Kolhapur-based web offset press manufacturer Sigmarq Technologies has had a decent financial year so far and has sold two of its flagship product Crusader towers with a couple more expected to be sold by year-end, Rajesh Ghorpade, the company’s managing director, said. The Crusader was launched in 2014.
“This year has been good so far. We sold two Crusader towers in the first quarter. One has been supplied to Telugu daily Vaartha and one to Jagran. Vaartha will be installing the tower at its Kadapa plant while Jagran will be installing it at its Bhopal plant. Commissioning process for both the towers will start in September,” shared Ghorpade.
Sigmarq Technologies is also in talks to sell two or three more Crusader towers in the immediate future.
“In addition to the two we have already sold, we are in talks to sell two or three more in the coming months. So, for us this year will turn out to be decent with moderate growth,” he added.
Situated in the Five Star MIDC, about 30-minute drive from the city of Kolhapur, Sigmarq Technologies has been making a mark in the web offset industry in the recent past. The company is managed by Ghorpade and Pradeep Shirale. Sigmarq now caters to some of the well-known names in the newspaper industry, such as Dainik Jagran, Vaartha, Eenadu, Gujarat Mitra, Malayala Manorama, Daily Thanthi, among many others. Jagran has been one of the most consistent customers for the company.
Sigmarq participated in Printpack for the first time, which was held earlier this year. The company displayed the Crusader tower along with its accessories like motorized ink zone control system and sneak type webbing up system. However, there were no live demonstrations. Sigmarq received a very good response and going forward, the company expects some leads to convert into concrete orders.
“We exhibited at Printpack for the first time and got very good response for the Crusader. We got multiple leads from the newspaper industry and we expect a few of them to convert into orders by the year-end,” Ghorpade said.
Talking about the trends in the newspaper industry, Ghorpade said that there is definitely some slowdown in the capital expenditure. Also, the fact that imposition of 10% duty on newsprint just after the global prices had begun to cool off may put further pressure on the industry.
Book printing press launch next year
At Printpack Sigmarq Technologies told Indian Printer and Publisher about its plans to launch a press for book printing by 2020. Ghorpade said the project is progressing well.
“Yes, we are moving as per schedule and will officially launch the press for book printing next year to cater to the fast-growing book market. We met with many book printers during Printpack and see a lot of opportunity in this segment; not only in India but also neighboring countries like Bangladesh,” he concluded.
