Shashank Nerala: Printed electronics is a promising segment

First-time jitters 
We are very excited to be an underdog finalist in both the categories we applied for. It is wonderful to share space with other contenders who have either won or were nominated at least once in the earlier editions.

Hidden talent
As we are a joint family business, we all abide by the decisions taken by our grandfather R Govarthanan, who is the founder of the family business. 

Scale of innovation
We have to be more innovative and constantly adapt to upgrading technologies. We set the trend by doing a small market research about end-consumers’ interest in every two months, in an attempt to be on the map and stay ahead of the competition. 

Best compliment from customer 
“This product is exactly how I visualised it to be.”

Industry vs customer 
We have seen many retail printers who don’t have the consumer’s interests in their hearts. They assume power on the basis of the technology they have and they think the customers will have to return to them at whatever cost they quote.

This is generally observed in places where there is a retail chain of stores and the upper management sits elsewhere and the stores are entirely managed by executives and technicians. This situation would be better if the upper management focuses equally on the operations side of it as they focus on the sales aspects. 

As for trends, I feel printed electronics is a promising segment. 

Sustainability  
One of our entries for the Awards is a perfect example for an end-to-end green product. Meanwhile, we follow practices such as proper waste disposal and energy conservation.

Advice to printers 
Constantly keep adapting and always count value over cost. Do not try to standardise only because it sounds good. Customer satisfaction is the key.

Define a modern press 
A modern press should be able to collect as much data as possible through integration of AI and automation and produce best possible results 

Industry innovations in 2030
Printing solar cells, and RFIDs at a local print shop using printed electronics.