It’s a movie about print journalism. I like that. In the seventies, there was: All the President’s Men. That film was based on the bestseller by former Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two junior reporters who expose a White House cover-up that led to President Nixon resigning on 9 August 1974.
Getting the right ERP and MIS solution can be the difference between profit and pain. In the past few months, the catch phrases and tech jargons have swamped our industry. Ramu Ramanathan indulges in a bit of fun with ERP
P Narendra of Pragati Offset delivered a talk on entrepreneurial success at a CII gathering in Hyderabad. Excerpts from the speech.
On 26 June 1975, the Prime Minister of India made a radio broadcast to the nation. According to BN Tandon, in the PMO Diaries (a daily diary in Hindi) while he was a joint secretary in the PMO, "the PM read out her speech very hesitantly in Hindi but her English speech was all right. The message was that the President had declared a state of Emergency but there was nothing to worry about. This had been done to save the country from a massive conspiracy of the opposition."Forty years later, Ramu
In the past six months, 3M has seen the integration of its three major businesses. 3M Commercial Graphics got integrated with two other businesses – Building and Commercial Solutions and Architecture Markets. Ramu Ramanathan talks to the general manager of the new business entity, Commercial Solutions Division, Dr Sujatha Narayan, to understand her new role in the business and 3M’s green offerings to the world.
Established in 1961, Veepee Graphic Solutions is the flexo division of Veepee Group. The Bengaluru based flexography pre-press trade shop is spread across 8000 sq/ft land, houses, state-of-the-art technologies for pre-press and platemaking, supplying to top brands in India. Jaichandra, the managing director at Veepee, regales Ramu Ramanathan with an account of Veepee’s long journey with Esko.
I recall a joke in school.
Bengaluru-based textile printing specialist Quenby Transfers India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Quenby Transfers, UK, the winner of the PrintWeek India Company of the Year for 2014, is bullish. The manufacturer and exporter of heat transfer prints works in the textile printing segment, with a clear vision of where they want to go. Ramu Ramanathan talks to David Hunt, MD, and Sachindranath Udupa, operation director of Quenby Transfers, about the company’s ink compliance policies, its spe
Heidelberg managing director in India, Klaus Nielsen tells Ramu Ramanathan the company is re-booting its strategy.
Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology has made all the right noises since the formalisation of the Ryobi and Mitsubishi JV. Vinay Kaushal of Provin Technos highlights the Ryobi order book in India which is eyeing a print market (USD 29.3 billion in 2017).
Ashutosh Agarwal held a job at the Quality Assurance Department of The New York Times at their Edison Printing Facility in New Jersey, USA. Ramu Ramanathan catches up with him 15 years later at Poornima Printers to find out "what's up".
Rajagopalan Balaji the executive director – Technology & Channels, Xerox India speaks to the PrintWeek India team about the Versant 2100 and the future of digital print in iIndia. He says, " Over the years, the diverse roles at Xerox India have helped me understand the various functions that are necessary for success in an organisation with a turnover of approx. $22 billion with 1,42,000 employees. Now I have decided to embark on new journey and handle the sales part of the Indian business
This year we had 26 print categories (20 Quality Awards; and six Performance Awards), 88 shortlisted companies (of the total 122 print firms), which translated into 1,280 print samples.
PrintPack organiser IPAMA has unveiled an enlarged focus for the 2015 show, with a greater emphasis on attracting at least a lakh of visitors and focussing on a printer pavilion plus targetting print buyers.
Mehul Desai says the recent investments are a key to his firm’s continued success and ensure MOS grows from Rs 120-crore to Rs 300-crore in the next five years.
Gautham Pai, group managing director of The Manipal Group has become the youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mumbai Mudrak Sangh. Pai was felicitated by Subhash Desai, minister for industries, Maharashtra, during the Printer’s Day celebration on 3 March 2015 in Mumbai. Two days later, on 5 March, EFI organised its third India advisory council in Bengaluru, themed around Applications of Technology in Digital Printing and Packaging World. At that time, Ramu Ramanathan
Professor Vilas Sarang (1942-2015) is no more.
Gautham Pai, group managing director of The Manipal Group has become the youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mumbai Mudrak Sangh. Pai was felicitated by Subhash Desai, minister for industries, Maharashtra, during the Printer’s Day celebration on 3 March 2015 in Mumbai. Two days later, on 5 March, EFI organised its third India advisory council in Bengaluru, themed around Applications of Technology in Digital Printing and Packaging World. At that time, Ra
Last week, I met Bhargav Mistry and his Sancho Panza - Shripad Bhatt - at their office in Vile Pare East.
Ramu Ramanathan rewinds fifteen years and reflects…
Top companies like Canon, offer vendor finance. As part of the deal, they also lease out the equipment. Puneet Datta, director - professional printing division at Canon, says the Gurgaon-based offers a range of asset finance products – Finance Lease.
