Meerut-based Sudhakar Mudralaya has come a long way – from using a humble treadle press to highly configured automated digital, wide format and offset presses. Now the company is expanding to Noida in the Delhi NCR where production will start by the end of April 2016. “The expansion will give us the advantage of exposing our business to a wider audience which in turn will improve sales and increased profitability,” says Sharad Sudhakar of Sudhakar Mudralaya. “Taking the high road and setting up more places to sell what you supply or provide will expand your overall clientele and reach more of your target audience therefore making room for more sales and revenue all in all.”
Sudhakar Mudralaya was set up by Sharad’s father Ashok Sudakar in 1970. The 1100 square-foot plant in Noida will at first be powered by a Xerox 7435 digital press, a Toko mini offset press and a Caldron Seiko Crystaljet 5000 wide format solvent inkjet printer – machines that have been ordered and should be installed by the end of April. According to Sharad Sudhakar, the new plant will target corporate houses in Noida as well as other businesses and walk-in customers. In June 2015, Sudhakar Mudralaya installed a new 4-color Komori 429 at its offset plant in Meerut – one of its two plants in that city which is about 75 kilometres from Delhi.
The company prints 70,000 to 80,000 offset impressions a day which includes catalogs, booklets, magazines, folders, leaflets, posters, bill, banners, brochures, books and envelopes. After installing the new Komori, the company has also started producing monocartons to the tune of 150,000 cartons a month. “Investment in the Komori 429 enabled us not only to expand our core business, but it has also allowed us to get into board packaging. This was one of the reasons why we bought the Komori. The new press can help us to do what we currently do in a better way, and it can also enable us to expand in new directions,” says Sudhakar.
The company’s second plant in Meerut, some three kilometres away from the offset unit contains digital presses as well as signage and banners printers. The digital section has a Xerox 7435 laser printer and a Konika Minolta bizhub 224e printing about 1,000 prints a day. Whereas, the signage and wide format section is powered by printers from HP, Monotech, Caldron and Mimaki. “Our idea is to become a one-stop solution provider for our customers,” says Sharad’s brother, Shekhar Sudhakar. “We are also planning to install our own CtP system which probably will come by year-end. Having our own CtP will give us even better control of quality and on-time delivery of final products.”
Speaking about the challenges faced by Meerut’s printers, Sharad Sudhakar says, “During the last year, around eight to nine new offset presses have been installed in Meerut, which means customers here can now have better quality jobs done at their doorstep. Yet, I can see that many people are still getting their printing done in Delhi. The same jobs, however, can be done in Meerut and at competitive rates – but customers prefer Delhi because of the perception that big city printers can deliver better quality jobs. That perception is wrong and no longer true as Meerut’s printers are equally capable of producing high quality print products. The labour cost is comparatively lower in Meerut helping us provide competitive rates and it is just a matter of time before the perception is changed for good. But more important than changing perceptions, to be a winner, printers in Meerut must be willing to invest and use new technology that would help drive their print volumes and ensure profitability. Investments need not necessarily be just in the latest presses but could also be in other innovative solutions.”
