Arihant notches up one crore books on its first Bindline

The Arihant journey began with a set of books for IIT JEE in 1997. In mid-July 2020, Meerut-based Arihant Publication India ordered the Impel-Welbound’s 16-station Signa gathering system, with offline stacking facility, in-feed into the perfect binder Freedom 4K, which is delivered on to a conveyor that could be linked to an inline trimmer.

The company already had two six-clamp binders supplied by Impel-Welbound Group, in addition to Muller Martini and Kolbus binding lines. Within six months, Arihant ordered the second Bindline, and that too has already crossed the halfway mark of fifty lakh books. Now there is the third one, commissioned in January 2022. Jain said, “As we discuss this, we have added a sophisticated Bindline2K Version 1.0 from Impel that has inline connectivity, quick changeover – and is highly suitable for specialised jobs.”  

The Bindlines have been busy at Arihant. Jain said that the General Studies project for IAS Mains was one of the most important projects that the Arihant team handled in 2021. He looked back at the two years, “We have addressed challenges on a day-to-day basis, without worrying what happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow. And then took some bold, long term steps that helped us turnaround the business in quick time, once the pandemic was behind us. To give an example, we replaced two European pre-owned binding lines with Impel-Welbound Bindlines during the peak of the Covid waves – this helped us eliminate the risk related to machine downtime. It also reduced our recurring costs related to spare parts, space and energy.”

The partnership with the Impel services team goes back to the year we started business in 1997, when Arihant procured a single clamp binder. Jain says, “Over the years it has grown into a confidence that we are willing to test any of their new
machines. The commitment in service is exemplary. I can proudly say that we have played a role in identifying their latest inline bindery as one of the best machines globally available, locally made and real value for money.” Jain said, “We invited the
Impel-Welbound team to our factory in order to have a simple celebration at the plant. It is not often that any publisher-printer in the world completes one crore books in a single bookbinding line, in such a short period. It is a record of all sorts. And it is a proud moment for me as an Indian publisher-printer that a home-grown company has developed such a wonderful solution.”

Looking ahead, Jain said, “2022 should be a very good year for educational publishers. I think the trade publishing did well, even during the pandemic. Having said that, similar to any other businesses, we must be agile enough to notice the trends and requirements and react quickly. Having an enormous amount of content, dedicated authors and editors and a facility to turn them into books in quick time – would be the mantra for success.”

Jain added, “Schools had gone online during the lockdowns, and initially they were in two minds about the requirements of books. But soon the demand from students for physical books surpassed expectations. The on/off line education model may or may not stay – but books are here to stay.” His one aspiration: “To have the book made the same day when the manuscript from the author arrives.”

“It is a very interesting space to be in books now. As a publisher with a solid reach into the market, we are very close to the end consumers. Educational books are here to stay. I go to sleep every night thinking how to produce them faster, cheaper and better.”