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Don’t grumble about exports, update yourself

PrintWeek India — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 15:35:00

Many packaging converters believe exports growth is getting stronger and will percolate down?
Yes, the growth in packaging is getting stronger with the passage of time. I feel this growth will trickle down. Having said that, I feel, it will benefit those units, who are ready and fully prepared to avail the benefits.

Are you seeing this bullishness transpire based on your interaction with more than a hundred print associations at AIFMP?
Yes, I am. But as I have mentioned not all the companies will benefit. I feel the unit should have updated knowledge about global trade practices plus there should be a business system in place; and on the ground, there must be a strong team at work, who are techno-savvy.

The industry is talking about a black swan moment due to the events in China. Your view?
Surely, India has an advantage. A trade war between China and USA can offer an opportunity for our country. But this opportunity is not for all products. For example, engineering products will get maximum benefits but not food items.

But the Indian corrugation converters are in distress.
Paper trade will benefit but corrugators are under pressure. We need to examine the change in duty effects on the products of the corrugated industry. Someone should study the duty structure before and after the changes. Once the issue is studied, then we have to be competitive to accrue the benefits.

What's holding up exports even now? Export taxes and fees?
No. Actually, there are no taxes on export. There are no fees on export. The simple fact is: India is not competitive as compared to many countries. More than export fees, infrastructure and logistics are the two main factors which are holding our export. A mid-size Indian exporter is equally capable as any other exporter of the world.

You say no fees, but why is there a plea to the finance minister under GST reforms to put exports under "zero rate". One should not tax exports, says Vijay Kelkar, chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. Such a policy exists the world over and is WTO compatible. Hence the question.
I am talking about zero-rated supplies in GST. In any economy, the government tries to boost exports as much as possible. This helps the government in maintaining the country's economic growth, employment and balance of payments. To boost exports, the government provides certain reliefs and benefits to business houses. As exports are zero-rated supply, the supplier will eligible to claim an input tax credit in respect of goods or services used for the supplies even though they might be non- taxable or even exempt supplies. But it is subject to some riders and conditions which are bundled with formalities

Are there any benefits for re-exports?
Re-export of imported goods are allowed under Foreign Trade Policy 15-20 under Chapter 2 of HBP. The import duty can be refunded under section 74 of the Custom Act, 1962.

What are the export technical measures which should benefit our industry?
As per my information, there are no technical measures taken by the Government, for our industry, specifically. But it’s a fair point. Something we should look into.

Any incentives for Indian goods?
There are export incentives on goods of Indian origin; and not on goods, which are merely routed through India. Re-export of goods to Nepal and Iran are governed by different rules, which have certain additional conditions.

Are there any quantitative restrictions like export license, quota and others?
There is no restriction on export of products covered under Chapter 48-49. Also, there are no quotas / export licences and any such restrictions. As far as I know, exports are encouraged by the government.

Can you share the names of state trading enterprises for exporting, or other selected export channels, which every Indian packaging exporter should be aware of?
Certain state trading agencies are nominated by the government, who are allowed to export or import, specific products. These are: MMTC, STC, FCI, IOL, NAFED etc. As industry experts know, the government is trying to reduce the role of these State Trading Enterprises (STE). Earlier they were known as channelling agencies.

If you have an export query, please share the question with us. We will request Manoj Mehta to respond to your question. Contact ramu@haymarketsac.com

How Dainik Bhaskar bucked circulation trends in Bihar

PrintWeek India — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 14:20:00

While briefing the trade media, Girish Agarwaal, promoter-director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, was pleased. He said, “Expanding the reach of Dainik Bhaskar to all 38 districts of Bihar has been a fulfilling process.” The DB Group has invested Rs 200-crore in print centres, editorial esources and in the launch process in the state. Agarwaal stated that a sample size of 2,085 people, carried out by the Hansa Research to gauge readership position and strengths have reiterated Dainik Bhaskar’s strong position in Bihar. He added, “This is the success of our expansion strategy and the appeal of our product.”

Hansa Research Group undertook a commissioned readership research in Bihar to gauge the readership of Hindi newspapers. The data mapping was on the basis of readership profile, product consumptions, readers’ engagement and brand satisfaction. As per the Hansa readership report, Dainik Bhaskar is at number two position with an average issue readership (AIR) of 9.11 lakhs, while the legacy player leads with AIR of 9.98 lakhs. In Patna edition, Dainik Bhaskar is at number one position with AIR of 5.07- lakh readers.

Readership Engagement

What is the module for the recent research conducted by Hansa Research, a readership survey report for Bihar…
Girish Agarwaal (GA): The research was conducted across 13 towns in Bihar, with a sample size of 2,085 respondents, varying across age group of 12+ years, gender, all NCCS categories. The research was restricted to the urban towns with one lakh plus population.

What does the research tell you in terms of the readership?

GA: This research was of great use for us to know if our efforts have really worked or not. It helps understand as to who are reading Dainik Bhaskar, what kind of profile we have among our readers. I was happy to know that 47% of our readers are women. It tells us that all the efforts of our editorial department to make it a family newspaper have shown results. It has somewhat managed to cut across the various perceptions and assumptions that people have. If you ask anyone from Mumbai about a lady in the town of Bihar, they would think of a woman in kitchen working on chulha and chauka but that is incorrect.

What are the other highlights of this research?

GA: This report has given us a clear indication as to where we stand. Currently, we are at the second spot in Bihar with a gap of 10% with Hindustan which has been leader since many years. We now know that we have to focus ourselves on bridging this gap. In NCCS AB, if you see, our proportion is higher than the other papers. (NCCS AB proportion for Dainik Bhaskar is at 72%; while for Hindustan and Dainik Jagran it is 68% for each). Also when you look at the slide of time spent, that’s an average of 28.4 minutes by our readers.

Was it a conscious decision to not include towns with less than one lakh population in this survey?
GA: We could have included such centres as well but it is very exhaustive and time-consuming exercise. It will take around six to nine months to conduct that survey as well. So that’s why we decided to go to a town with more than one lakh population, as it represents more than 70% of our niche audience. It’s the same for any other newspaper.

Since Indian Readership Survey (IRS) is supposed to be a quarterly thing, is this an exercise you are going to conduct again?
GA: I would wait for IRS now because we are in the month of August and IRS should be published by January or March 2019.

While the new IRS 2017 came in January 2018 why was there a need to commission a separate research? Is there any other research that you are commissioning?
GA: No. IRS will take at least nine months to come up with the new report. We completed the launch of the Bihar edition in January this year, so we thought we must ask a research agency to validate the numbers.

Has Bihar grown to become an important market for you?

GA: We have invested close to Rs 200-crore in Bihar. So, yes, it is an important market for us. If you look at it from the publisher’s point of view, this market is bigger than Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or Gujarat, all these states have population of around six crore. The population of Bihar is 11 crore. So from the perspective of reach and consumption, Bihar is a huge market.

But adex for Bihar is not as high…
GA: Adex is still low because the potential of Bihar from advertising and purchasing perspective is lesser as compared to other markets. But the market has to change. In terms of spending in advertising, Bihar and Jharkhand is a Rs 500-crore market with a population of 13-crore. To put this into perspective, Rajasthan is a Rs 800-crore market with a population of around six crore. So, Bihar should at least be Rs 1,000-crore market.

Jaipur Plant

Marketers and the agencies look at IRS to get the data. Will the publication be able to convince the agencies and advertisers about this research?
GA: Any research is indicative. When an advertiser is approached, he is going to cross-check with the market through his dealers, branch offices and regional managers. He will get this validated.

With an investment of Rs 200-crore, what kind of footprint do you have? What kind of outreach and how many centres?
GA: We have a presence in all the 38 districts in Bihar and have four printing centres in Bihar with nine printing presses located at these four locations. This way we have not missed out on a single geographical space, big or small, in Bihar.

What about Jharkhand? Is that an important market for you?
GA: Yes, that too is an important market for us. We are present in Jharkhand since 2010, and have almost two lakh copies in Jharkhand and three print centres at Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad.

What are the lessons that you are picking up from the states like these — Jharkhand, Bihar, Saurashtra, and Eastern Maharashtra….
GA:These are traditionally under-represented markets and in terms of readership one important lesson that emerges is that these markets were earlier ignored by almost everybody under the pretext of looking only at the bigger markets, but now the reality is that these are the markets that offer growth.

How much of the advertising space comprises local advertising?
GA: Almost 65% is local advertising and 35% is national advertising.

Is it better to have lesser dependence on national advertising?
GA: Of course. The reason is simple. The national advertiser looks across India. But a retailing guy, he is just looking to target readers in Bihar. He releases his advertisement in the morning and by evening; his goods have to be sold. So think of a guy who is selling consumer items like geyser, washing machines. It is not a brand building exercise for him. The advantage is that he is not looking at other media options in markets. He is simply looking at his motive to sell the stuff by evening.

The cost of retail advertising on a print medium when you compare it with a national advertiser…
GA: The cost is same for both, but the national advertiser does get benefit for the large volume and pan-India buy.

What are the growth plans for the number of editions?
GA: We don’t have to increase the number of editions over here, because geographically these printing centres are located at such a place that they will be able to cover the entire region of Bihar much faster. Unlike Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan, where the size of the state is huge, for us it is easier to cover the whole state of Bihar from our four locations.

What about the high printing cost? How does this affect your investment in markets like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat?

GA: For the past five months, the newsprint price has gone up by 25-40%. So it is holding people back from growing. In fact, according to an announcement from another newspaper, it has cut down five lakh copies, which make up for 5% newspaper copies. But we are not doing so. We believe these things would happen once in eight to ten years, but we need to focus on growth and we will continue to do so. Last year, we were at 51 lakh copies, this year we are at 59 lakh copies. So there is 15% growth in a year. And we will continue to expand and increase circulation.

Indore Machine Hall

With the hike in terms of your circulation in Bihar, what are the targets you are looking at?

GA: The report of Hansa Research has boosted our confidence in terms of increasing the circulation. We will make all possible additional efforts to further strengthen our Bihar position.

At what price does your competition sell the paper? Do you have a subscription scheme?

GA: Currently, we are all pricing the newspaper copy at the same cost. When we entered this market, we were at three rupees and the competition lowered the price before our launch. Inadvertently, that turned out to be beneficial for us as everyone started talking about us.

Can you give us an indicator of how much the market has grown?

GA: If five lakh copies have grown in the market, it’s almost 30% of the market. So 30% growth in the market in one year’s time is a pretty big thing. And we have seen in the past, wherever newspapers have worked together to grow the market, the market has responded. Look at Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. When we launched in Haryana in 2000, nobody knew it was a market. The population of the state was two and a half crore at that time. So we launched the newspaper there, and we became the largest paper. Today, Haryana is a big market for us.

In terms of advertising interest, what kind of national advertisers are you looking at in these markets?

GA: From anybody to everybody. Right from Honda Motors, to Skoda, Volkswagen, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj, Samsung, LG, Videocon, Hindustan Unilever, Dabur and every other company that sells its product in Bihar. For every company, irrespective of the category Bihar is at least a 4% market. It means a company like Tata Motors must be selling 4% of its total production in Bihar. This 4% should have been 8 to 10% and that’s what we are going to work with these companies to see how we can tap the potential in this market.

The problem with Bihar is that it is a media dark state. The delivery of television reach in Bihar is the lowest in the country. So the advertisers are not able to reach those people. Even today TV doesn’t have a great reach in Bihar…

GA: What we are saying is that with the growth in print reach, the advertisers need to relook at these markets. Focus on these markets. In fact, it is an opportunity for the advertisers to get 50% growth in the market. When a newspaper can grow by 70% - 80%, then an automobile company or an electronic company can do so too. Print is growing in India and even the latest reports of IRS and Audit Bureau Circulation suggest the same.

Where does Bihar stand in terms of news through digital medium vs the print medium?

GA: Digital has a very small reach in Bihar.

What are the vehicles that you have used to expand the outreach and promotion in Bihar?
GA: The key vehicle is the door-to-door survey. It’s a very expensive proposition. For us, the cost factor is fine as long as we are getting the job done. Spending Rs 10-crore on television campaign doesn’t come close to providing us with the kind of outreach that we have managed in Bihar. It’s worked out pretty well for us.

A curious question. There are pockets like Darbangha where Hindi is traditionally not spoken. The lingua franca is Maithili and it is a fairly sizable Maithili speaking population. Will that be a subsequent spin-off strategy in terms of targeting those languages?

GA: The difference is in the dialect. So people speak in a particular dialect but the language is Hindi. But to take care of that requirement, the local newspapers in that market are doing the editorial changes in that particular dialect. For example, in Hindi, we call the number of people vyakti, log but in Rajasthan it is called jane. So in Bihar, if there is a dialect in a particular market, then we will be addressing that dialect.

What is the outreach in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan?

GA: We are doing it all over again. In Rajasthan, if you look at the Audit Bureau Circulation report, we were at 14 lakh copies three years ago. The last report came out and it said that we were at 15 and a half lakh copies and hopefully the new report would further improve our circulation strength in Rajasthan. So it means we have grown by around two lakh copies in Rajasthan alone in three years. A lot is credited to speaking to our readers and asking them what they like to read. Our complete focus is on our readers. The reader’s habit is changing. It was said that people won’t buy books and everybody would be on Kindle. But suddenly there is a 30% growth in books in the last few years. It only means that what people are saying is that Kindle is alright, but we engage to read a book.

And finally, what does the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) report say about DB Corp?

GA: The RNI report validates our growth model and well-strategised, reader-centric expansion plans that have seen us transform from a local player to one with a national footprint. We are excited about the future and are determined to play a more active role as an enabler of India’s socio-economic transformation.

ICCMA Congress 2018: A fight against detrimental pricing

Ramu Ramanathan — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 15:33:00

Ramu Ramanathan (RR): Sir, has the biz environment improved?... How does one explain the investment and new projects in the corrugation box industry in the past two years...
Kirit Modi (KM): Business environment has definitely improved to some extent as we all have left behind the temporary disruption caused by demonetisation and GST last year. Investment in new projects which has been done over the last two years in the box industry is mainly on the hope that Indian economy will improve substantially post GST implementation as India consumption story starts showing the results.

RR: Since I visited your plant at Peenya, there has been a surge in automatic plants in Bengaluru and Mysore. Why so? And how what is your assessment of the situation?
KM: Fresh investments in the Karnataka region in last two years is definitely some cause of concern as the total installed capacity has gone up substantially in this region. It is sincerely hoped that demand increases in this region to absorb this extra capacity.

RR: What is the ICCMA view on the plastic ban policy by the Maharashtra government?
KM: It will soon spread and ultimately many other states will follow it. It will definitely create positive impact for paper-based packaging industries including corrugated box packaging.

RR: Does our industry need to seriously re-look at shopfloor ops to minimise the waste? What are the potential areas of loss?
KM: There is an urgent need for the industry to remove waste and inefficiencies from the shopfloor. This is one of the important topics which we are covering during the conference.

RR: Expertise in the corrugation industry is under-rated…
KM: Automation or upgradation undertaken by many players in the industry has still not been given its fair and due recognition by the users. Although most of the brand owners have slowly begun to understand the value these investments generate as their supply-chain transit losses are reducing on account of better quality boxes being supplied now.

RR: Skill shortage: Therefore how does one hire a candidate? Is ICCMA contemplating a module for short-term training?
KM: Box industry has traditionally recruited its human resource requirements from within the industry. Of late, however, the leading players are utilising various other platforms bridge the skill-gap. ICCMA is in talks with some of the established training institutes to integrate industry-specific training courses which would provide the skilled manpower that is badly needed by the industry.

RR: Has our industry seen a shift in the manner in which contractual agreements are drawn between vendor and client? What kind of monitoring and evaluation systems are in place now?
KM: The industry has recently seen a shift in the manner in which the brand owners are engaging with the vendors. There is a strong emphasis by almost all brand owners on 100% compliance and audits conducted by them before enlisting any new vendor. Quality and service expectations from the brand owners are getting tighter by the day.

RR: What sort of yields should a corrugator target while creating an operating model? In terms of a profitability tree, are the existing models sustainable?
KM: The real challenge before the industry in protecting its operating earnings is perfect execution of any projects/initiatives. Not only in the stage of implementation but also in day-to-day operations. Investing in new machines or equipment is not that hard, the real challenge is to manage overall costs, wastage reduction and shying away from accepting business at ridiculously low and unsustainable prices. Unhealthy competition in my view is the biggest challenge the box industry is currently facing.

