IPP and IppStar, jointly with Mumbai Mudrak Sangh, organised and conducted the IPP XI Conference concurrently with the Printech show at the Mumbai Exhibition Centre at Goregaon on 17 and 18 of December 2007.

This marked the relaunch of the well-known IPP series of annual technical conferences on Printing and Packaging. This was the first time that it was jointly organised and supported by a major industry association like theMMS. Canon India and Kodak India were the generous sponsors of the IPPXI Conference.

The theme of the Conference was “The Technology Path for Small and Medium Print Businesses” and the focus was on business and technology insights of relevance to small and medium print businesses seeking to grow and diversify. The conference consisted of 4 sessions spread over two days with a conference dinner on 17 December. The format was a series of panel discussions featuring panelists who were well-known people from the Printing and Packaging industries.

The keynote address was delivered by BS Kampani, President and Managing Director of Toyo Inks India and Chairman of the Indian Institute of Packaging. He presented an overview of the global and Indian printing and packaging scenario and their potential for growth. He emphasised the need for technological upgradation that would ensure a value growth of 20 to 25 per cent a year over the next 5 years despite a volume growth of only around 12 to 15 per cent annually. This would need going up the value chain from B and C segments to the A segment and benchmarking quality and efficiency to global levels. As consumers demand higher standards, the demand for more sophisticated packaging and its consumables is soaring.

Day One
Session 1 focussed on the print market in Mumbai and Western India, relocation and expansion options and the need to adopt innovative strategies and develop exports. It was moderated by Naresh Khanna, editor of IPP and the panelists included Anil Joshi of K. Joshi & Co. Pune; Pradeep Shinde of Printwell, Aurangabad; Ramesh Kejriwal of Parksons and Feroz Reshamwala of Lucid Prints, Navi Mumbai. Naresh Khanna initiated discussions by asking what constituted a “small and medium printer”.

Responses indicated that this might represent a printer who operated generally in less than 10,000 sq. ft. in Mumbai.

Space equals growth
Joshi, Shinde and Reshamwala talked about how they went about setting up new plants outside the conventional core printing areas in Mumbai as land for expansion or new facilities here became restricted and, therefore, highly unaffordable. While a lot of effort had to go into organising infrastructure and ‘services’ including setting up of in house facilities in some cases, it had been a very positive experience and they have now expanded even further in their non-conventional locations.

Reshamwala, who has effected a very successful – and profitable - relocation from Mazgaon in Central Mumbai to Mahape in Navi Mumbai, said additional availability of space is invaluable. He explained that his mantra was “space equals growth.” Ramesh Kejriwal explained how he diversified from his old businesses in Mumbai in 1995 and created a large scale production facility in Daman and subsequently another new greenfield plant at Chakan near Pune.

He graduated from commercial printing that was the traditional family business to folding cartons and created a niche for himself in the high-quality segment by deciding to go with a BlueOcean strategy instead of treading the highly cut-throat conventional path of price competition. Kejriwal pointed out that, while high technology and top-of-the-line equipment are desirable, it is important not to go overboard and understand or ascertain exactly what is required to fulfill customer needs.
In his case, success came through elaborate market research and homework and through a firm resolve to become a major player in the business. Session 2 discussed the options available for commercial printers in packaging segments, primarily in the manufacture of labels and cartons, as these were logical extensions of their skills in both printing and handling of various packaging substrates. The session was moderated by S. Chidambar, editor of Packaging South Asia, and the panelists were P Dasgupta, General Manager – Packaging Development of Hindustan Unilever, Amar Chajjed of Webtech Industries – Navi Mumbai and Ramesh Kejriwal of Parksons.

Chidambar presented a brief overview of the size and growth potential of India’s packaging industry and pointed out that labels and cartons are two high-growth segments that, given our impending boom in organised retail, represented significant opportunities for small and medium commercial printers seeking to diversify and grow.

Dasgupta presented the end-users’ perspective through a review of packaging trends and explained how labelling applications were going through a process of moving up the value chain to more sophisticated, efficient and aesthetically superior systems. Significant opportunities would also arise in tea bag tags, shelf-ready carton-based packages, variable data printing and board-based disposable cups. Chajjed talked about the opportunities in narrow-web label conversion using flexography and the need for in-line integration of downstream decoration and cutting/stripping/finishing operations.

Kejriwal talked about the growth of the folding carton business; it is now at around 2 million MT per annum and will continue to grow at a healthy rate. This was followed by a lively open-house discussion on suitability of different printing processes for labels – the panel was of the opinion that the best option appeared to be narrow-web conversion using a combination press that could incorporate different print and decoration processes into one in-line operation. It was pointed out that prepress and repro houses could also use their expertise to develop exports since, with the rapid advances in digital processing and digital communications, such operations were no longer constrained by having to be located next door.

