31 vignettes from CDC Printers
Eastern India is set to grow. And print firms in Kolkata are in expansion mode, and have a large role to play. One of them is CDC Printers which has emerged as one of India's most accomplished and upcoming firms.
When PrintWeek India visited the multi-locational specialist it was impressed by the nuanced work. This work is backed by a young team which has a startlingly clear-eyed and multifaceted vision of the future of print in a part of the country that remains mired in the old world
24 Mar 2015 | By Samir Lukka
"If you know how to make good profiles and device links you can accomplish significant ink savings with your own custom GCR levels," says Manu Choudhary, who holds a masters degree in print media
The Orient Super kit is a workhorse at the CDC's book printing floor. CDC has four such machines at its new book plant in the outskirts of Kolkata
The four Orient machines run 24 hours. CDC has been producing books on the Orient for the past two years
CDC very recently finalised a deal for Manugraph's Cityline Express, which will be installed next month at its unit
"But when it comes to absolute registration across the sheet, the Orient kit falls short," says Manu, on why he chose the Manugraph press
QI Control system on the Orient guarantee high quality optical measure and control
CDC ventured into a new book printing project with the purchase of Wohlenberg's Lucro 5000
The special vacuum technology used by Wohlenberg ensures difficult signatures being gathered, efficiently
The deal for the 15-clamp perfect binding was finalised during Drupa 2012
In production: The Wohlenberg Sprinter with the 12-station gatherer
CDC prints about 3.5-lakh sheets a day, consumes over 10,000 plates and 120 tonnes of paper per month
The machine has a smaller footprint and is very energy efficient
With the new Manugraph scheduled to arrive soon, Manu says, "Our new buy had to be an improvement over Orient Super. With Manugraph, it also met our requirement of 546 cut off. Plus Manugraph's 35,000cph speed will translate to improved production
Manu Choudhary in conversation with Ramu Ramanathan of PrintWeek
2014 has been significant for CDC with its expansion and diversification into book printing. CDC crossed its target of one lakh books per day ...
A Kodak Quantum platesetter which CDC invested in 2014 as part of its expansion plan
A rigorous maintenance schedule is followed, daily
Daily SOPs at CDC
A XC 116 cutting machine from Proteck. According to Choudhary, the machine has been performing very well with bare minimum downtime. It has also got in a jogger from Proteck to support the cutting machine
CDC in Kolkata is proposing to do in the future: take their existing MIS to the next level of customer servicing.
Mitsubishi Diamond 1000, a 20x28 inch four-colour press with coater
You can also witness a Heidelberg PM74 four colour press which is still being used for production
The Heidelberg SM102, 28x40 inch four-colour press
CDC has been working on how the grey in any image from an RGB source is a mix of all four colours (CMYK) with black values being the least
One of those things that CDC has worked on is on how to print black and white photographs in a completely neutral hue.
CDC has put into service a semi-automatic spectrophotometer, Easytrax from X-Rite in a bid to bring about standardisation across the press
A single side lamination machine
This collage shows the range of magazines and books, stocked in the CDC library for visitors
Some quality calendars. Also they print a a good number of annual reports. Fashion catalogues and coffee table books falls under their portfolio
CDC grabbed the PrintWeek India Reports and Accounts Printer of the Year Award in 2012. It also won at the inaugural edition of the Printweek India Awards in 2009
One of Choudhary's mantras which the CDC team follows is, "Don't add ink to make a job attractive; that's what most Indian printers do. It's a fallacy"
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