RR: Final question: If you gaze into the crystal ball, where do you see the industry in five years?
KM: Unless all the players in the industry act wisely as far as a fresh addition to the capacities is concerned and on top of that than marketing it at unsustainable pricing; the risks of sickness percolating in the industry cannot be wished away. Otherwise, the industry as well as the entire packaging sector will definitely benefit as India consumption story plays-out fully over next a decade at least.

We need to learn from the past: Madhur Bhatia of Pearson

Subhasis Ganguli — Wed, 09 May 2018 12:05:18

Congratulations on your new responsibilities. It’s a huge role. What are the basic differences between your current role and the previous one?

Thank you. I have been managing the operations for Pearson India. With the new set of responsibilities, my portfolio include customer service, facilities and corporate travel management. I need to make sure that our organisation has the most suitable working environment for its employees and focus on using best business practices to improve efficiency, by reducing operating costs while increasing productivity.

As you are also responsible for stock now, does it affect your print decisions?

No. Our print runs have been increasing year on year. However, decisions regarding print run and demand are subject to mutual agreement and approvals during our monthly meetings.

As the head of operations, you are now responsible for the whole value chain. What are you doing to improve the efficacy of the system?

One of our key areas of focus would be on customer experience — managing end-to-end customer engagement and bringing out business recommendations, design processes and improvements that lead to customer delight. As a company, we collaborate with our customers to ensure that our products and services deliver on their intended outcomes.

You are now a part of a global team. Where do you place Indian printers vis-à-vis printers in other countries?

India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world for printing. In the last few years, we have seen incredible advancement in the quality, service and technology offered by Indian printers. This is definitely going to be the game-changer in the future for the publishing industry.

In your opinion, what do Indian printers lack on their way to becoming a preferred print destination for international publishers? Which are the areas they need to improve?

There is already a lot of business happening with international publishers. However, I believe in the future every single industry, including education, will be revolutionised by digitisation. Therefore, it is important to be open to learning and acquiring newer technologies for the future.

With your new position, how could you help Indian printers go global? What are your expectations for them?

We are closely working with our colleagues in different geographies. At Pearson, our mission is to help learners make progress in their lives by providing them high-quality content and resources. Printers are important partners for us in delivering this.

About Pearson India

Founded in 1844, Pearson has 35,000 employees across 70 countries worldwide. Its expertise includes educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Its mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. Pearson believes that learning opens opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives.

Pearson’s unique insight and world-class expertise comes from its long history of working closely with teachers, learners, researchers, authors, and thought leaders. Its products and services are used by millions of teachers and learners around the world every day.

Pearson is organised around three key stages of learning — K12; higher education and test preparation and vocational and professional education.

Established in India in 1998, Pearson has introduced its wide range of products and services in educational institutes as well as directly to the learners.

What is your take on GST? The general feel is that cost is going up…

We are aligned with other publishers and printers on GST.

What has been your experience post-GST?

We are yet to see and evaluate the overall impact of GST. At present, we are seeking more clarity on the subject.

As head of operations, you are now responsible for stock holding as well as cash flow. So, you need to print the stock just-in-time at the same time keep a control on print quantity to reduce wastage and pulping. What is your plan to mitigate these challenges?

As I mentioned, we need to learn from the past and work towards bringing the culture of offering better services and experiences to our customers. Our inventory planning has been improving over the past years and frequent meetings have helped in taking the right decisions on print demand.

Do you think digital printing could help overcome these challenges?

Both offset and digital are useful printing methods. Each has particular benefits depending on a project’s requirement. For small print runs and quick turnarounds, digital printing is extremely useful.

There is no colour inkjet print engine in India. Do you think there is enough market for the same? Is it the right time to invest in the technology?

It will take some time to generate business for colour inkjet. There is a scope of commercial printing with inkjet printing but that requirement is shrinking.

Do you feel the need for a common forum, where you could meet periodically, share your knowledge and discuss challenges in a less formal environment?

Absolutely, there is a need to have a common platform wherein all stakeholders can come under one roof and discuss ideas, knowledge and share best practices in the industry. I have been attending these in the past and will be delighted to see more of these avenues created.

Will you be ready to attend such a forum organised by a third party? What is your take on this?

As a global company, there are a few guidelines and we will need approvals from the internal stakeholders.

You are one of the market leaders using PUR binding on regular basis. What has been your experience with PUR?

We believe PUR is one of the most durable bookbinding glue available. We have been using it for a while now and have not faced any issues after sale. For us, quality and durability of our products is of utmost importance and PUR helps us achieve that.

Today, no publishing house has a laboratory of its own to test the end-product. With the change in the market and as awareness and expectation of the end-customer is growing, isn’t it important to have a lab to test the quality before the stocks hit the market?

Pearson products help meet learner needs and deliver measurable results that transform lives all over the world. We are focused on providing an engaging, interactive learning experience for better academic achievement. Content is core to our business. Pearson’s long-trusted content is authored by respected educators and practitioners from across the entire higher education spectrum. These are now delivered in blended formats depending on students and course requirements. We have partnered with one of the best printers to ensure that we offer high quality products and services.

Though the onus is on the printer to deliver the right quality, it is important to specify your requirements correctly…

We deliver expert educational courseware for learners, and teaching and learning services to the institutes. Our strength is content and we will continue to work with our print partners to drive high-quality products and services.

About Madhur Bhatia

A BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) from College of Art, New Delhi, Madhur Bhatia joined Pearson in 2003 as a designer. Today, he is responsible for designing of the books, covers, marketing material, book manufacturing, procurement, property and facilities, customer service, travel and events, health and safety, supply chain and logistics.

Prior to Pearson, he was in Dabur India as senior visualiser in its in-house print and media agency. During this time, Bhatia also worked with many advertising agencies in part time or freelance capacities and has designed packaging of many big brands.

Frankfurter Buchmesse offers a chance to promote India as a print destination - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 17:05:00

How would you judge your recent trip to India?
It was my first trip to India after many years and, I have to say, it was a great visit. So much is happening in India right now in terms of domestic consumption of print and video content. There was also a significant international presence at the Frankfurt Book Fair where some 90 Indian companies showcased some innovations in children’s publishing and technology services.

The Indian publishing and printing ecosystem is growing rapidly. I noticed that the questions and topics discussed at our meetings within the publishing industry were very different than they were during my last trip here. I also noticed greater competition within the sector. All in all, it’s exciting to see this dynamic.

For me, it was also good to get some feedback about Frankfurter Buchmesse, to hear what our customers based in India think and what they need from a global forum like Frankfurt Book Fair in order to successfully conduct their business.

Exhibitors and visitors come to Frankfurt to build networks, increase their visibility and learn from the trends highlighted and discussed at conferences like The Markets, at the Business Club and at The Arts+, which is precisely what we aim to facilitate at the book fair. It was extremely valuable for me to be in touch with Indian service providers and printers, to see how active they are and to understand how they do business. I would love to see more of that showcased in Frankfurt.

According to the Indian Book Market Report, the book numbers for 2015 were Rs 32,000-crore. That’s the size of the Indian book market, 94% of which consists of textbooks. In light of this, could you share the key takeaways from your interactions with publishers in Delhi?
Innovative thinking and enthusiasm have always characterised Indian businesses in general, and I can see the influence of a new breed of hybrid and tech-enabled publishing on the country’s publishing sector. India is a dynamic market due to the phenomenal increase in the number of mobile internet users. Again, eCommerce and content consumption are showing double-digit growth.

With 300 million smartphone users and the world’s second-largest data consumption market, India offers the right ecosystem for this market to evolve. The climate encourages a culture of entrepreneurship, as initiatives like ‘Make in India’ demonstrate.

However, while the education market is the dominant sector worldwide, what I’m really enthusiastic about is Indian writing in English, as well as the robust Indian-language publishing sector. We hope to see India represented more strongly in Frankfurt and are happy to provide support to make that happen.

Today, India is the first choice when it comes to outsourcing design and pre-media. Reports say 66% of major publishers outsource their work to India. What was your impression from meeting with pre-media firms in Chennai?
My impression is that the pre-media companies are all very active and that much of their activity is part of an international business strategy, as you mentioned. Eastern Europe seems to be a new market; one of the people I met had just opened an office in Romania. I also heard that these companies would like to have more contact with production companies in Frankfurt, so we will try to help guide them in the right direction.

What can the CEOs of Indian print companies (exhibitors as well as visitors) expect from the book fair in Frankfurt?
The Frankfurter Buchmesse continues to be the key place for international publishers and service providers to come together to buy and sell rights, discuss challenges in their markets and find solutions, and to grow their network of business contacts. We are proud of the number of countries represented at the book fair and of how it continues to help attendees expand their business.

What trends do you see in publishing worldwide?
The emphasis on rights continues to grow, with publishers focusing on expanding to new countries. Our conference The Markets provides inside information about each market to help publishers gain a foothold in markets they might not yet know very well.

Blockchain is starting to take hold in the publishing world. For the past two years, our The Arts + programme has featured discussions about blockchain and how it is being used to authenticate artwork and to provide secure transactions. This past year, publishers have begun to see how blockchain can help improve the tracking of rights information and secure deals.

The Indian publishing industry follows the markets in the US, UK and Europe. But what trends you are seeing in the Philippines and Australia, as well as in ASEAN and North African countries?
We only started taking a closer look at the countries in Southeast Asia a few years ago. In 2015, Indonesia was our first Guest of Honour country from Southeast Asia, opening a door to that region.

You mentioned earlier that textbooks represent the biggest market share in India. That is certainly also true in ASEAN countries, as well as in North Africa. These countries – Vietnam and Thailand in particular – are also huge rights buyers, acquiring rights primarily from English-speaking countries. In some of these countries, translations account for up to 80% of all book production.

At the same time, ASEAN countries are also becoming increasingly active in selling their own content to other countries. Here, once again, Indonesia’s presence as Guest of Honour in Frankfurt was a starting point. The book fair was one of the first major cultural events Indonesian publishers participated in outside Asia and, as a result, they closed an impressive number of rights deals.

Traditionally, there have been very few exchanges between the various countries in Southeast Asia. But this is also changing, with more and more rights being sold and acquired between them. However, piracy and copyright issues continue to be major challenges in Southeast Asia. Like India, Southeast Asia is quite advanced when it comes to technical development – the internet is growing quickly and mobile content consumption is very popular.

Southeast Asia’s young population (about 50% of the region’s population is below the age of 30 years) is tech-savvy. While reading printed books is not their first priority, education is becoming increasingly important. So there are many opportunities; a lot depends on the political framework.

Are there any plans for special India workshops and matchmaking sessions, as was brought up at the roundtable with publishing CEOs in Mumbai?
A successful presence at the book fair in Frankfurt involves a three-part process comprising of preparation, presentation and follow up. We have begun to interact with the Federation of Printers in India and I’m pleased to hear that they would like to highlight India as a print destination. Our office in New Delhi is working closely with them to help develop an agenda for the upcoming Frankfurter Buchmesse. We look forward to a sustained collaboration with India and welcome the country’s active participation in Frankfurt.

Could you please list three key opportunities for Indian printers at the Frankfurter Buchmesse?
Stated very briefly, the book fair offers the chance to promote India as a print destination by launching a campaign, showcasing its publishing capabilities and competence, and exploring international markets to build a network of potential customers around the world.

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018

To be held from 10 to 14 October 2018, Frankfurter Buchmesse is all about books, exciting topics and captivating content for the international publishing and media industry and for book fans from around the world. This year will mark the 70th edition of the fair. It is the most important international trading post for content, the centre of the media world and a major cultural event. This year's Guest of Honour, Georgia, invites visitors to discover its diverse literary and cultural heritage.

The Markets is the pre-fair conference of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, providing publishing professionals with unique, first-hand knowledge of new and emerging areas and regions of business in publishing. It is where top market performers meet and exchange their secrets to success.

The Business Club connects participants to relevant networks, career-changing knowledge and productivity-enhancing services. In the recent years, the Business Club has established itself as the best kept ‘open secret’ to success in Frankfurt. In 2017, 4,500 guests from 53 countries benefited from the professional programme and services offered by the business platform. Over 90% of the attendees felt the Business Club met their expectations.

The internationalisation of the publishing sector continues to accelerate rapidly, a fact reflected in the strongly cosmopolitan networking pursued at the Frankfurter Buchmesse. To enhance this network throughout the year, the Frankfurter Buchmesse organises more than 40 international conferences and events, drawing on the expertise of its strong international team, both in Frankfurt and in the German Book Offices (GBO) and Book Information Centres (BIZ) abroad.

The Arts+ is the platform that brings together representatives of the culture and creative industries and innovative players from the technology sector. It is these individuals who, together, with the help of digital technologies and new business models, are shaping the future. Architects, fashion designers, photographers, curators and publishers – all create and curate unique content that can be exploited even more effectively through the use of new media. The 2018 edition will focus on the main topic of Cultural Heritage.

Bas teen minutes! MTR serving breakfast on the go

Rushikesh Aravkar — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:37:00

In the recent years, MTR Foods has bet big on its breakfast range, specially the three-minute breakfast range, which was launched last year. In India, where the breakfast segment is dominated by the western options like cereals, muesli or oats, MTR’s Indian breakfast range hopes to be a game-changer.

In a conversation with Rushikesh Aravkar, chief marketing officer of MTR Foods, Sunay Bhasin, explains why the three-minute range is relevant to the needs of an Indian millennial consumer who seeks fast, easy-to-prepare but tasty food that can be consumed on-the-go.

What is your role at MTR?

Sunay Bhasin (SB): In the role of chief marketing officer, I oversee marketing, research and development with regards to packaging and MTR’s eTail and retail business.

What is your long-term goal?

SB: We are looking at a very

aggressive growth curve ahead of us. We are currently a Rs 800-crore company and we are looking at doubling our turnover in the next three years. This will mainly be through brand expansion.

From packaged masala powders and instant idli mix, MTR has come a long way. Tell us about MTR’s diverse portfolio.

SB: As a brand, MTR is completely into ethnic Indian food. We are present across meal occasions, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, snacks, accompaniments. We see all these segments as future business growth opportunities. Overall, opportunities in the Indian packaged segment are tremendous. We are not just present in multiple categories but also in multiple geographies in India and internationally as well. All the segments under MTR are core segments which are essential in everyday life of people. What we are trying to offer is a packaged solution that combines great taste and consumer convenience.

How has the consumer behaviour evolved over the years?

SB: The Indian food space is evolving rapidly, and so are the consumers. They seek convenience and at the same time, they will not compromise with the taste and quality of the food. Until now, most companies haven’t been able to deliver the convenience to the consumers while ensuring quality.

How is MTR doing this?

SB: In the breakfast segment, with the instant idli mixes, we were able to bring down the preparation time from one-and-a-half day to 45 minutes. But in today’s day and age, 45 minutes is too long a time. For the urban millennial always on the run, 45 minutes is a big investment. Plus, preparing Indian food is perceived to be cumbersome, resulting in a reduction of Indian cuisines’ share on the household dining table. So, we introduced the three-minute breakfast range to serve the millennials. Now, with this new range, the Indian breakfast is as convenient as the Western breakfast.

How big is this segment?

SB: The three-minute breakfast segment did not exist until last year. So, one cannot arrive at a growth rate. However, this category is scaling up fast. We see the potential of this segment to reach Rs 800-1,000 crore in the next three years.

Launching a product is one thing, but introducing a new market segment is a different ballgame altogether. What were the challenges?

SB: The challenges are manifold, both at the consumer’s end and at the backend. At the backend, the biggest challenge was that it’s a new category. So there’s no know-how in the industry. There were learning and re-learning, and also the investment of time. You also have to think of packaging materials and packaging machines, their properties, desired and achievable shelf life, and vendor development. These are backend challenges.

Consumer-end challenges?

SB: Coping with the diversity of our country is a gargantuan task. We have introduced six types of products. These six have been developed keeping in mind the geography and taste of that region. So we have two kinds of poha, upma, and we have halwa. We also have Indian oats. We will be building more products in future. For consumers, breakfast is that meal of the day which they are least interested in experimenting. When you are establishing a new category, you have to educate the consumers. It’s very easy to sell noodles because the consumer knows when and how he will consume packaged noodles. In our case, the onus of educating the consumer was on us. It’s not just about the concept of the product but also the preparation, so you have to lay emphasis on both.

