Destination Byculla: Jak, Indigo and Mazda

Print engineers getting thrilled with just a look at the amazingly innovative samples at all the three print shops. The journey of a paper on the shopfloor, towards the making of a book amused these tomorrow's print technologists

Khushru Patel and Aspi Forbes-partners at Jak, gave the students good piece of advice. Sharing the Jak mantra of success, Patel, conferred 'Maharaja' by Iqbal Kherodawala in his book 50 Influences said, "With good quality, timely delivery and fair pricing, one can never go wrong."

The 30-year old print firm is spread across one-acre with lots of greenery in every corner of the compound. Students also got to learn about the green practises of printing at Jak. The company recycles the waste and paper and conserves electricity and water

On an average, Jak processes 300 thermal plates in a day on its Heidelberg Suprasetter

Jak believes in the German technology and has deployed four Heidelberg machines in its press

The post-press unit has a host of machines to cater to its customers. Among the machines, the Kolbus performs the round back operation which is one of its special features. It can also produce square backs

Vincent Francis, the powerhouse performer at Jak, manages everything since the day of its inception. With much enthusiasm, he took us for the mini tour. Seen here are the award entry samples which are very carefully stored in the sample room

The walls of Jak's office are adorned with wishes and messages from its happy customers. Now that is a rarity!

Jak believes in printing quality rather than quantity. The firm caters to the niche market and supplies intricate designs as seen in the picture

Jak has kept the print history alive. An old letterpress is placed with other antique collector's item; a stone lithography press. Also, a Gutenberg-age painting adorns the print house

Deepak Wadekar, managing director at Indigo Press is a visionist. "In tough times, if one wants to survive, one needs to strategise, plan, upgrade and get better than the competition," said Wadekar addressing the students

Santosh Hirve, client servicing manager at Indigo press, explained to the students, the nitty gritty of pre-press work involved for printing of magazines, which they majorly cater to

The CTP unit of Byculla-based Indigo Press is equipped with Cron CTP system, with an exposure unit from Gecko. An average of 22 plates per hour can be imaged on this system

The KBA Planeta four-colour sheetfed offset machine can print an average of 10,000 sheets per hour

GMG's colour management software was installed at the press a year ago. Students were explained about the software which was predominantly used for ink optimisation

The shopfloor is also equipped with a Komori Lithrone four-colour press. Both the KBA and the Komori press runs in two shifts of twelve hours

The post-press unit of Indigo consists of a Diploma folding machine, a six-clamp binding machine from Welbound and a host of other machines to serve their customers effectively

3D glasses are in the making for one of Indigo's client. The post-press section of Indigo comprises of Diploma folding machine, and Welbound's six-clamp machines among others

The company produces at least 20 titles of magazines and comic books. Students loved the portfolio and spent a lot of time at the shopfloor learning different technologies in post-press, which, according to Indigo, is the most important feature, distinguishing printers from each other

Mazda Imaging’s managing director, Phiroze Havaldar has played host to a couple of PrintWeek India Yatras. Mazda has installed a B2-size (20x29-inch) Indigo 10000 and gained the bigger size advantage over its counterparts

The front desk of the Mazda office carries a sign: If you have an idea, make it bigger with a Mega-Book with the Indigo 10000 B2 print

The students traveled through Mazda's journey, which began with Indigo 3050, which produced photo prints with silver halide technology for amateur as well as high-end professional photographers. With this machine Mazda introduced the concept of photo book in India in 2006

Mazda's print man, Noor Ansari, walked the students through the built and operation of the 10000. The 10000 can print 4000 sheets in an hour and can print 30-40,000 prints per day

During the visit to Mazda's Mahalaxmi unit, the student got to learn about digital printing and see the HP workhorse, Indigo 10000, at work. The 10000 is one of its kind in India. Some of the applications plus personalised print samples were on display

Quite amazed with the vast array of applications of Indigo 10000, the students were shown all that this wonder machine can do: pocket folders, six-page brochures, posters, large covers, landscape books and oversize lay-flat photobooks