Thought leaders set the tone for MMS RT conference at Alibaug

Himanshu Pandey, the director of Avantika Printers who has a one-on-one connection with his customers said, "As per my client’s requirements, searching for new machines and technologies which can co-work in my existing infrastructure." Pandey mentioned how the iEcho machine for sampling and low production is a good value-addition in this regard. Pandey added, "Techniques and solutions provided to customers through software solution providers is the key in this day and age." He added, "Working with the clients to modify files to suit the perfect print output." Pandey pointed out, how getting files from a client in the PDFx-1a or PDFX-3 format remains a challenge, and working with them to make them understand how these files affect the output. Pandey also felt that "Self upgradation will be helpful. Especially upgrading the hardware and software by maintaining a simple form would be a great idea."
 
Pandey's feedback for the digital machine manufacturers  was "Educate the customers on what (and why) they have bought these machines for. Manufacturers should share the hidden options that are bundled inside the kit and how to utilise them to increase productivity or enhance their output. For example, these days, machines have an inline spectro which manufacturers are using to normalise their output but they can also be used to increase colour reliability if used by an operator for end-to-end jobs."

Amit Kanodia, the CEO of Pioneer Digital said, today's clients are very specific about what they need. This includes: quality standards, tight timelines and gerat response. Therefore the print team needs super communication skills to react to the order. Kanodia said, "My team and I try to understand the pulse of the client, and treat every job as our first job."
 
Kanodia's feedback for the digital machine manufacturers who are present at the MMS RT in Alibaug, "I would like to see machine manufacturers focus much-more on software, ease of machine use in terms of making the kit operator friendly. Also the ability to trouble-shoot from any corner of the world, plus spares availability and tech-support during the life span of the machine."

Amit Shah, the managing director of Spectrum Scan said, It is most important to map the expectations of customers. After all, the customers grab the attention of consumers and create a WOW factor. Shah's tip for digital print manufacturers, "To sell evolved technologies which will last a minimum two to three years."

Meanwhile Anil Namugade, the founder and CEO of Trigon Digipack said, the trend he is picking up from his customers is, "How to continue doing profitable business and add value to the customer product packaging. Namugade's feedback to the digital machine manufacturers, "Make a cost-effective digital kit which is affordable by having different specs in speed, number of colours and types of substrates."

Manoj Mehta, the chairman of UT Pack Industries said, "These days one must adhere to the 3Cs. These are customers, since the customer is our biggest teacher. Understand where he is coming from and what he expects. The second C is change, since change is the only constant. What was good yesterday may be obsolete today. Change with the times. And finally, communication is the key. How, where and what you communicate varies from job to job. So choose your media, method and design accordingly.

Mehta's feedback for the digital machine manufacturers is, "We never expected Covid-19. More so we never expected the transformations it ushered into our lifestyles. That is, work from home plus online shopping and virtual webinars. All this was most unexpected." He said, "I believe we can never future-proof our businesses. We can only nurture ourselves for the future.

Shailesh Sharma, the CEO at Inndus said, "The market is very volatile at the moment, even for the customer; and one must keep a close watch. Sharma added, "The customers annual forecast (plans) will be affected and one must be vigilant about that." He assured PrintWeek's readers that "There is still a market for quality products." Like Mehta he had no feedback for the digital machine manufacturers. He said "The responsibility of future proofing my business lies almost entirely on Team Inndus."

And finally, Sudhish Rao, the VP R&D at Manipal Technologies Limited spoke about the customer-connect during the past two years, He said, "Transparency and open communication are important. Especially when you address a client from a place of honesty and integrity, they are much more open to working collaboratively to solve any issue that may arise." Rao also added "flexibility and creativity – be open to each unique nuance and need of your clients.  Work creatively to offer solutions to their businesses." And he concluded, "One must be relevant and consultative – be the person who is always  following up on the latest trends in the industry.  Help your client be competitive and always bring new ideas and solutions to the table."
                                                                     
Sudish Rao's feedback to the digital machine manufacturers was "Upfront expenditure reduction with minimised OPEX for digital print would help in improving the break-even volume."