Here packaging is critical. What kind of R&D went into packaging development?

SB: We have a well-equipped R&D centre. Amit Saurkar leads the

packaging team. When you are creating a category, you need to know the problem of the consumer you are addressing and then translate that into packaging solutions. It depends on the rich understanding of the consumer, insights into the consumer behaviour which then gets translated into a brief. Later, the marketing and package development team works on it. In this case, it was very clear. There are three types of situations. First, breakfast for one. For the single-use solution, we have developed a LUP pack pouch. Second, in urban centres, the consumer prepares his or her breakfast and might eat it on-the-go for the paucity of time. For this, we have developed a cup with a foldable plastic spoon. One just needs to add hot water and can eat when one is on the move. The third is the breakfast for the family or a group of people. Here, we required multi-serve solutions. For this, we have developed a box which is similar to that of a Western cereal box. These three solutions have been developed by understanding how it will enhance the routine of consumers and add convenience. Also, we make sure our products have an impact on the shelves.

What are the timelines for such a project?

SB: This was a concept brought to life in the time frame of just six months. In that sense, the package development and the product development team did a phenomenal job. In September 2016, we studied the breakfast pattern of the consumers and observed some gaps in that. We had a joint session in September, where the idea was discussed for the first time. We launched the product in March. It took six months from ideation to launch. The advantage was that all teams were on the same page and focused, which made it easier for us to launch a product in such a short span of time.

Last year saw MTR investing Rs 40-crore in a new manufacturing plant for its confectionery category and the launch of Orkla’s flagship brand Laban in the Indian confectionery space, which is pegged at Rs 8,200 crore. How did that come about?

SB: It had its own set of challenges. It took us three years to bring Laban to India. Laban is a confectionery brand in Norway with 65% market share. We considered this as an opportunity back in 2014 when our team visited Norway to study concepts that we could bring to India. The major challenge was that the product that they sell in Norway is gelatin-based and hence non-vegetarian. So we had to develop a product that was relevant for India. The other challenge was to figure out the kind of line set-up and capability we needed in-house for this product. The third challenge was of flavours. The flavours they use in Norway are obviously suited for their market. We had to localise the flavours so they would appeal to the Indian audience. Due to all these, it took us three years to launch the product. Today, we have an Indian product with the same characteristics that they have in Norway, but it is vegetarian and completely locally developed.

How do you fulfil your packaging needs?

SB: In 2012, we set up an in-house flexible packaging and converting plant that houses an eight-colour rotogravure printing machine and converting lines. We convert around 100-150 tonnes per month. We also have a lamination machine, three pouching machines, and a slitting machine. We use different packaging formats such as stand-up pouches, centre-seal pouches and three-side seal pouches. More than 90% of our flexible packaging requirement is covered in-house. Having an in-house setup helps us with agility, faster execution and better control.

Your agenda for the next 12 months?

SB: Right now, our focus is on consolidating and building on the platform we have already created. We are following on the strategic plan for 2020.

Packaging power

As a part of the development of the three-minute breakfast range, MTR evaluated various packaging options considering the required barrier properties and shelf life of the product. The packaging material should ideally minimise moisture gain and inhibit fat oxidation that causes foul odour and flavours. Therefore, aluminium-based films as well as metalised film-based laminates were explored along with understanding of cost impact. Plastic cup with roto-lock cap made of polypropylene (PP) was chosen as secondary packaging material. The USP of this format is the convenience that it provides the consumers where they just need to empty the pouch into the PP cup, add hot water, mix, cover and wait for three minutes. The cup is equipped with tamper evident induction seal with a pull tab for easy opening. The foldable spoon gives an added convenience on-the-go.

Along with this format, printed pouches for single serve consumption and bag-in-box format as multi-serve option was evaluated. In totality, the portfolio mix consists of rigid, semi-rigid and flexible packaging formats, along with wider space for product branding.

"We wanted to follow a deeper ethos and a process oriented approach towards design" - Samira Gupta and Dhritiman Deb Pillai

Payal Khandelwal — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:36:57

They met each other while studying at Srishti School of Art Design & Technology, and worked in different companies for a couple of years before setting up their independent studio. Over the last seven years, Studio Eksaat has created work in various categories, and has also worked extensively with the nonprofit sector.

PrintWeek India speaks to Gupta and Deb Pillai about their beginnings, early challenges, recent work, and their relationship with print. Edited excerpts:

How did you both land up in design?

Samira: I didn’t really have any relationship with the design while growing up. I was pursuing mass communications when I did an internship with Ogilvy. I was working as a copy intern, and for any design work, I had to plead with the art guys all the time. After about six weeks, I was so frustrated that I decided to learn how to do art myself. So I went to Srishti School of Art Design & Technology, and this is where I met Dhritiman.

I worked at Green Goose Design Studio for a couple of years after college. And while I was happy working there, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I took a sabbatical during which Dhritiman and I decided to start our own studio. We wanted to follow a deeper ethos and a process-oriented approach towards design. We wanted to tailor-make our print. We also wanted to be environmentally conscious in regards to printing.

Dhritiman: I got into design straight after school. I wasn’t academically oriented, and I always enjoyed drawing. I was also very interested in architecture but eventually decided to study product and interior design at Srishti School of Art Design and technology. It was a great experience. From there, I went on to work for an architectural firm for two years, and it was quite an interesting experience. However, I got bothered by the kind of work that was happening as it was very fast paced. I wanted to take it a bit easy and do things that really interested me. And then eventually, as Samira said, we decided to start this studio.

What were some of the early challenges you faced when you started this independent studio?

Samira: We started very small with low expectations. We were never interested in building an empire. It has always been a small studio run by people who actually do the design work. For about two years, it was just two of us, and about 95% of our work in the first few years came through referrals. And that was good for us as it was much easier to understand what the clients expected of us and what aesthetics they were coming from. We had quite a few hits and misses though, especially in terms of doing paperwork and receiving money, but it was all a part of our learning experience.

Dhritiman: Yes, there were challenges in being a small team of creative people. We had to learn how to do accounting and business development, etc. all on our own. Another challenge was that there was a small pool of designers in India when we started out who were not talking to each other. So there was no sense of community.

Samira: Also, when we started out seven years ago, being taken seriously as a woman was a major issue. I had problems dealing with vendors, production people, and clients. There were many below the belt digs about who wears the pants in the relationship - a lot of male chauvinism basically. I could have succumbed to it and let Dhritiman take the lead but instead, we decided to fight this head on. We took a strong stand and told people that we were equals who worked together as a team. It’s still a huge fight for women to be taken seriously, but we are at it.

Could you tell us a bit about your project for Typsy Crow for which you won a few awards last year?

Samira: We had a really good client for this project who gave us an open brief and creative freedom. Typsy Crow – the name of which came from the client – is a Tapas bar in Safdarjung market in Delhi. That area is mainly dominated by college crowd, and we wanted to create this space as an upmarket, comfortable, and enjoyable space for working professionals with disposable incomes.

For this project, we didn’t want to go through the traditional route of creating directly on the system. So we decided to try the linocut printing process where the crow was hand-drawn and cut out from a sheet, and then we printed over it. We wanted texture and an organic feel, so the type was also created on the linocut itself. We went through almost 2-3 weeks of iterations which involved creating a small printmaking space in our studio. We used the colour black in the interiors quite interestingly and had various kinds of crows all over the place in different types of illustrations. We also supported black with electric blue for the interiors as it is a lovely, young color.

We also want to particularly talk about a graphic novel project in your portfolio - The Harappa Files by Sarnath Banerjee. How was the experience of doing the design and collaborating with another artist?

Samira: This is one of the early projects. I had just launched a book with Westland at that time, and the editor got in touch with me about this. Banerjee had been working on this book, and he liked the work I had done. So we worked together closely for a year on this, and he was an absolute dream to work with. This was a perfect example of how collaboration between two creative people should be. There was mutual respect and admiration.

We were looking at all the work he had done and how to put it into the book layout. He gave me the individual artworks, and the detailing in composition happened side by side. The finished product looked good because we created it slowly over a period of time. And this is something we harp on a lot. We always tell our clients that the more time you give us, the better the output will be. We have to fine-tune the design till it can’t be perfected anymore.

You work with a lot of nonprofit clients. Is that something conscious? Also, does that give you more creative freedom vis-à-vis commercial clients?

Samira: It’s more about our belief that design has to make a difference. And I think where it lacks the most is in the nonprofit sector, mainly because there is such a strain on funding. So we started doing pro bono work in this field to show people how design can be so effective and actually make a difference.

We did Anvesha project as a pro bono exercise. We visited villages in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Orissa, and met these absolutely fantastic grassroots women leaders and entrepreneurs who were doing great work. We saw their work, did profile shoots for them, and eventually developed a case for why they should fund design.

We also do these small projects for the sector like calendars, annual reports, and booklets. We put emphasis on storytelling as we want to change the way people are consuming information.

So for us, the design is not only about fancy work. It’s also about the ground level work by people whose voices need to be heard. That’s really where the country grows from too.

You spoke about being environmentally conscious earlier. How do you take a call on when to print and when not to?

Samira: Of late, we have started pushing our clients to take a more web-friendly approach. We want to be as environmentally conscious as possible. For example, we do not take up work that includes irregular paper sizes as there is a lot of paper wastage in that. We also tell our clients that unless the print work is something that will actually stay with a reader for some time, it’s not really worth printing. Sometimes, we design a web version and print a smaller batch, so the client can be selective about who receives the print version.

As designers, are there any specific challenges you face when it comes to printing?

Samira: Printing in India is massively difficult. There is very little attention to detailing and printers are not interested in small quantities. There has to be a little bit of give and take when it comes to printing. The cost difference amongst different printers is so much. However, printers are not completely to blame though. The clients want great quality at the lowest possible cost, and that’s an issue.

Dhritiman: The printers have this attitude of ‘chal jayega’. They feel that the finer details don’t matter. The attention to detail only happens when the order is large.

Samira: Yes. And it’s not worth designing something great if the end product doesn’t look great. Also, printers need to be more approachable. There is a lot of hierarchy in the big presses. It needs to be streamlined in order to get much better work.

What are some of your main plans for this year?

Samira: We are looking at larger turnkey projects where we get more time to work on things. We are interested in moving towards projects where design thinking and research is directly linked to the final product.

Dhritiman: However, in terms of categories, we are very open to any kind of work. We want to keep doing new stuff and not get typecast in any way.

Replika’s printing journey

PrintWeek India — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 10:13:00

Today, Replika is the synonym of quality. Spread out in an area of 6,46,000 sq/ft in three units located in Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Kundli, Haryana, the ISO 9001:2015, 14001:2015, FSC, SMETA/PRELIMS BSCI and Sedex-certified company prints and delivers close to 26.5 million books every year.

And, Replika has a host of awards to show for its achievements. It is the winner of PrintWeek India Post-Press Company of the Year five years in a row and was awarded the PrintWeek India Book Printer of the Year (Academic and Trade) in 2017. Other awards include Exporter of the Year from Capexil in 2014 and winner of AIFMP awards like Welbound Best Bound Book, Shri Sudhir Gupta Awards for Best Printing on Indigenous Paper, Fine Art, Books-Soft Bound and Hard Bound in 2015, 2016.

Replika ventured into packaging in 2016-2017 under Replika Packaging and has a capacity to produce 70,000 rigid boxes.

The journey

As business grew, two separate entities were created out of the existing printing unit and Replika was born in 1996. It received its first export order from Hodder for 40 titles with split deliveries to UK and India.

From 2003, Replika started attending book fairs. “I met John Strange, group production director, Blackwell Science Oxford, in London Book Fair,” says Bhuvnesh Seth, managing director at Replika Press. “Our real export growth was in 2004-2006. We printed a record 682 titles for Blackwell Science for academic and medical for exports. This translates to three titles a day.”

To add momentum and support to the ongoing success, Seth’s two sons, Sanandan and Vikaran, and his uncle JR Seth joined the business.

In 2007, Blackwell was taken over by Wiley and no order was received in 2007, resulting in 30% loss of export business. In spite of this, the Replika team achieved exports growth by 20%.

Replika’s goodwill into export market resulted in getting good international customers from Australia, Czech Republic, Europe, New Zealand, Russia, UK and US.

In 2008, the company expanded its infrastructure from pre-press to printing and binding with the latest, youngest and best online system of all kinds of binding. It also expanded the working space by investing in land and factory plots next to its existing plant. Total 11 acres of land with covered area of six hundred thousand square feet were added.

Learning from customers

Says Seth: “We have developed long-term business relations for decades with international publishing giants like Penguin Random House, who taught us how to upgrade our printing to international levels.”

Publishing industry at a glance

India is the sixth largest publishing nation in the world. It is around Rs 40,000 crore at present and it is expected to touch Rs 74,000 crore by 2020 at CAGR of 19.3% (The Economic Times, 1 December 2015)

India ranks second among all countries as an English language print book publisher

India has 16,000 publishers that publish books in over 30 languages

Every year, about 77,000 books are published in India, of which 40% are in English

General and literary fiction is the number one genre in the trade books segment while test preparatory books are the most sought-after genre in academic books

The publishing and distribution system is fragmented

Long credit cycles make it difficult to manage cash flows, which increases direct costs

Piracy is widespread

Book printing in India

Seth says India is uniquely positioned to be a back-office support provider for the printing and publishing industry worldwide. “India has availability of low-cost workforce. We also have a large English-speaking population and creative talent. India’s technology and communications costs are falling rapidly, resulting into faster speed delivering quick results,” he argues. Plus, India’s time zone is ideal to serve the East and the West and the country has good connectivity with the entire world.

Challenges

China has been dominating with 80% of the global printing industry because of fast turnaround, pricing, quality, cheap labour and good logistics, says Seth. Also, the government monitors currency fluctuations, protecting risks. Again, the paper is available at competitive prices.

On the other hand, Seth says, in India, shipment can be exported once a week only leading to delay in deliveries. Also, there is a lack in the skilled workforce. “Machines and equipment are IT-friendly, but the persons handling it have little knowledge,” he says, adding, “There is also no liaison between trade and institutes teaching printing. Printing is taught in a traditional way.”

Seth says paper, a major component of book production, constitutes 60% of the total cost. However, paper prices keep fluctuating whereas printers have to enter into minimum two years rate contract with publishers. “Again, specifications of FSC and wood-free paper are expensive. Printers have to absorb such increases as paper mills don’t provide sufficient time to represent.”

To meet the challenge, the printing industry has to find solutions and not fret on declining prices, Seth says, adding, “The inkjet technology is giving us a hard competition in Europe for medical books.”

Seth says printing companies must purchase new equipment and retrain workers to keep up with the technological advancements necessary to meet customer’s expectations.

Another challenge is that the printing industry has been classified under Red Category, meaning, as an industry not favourable to the environment, leading to stiff compliance standards.

Future of book printing

Seth says online sales of books will gain priority due to popularity of eCommerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart, while ebooks, though gaining, should subside in time to come.

“Digital printing will continue to gain importance because of low inventory model and low print runs but will never replace offset printing due to cost, quality and consistency,” says Seth. “Printers are forced to take additional responsibilities of designing, distribution, warehousing and transportation in order to survive tough competition.”

With two government programmes running simultaneously, namely, ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ and ‘Beti Padhao Beti Bachao’, there will be more focus and more opportunities for book printing, Seth adds.

Printing industry at a glance

Printing has been growing rapidly over past few years and is expected to touch Rs 4,31,000 crore in 2021 at CAGR of 14% (Statista.com)

Industry has a workforce of two-million

India has 36 printing institutes, some of these are conducting post-graduate education

Printing is largely fragmented as it requires small investment and low entry barriers and due to this, printing industry works on wafer thin margins

The industry has undergone many revolutionary changes in the last 15 years starting with liberalisation of economy in 1990

Information technology is playing a big role in optimising and scaling volumes

Even though we claim printing industry as the third largest industry in the world, it is positioned only in the 26th place in productivity and turnover because of its inherent inefficiencies

Building a competitive advantage in the globe

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 12:17:07

There is something alluring about a product, especially when you come across one that you constantly need, but is not part of your business. It fascinates you. “It’s a funny story,” says Nishant Shah, the CEO and managing director at Caterpillar Signs, who in 2004 started a car wash business in the US. “It was a business where I constantly needed signages for promotions. I sourced it from local companies.”