Print Miracle was the premier trade show in Kochi and was a combination of Chennai’s Print Expo gooodwill plus Kerala Master Printers Association’s outreach in the state. The exhibitor side of the show was light but once Kerala grows, many more brands will be present next time.
We assume that our existing technology will last forever, but history makes fools of us. The question is not if a technology will change, but when.
During the Mumbai Mudrak Sangh Printer’s Day celebrations in Mumbai, Ramu Ramanathan took the opportunity to have a bit of fun, envisaging print applications in 2050 during the panel discussion - 21st Century Printing.
On the sidelines of the International Conference hosted by All India Printing Ink Manufacturers Association on 28 February, 2015, Ashwani Bharadwaj, managing director at Micro Inks, had a conversation with Ramu Ramanathan, in which he discussed trends and issues in printing ink as well as what's new at Micro Inks
HiTech Universal Printers and Publishers was established in 2008 at Coimbatore, South India by Dr P C Thomas, an eminent educationist and the founder of Good Shepherd educational institutions located at Ooty. His passion for print motivated Dr Thomas to open a 66,000 sq/ft print shop to cater to the print needs. In the past six years, the firm has become a major player in Coimbatore in the commercial and packaging printing.
I’ve very fond memories of mulling over the books in the Fort Area. The spot beneath the VSNL building was an adda. Befittingly, once the building was constructed and the internet revolution was on, the bookwallah from the pavement was evicted. Once upon a time, that place was quite a lively intellectual area. It used to possess diminutive gems. An Aubrey Menon book in which he had inscribed a message for his sister, Kamala Das. Once I came across the first edition of Rajgopalchari and a s
It’s been more than five hundred years, since print has reigned. A collection of fun quotes on behalf of the fans of print and packaging.
This winter whilst driving around Konkan coast, things are picture post-cardish and pretty. Seeking a break, I came across a vachnalaya (community library).
PrintWeek India visits the Parksons Packaging office at the Indiabulls One Centre in the heart of Mumbai. Siddharth Kejriwal, the newly designated managing director, shares his aspirations of achieving 50% growth and his future plans of scaling up and reaching out to customers in terms of efficiency and proximity.
A two billion dollar multinational industrial adhesive manufacturing company with manufacturing facilities in 42 locations, H B Fuller has grown from 1.4 billion dollars in 1999 to 2.1 billion dollars.
One of the joys of travelling outside of Mumbai is when you stumble into a bookshop in which there is a rare book or edition which one can discover and touch and read. In the middle of Indore, I came across a delicious book on mnemonics called i before e (except after c).
As positive sentiment surges, TCPL Packaging is ramping up its plants and systems with a new unit in Guwahati. Profits could rise to 20%—as the company strives to notch up Rs 500-crore in the next year or so.
One of the nice things about being unwell is, you have time to potter about at home. Rummaging through discarded documents and old chits. I came across an old diary with my notes pencilled in.
Yesterday, I was at the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at IIT (Powai). Over the weekend, IDC had hosted the Design and Degree Show (DDS) 2014, the annual design conference. On a table on the first floor at IDC were a few books - a gift by Professor Kirti Trivedi- you could pick and choose what you wanted.
Kuldip Goel’s rags to riches story from screen print to label to decals to POS to carton packaging have made the Noida-based firm a super specialist. Special report by Ramu Ramanathan
The three-decade-old packaging powerhouse, Mumbai-based Essel Propack, has managed to transform itself from a domestic player to a global leader in the lamitubes market. Ashok Goel, the vice-chairman and managing director, Essel Propack, talks to Ramu Ramanathan after Q2 results were announced.
‘I’d like exhibitors to display maximum number of machines’ says Prashant Vats, executive secretary, IPAMA – as his team gets ready to host one of the biggest exhibitions in the world and second largest in Asia, PrintPack 2015. He talks to Ramu Ramanathan at the India Expo Centre
V Balakrishnan, the executive general manager – marketing, marketing division, Konica Minolta India, tells Rahul Kumar and Ramu Ramanathan about how the Japanese tech giant has installed more than 2000 devices in India.
Ernakulam-based Anaswara Offset was one of the biggest winners with total 26 awards, including 12 gold medals at the KMPA Print Awards 2014, which was held in the sidelines of Print Miracle Expo, on 13 December. Ramu Ramanathan met O Venugopal, the man at the helm of Anaswara; as well as the Kerala Master Printers Association (KMPA) which is the august body of printers of Kerala. Venugopal speaks about his association with print, and how he strives for the upliftment of printers in Kerala
Manish Sharma, the head of Printo with 18 stores in Bengaluru and Hyderabad; talks us through his five year old web-to-print process
The 102nd Indian Science Congress was hosted in my backyard in Mumbai. The sessions were mired in controversy: what with claims and counterclaims over ancient India’s scientific prowess. It's tragic. A couple of scientists I met on the weekend were dismayed that the controversy about Vimana and Head Transplants; overshadowed serious scientific presentations.