Day two
On Day Two, in the first session, Naresh Khanna started with an in-depth presentation of the growth in the Indian print industry. Session 3 focussed on some specific new technology options like Digital Prepress, Colour Management, CTP, Wide Format, Digital Printing and Web to Print. Panelists were Nagesh Karuturi of Country Manager of HP India, Khagesh Patel of Patel Digital – Ahmedabad, Anir Dutta of Kodak Graphic Communications Group, Surendra Singh of Canon India and Milind Deshpande of Malhar Digitech. Nagesh Karuturi made a presentation on global trends in digital printing and its potential in the Indian market as print runs are getting shorter and shorter. In fact, a whole new segment demanding very small quantities is expected to emerge as a major outlet.

He dwelled on how offset litho and digital printing will co-exist and complementing each other. An additional advantage offered by digital printing is the ability to cater to printing of variable data.

Khagesh Patel is a pioneer in Poly CtP. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, his business acumen made him convince his clients to convert their conventional jobs to CtP and helped him overcome his ROI problems by giving them value for money. Milind Deshpande, who started with CtF, has branched out into wide format (outdoor) along with a digital studio. He shared his experiences of how, in a very short span, his Digital Yatra encompassed all forms of printing. He believes in quality and runs the print house from his heart.

Surendra Singh made a presentation of the aspects of Canon’s new versatile digital press. He was followed by Anir Dutta, who spoke extensively on adoption of newer technology and creating a niche market for printed products with Variable Data and personalised mailers. He stressed the idea for tie-ups with database management companies to offer excellent opportunities for the printed product.

During the question and answer session what seemed to emerge was a questioning of the old methods of doing business. The keys to success in an age of product proliferation, panelists like Khagesh Patel found, were no longer economies of scale and cheap labour but an up-to-the-minute knowledge of what sells and what doesn’t. He told printers that the future belongs to flexible manufacturing capabilities that can respond appropriately to demand, lean rather than fat and costly inventories, and the rapid replenishment of stock.

Anir Dutta seemed to suggest that the old way was to gear planning and production decisions to forecasts and guesses made months in advance of a selling season. Now firms receive periodic ongoing orders based on actual consumer expenditures. Lean retailing allows department stores, mass merchandisers, and other retail outlets to capitalize on information, allowing them to minimise their exposure to demand uncertainty.”

Almost all the panelists felt that printers have to accommodate real-time demand and diminish the risks inherent in “perishable” inventories. Retailers depend on timely information gleaned from technologies such as product bar codes, point-of-sale scanners at the checkout register and electronic data interchange, which facilitate the accurate and instantaneous exchange of sales figures between the manufacturer and the retailer. The session ended with audience interaction with panelists on issues like colour management, CtP and short run digital printing.

The final session of this conference - Modernising and growing with the offset option: high value assets in small spaces including automation - was a bit contentious. Panelists were Siddharth Gupta of KK Printing, Tushar Dhote of Dhote Offset, Arun Rawat of Print Services, Asim Kulkarni of Kodak Graphic Communications and Sanjib Baruah of Presstek India. The discussion revolved around the difficulty of owning a 4-colour press in a 500 square foot gala in Mumbai and wanting to double production.

Siddharth Gupta made a presentation on the Akiyama stack press that prints both sides in the same pass and highlighted the options available for a small print house to print 4 over 4 colours in a small space. This press can handle substrates going down to 28 gsm uncoated paper. Sanjib Baruah explained the working of a Direct Imaging Press with a 4-page format for short run offset printing, which is the future technology.

Asim Kulkarni put across his views on the viability of CtP as a necessity to optimise the print house. He spoke about process-less plates, which would over-ride the vagaries of plate-room chemistry as well as ecological concerns that include avoidance of harmful chemicals and contamination of water. He spoke of processless as an imminent technology even in India and of course this technology is not only environment friendly but will also both the cost and space of a processor.

Arun Rawat is catering to the commercial print and packaging segments and has conventional offset as well as a narrow web flexo press. He stressed the importance of MIS for print houses, right from job ticket to invoicing and accountability of all press personnel for any rejections. Tushar Dhote spoke at length on high value assets in the limited space in each of his varied galas which included automation in prepress and post-press. He agreed with Rawat on the necessity of immaculate systems being in place, which is why his company has installed a brand new 4-colour press with CIP4 compatibility. In doing so, he has optimised his prepress and press into producing excellent results. His print house is ISO-9001:2000 certified, which definitely gives him a cutting edge over his competitors.

Given this scenario and the changes in technology, management, and manufacturing practices documented, Naresh Khanna who concluded IPPXI was optimistic about the future of Indian printing industry and opportunities for those who see themselves as small and medium printers in Western India. We need to be aware that many international printing companies are looking at this opportunity and possibly to take advantage of this with joint ventures and tie-ups. “This important sector of our economy is more advanced and productive than ever,” he summed up.