If you’re curious, there is always something new to be discovered in the backdrop of your daily life, goes a saying. “I started talking about the products, markets in the signage industry,” says Shah. Then in 2005, Caterpillar Signs was born. The company started producing vinyl banners for companies that needed them. Later it upgraded its portfolio to include window signs, yard signs, for those same customers who demanded vinyl earlier.

Today it produces more than 500 products in the US ranging from vinyl and flex to board and rigid surfaces like glass and metal using a raft of wide-format printing technology like UV, latex, solvent and eco-solvent, dye-sublimation and direct cloth printing and UV flatbed equipment from EFI, HP, Roland, Flora and Monti.

The India foray

Caterpillar Signs expanded, built an online platform Giant Media Online, and started serving the markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific. “We started exploring the idea of producing in India, because whenever I came to India, I used to procure some of our requirements here,” said Shah.

Shah says, there are cost benefits as well as delivery becomes easy if products are produced closer to the market. “We have two large manufacturing units in the US, but our portfolio is such that there are seasonal variations in the product demands,” says Shah. So, five years ago, the company set up a unit in India, CP Graphics, a 20,000 sq/ft site in Ahmedabad equipped with equipment similar to that in the US plant. “The plant served as a backbone when demands were high or when we had a unique situation,” says Shah.

In the five years, Caterpillar has built a good capacity in India. There are two plants, one of which is a five-storey building which has sixteen machines, including three brand new EFI Vutek GS 3250LX Pro, a 10-colour UV LED curing inkjet printer. The other is a 20,000 sq/ft storage and stitching where the new EFI Reggiani textile printer is installed.

Selling in India, maintaining standards

Though Caterpillar Signs produced different signage products in India, it did not intend to sell in India. “We were very conscious of the price competitiveness of the market. We maintain a certain standard and quality. For example, if there’s a scratch in a 10x40-ft signage, we simply reject it,” says Shah. He adds, “Being an Indian, the market is close to my heart. When I went to an awards function, I saw a standee, and something in me told me, that it’s not a product for the occasion. That’s when I decided that we will also sell in India, because there are lots of global as well as local brands who are quality conscious and we could serve them.”

With more high-value brands coming to India, Caterpillar Signs saw an opportunity of catering to companies and brands that are looking for premium products and services. “With years of experience in US, Canada, Australia and UK markets, last year we decided to start executing selective projects in India,” says Shah.

For Caterpillar, quality begins right at the stage when the order from the clients is received. The pre-press department works closely with its customers to understand what the requirements are and understand their campaign or the project. Once this is finalised, getting the desired colours and sampling is done in tandem with the customers, before it goes into production.

Shah says, compared to our international business where we always have focused on providing better quality products, fast turnaround and after excellent sales service, India is little different. “Here we have to inform the customer on quality difference and how with premium quality and service we provide better value. Most of the world has moved to UV printing and soft signage, India is still dominated by solvent printing.”

Shah believes that the monitors on which the products are processed and machines need to be calibrated often, rather than standardising the software. “The aim should be to achieve the colour your client desires. When we print a red, we make sure that it’s the red the client wants.” Shah gives an example. “We printed a maroonish red for a US company named Liberty. We had 12 shades of it printed. I could not find any difference in the shades. But after it was scanned, we got the correct one. That is the kind of quality that we ensure.”

Shah also believes that in production, you can have a machine that produces a Rs 15-lakh job as well as a Rs 3-crore job. “Achieving consistency in work is of importance, which comes with good printing presses. We cannot take up a job knowing that the results achieved will be 99% and not 100%,” says Shah. And for that, the company has a training system in place. “If you look at the grooving in our banners, it’s not manual. We use automated grooving machines. There’s no compromise when it comes to quality assurance and control.”

Price game and customer profile

Caterpillar Signs is registered with clients like Blackberrys Pantaloons, Gitanjali Jewellers, Orra Fine Jewellery, Piramal Healthcare, Unicorn Infosolutions and Jio among the forty brands it engages with. “The kind of work we want to do require a long lead. We are in the process of customer building,” says Shah.

Considering that the Indian market is a price sensitive one, where printers would rather opt to buy an affordable machine, while the brands look for printers with the best machine, but do not want to pay for the quality.

“That’s been a struggling point for us,” says Shah. “One thing we learnt when working on the Jio project is: if you improve the efficiency of the process then you can achieve maximum cost-efficiency. If you are capable of running the machine for 18 hours a day, reducing the downtime and wastages, then it comes ahead of the new technology.”

But the signage business is a crowded place. And any innovation a company does is quickly replicated. As a result, the differentiation appears little. Caterpillar has risen to the challenge – working on aspects of its customer relationship, positioning itself as an honest supplier, which Shah says, has helped the company increase its business. “In case of Jio work, we didn’t want to overcharge them. We explained them all the process involved in the production and the value they will achieve for cost quoted by us. Jio was happy and accepted the cost for the job. I cannot expect the customer to pay me more for the performance of a machine that is not providing my clients with the prints they want.”

Building a brand

The company has done its research. Their findings: A signage printer’s 100% supply is focused on 75% to 80% of the market, which is cost-driven, working mostly with printers which can produce just CMYK running only for production.

“We work on CMYK + light colours. This reduces the press speed, but the colour we achieve is amazing. This is where we differentiate ourselves,” says Shah. “We are building a brand.”

Caterpillar Signs also provides services as a complete package, working with eight to 10 fabrication companies. The company’s quality assessment person manages the fabrication operations to ensure the work is as per the requirement.” One of our USP is our logistic. “If we are supplying worldwide from this location, then it is very evident that we have sophisticated logistics system. We have DHL, Blue Dart and other travel companies who look after the logistics,” explains Shah.

Challenges and way forward

The last twelve months have been excellent, says Shah. “We have seen an 800% growth for the India operations.” The company’s India operation produces 40% of the jobs it produces for the global market, which is approximately 60,000 sq/ft print of the total 1,60,000 sq/ft. The rest is produced in the US.

“We have got very encouraging feedback for work we have done. Currently, we are being selective on projects that we take as we do not want to dilute our quality. We believe that customer values have to match ours as we believe in a long-term relationship with our customers as a solution provider than just a product provider,” says Shah.

One of the biggest challenges for any company, Shah says, is selecting the right project and customer/partners. “We believe in having the right client,” says Shah.

But what about business risk, as the company has just started selling products. A confident Shah, explains, “As business risk is concerned, our Indian business accounts only for 1%. We have 1,00,000 customers all over the world. As far as the market, we have diversified products in the global market. This also boosts our product portfolio. At any given time we have 1,00,000 flags in stock in India owing to the geographical distribution of the products.”

There is enough work to be done but we have to be careful on picking the right work, says Shah. “In India, we see soft signage and UV printing as emerging trends and that is where we would like to focus. We have been doing UV and direct fabric and dye-sublimation printing in the US for over 15 years and we’re ready for the Indian market with best equipment infrastructure in the country.

We will also be focusing on bringing more exhibition displays to the Indian market and more environment-friendly printing products.”

Shah comes from a place where 80% of the businesses are driven by major companies. He is not perturbed with the ways the Indian wide-format market functions. “It’s unorganised, that’s why one can see such quality differences in the products. We see this as an opportunity. If people see better quality, they will ask for better quality, simple.”

Shah concludes, “India is an exciting place to be and we see Caterpillar as one of the key players in high-quality printing and branding market.”

Factfile

Founded 2005

Specialty Signages

Plant location Two manufacturing plants of 20,000 sq/ft each in Ahmedabad

Equipment UV, latex, solvent and eco-solvent, dye-sublimation and direct cloth printing and UV flatbed equipment from HP, Roland, Flora and Monti. Three EFI Vutek GS 3250LX Pro, EFI Reggiani, among others

Total print output 1,60,000 sq/ft

Staff 200

Sachin Virkar discusses about Print in Deutschland - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Noel D'Cunha — Sat, 21 Oct 2017 21:31:00

He was 22 years old in 2001 when Sachin Virkar travelled to Konstanz city in Germany, where he passed by for the German language test, a pre-requisite if one had to apply to a school in Germany.

“Things were a little different,” says Virkar, whose parents, Medha and Shrinivas, head the family-owned Kaleido Graphics in Mumbai. “With my B.Com grades, some work experience, and language test I applied to the school and was lucky to get admission at Hochschule der Medien (HdM) (then known as Fachhochschule Stuttgart).”

It was his brush with Late Abhijit Pandit, a family and business friend, back in 1997, which encouraged Virkar to pursue his studies at the school. “He insisted that I learn the German language and study at HdM, one of the most respected printing schools even then.”

Virkar did what most of the students seeking education in Germany then could not. “The German language was always a big barrier that stopped Indian students from studying there,” says Virkar.

One of the things that we see in schools or colleges in India is that the labs are sacrosanct; students are not allowed to handle the instruments. Virkar, sharing his learning experience at Stuttgart, says, “We had easy access to the labs (printing, pre-press) and could work on the machines – project work or even voluntary working. This got us very close to technology/machines. We had regular excursion and industry interaction – which helped in networking. People from the industry visited the school regularly and conducted lectures – it gave us a closer insight of the practical side that learning just the theory.”

After completing his post-grad degree in Print Media Management (Wirtschaftingenieurwesen Druck), Virkar headed back to India, where he started his company, Simkraft Solutions, which specialises in pre-media services for the international, mainly European market. “Core competencies here is language skills as projects in all EU languages are carried out with communication in foreign languages,” says Virkar.

Virkal also introduced a state-of-the-art production standard at his family’s business, Kaleido Graphics, where he heads the technology.

A new role
The Hochschule der Medien (HdM), a University of applied sciences in Stuttgart, Germany has announced a new bachelor of engineering degree in print media technologies for international students seeking an academic degree in media engineering, media production, corporate management and international business. The thrust, of course, will be print and packaging.

Virkar says, “Print Media Technologies is a wide-ranging programme which explores new technologies, research, creativity, problem-solving and corporate management helping businesses to prosper globally.”

The faculty of engineering is always a good bet, wherever you study. The reason: even the least lucrative engineering courses generate a return on investment in good time. This is what Virkar will promote as he dons the role of being the ambassador of HdM in India. “My role is to advise interested students and give them an idea of studying in Germany, what it entails and what the challenges are.”

Virkar will work with the recruitment and outreach team to lead and support the academic activities, and to help young people make a decision to study at Hochschule der Medien. “Print media technologies is a wide-ranging programme, which explores new technologies, research, creativity, problem-solving and corporate management helping businesses to prosper globally,” explains Virkar.

According to Virkar, HdM has invested Euro 8,000,000 in the new programme. It has installed a new HP Indigo 5-series press and has established a place where students can study the workflow of variable data printing. Together with HP Indigo the school has new post-press equipment for finishing and binding of digital print products. Installation of a new MBO K70 is expected soon. A laser cutter for laser engraving (paper and plastics) has been installed along with tubular bag machine. “This state-of-the-art infrastructure is one of its kind,” says Virkar.

Focus areas
The HdM’s print media technologies course will run over a three and a half years in Stuttgart, Germany. The focus areas in the 40 months will comprise media engineering and technology, 3D printing, strategic problem solving, international management and law, product development, packaging printing, design and layout, cross-media applications just to name a few. “Print Media facilitates information exchange and cultural awareness,” explains Virkar.

He adds, “Students will experience an extraordinary expertise in the faculty, which is rich in experience.” Virkar cites Prof Jansen, the programme director has worked for 13 years in BASF, in the photopolymers (flexographic printing plates) with placement in Asia (Malaysia); Prof Scahschek was responsible for research at KBA before joining HdM; Prof Weichmann brings in work experience from technical service at Manroland; and Prof Güttler headed the digital printing centre at Fraunhofer Institute, a research facility.

The HdM centre also features pre-media facilities involving the latest software and hardware technologies, and this is an area, which, Virkar says, is developing very fast, and India will be no exception to embracing it. “Online stores, AR, etc. are on the ride in India and so would be the need for qualified service providers.”

Besides, the HdM’s apprentice programme aims at securing and strengthening the position of Baden-Wuerttemberg’s media industry over the long term – by encouraging and helping students to settle here and promoting cooperative ventures between the media industry and world-leading businesses. Virkar says, “We also help companies and organisations to recruit the graduates they need.”

Patents galore at Baden- Wuerttemberg
Virkar is enthusiastic about Baden-Wuerttemberg, where HdM is located. “It’s the most innovative and affluent region of the European. With 138 patent applications per 100,000 inhabitants, Baden-Wuerttemberg is far above the German average of 59.”

The other HdM’s claims to fame are, that it is the only University of Applied Sciences fully dedicated to media studies and its numerous partnerships with universities across the world. “One particular programme, the German-Chinese Media Study, is a programme benefiting students from both China and Germany.”

A strong key point about the course, Virkar says, is, the fees are about one-fifth, of any other courses in the USA or UK. “It’s Euro 1,500 and with other costs, the expenses per semester for the course is approximately Euro 2,500,” says Virkar. This significantly reduces the cost burden on the students.

The eligibility criteria for the under-grad course is twelfth grade (12th grade), with proficiency in English.

In conclusion, Virkar says, technology in print is constantly undergoing change, getting better, which demands a stronger connection with print education and print management. “It’s a question of degree, and then some.”

Cost break-up

Biannually Costs Study Fees per semester (6 months)	Costs per semester (EUR)	Total costs per semester (EUR)
Student Services (compulsory for every student)	101.00*
Institutionalised Student Body (compulsory for every student)	15.00*
Administrational Costs (compulsory for every student)	70.00*
Tuition Fees	1,500.00*
Health Insurance (compulsory for every student)	480.00*
German Language Courses (6 hrs/week)	250.00*
*Costs are subject to change		2,416.00

Ravindra Joshi: 100 years of the Pune Press Owners Association - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 23:03:28

Right now you have four roles: head of your print firm, head of a cafe, head + mentor at PPOA and your most recent appointment as VP at AIFMP. Which do you enjoy the most?
I guess I enjoy all the four roles. I am grateful of “print” because of which I have received all the honour of working in various capacities in different associations.

How did your print journey begin?
I remember I started playing with paper and ink since I was in class four. That’s when my parents ran a print business, Shree Cyclostyling.

How old were you, when you joined your father?
Around 10, or maybe 12 years old.

Was print, trade or commercial, in those days?
It was commercial print.

Were the margins good in those days?
The margins were pretty good.

You focused on a very specific product set?
Yes, we focused on office stationery and anything printed on paper.

How did you get interested in the café business?
I started the Hotel Keg & Barrel only because of the solid foundation my father gave me through Shree J Printers. The motto of this printing press was – quality and timely delivery, from the time it was set up.

You joined from a commercial print background. As you mentioned in your speech at PVG you learned a lot from trade shops and binders around your unit. You mentioned how you would visit all sorts of companies and pick up all sorts of tactics, not just about printing, but finding out how they ordered, how much they paid per thousand, how often they ordered them and where they stored them. Then you went back to the office to work out a new value proposition. Have things changed since those days of innocence?
Yes, I was crazy and passionate to print everything that would be printed in Pune. Since we had basic letterpress technology, I used to get the things outsourced from many printing units, binders, screen printers in Pune and Mumbai.

You learnt every trick of the trade at your press?
Yes, each and every process like composing, printing on a treadle machine, binding etc at our press. I used to work in any department as an apprentice for long hours, of course without stipend.

You mastered binding. Tell me about that.
I am proud to say that I am a really good binder who can deliver from collating, pinning, sewing, hand numbering, hard-case binding even leather binding. I was fortunate to deal with many dealers of the raw material with different stores and owners. They supported me and gave very useful information.

You also experimented with the present PPOA-Toyo Ink module?
Yes, it is based on inputs I got in those days – bulk buying at discounted rates from vendors. I implemented this mode of buying our ink stock after I became the secretary of PPOA, as a result I could pass on the discounts to my fellow printers.