Redlands has more than 3000 installations worldwide. Ashlyn Antony, CEO, Redlands Machinery explains to Ramu Ramanathan on what a printer should do to keep his business ticking and the future plans in India.
Thomas Piketty’s 600-page Capital was the tour de force of 2014. This serious study of economic inequality depended on the works of Balzac and Jane Austen to dramatise the immobility of a 19th-century world where inequality guaranteed more inequality—a world the 21st century is beginning to resemble once again.PrintWeek India looks at five Indian literary masterpieces which look at feudalism, zamindarism, and how income from labour could never catch up.
Lois Lebegue, managing director of ALMA and VP at Eastman Kodak, tells Ramu Ramanathan that "India is a very successful territory. Be it, last year, as well as this year, we see a very solid growth."
Sandeep Zaveri is one of the young guns in the label industry. Armed with a printing technology degree from the London College of Printing and a BTech in Business and Finance from Birmingham University. He was a part of his father’s unit, until he set up Total Print in Navi Mumbai. Total Print Solutions is a facility for manufacturing pressure sensitive labels and tags.
As IIP’ golden jubilee celebrations continue, hosting the World Packaging Congress in Mumbai was an ambitious job. It must be said that the job was well done, when 1200 packaging minds gathered at Powai’s Hotel Renaissance on 9-10 October. A special report from the action-packed two days by Ramu Ramanathan, Priya Raju and Tanvi Parekh
On the Judgement Day on 25 August at the Grand Hyat, PrintWeek India chaired a roundtable with a few members of the jury to discuss some of the major issues relating to print and if print is often a second-tier concern among print buyers and providers. The discussants were: Rajnish Shirsat, R&S Enterprise, Hemant Randive of FCB Ulka Advertising, KV Sridhar aka Pops of Sapient Media, Sanjay Tripathy of HDFC Bank and Paulose Parakkadan from R-Pac India
One. I attended the Wan-Ifra show in the first week of September. Picked up a report. It said, print circulation has increased 6.4 percent globally in 2014 and shows a five-year growth of 16.5 percent. The report states India provides a boost to the circulation figures. The newspaper business in India is still the healthiest print newspaper industry in the world.
Rajnish Shirsat, CEO of R&S Enterprises, shares his book print learnings. How his three year old company has evolved and why he is impressed with traction in book print.
There was a lot of talk about apps and gizmos and gadgets during a panel discussion: "Future Content: The Re-imagination of Content". This was the final session at Publishing Next, a two-day conference on “the future of publishing” in Goa.
Fun for the print industry ... From PrintWeek India ...
Arun Rawat and his son, Devang Rawat held an interesting STB session (13 January) at the BMPA Secretariat during which they focused on long-term goals of three-to-five years that could galvanise a SME or MSME print firm.
In a freewheeling discussion, R Jayaraman and Ravi Karthik of Multivista Global, Chennai’s book printing major, share their insights into the survival and impressive growth of their company in the volatile Chennai market with Ramu Ramanathan
Lokavangmaya Gruha with its global, multilingual book collection and book production is a rare oasis in Mumbai. It combines the bohemian spirit of second-hand bookstores. Plus it demonstrates the clout of Marathi literature and its dazzling array of thinkers. PrintWeek India spends a Saturday at the printing press on the ground floor of Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan and the bookstore on the second floor. It is a flashback to 1476, the year William Caxton established England’s first printi
How it changes everything you know about printing Burda Druck is into one of its busiest periods of production. The gravure production line is backed by a Kolbus Publica KM412B binder which can produce two-up up textbooks, along with a slitting unit and two three knife trimmers. This binding system has a speed of 12,000 copies per hour – and can produce double the speed in two-up production mode. Burda produces an average of 2,00,000 books per day in a single-up on this binder. Located i
Nice Prints has gained its productivity as a result of recent investments in a new factory – all thanks to a Heidelberg CD 102 press and a raft of Bobst kit. This has enabled Nice to up its ante in packaging. Likewise Usha is undertaking a production “metamorphosis” that involves its investment in a Heidelberg Anicolor press and digital machines. PrintWeek India provides an insider perspective about how both companies are harnessing the power of print., Business
Since the acquisition and integration of Micro Inks (now Hubergroup India) in 2006 into the Hubergroup family, the Vapi plant has remained a major production centre for the Gecko series, UV cured inks and the MGA series. The Micro Inks-Huber Group launched the Gecko line of flexible packaging inks in India a year ago in March 2015. The production of the Gecko series of inks is handled at the expanded facility in its Vapi plant., Business