How does it impact the cash flow for a printer? How does PPOA make it profitable from a P&L point of view, the cost of the stocking, the cost of the investment, the cost of the handling the material?
When a printer is part of the PPOA-Toyo Ink module, he gets a 27% discount on the purchase. We also do something similar with the binding material. However, in both cases, we have not eliminated the dealers from this process. They help us maintain the stock and logistics part of it. The savings come from here.

Do you plan to extend the bulk buying module?
Your question is bang on, Noel. We have bigger plans and don’t be surprised if we start a printing materials mall in the near future where one can buy anything from the pin to printing equipment.

Some say Ravi Joshi is a better salesperson than a print person. Your view?
That’s a tight-rope question. It’s difficult for me to tell if I am a good salesperson or a good print person. But one thing is clear. I am passionate about print, but I also have to run a print business. When I started off I had no choice but to borrow money from friends and banks. So I had to get business to take care of the business and repayments. I never intended to do selling and production as an individual task, but circumstances proved that it was a good blend.

I see.
To sum up, you need to be a good print person to become a good salesperson.

All is well at PPOA with the new office? It looks chic and spacious.
Yes, I am proud that my team of directors have done a wonderful job of creating a beautiful conference room and office, well before we start the 100-year celebrations of our association. I am sure this conference hall will host many seminars, events related to the print industry plus boost print education.

You have big plans for 2018-19 like a conference, strengthening the library and a badminton competition…
The Poona Press Owners Association was formed in 1919. The Association was also instrumental in laying the foundation stone of the AIFMP and the Maharashtra Mudran Parishad.

What are the plans?
We will be hosting our association’s centenary event in 2019. During the course of 2018, we will hold several events, pay tribute to all our forefathers who were visionary and construct two huge buildings for the association in Pune. The objective of the new initiative will be to start print trade education.

We plan to host international conferences on the latest in print technology; a competition for students and faculty; and an all-India printers badminton tournament; on the 19th of each month starting May 2018, we will hold events related to print in Pune; a history book of the Pune print industry and PPOA; and finally, a museum of printing equipment.

Please explain the sarvajanik form of print management at PPOA? How does it work?
PPOA is also contributing on the social front. We organise health camps, blood donation camps for our workers. We organise various educational seminars for printers. We publish the monthly magazine, Mudran Prakash. We have created an emergency corpus fund and we can help in case of mishaps in a printing press, or in times of natural calamities. During our annual day celebration, we felicitate women who have contributed to this industry. We also felicitate children of our printers and their workers who passed SSC and HSC examinations. We give scholarships for the meritorious student in print education. These are the sarvajanik forms that PPOA takes from time to time.

How can other print associations around India gain from your experience?
PPOA may be completing hundred years but we humbly learn from every association about their brilliant contribution towards this industry. We always believe that learning is an unending process. We are ready to co-operate with any association in India or overseas.

On the production side of things, what is the update from your printing plant?
We are planning to automate our print finishing capabilities, even though it’s a bit expensive.

A lot of printers are talking about mathematically creating a nifty business model whereby you can run a nice lean, mean printing business. What is your view?
Yes, I fully agree with them and it should be like that. The focus should be on saving production cost and being competitive.

The best thing about running your own business is that you deal with everything, finance, HR, marketing, production – everything. And you’re always learning and get a great rounded overview of running a business. Is this good or bad?
Printing is a business where you have to multitask. You must adapt every print process personally and for first three years you must understand the limitation of that particular process and learn to delegate the work as per the expertise of your subordinate. With this, you will become a good printing press owner. At the same time, you must be a good administrator too as well as possess good sales techniques.

What were the key lessons you take from your decades of experience as a print CEO in Pune?
Today you may call me a successful owner of a small print house. I agree to this extent but there are extraordinary successful players too. As a law graduate, I could run the business but honestly, I never understood dot gain, dot loss. At the most, I can say I understood dot. I could pass off in those days, but today printing has become a science and students must learn the art of perfectly blending all the engineering branches.

You are VP at AIFMP now. What is your plan to integrate with the stellar work people like Kamal Chopra and Anand Limaye have performed in the past few months?
Being a vice president for West at AIFMP, I have to walk on the path laid down by my predecessors. I will connect with my printer friends in the West zone and make them understand that they should be proud to be the part of this second largest industry in the world.

The last time, we met, you said print has become commoditised – what can our industry do to avoid that? The recent experience of our industry representatives when they interacted with the government bodies has been most discouraging...
We have to try, try, and try. Things will not change unless we printers make collective efforts to brand ourselves as the world’s largest industry, an industry which touches every human, every day, from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep.

What according to you is the shape of print to come in 2050?
According to me by 2050, there will be the drastic change in the nature of the print houses, means a print house will have to keep all technologies in one basket for his survival.

You head a fine dine cafe near Fergusson College. Do you have any hobbies like collecting stamps, or travelling, fast cars?
My brother, Shekhar Joshi, and I are lucky enough that we could fulfil the dream of our father. He wanted to set up a restaurant. I like to travel. I don’t collect postal stamps but I definitely collect friends, and I am proud to say I have a solid friends’ bank.

The masterclass about book printing for Africa

Ramu Ramanathan — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:16:00

Ramu Ramanathan (RR): To begin at the beginning, how did you choose to enter the printing industry?

Nilesh Dhankani (ND): Professionally I had begun my career as a designer. I used to design and develop advertisements for the websites. This had happened right after my graduation in 2000. Explaining and convincing concepts of different level of creativity to various clients as designer turned my interest into marketing as I was getting more exposure to some of the big corporates during those days. Printing was still more dominant than digital in those days and I eventually got an opportunity to represent marketing for one of the top printing companies in India.

RR: How did you begin Quarterfold Printabilites?

ND: I had gone back to designing. I got a book designed by my friend at his home which I sold and held the copyrights for it in the African market. This number increased to 30 titles within a span of no time. Today, we have around 120 titles in the African market. The first order was for 5,000 copies for a publisher and that would not fill a container. So I inquired if he had any other books to be printed and then these 5,000 copies could be included within the same freight charges. The publisher liked the work and that’s how I moved forward and formed Quarterfold Printabilities in 2014. I do not charge the publishers for the content but the printing is done by me for security reasons since I hold the copyright.

RR: Was there any strategy from your end in terms of approaching the Africa market?

ND: While approaching the publishers it enabled me to talk about books from a designing point of view and the ways in which the aesthetics of the book could be improved with ideas like anti-piracy metallic foiling on the book cover or more colours and four colour illustrations inside the text pages of the books. We started redesigning the books for our African publishers from India and it turned out to be a huge success for us.

RR: Where would the printing happen?

ND: Most of these books were textbooks which were getting printed in black and white. This was because of the local unavailability of four-colour machines. For four-colour printing jobs, the publishers had to print the same job for four times on a single-colour machine. Plus the paper that they would import was at a heavy price of around 30% import duty at that time. Whereas worldwide there is no import duty on textbooks.

RR: Today at Quarterfold Printabilities, do you follow the same strategy?

ND: Yes. Designing and redesigning are powerful marketing tools to help publishers and build a relationship with them. We stringently adhere to it and to an extent where we offer it free of cost, at times. It is a part of our complete package of print offerings. It’s simple mathematics. Designing of a single book can translate into printing an average 10,000 copies of the same book.

RR: Do you have peak seasons for printing in Africa similar to what we have in India?

ND: Absolutely. If you go to East Africa and Southern Africa the peak season for the publishers begins in January and the printing for which happens from September to December. If you go to West Africa the season begins in September and the printing for this takes place from June to August. We have customers from all over Africa so technically we are printing throughout the year.

RR: Typically what is a job cycle time?

ND: Matching the delivery time that the customers expect is a difficult task for a single company to handle. We get a lot of information in advance from our customers due to the mutual trust. This enables me to know the cutoff size of paper and the inventory starts getting ready for the job that is yet to arrive. Then we have eight machines at various print shopfloors that are always dedicated to us for our work. Once we delivered six million (60 lakh) books in a month for one of the ministries of education in Africa. This we achieved by printing in the cities all across India that were closer to the port. We had our team members at these shopfloors for the whole month till the job got delivered. There wasn’t even a single copy that got rejected from the 65 to 70 containers that we delivered. In fact in the past two months we delivered 120 containers. That’s two containers per day.

RR: That is a humungous number…

ND: We have been able to achieve this through our smart business module. All we have is a strong quality control team. Other than that we utilise the printer’s space for printing and get the excise clearance done at the printer’s place so that the containers are immediately ready for dispatch.

RR: Africa is a very tough market. True?

ND: Personally I think it’s a myth that Africa is a hostile market. The cities there are exactly like any of its international counterparts with all its developed parameters.

RR: Were there any barriers in terms of the cultural differences that you encountered?

ND: I am a bit of an adventurous person. I am a foodie and would eat at the local African joints. We used to share and enjoy the local food and discuss recipes and cuisines while enjoying watching the game of soccer, tennis, Formula One racing etc. This may have helped me break down the barriers and led me to be invited to their homes for dinners and family functions. I got to know from them that Indians are usually sceptical when it comes to accepting such an invitation. In fact, they would seek out an Indian restaurant. For me, it was the other way round. I had wholeheartedly accepted it. Even when they would visit us in India I would learn a few of the African recipes and cook food for them at my home. This may have helped me form a bond with them at a deeper level.

RR: You are quite an African expert now…
ND: We had travelled extensively across the whole of Africa and found that it is extremely diverse. In the East Africa region you have Kenya and Nairobi where you will find that the printing is controlled by the majority of Indian origins and the biggest printers in those parts are from India. This is not the case in West Africa where the number of Indians is minuscule. The added advantage for me on these visits was that I was always close to an African rather than to an Indian.

RR: Quarterfold Printabilities has been printing educational books and textbooks for the African market. What are the things that you do not compromise in printing?

ND: I have always been known for my integrity in the African market. There are many unorganised Indian printers who over-promise and under-deliver. Some of them resort to shortcuts to get the work done. I make it clear right from the beginning that no work will match their expectations at 100% and that there is not a single printer who will be able to do it. This transparency helps them to trust me at a personal level and which later gets extended to our business prospects.

RR: How do you maintain this transparency?

ND: Ok. Let’s say that the deal is about using 70gsm paper. Then I will ensure that my printer is going to use 70gsm paper and not even 68gsm. Printers tend to compromise on these aspects.

RR: I see...

ND: Once we had to reject the complete consignment which led to big losses for both us and the printer. After which we recruited more staff for quality control and currently we have an excellent quality control team in place in the industry. We have devised a formula wherein every 54th or the 56th copy, depending upon the quantity of print job, gets examined by us.

RR: The other problem is the fudging the number of books in a carton box …

ND: Yes. The printer tends to pack 45 books instead of the required 50 that it is supposed to have. So we conduct a random check. Then there is the binding of the books. It is our specialty and we are known for it. We have lost a lot of money rejecting our own books. It has been four years for us and we haven’t defaulted from the client’s side on our work. Because of which even the publishers have never defaulted on our payments.

RR: What happens when in spite of this process the publisher receives jobs that are not executed to perfection?

ND: There have even been instances where we have not charged for the containers which have carried even minuscule defective work. We have also advised some of our customers to keep that consignment “free of cost”. Plus we reprint the quantity and send it again.

RR: This is because of the pressure from the international agencies who are doing a lot of work in Africa. Right?

ND: In Africa, the educational publishing largely gets categorised at two levels. The first, where the publishers get the work printed for themselves. The Indian printers tend to cheat a lot when it comes to this work and probably get away with it. Whereas this cannot be the case for the other category where the printing work gets commissioned through World Bank tenders and where there are specifications mentioned and documented. The printer cannot mess up with this.

RR: What are the repercussions when there is a breach in World Bank tenders?

ND: The whole consignments get rejected when such a thing happens and the printer gets blacklisted. This doesn’t bode well for the reputation of the whole country. I remember 12 years ago a few Indian companies had got blacklisted because the books that they had delivered had perfect binding instead of section sewing that was mentioned in the tender. It led to them getting blacklisted and caused a huge dent in India’s reputation.

RR: Can you tell us about the business ops for these jobs …

ND: To give you an example, I had bought the rights of a storybook from one of the publishers in New Delhi for the African market. Now, it was all about cross-selling from hereon. It was a win-win situation for all of us. The publisher in New Delhi is getting paid by me since I bought the rights. The publisher in Africa is happy since the content that he is getting from me is free of cost and I do not charge for it. And I get to do the printing of this book for a lifetime since I hold the copyrights in the African market.

RR: Were you solo when you started?

ND: I was alone when the company was formed as the designing was by consultants and was not outsourced. Today we have a team of 20 people.

RR: Was it difficult to find the capital as well as finding the right printing partners?

ND: When we were looking for printers we weren’t taken seriously because of our numbers. It was because of my goodwill that a few printers trusted me and took the work on credit basis. Even customers in Africa who are known for not handing out any advance payment gave us advance payments.

RR: Situation is much better now?

ND: Oh yes. Today that is not the case. We have people from various cities like Chennai and Ahmedabad who want to work with us.

RR: Quarterfold Printabilities has many printing partners. How does the model work and how does the maintaining of audits and production schedules happen?

ND: We have a production head and he provides a weekly review of our printing partners every Monday for all of us. The moment there is an inquiry we know which printer to send it to as per the requirement. Nowadays, the buying of paper happens at our end and we are strong in this aspect. We have a good relationship with the paper mills as well. Currently, we have a pool of 32 printing presses across our partners. Four of these machines are partially funded by us whereas two of the machines are completely owned by us. One of which is a heatset web offset press. In terms of the printing companies, Imprint is a company that is partially funded and managed by us with our partners from Ahmedabad. Then there is Arnos and a few others in Vapi, Gujarat and Bhiwandi near Mumbai. Overall we have more than nine print partners all across India.

RR: What is the preference for Africa when it comes to paper? Is it maplitho like India?

ND: Yes. These are school textbooks. If you compare the quality of what we print for them and what gets printed here you will realise that our quality is much superior. In Africa, they like brightness and whiteness of the paper and we provide it.

RR: How do you source paper?

ND: Sometimes we procure the paper locally and the other times we import the paper. It is a mix of both. We have also factored in the urgent jobs. We get printing jobs which are to be delivered in two weeks and for such jobs, we always have a stock of 300 tonnes of paper at any given point of time.

RR: What about the publishing division …

ND: It isn’t a part of Quarterfold. It is being run by a friend. I am investing in it with my ideas. It’s called Woodsnipe and is meant for kindergarten books. They have 58 titles in India currently. This is apart from the 120 titles that belong to Quarterfold Printabilities in the African market. Probably five years down the line we will highly invest in it and it will be a part of Quarterfold Printabilities.

RR: Going forward what is the focus for Quarterfold Printabilities? The printing and its logistics or purely content?

ND: Our sole focus is the content. This is for long-term sustainability. Concentrating purely on printing may not be advisable as we don’t know how long will printing be able to sustain! In Africa, new policies have come up and will keep coming in the future. These policies may create a dent in our printing capacities.

RR: How?

ND: For example, in one of the African countries we almost got the contract from publishers in partnership for supplying books through a government project for eight subjects along with pre-press and designing. While giving us the order the contract mentioned that all the books must be printed locally. We lost around 80,000 dollars (approximately Rs 51 lakhs) just creating those books. The idea was that we create it for free and then the printing should come to us. But the clause mentioned it should be printed locally and that was a setback for us. The overall printing was worth more than three million dollars (approximately Rs 19 crores). I am sure this is bound to happen, if not now then probably five years down the line.

RR: Content is going to be an advantage?

ND: If you consider the above mentioned trajectory of printing in Africa then the only real advantage that we might have is the royalty on the content that we create. Content will always have a value. Printing is something that can be done by many whereas content is expertise.

RR: Can you leverage content?

ND: We believe we are strong in that aspect. We have a lot of teachers working for us to generate the content in India. Similarly, we have the syllabus of Ghana and Nigeria and we are working with the publishers there. There are a lot of publishers there who are big brand names but do not have all set of books for higher studies like engineering.

RR: Are publishers convinced by you?

ND: We approach the publishers and give them ideas to expand their portfolio with different sets of books across various fields of education. We pump in a lot of money and make twenty digital printed copies of the books where the content is generated by us and ask these publishers to see what response they would get out of it in the African market. If the response is good, the printing comes to us on top of the royalty that we get for content.

RR: Book fairs at London and Frankfurt are not frequented by African publishers. Where do you go in search for your fresh set of customers?

ND: It completely depends on the territory that we are focusing on. We have penetrated the African markets by going to two-tier cities and villages to meet the publishers there. We also get a lot of work through references on the basis of the goodwill that we have built. Finding new customers is probably not that difficult. It’s finding the right funding and backing that is more challenging. Printing is about how much money you can pump in. We are saturated with our worth of Rs 60- to 70-crore. Realistically speaking I cannot be thinking of Rs 300-crore. For example, there are many tenders floating in Africa one of which was from Ethiopia and worth Rs 200-crore. We are eligible to bid for it but even after winning it I do not have the financial backing and support to deliver this kind of job.

RR: What can the government do to make it easier for India to take on more book exports work in Africa?

ND: Government can play a role in this by considering printing industries as similar to IT industry. It can set up a dedicated SEZ for printing presses and offer subsidies in local taxes and import duties; especially on paper as it contributes to 70% of the cost. A dedicated Printing Industrial Zone or Special Printing Zone for exports will also help boost revenues from printing for export markets.

RR: How do you intend to tackle the competition from the companies who are replicating your model?

ND: The unwavering commitment to our clients in delivering world-class customer service has played a significant role in our success. Our strategy remains on the 80:20 principle, wherein our effort levels (80%) are more in retaining the existing clients and (20%) on getting new clients. We look forward to a healthy competition that helps us improvising and re-innovating ourselves.

RR: Where do you see Quarterfold Printabilities three years from now?

ND: We would like to be known as the content provider. The printing aspect will always remain but we don’t intend to put up a factory for ourselves. It will be similar to the module that we currently have but on a larger scale. Quarterfold now has 30% shares in three big on-the-rise printing presses in India. We intend to have at least 15 such partners where we are the shareholders so that we are able to control the printing. I believe that if you keep it simple enough then good business will come searching for you.

RR: A lot of people will think that what you do is easy. What are your message for them and the Indian print fraternity?

ND: Actually speaking it is in fact easy. My backend is in place and I simply take care of the finances and marketing verticals. In India, culturally we make it too difficult by being too ambitious because that is what we have been taught right from our childhood. Or you will see some printers always try to cut corners. There is a reason why we lag behind our US, European or even Chinese counterparts. I say this with a heavy heart that there are actually very few clean and organised printers in India. At the same time I also see the potential as there is a change in current scenario and with a new generation coming up and joining the business with more transparencies, ethical values and systems in place, it should leapfrog the Indian printing industry forward.

Nilesh Dhankani Unplugged

Favourite city of Africa?
Cape Town is scenic and the climate is pretty good. For business purpose I like Accra, Ghana and Nigeria where there are publishers who have become good friends.

Favourite cuisine in Africa?
Okra (ladies’ fingers vegetable) with goat meat soup and fufu (staple food in Ghana and Nigeria); Injera and dora wots (chicken) with variety of vegetables (staple food in Ethiopia)

Favourite drink in Africa?
Red wine and German Reisling (wine)

Favourite book?
All kinds of biographies. The last book that I read was At Close of Play by Ricky Ponting

Favourite mantra?
Life is easy. Keep it simple.

Describe Quarterfold Printabilities in a sentence?
Imprinting impressions with content and technology.

Kandarp Singh: “We have only touched the tip of the iceberg”

Rushikesh Aravkar — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 11:30:00

30 years in India. The market is getting wider with ethnic drinks led by Paperboat and Rooh Afza, and packaged milk market like flavoured drinks and buttermilk. Is Tetra Pak at the top of its game, now?

We are very proud to be celebrating 30 years in India this year. We brought our advanced aseptic technology for food and beverages into India because we felt this technology was made for India. Since starting our operations in India in 1987 and setting up our own manufacturing at Takwe near Pune, it has been a long and fulfilling journey built on our brand promise – ‘Protects What’s Good’. Today, we have a world-class facility at Chakan, Pune that provides integrated solutions to the food and beverage industry. We have over a hundred customers today and they are very bullish about the future of aseptically processed and packaged foods. And, success begets success – more and more new food and beverage players want to enter this exciting market. So, we have strong reason to believe, this is only the tip of the iceberg and the best is yet to come.

How was the 30-year journey? When did your investments start bearing fruits?

Our first decade was spent in seeding the market; and because we were the first carton packaging solutions company, far ahead of anyone else, there were a lot of rich learnings. We built our first packaging material factory – at Takwe near Pune in the mid-90s. We invested again in our new world-class facility at Chakan near Pune in 2013. I believe that we reached an inflection point around ten years ago – that is, towards the end of our second decade in India. Between 1996 and 2006, we grew two times, in terms packaging material volume, which is one of the key indicator of our business. Between 2006 and 2016, we grew eight times. We have witnessed consistent double digit growth in the past few years. We have introduced more than 22 packaging formats since 2010 in many sizes and at different price points to suit the needs of diverse consumer segments in India. Other than packaging, we have about 1,500 processing customers with our installed base. We could say that a majority of dairies in India would at least have some components supplied by Tetra Pak. We have invested approximately Rs 2,000 crores to date including investment in factories as well as investments in awareness-building, recycling ecosystem etc. More importantly, our customers have collectively invested more than Rs 4,000 crores in our machines and services over the past 10 years. What we produce at Chakan caters not just to India but over 30 countries around the world.

Last year Tetra Pak sold around seven billion packs in India. What’s the target this year and what are the global numbers?

We delivered 450 million packages way back in 1996, and reached one-billion in 2006. In 2016, we delivered eight billion packs in the South Asia Markets region and we are confident that we will sell more than nine billion packs this year. Globally also, we have raised the bar with every passing year. We sold over 188 billion packs in 2016 and we will reach a new milestone in 2017.

How many customers do you serve in India? Is the customer profile different from 10 years ago?

We have about 1,500 customers who have installed our processing equipment. In packaging, we have more than 125 customers and we have been adding more than 10 packaging customers every year for the past five years. Over the years we have gone from operating in two core categories – white milk and juices, nectars, still drinks – to opening up many more categories, for instance, spirits, coconut water, Oral Rehydration Solution, and dairy alternatives among others. Spirits is also a high potential category and we have a unique presence as compared to the rest of the world growing at a higher CAGR in South Asia Markets than the rest of the world. Today, our customer base is a highly diversified one ranging from brands that have traditionally been in the F&B business, to those who are looking to diversify into this industry while moving away from their core business. We have also seen an increase in interest from start-up brands which are bringing niche products to the market. Given the diversifying profile of our customers, we have also evolved in the way we do business with each of them. For example, the needs of a customer who has been with us for many years are very different from a relatively new customer who is entering the F&B space for the first time.

How has the customer demands changed over the years? What do they ask for in 2017?

In a country like India, affordability, accessibility and quality have always been top priority. Therefore, food safety is top priority for all stakeholders across the value chain. In addition to these factors, sustainability has become an important consideration for customers as well and they are looking for products and solutions that do not adversely affect the environment. Customers are also looking to increase efficiency and productivity of their plants. And this is where our end-to-end solutions approach plays a vital role. We take full ownership of the product from start to finish, including technical services and make sure that we are not only delivering great products but also world-class services. Lastly, customers are looking for a partner who is future-ready, and is prepared to partner them in the long run. This is one of the reasons behind our long-standing partnerships with our customers. At Tetra Pak, our ahead of the curve approach applies not only to investments for today, but also to our preparedness for the future. If you look at today, we are on turbo charge mode, moving full throttle on the technology and innovation that will drive the future of food. India is one of the key markets for Tetra Pak and we are already making strong strides in areas like digitalisation (apps ensuring realtime information available to our operators; remote monitoring, condition-based monitoring), automation system for better traceability and more.

What’s the process of innovation targeted at the local, rural Indian market? One of the results is the TCA pack for Frooti.

We have dedicated ourselves to understanding our customers’ needs and those of their customers, and finding the right solutions using our global resources and our local market knowhow. Before, we get into any co-creation with our customers, we try to understand the market demand gap and what is it that the end consumer is looking for whether it is affordability, convenience, differentiation or something else. The Tetra Classic Aseptic (TCA) pack and the concept of chain packs for Frooti is a great example of turning a consumer insight into a real product. Value for money is the deciding factor for over 81% consumers while making food and beverage purchases. To many Indian consumers especially in the lower economic segments, this value for money translates into affordability which is the reason for some of our offerings such as the TCA which are gaining in popularity. It is also important for the package to be attractive and visible as well as for it to be available at the right purchase points. The chain pack, for example, has been developed especially for the interiors of India where small kirana stores and carts have little space for display and the best option is to hang them over a string like sachets. All these and more factors come into play during the innovation journey.

Any other innovation?

The Tetra Fino Aseptic (TFA) is a result of an inherent need for a package that can keep food safe without refrigeration in the remotest parts of South India, and that can be made available at price-points for consumers such as fishermen, migrant laborers and others from the lower-income segments.

What are the consumer consumption trends that your research team has discovered in the C-tier pockets of the country?

The increase in disposable income is not only limited to cities or higher social classes, the increase in minimum wages and growth in rural economy is also driving consumerism in tier-C markets. Packed products have also seen demand in far-flung rural areas as an answer to food safety and spoilage issues. Even for these markets value for money and smaller packs is the key. Based on these insights the TCA format was developed which was first launched in the market by Frooti. This was a huge success for Frooti as well as for Tetra Pak to crack the bottom of the pyramid market. This set of consumer is still not very brand cautious and look for the best and safest available product that they can at a particular price point.

Remote corners of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh where no fresh milk was available due to lack of refrigeration, now have access to UHT milk. Be it fishermen out at sea for days, migrant laborers looking for a a cup of tea in the middle of nowhere, or a mother purchasing a TFA 100 for Rs 10 to provide nutrition for her child, UHT technology has helped bring milk to millions of Indians.

Schreiber Dynamix Dairies was India’s first dedicated contract packer for foods in Tetra Pak cartons. Tell us about this partnership. Can we expect similar partnerships in the future?

SDDPL is India's first dedicated contract packer for foods in Tetra Pak cartons and uses Tetra Pak's processing and packaging technology to partner leading food and beverage players like PepsiCo, Nestle, Danone, Britannia and Hector Beverages. Currently, brands like Tropicana, Nestle and Paper Boat are processed and packed in SDDPL's plant at Baramati, Maharashtra. Through this partnership, we have been successful in meeting the ever-increasing demand for aseptic packaging in the country and also in providing a great opportunity for local players looking to enter the aseptic beverage market. We are always open to new collaboration whenever there is a strategic requirement.

Indian dairies are on the lookout for value added packaging that can take care of the milk losses due to leakage and returns for the reason of non-sale. While the aseptic packaging is a robust solution here, in the last few years’ competition for Tetra Pak has surged. There are Chinese players in the market. Uflex has set up an aseptic packaging plant in Ahmedabad. How do you look at this competition and what’s your strategy to counter this?

Tetra Pak has been here in India since the mid-1980s and our products and packages are ‘made in India’ and ‘made for India’ (and in fact, exported to many parts of the world). This is a capital-intensive and service-intensive business with food safety at its core. We have spent three decades building this industry. There will be more and more interest by other companies to enter the market and this augurs well for the consumer who will be spoilt for choice to enter, we believe that there’s enough room in terms of growth potential to be harnessed – as we are still touching the tip of the iceberg. We sincerely hope the core principles of food safety and quality will remain at the top of every player’s agenda. This is not a pricing game, it boils down to which supplier is able to deliver the best value, consistently over time.

What are the other challenges for Tetra Pak in India?

India is a fairly complex market, with a fragmented consumer base. You may have already heard about ‘Many India’s within India’. Besides geographic and demographic differences there are huge psychographic differences as well. On the one hand, you will have an upwardly mobile, ‘global consumer’ who is looking for world class quality and features from reputed brands and does not mind paying extra for quality, image and convenience. On the other hand, is a strong value seeker for whom affordability is important and who needs stronger justification for the price paid. Our markets are witnessing significant changes especially with rapid urbanisation and growing incidence of working women. Nuclearisation of families is on the rise and disposable incomes are going up, thanks to the economic growth supplemented by foreign investments. This coupled with increasing awareness about health and nutrition and food safety is moving many consumers from just functional products to higher image, safer and lifestyle products.

We visited Tetra Pak’s new plant in Pune. While the production shopfloor is undoubtedly impressive, for us the eye opener was machine renovation department, dairy processing equipment manufacturing and of course the PDIC. Are these unique to Pune plant? What was the strategy? Explain the significance of a machine renovation department for a price sensitive market like India and how successful has it been.

As a partner, if you can give customers everything that they are looking for, at every stage in their journey, they will be your partners for the long haul. We are proud to say that today we are the only end-to-end solutions provider for the F&B industry in India. This integrated approach means that we support our customers throughout their innovation journey from pre-processing to final packaging and services.

The Product Development and Innovation Centre is indeed an integral part of our integrated portfolio and is one of 7 such centres globally. With PDIC, our endeavour is to partner with our customers at every stage from recipe formulation to providing a testing facility where customers can test their products before they are taken to market, a pilot processing and packaging line and a package validation laboratory. We employ food technologists who work with our customers to formulate, conceptualise and test market new products.

The renovation centre in India, as you would have seen it at our Chakan facility, is the newest addition to our portfolio. This centre revamps old filling machines to suit local market requirements while upholding the Tetra Pak promise of high quality equipment and services. For a price sensitive market like India, these renovated equipment are the perfect solution especially when it comes to the local players who are looking for lower investment, but also a promise of quality.

What are the goals for the next two years and where do you see Tetra Pak in India in the next 10 years?

Our 30 years in India have been extremely exciting and I believe that the next 10 years will be just as exciting as we continue to expand strongly. We are confident our customer base will continue to grow and so will our product portfolio. We are adding over 10 new customers every year for the last five years. Since 2012 we have added more than 60 customers and we are confident of adding another 100 by 2020. We also foresee the introduction of many new categories like ready-to-eat foods, value-added dairy, more niche segments like ORS that will be support strongly by us. We will also bring in new technologies in India to cater to the needs of people and continue to evolve with the market. Food safety and sustainability will remain at the heart of our business as we continue to deliver on out brand promise of ‘protects what’s good’.

Sustainability agenda

Tetra Pak cartons are primarily paper-based and fully recyclable. Through recycling, the intent is to make sure that the cartons don’t end up at landfills and instead, get a fresh lease of life. Recycled cartons can be used to make many useful things like desks, chairs, roofing sheets, notebooks etc that go a long way in creating a positive environment for schools for the underprivileged, and other similar initiatives.

Tetra Pak has a network of 18 collection partners and four recycling organisations nationwide that are actively engaged in collecting and recycling used Tetra Pak cartons. This network works with thousands of waste pickers, providing them with an additional livelihood opportunity.

Over the years, Tetra Pak has been able to ramp up recycling rates from zero a few years ago to more than 38% today. The company is also investing in educating consumers and others in the waste chain about the recyclability of Tetra Pak cartons.

It ran a collection and awareness drive - Your Cartons My Classroom in Bangalore and in Delhi NCR that urged the public and students of SEARCH schools to bring in their empty cartons. It collected over 200,000 used cartons across the two cities over two weekends of activation; from which around 35 school desks were donated.

Tetra Pak has partnered with Sahakari Bhandar across Mumbai and NGO partner RUR Greenlife to launch Go Green – an in-store awareness program to encourage shoppers to return their empty cartons for recycling. Under this initiative, over 20 lakh cartons were deposited and recycled, with over 280 school desks donated to municipal schools and 50 garden benches donated; buoyed by the popularity of the program, and inspired by our previous campaign Your Cartons My Classroom in Bangalore and Delhi, we launched a campaign ‘Cartons Le Aao Classroom Banao’ and even roped in the iconic Mumbai dabbawalas to help increase awareness about recycling among all stakeholders.

One of the most interesting and inspiring recycling initiative has been our collaboration with the Indian Army. The Indian army has been a big consumer of milk in Tetra Pak cartons for years. Under the arrangement, the army sets up the collection centre and takes the responsibility to bring in used cartons; Tetra Pak provides baling and compacting units and arranges to transport the baled cartons to a recycler in Uttarakhand. So far, the army has set up 10 such collection centres in different parts of the country.

Doing business in India

Over the past few years, we have seen many positive developments in the country. The recent formation of the National Food Processing Development Council is a step in the right direction in that it builds a platform for collaboration and dialogue between the Ministry and the industry.

Tetra Pak has a long-term growth view in India and certain policy and development initiatives like Make in India by the new Government have generated positive business opportunities for companies like us.

We are also encouraged by some of the recent reforms announced by the government (for instance, abolition of licensing, lifting of certain restrictions, decision to implement Goods and Services Tax, freedom for farmers to sell their produce in the free market) and the urgency being shown to accelerate the pace of reforms.

About Kandarp Singh

Academic qualifications:
A graduate in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur, and a management graduate from IIM, Lucknow

Hometown:
Kolkata

First job:
Marketing executive at HCL, Mumbai

Non-packaging interests:
Leadership mentoring, tennis, cycling, golf, theatre, piano

Favourite read:
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

Siegwerk India: Scripting a new chapter

Ramu Ramanathan — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 15:18:00

Ramu Ramanathan (RR): One year since Drupa and a month since Interpack, what is happening with Siegwerk?

Ashish Pradhan (AP): In 2016 we launched the first LED-UV flexo inks for food and pharmaceutical packaging, UV inkjet inks for labels, sustainable water-based inks for paper and board applications and a new ink range for gravure printing, based on a polyurethane binder system and free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Our focus is mapping the market in terms of customer experience and what we need to change within Siegwerk. We are trying to meet customer’s expectations plus calibrate / predict the manner in which the technology is moving.

RR: What sort of customer expectations?

AP: We are talking about a big drive towards sharing new products and services in the Indian market. How can a printer differentiate with the brand owners and how can the brand owners differentiate in the marketplace. In order to stand out, we need to introduce more special effects. We have strong portfolios across the segments. The tobacco industry has a lot of differentiation at the packaging end. There are lots of special effects which can also be used in sheetfed. That’s one approach. Another is to understand what the customer‘s expectations are, in terms of good manufacturing practices.

RR: These are practices in ink manufacturing…

AP: Yes. At Siegwerk, packaging inks and varnishes are formulated and manufactured in accordance with good manufacturing practice, taking into consideration many individuals and varying parameters relating to the conversion process, substrate, application and end use. Siegwerk doesn’t simply exclude toxic substances based on regulatory exclusion criteria but also designs all food packaging inks to minimise the potential for the migration of ink components into food, whilst meeting the end-use requirements.

RR: You are very keen to take sustainability to a new level. How?

AP: We published the first-ever Sustainability Report, based on the international GRI standard which PrintWeek India has been sharing with the industry. By launching the Sustainability Report, we want to provide greater transparency and enter into an open dialogue with brands owners and our customers. The aim is: responsibility for environment and society. When formulating inks, Siegwerk is not only looking for optimum performance based on customers’ processes but also to ensure that these inks are safe to use for the packaging applications. Siegwerk has always partnered with its customers to deliver compliant ink systems. This enables the converters to avoid any kind of regulatory or product contamination risk.

RR: For example, food safety?

AP: Yes, there is a lot more interest today than it was three years ago. We see many Asian countries move towards compliant product safety and regulations. China has moved towards a completely toluene-free system. They are much ahead when you talk about strong norms against volatile organic compounds (VOC). That is the segment which India is moving towards. It might take a while to happen and probably by 2020 it will be done. There is an increasing interest in PVC-, BPA- and toluene-free inks and this will also shape the future development in ink technology. Besides, full PU (polyurethane)-based ink systems for gravure printing can be expected to address the interest of printers.

RR: Cost is a major component especially for price sensitive markets like India…
AP: India is price sensitive market. But the market looks at it in terms of price per kilo. The customer has to look at the total cost of operation as ink technologies will help reduce ink system complexity as well as ink stocks and therefore support cost-effectiveness effects will also be of interest to the market, going forward. Furthermore, the use of renewable materials in ink formulation will also drive the development activities in all ink technologies in line with the general market demand for sustainable solutions.

RR: What about water-based technology?

AP: Water-based ink systems will see interesting developments amongst others for applications on film. We believe in some segments, water-based technology will be the dominant technology. That’s why Siegwerk acquired a company called Actega Colorchemie GmbH in Europe which is a completely water-based company. Now our portfolio is complete with excellent water-based solutions for paper and board printing.

RR: What is the impact of water-based technology on different business segments?

AP: It depends on the segment. For example, paperboard packaging is completely water-based. There are hardly any solvent-based products. Flexible packaging is dominated by solvent-based and water-based is deployed by the labels industry. We see a lot of interest from the customers based in India.

RR: What are the trends in curing?

AP: UV printing is a growing market owing to fast curing speed, surface flexibility, high print quality, durability and no emission of volatile organic compound (VOC).

RR: What about LED UV curing?

AP: As one of the technological advances of recent years, LED UV curing will influence the future development in the printing industry. UV-curing had already established itself for eco-efficiency, cost-effectiveness and productivity advantages with not just label printers but also increasingly, mono-carton converters. Due to the fact that UV inks cure in a matter of seconds, the printed material can be immediately processed which saves printers money and time. UV printing can be used with almost any kind of absorbent and non-absorbent surfaces and therefore offers printers and brand owners a vast selection of flexible and rigid print substrates. LED UV-curing is taking this to the next level. UV LED-based lamps are replacing mercury lamps for a wide range of UV curing applications. The compactness of LED lamps, doing away with shuttering and air extraction systems, lower power consumption, vastly enhanced lamp-life, instant on/off switching and so on make for a much smaller footprint, and a more consistent print quality. Siegwerk is fully geared up to support this technology with even low migration LED-curing inks commercialised in the market.

RR: This is the second largest Siegwerk plant, after the one in Germany, and also one of the best production facilities in the country. In view of this, what is the focus area for India and what have you been doing in terms of production at the factory?

AP: We operate on the Business Unit (BU) concept and we have six BUs. Flexible packaging is the biggest at the global level. This is followed by narrow-web sheetfed, liquid food, paperboard and tobacco. BU and the technology are part of the setup. The BU head handles both – sales and technology. Traditionally, Siegwerk in India has been strong in sheetfed. We have been the pioneers in the shift from conventional to UV and we have invested a lot in UV capability in India. Furthermore, we have the capability to manufacture various types of Inks in India.

RR: Let us place the microscope on your pet subject, flexible packaging?

AP: We feel that the flexible packaging is the growth area in the packaging segment. The foray of retail in the rural areas will drive the need for flexible packaging. This will also drive product innovation in the market. Siegwerk believes in providing a solution to the packing needs and not just selling inks.

RR: Meaning?

AP: Our promise of product safety, ink performance and guidance and support gives us the opportunity to work closely with the customer to mitigate the regulatory and the food contamination risk and come up with cost-effective and innovative solutions. With collaboration and participation with our customers, we have been able to provide solutions and guiding the customers to optimise projects with respect to ink management, downtime, setup time etc.

RR: What are the concerns when it comes to the inks used for packaging?

AP: In the Indian packaging market, there is a steady increase in regulatory efforts. The fact that legislations are becoming stricter creates new challenges for ink manufacturers in terms of raw materials used to produce packaging inks. The qualification of modified inks involves considerable resources along the value chain. Till today, the overall market is reluctant to accept higher prices for safer inks compared to standard ink systems. Converters are always trying to reduce their total cost of ownership to improve their competitiveness and stay successful in the market. Product safety continues to be the most important and challenging aspect of packaging. The goal is to create food packaging that is safe for the consumer.

RR: What is the one key shift you are seeing?

AP: Gravure has been around for years and it has been standardised. When it comes to flexo, the variables are innumerable. It’s a far more skill-based operation than gravure. In India, we see a lot of training programmes for press operators because that is a common factor for both the processes. The quality consistency has an important role which is dependent on the skill of the operator. All put together the industry is moving towards CI flexo and many FMCG brand owners are mulling a move from gravure to flexo.

RR: For CI Flexo, how many factories do we have in India? We are talking of really good factories.

AP: There are 20 to 25 new CI flexo presses in India. Overall, we see much faster growth in flexo. Most of the machines coming to India are top end machines. In the CI flexo domain, a lot of customers would agree that we have lent the support to stabilise their operations. The challenge is with the quality of people and not inks and their talent and skill-set in India.

RR: You operate the centre of excellence at Bhiwadi and then you have the Masterbatch system and blending centres. What are the advantages?

AP: It has led to numerous benefits for customers in India, including higher flexibility and reductions in ink handling and storage, manpower, time and costs. It also includes providing improved ability to respond quickly to customer demands, simplicity in changing ink series (systems), the ability to produce as needed, the reduction of non-returnable cans and drums, the optimal use of press-return inks, and cost savings through rationalisation.

RR: Concept of blending centres in flexible packaging…

AP: We are a centre of excellence where we can develop our own master formulations. We are looking at expanding through blending centres. We have a good number of ink kitchens. We set up the place, train the people and then the customer manages. Also, we have built a laboratory dedicated to the development of customised ink solutions and have expanded our local presence in India.

RR: So the numbers are looking good? Or doom and gloom?

AP: My estimate is that packaging market will continue to grow in the coming years. We have a strong double-digit growth as compared to last year. The doom and gloom must be de-linked from the growth. It has to more do with margins. The simple fact is: everybody must run fast to be in the same spot. It’s basically a gap between the demand and supply. There are some converters who look at their cost as the differentiator and go for volume. While there are some who prosper by proving value and innovation to the customer. So, you have a product leader in quantity or a cost leader, they both are successful in their own way.

RR: Costs? They remain a deterrent?

AP: At Siegwerk, we are concerned about the rising input costs and the effects on the market. Titanium oxide (TiO2) is one of the major components in producing white ink. There has been a significant increase in TiO2 and solvent prices in the last quarters of 2016 and this has continued in 2017 as well. The major reasons are attributed to the capacities going off-stream and forced closures of capacities in Europe and China. Siegwerk has been absorbing the raw material price escalation so far. Our commitment to quality ensures that we buy raw material from the best sources globally and these industries have been steadily increasing their prices. We have been exploring alternatives without compromising on quality and compliance. We are trying our best to limit the impact on both our and the business of our customers.

RR: What advances do you expect to see in ink technology across 2017?

AP: One of the trending topics for 2017 is digital printing. In particular, UV inkjet will further make its way into label applications while water-based inkjet solutions enter the market segment of large width packaging.

In analogue printing and as mentioned earlier we will see a volume switch from conventional UV to low migration and regulation compliant UV inks next year and the implementation of low energy curing will gain pace.

RR: Is ink migration still an issue across the packaging industry?

AP: Due to existing regulations for food related applications low migration and compliant ink systems are one of the fastest growing areas for packaging inks. Product safety plays the most important role. For decades the industry has been sensitised with the subsequent risks of migration. The awareness has already reached consumers who know that food packaging can impair their health. In other words, ink migration is a topic that the packaging industry will always need to reflect upon in any of its processes and handle potential concerns in a transparent manner.

RR: Where does Siegwerk stand in the global market in terms of these optimised inks?

AP: Siegwerk offers manufacturers of food packaging and labels a complete range of suitable inks for all printing processes and therefore is a global leader in providing product safety. The company has a global team exclusively dedicated to safety in regard to both regulatory compliance and brand owner requirements to ensure that its products are safe for the end-use applications.

RR: What are your targets?

AP: We have a business Vision 2020

in place. We will invest in plant equipment and infrastructure along with geographically locating ourselves closer to our customers. We believe in investing in the right people and creating the right environment to help bring out the best in them. At Siegwerk India,

apart from working on the business goals set by the Vision 2020, we have set for ourselves a vision for a culture change. Aptly called Culture 2020, it encompasses a broad vision to enhance the overall

culture of Siegwerk India that is inclusive, open, growth oriented, and is based on teamwork and a positive approach towards goals and objectives.

Personal questions

Non-ink interests Trekking.
Completed the Mount Everest base camp trek last year and training to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro this year.

Favourite song
Aye Mere Pyare Watan from the movie Kabuliwala.

A good read according to you
Several. Latest – Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Your academic qualification
BE (Mechanical), MMS (Operations)

Hometown
Mumbai.

Favourite five Siegwerk products?
We don’t sell products. We sell solutions. Best solution – onsite counselling and in-house ink management systems.

Innovation, investments, ideas, implementation: An interview with Suresh Gupta

Rushikesh Aravkar — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:51:00

In hindsight, do you feel you should have integrated backward to make Huhtamaki-PPL even stronger and a bigger entity?

We are sufficiently backward integrated in terms of our own blown and cast film lines, pre-press and cylinder engraving facilities and in-house expertise on inks and lacquers. Beyond a point, while backward integration may have certain advantages, we prefer to focus more on our core competencies and in customer-facing investments. It is evident from our past endeavours that we believe in quality and self-driven processes, backward integration often leads to lack of supplier competition resulting in lower efficiency at potentially higher costs. In due course, it is likely that the flexibility will get reduced owing to previous investments upstream as well as downstream.

What is the growth you envisage for your company in the next couple of years? What factors and investments will drive this growth?

Generally, in emerging economies, FMCG growth is twice the real GDP growth. Growth in flexibles is a bit faster than FMCG growth rates due to the ongoing shift from rigid packaging to flexible packaging. In view of the this, we have aggressive growth plans in the pipeline, backed by investment support. This will include setting up new manufacturing facilities, introducing new technologies and upgrading existing ones, along with potential new acquisitions and capacity enhancement in existing plants.

Our large investments in our new flexibles project in North East India makes us the only packaging player to have a strong manufacturing presence in all four Indian geographies. Our pressure sensitive label business, Webtech Division, commercialised a new plant in Sikkim in March 2017. Huhtamaki recently took over Val Pack Solutions – a supplier of a comprehensive range of paper cups – to enter the foodservice packaging market in India. The integration of Positive Packaging with HPPL has gone through smoothly, with the legal merger also being completed earlier this year. We will continue to introduce and develop new technologies to grow faster than the market.

Tell us about the new plants in Assam and Sikkim…

To service our customers better in North East India, a new flexible packaging manufacturing unit went on stream in Assam and a PS label manufacturing unit in Sikkim. Both plants are fully operational and have received an encouraging response from our customers. The Sikkim unit will cater largely to our existing customers who have moved into the area and we expect the unit to go in for an expansion soon.

Huhtamaki-PPL has invested significantly in building state-of-the-art manufacturing locations. There is a tremendous amount of technology momentum. How do you juggle between upgradation of technology and return on investment?

The year-to-year viability of a company depends on its ability to innovate, both in products offered as well as technology spread. Given today’s market expectations, global competitive pressures, and the extent and pace of structural change, this is truer than ever. We at HPPL have always believed that the strongest innovation track records can articulate a clear innovation ambition; we have tried to strike the right balance of core, adjacent, and transformational initiatives across the enterprise; and have put in place the tools and capabilities to manage these various initiatives as parts of an integrated whole. We at HPPL always strive for achieving “total innovation”. There are two things we have adhered to throughout: Be clear about our innovation ambition and strike and maintain the right balance. Transformational initiatives are the engines of high growth and these transformational changes can come swiftly only with a fierce technology momentum. We are proud to say that our technology momentum is supporting our ROI in a positive way.

One of the strengths of Huhtamaki-PPL is its people. What kind of HR policy does Huhtamaki-PPL possess to motivate your task force?

Yes, of course, our people are our strength as we have always believed in the saying: happy employees create happy customers. It is appropriate to repeat our people philosophy here. “It is people who face and overcome challenges. Their approach, knowledge, commitment and actions are what finally deliver. An open, hands-on culture, which involves and empowers, which believes in sharing and training, and inculcates pride in knowledge – all this is our philosophy and we need to continuously ensure that it is also our practice.”

At HPPL, people are respected and performance is nurtured. A flexible work environment, high level of empowerment and accountability where each employee owns his area of domain, leadership development through mentoring and coaching, skills and competency development initiatives, multicultural exposure through diversity and inclusivity are our key initiatives throughout the year. Other than these, there are various benefit programs which we run for our employees including his / her family, insurance, health and wellness, financial and retirement, family and parenting, vacation and time off, perks and discounts. This is our gesture to ensure that our people are comfortable in one big HPPL family.
We are committed to high ethical standards and practices and this gives a strong confidence to our people when they operate in the market.

Team Huhtamaki-PPL at Interpack 2017

How do you see the shift in the wider packaging landscape in last 10 years in India in terms of the market’s evolving needs and the impact of new technologies?

The rapid shift to packaged processed goods from rudimentary or non-packaged goods started 30 years ago and was majorly completed 10 years ago. The main acceleration in last 10 years is the movement to world class standards, something we have always pioneered, and the movement of fresh produce fruits, vegetables, and meat into packaging.

Globally, there has been a shift in consumer’s buying pattern. Instead of bulk packaging, customers are now opting for smaller packs and ready-to-eat options. There has also been a reunion of package structures and branding, with a focus on clean and comprehensive label messaging combined with a consumer perception that correlates quality of a product with the quality of packaging and the ease of usage associated with it. Following global footsteps, Indian consumers have started looking for portable packs options, single serves, retorted food options, etc.

Considerable development in the pouching vertical has happened as a result. With this paradigm shift, consumers worldwide are getting increasingly conscious of environmental issues related to packaging. There have been concerted efforts to bring green packaging materials into focus while maintaining focus on the role of resealable or reclosable packaging in reducing the wastage of the product inside.

People’s changing life patterns, buying power and disposable income is playing a pivotal role on this topic. This is indeed a good sign for the future of the packaging industry in India.

At the same time, the market and government both are expecting innovative changes. This will set a new benchmark for the Indian packaging industry in the near future. There is clearly more and more to come “for” and “from” this beautiful industry.

Kinder Joy Maxi: thick thermoformable laminate

Innovations in flexible packaging have been limited to down-gauging and lowering packaging cost. Why aren’t flexible packaging convertors trying to add value through real innovations rather than succumb to pricing pressures?

This cannot be generally agreed; though it is a fact that big organised buyers heavily influence packaging material suppliers to cut corners to reduce cost. However, we have worked with our customers in bringing some really innovative concepts in the market, one example being Paper Boat which has given a totally new dimension to traditional Indian beverages. Our rate of new product development is high and we are the leading player in the start-up arena or new product launches.

Although we understand Huhtamaki-PPL is focussed on flexible packaging (the reverse printed laminate structure), what is the update on the barrier film market?

We are definitely into barrier films like multi-layer nylon and EVOH (high-barrier) based films for oxygen barrier. Our multi-layer nylon film is catering to large requirements in the edible oil, food, spices and agro-chemicals segments. We also believe that the market of the barrier film in India is still at a very nascent stage and is expected to grow in years to come for which we are already prepared.

How are you looking at bringing about innovation in packaging? What kind of innovations does Huhtamaki-PPL have to its credit in the last couple of years?

Innovation is the only way to win. This is our anthem at HPPL India. HPPL has a rich history of global recognition for achievements in numerous awards that we have won across national and international forums like IndiaStar, AsiaStar, DuPont, WorldStar, to name a few. These awards represent the highest level of excellence in the field of packaging applications.

Every year we have nominations across different innovation awards. On specific products, we have worked with Hector Beverages on Paper Boat, our Moscovsky profile pouch is a unique combination of aesthetics and material specification to take care of the product requirement and is popular in the Russian market. Our special pouches for dosa and idli batter are very user-friendly and extremely popular in that segment. Our pack for Knorr (Thai Vegetable Soup) has an excellent combination of matt and gloss effects, imparting a premium visual to the pack. We won two WorldStar Awards in 2017 for Tzinga profile pouches and Horlicks Gold pressure sensitive label.

Growth and new product development are driven by our innovation programme called NASP (New Applications, Structures, Products and Processes). NASP is institutionalised within HPPL, with various team members at various levels taking it up as a personal mission, making it an important component of the culture of HPPL. Our NASP program helps our customers in many ways, of which two are particularly noteworthy. Our new products, which are based on upgraded technology processes, serve our customers’ need for adding value to their products and offer additional benefits to their consumers. We also continuously work on solutions which offer cost advantages without compromising performance. Hence, NASP creates business growth, but equally important, it also protects or even improves existing business share from a customer by creating improved packaging solutions, or improving cost competitiveness. Our products which have emerged through the NASP process are recognised by distinguished industry bodies, and we were recently awarded two WorldStars, five AsiaStars, three IFCA Stars and an ET Polymers Award.

WorldStar 2017 award winners: Tzinga profile pouch and Horlicks Gold PS label

What is your take on the impending legislation on banning multi-layer laminates, its feasibility and impact on industry and technology?

The flexible multi-layer laminates are designed through optimal usage of different materials to get cost-effective packaging material considering essential needs such as barrier, strength and visual appeal. A potential ban on multi-layer laminates will cause a considerable increase in packing cost and sub optimal solutions. Globally, multi-layer plastics are the “most preferred” and favoured packaging materials compared to others because of low weight, the cost of transportation and various other benefits. The Central Pollution Control Board has included “plastic” under “Green Category” meaning “least polluting” as it is recyclable and that alternative packing materials like paper and aluminum foil are actually more environmentally regressive.

While there is a lot of ambiguity in terms of expectations looking at the current alternatives, we are working on designs to make packaging materials recyclable through the use of materials of the same polymer family.

With mono-layer and toluene-free emphasis, will the market move from Gravure to CI-flexo?

CI-flexo has been an underrated technology in India but it is fast catching up now with gravure. With the emergence of thin mono-layer films, yes CI-flexo will have a definite advantage. However, CI-flexo has still a long way to go in terms of developing the right ink solutions and quality plate suppliers apart from having consistent film suppliers.

HPPL’s flexible laminate plant – II in Silvassa

What are your views about water-based inks in gravure?

Water-based inks are always preferred over solvent-based systems. However, water-based systems require a significant change in printing machines, particularly in the dryer systems. It is expected that the water-based inks will slowly replace solvent-based inks in future, with water-based inks getting evolved for wider and improved performance. There are many advantages such as low VOC (volatile organic compounds), low incineration costs, reduction in health hazards, reduction in overall operation costs, increased life of printing cylinders, greater ink mileage, reduction in environmental costs, improvement in plant hygiene, reduction in potential of toxic material discharge, non- flammable, less wear and tear of gravure doctor blades and many more.

In your entire career in the packaging industry, which period was the most exciting time for the Indian packaging industry? With respect to that period, how will you describe the current situation of the Indian packaging industry?

All the years have been exciting as year to year the vast chasm between Indian and world class practices was being bridged. The most exciting time is yet to come as we complete the bridge and all our 1.3 billion people experience the benefit of high-quality packaging.

When do you expect an overall revival in the economy and what would drive growth?

While I am a student of economics, I am not in a position to predict a specific date of revival of the Indian economy. I definitely think that GST implementation will help the economy grow faster than the current rate.

As captain of the industry, one suggestion you would like to share with the Finance Minister for the next Union Budget?

Industry benefits from a robust society. For this, we need a real focus on education and health. These areas are given step motherly treatment and hence we are a poor country. This needs to change.

Ricoh India: Time to join the dots - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Noel D'Cunha — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 17:54:00

PrintWeek India: Let’s go straight to the liquid toner technology. With Drupa 2016, done and dusted how do you gauge the liquid toners technology?
Sambit Misra (SM): Worldwide they are available and they are selling. But, when you look at the Indian market space, it becomes a big challenge. The question that arises is: Is there the kind of volumes that would demand a faster machine?
The justification for investing in a multi-crore machine that can print three times faster than the mid-production machine comes only when you have the volumes on a daily basis or the customer is ready to pay a premium for the quality that you are delivering.

PWI: You think India would "always" remain a mid-production market?
SM: It will be machines in the 60ppm to 150ppm range. Some of the printer will keep on investing in high-end machines. Some of them will burn their fingers or get back their just dues till the time they are not able to provide a viable cost.

PWI: What is the Ricoh strategy for this year?
SM: My strategy is to grow the mid-production market. We have started getting into 120ppm to 130ppm market also. But that is less than 100 units in a whole year – all the three players – Konica Minolta, Canon and Xerox put together. Perhaps Xerox is out of it because the iGen is priced much higher than the kit from Ricoh or KM who sell and cater to that segment.

PWI: Why the sluggishness in 2015?
SM: Last year, we tried to sort out the things which were not doing well. This year the idea is to mop up more market space. We should move from an 11% market share to a 20% by the end of the year.

PWI: Still not the 2008 kind of numbers? Which was the best year?
SM: 2008 was the peak year, after which there’s been a decline. Getting back to 2008 numbers will not be easy. That’s because digital print volumes have not grown in the way it should have.

Ricoh stall at Drupa

PWI: Why so?
SM: The problem is that we don’t have a transactional market to support the regular market. Worldwide, colour print is growing primarily in the transactional space. Unfortunately, there’s a complete lack of understanding among printers on how to better the processes, and the resources which are needed to market transactional material.

PWI: Please elaborate.
SM: In India, our approach to database is lackadaisical. We don’t have data at the right places, hence the difficulty in accessing it. Also there is no method in capturing data. For example, nobody is capturing data on consumer behaviour, which could help create a better response rate. Until capture of data is not done in a scientific method, getting volumes in the transactional space will continue to be a challenge. That said, with banking systems getting better, a lot of CRM developments have been happening.

PWI: But the numbers are not adding up, is that a worry?
SM: This is the biggest challenge. Especially with the organisations like ours. We have a very large sales force which is working on the product sales, and there is a lot of competition. It’s tough, but the saving grace is the margins on aftersales. So if you remove your cost of services, your profitability goes down. Hence, getting good numbers will depend on how remote you can go. It is all very fine to say tier III and tier IV. But there is a cost to that kind of outreach. Therefore, at Ricoh, we are trying to install three to four machines in the same vicinity.

PWI: How do the consumable firms like TechNova and Huber manage?
SM: The best way is, to have dealers and channel partners. This gives you the billing location, plus global technology at a local cost and finally, a personal touch with the customer.

PWI: Coming back to digital print, most of the manufacturers have launched the 100ppm machine? Is this the right strategy?
SM: The problem is, everyone who enters the market, kills the volume for ten others in the area. Today those print companies which possessed bigger volumes in the past, are struggling. The challenge is: how do you increase the volumes of these print companies.

PWI: What is your strategy to counter this dip in volume?
SM: Our strategy is a bit, different. We are letting go a lot of print and moving into enterprise. We have invested in verticals like education, BFSI and healthcare. We have developed new applications which runs on our equipment for the enterprise customer. We have been successful with our Diacom print on an entry level product.

PWI: I see...
SM: I am convinced that it is time to initiate central reprographic technology (CRT). Most of the offices are getting bigger. In India, bigger offices have many devices without a CRT department. This is not the case in the overseas countries.

Elsewhere, CRT is a big market. Which is why, we have begun a CRT foray with the enterprise customers.

PWI: What about book-on-demand?
SM: The book-on-demand market has become price sensitive. As a result, there are no takers for digital book printing kit. In most cases the device is lying idle. Therefore, we are looking at the education segment, where the organisations are creating books for educational institutions and not necessarily government books. We are tapping the open school kind of business, where customised printing is happening.

PWI: So, you hand over the devices to the end customers?
SM: Yes, if the organisation is ready to buy, which the most companies have not.

PWI: You have a customer in Guntur.
SM: Yes, we have sold two machines to a company in Guntur which specialises in printing ration cards on a Tyvek material.

PWI: Interesting. So, the future is new technologies.
SM: If you look at the West, the market has evolved by leveraging new technologies. We have been promoting VDP, and we know that there would be mistakes, but with time one will learn to better it.

PWI: This requires operator training…
SM: On our part, we train the operators, but there’s a fear that those who are trained may be poached. On the other side, print companies hardly invest in sales personnel. Only those who have crossed the Rs 100-crore mark do. It is simple, if you hire trained manpower you are bound to improve your performance.

PWI: Many Indian printers are not fans of digital print: They say: “It has brought the value of print, which used to be a prosperous industry, rocketing down. The business has therefore become little more than a green-button-pressing exercise.” Your response.
SM: The challenge is: how do you prepare an offset printer to move into digital? The first hurdle is the re-sale value of the machine. We have to convince the printer that a machine will have a certain life period, and that there’s no machine that will go on forever. Ricoh sold a machine to Repro India. Even today, they are happy about the purchase.

PWI: At Drupa, Ricoh and EFI signed a sales partnership for Ricoh to sell EFI wide-format printers. The deal covers the H1625 LED roll/flatbed hybrid UV printer and the 2m-wide EFI Vutek HS2000 UV printer. A full circle for you as a champion of wide-format technology?
SM: Yes.

PWI: Speaking of EFI, what is the front-end platform that you are using with Ricoh?
SM: We are using a GW controller. Even if you don’t run it through the controller, a USB drive on the regular touch panel can enable taking prints. We can also configure it to a 600x9600dpi. Our installations in the photo printing space, particularly in the entry-segment, there’s no necessity of a RIP because these machines are already configured and fitted with a GW controller.

PWI: And where are you developing the controller?
SM: In Japan. The internal controller or the driver can use the full DPI strength of the engine. However, there are limitations in that we have not gone beyond 2,400dpi, where of course, the EFI Fiery offers many production capabilities and tools that empowers the press to do a lot more.

PWI: Which are the devices you are putting the GW controller on?
SM: The Ricoh Pro 5100 and Pro 7100. The file actually has to get spooled and fit into the system. It will basically take all the ten pages, spool them and put into the system and then will start printing it.

PWI: EFI refers to it super-fast Fiery front-end but we don’t see that being optimised by printers. Why?
SM: The Fiery has the ability to print at the rated speed of the printer, you RIP one page while you print the previous page concurrently, however the RIP is basically sold by the print OEMs as a default piece of hardware, more like a print server.

Most of the service engineers and pre-sales managers are not completely aware of the features available and how to use them to optimise printing operations. Hence the features are neither known to the customer nor used by them.

PWI: Tell us about the feasibility of the new 7100X and the fifth colour option – clear and white toner?
SM: We have installed about 25 plus machines. We believe that it can produce white that is better than its more expensive rival in the market.

The case with white ink is that one needs to employ a thought process in creating an output using clear and white toners. The more you experiment with white the more are the chances for a better output. With the clear ink, we offer the printers with the ability to produce applications in the security space too.

Ricoh India @Drupa 2016

Like they have done before, in every single edition of Drupa, Sambit Misra, COO at Ricoh India, says, the Ricoh stand this year was designed to – open new worlds – for printing firms looking for maximised productivity, increased profitability and additional markets.

The spotlight was on the Ricoh Pro VC60000 digital production press. This fully configured digital press is capable of handling a variety of media in roll-to-roll as well as roll-to-sheet modes. “Ricoh Pro VC60000 is featured with inline under-coating and over-coating systems, which any CF machine in the market till date cannot do this functionality,” explains Misra, adding that one of the major applications of this production press is a short-run magazine production, with a run length of around 500-1000 copies. At the same time, this press is designed to print in multiple languages.

In the cut-sheet category, Ricoh showed the Pro C9110 and Pro C7100x with its fifth toner station. In the large-format category, where Ricoh has recently made its presence, showcased the company’s newly developed aqueous resin (AR) latex inks for its popular Pro L4100 series signage graphic printer.

Another attraction was the increased finishing capabilities with the Watkiss PowerSquare 224 booklet maker running inline with the Ricoh Pro C9100 series, Pro C7100x series and Pro 8100 series digital presses.

The portfolio also included Ricoh's TotalFlow Cloud Suite, a hosted portfolio of cloud-based services.

A big launch this year in India will be the upgraded Ricoh Pro L4100 large-format printer, equipped with aqueous resin (AR) latex inks. These printers will also be using the Piezo printheads and seven colours including orange, green and white.

Talking head: Priya Dwivedi, assistant marketing manager - PP at Ricoh India

Drupa was a good outing for Ricoh India. The Indian customers were enthused with the bouquet of our products, and showed great interest in the white and neon colour printing capabilities. Customers were also keen to opt for our post-print solutions along with the engines. The aim with the post-print solutions is to provide end-to-end products rather than just print engines.

We have signed multiple deals, but these will be closed after the configurations are finalised.

So, has Drupa 2016 set the tone for the next two years in print? From the digital print point of view, the B1 and B2 presses showcased are still not ready to be marketed, but the agenda has been set: in the coming years, digital print market will have wider formats.