The first six months of 2016 have been promising for digital press manufacturers and suppliers. The number of installations reported during the first half of the year has been higher compared to last year. drupa this year saw a large number of visitors from India with digital printing being one of the highlights during this edition. Indian printers showed keen interest in the latest digital printing technologies unveiled at drupa.
Bhalchandra Nikumb, Kodak’s managing director for India and West Asia Cluster, says, “At drupa, Indian visitors were second only after Germany. They were keen to know more about what’s next. In digital printing, people are exploring new ideas and applications not only to add value to print but also diversify their products and services, while manufacturers such as Kodak are delivering solutions to meet these growing demands. Printers are looking at digital as a brand new setup altogether, or as a complementary setup to their existing printing operations. The pace of investment in digital is steady.”
In total, there are close to 20 installations of Kodak Nexpress with maximum installations of SX 3300 and 3600 in India. However, there have been no installations in the first six months of 2016. All currently produced models of the NexPress are upgradeable to perform heavier duty cycles. Digital flexo plates have also been a robust growth area. Kodak has more than 20 installations in India and has received many new queries for Flexcel NX.
Digital technology in wide format printing has seen good growth as well. Insight Communications, dealer of HP’s large format printers, has recently tied up with Mimaki. “Latex machines are majorly consumed for indoor signage, though they are suitable for outdoor jobs too. And at present, wallpaper is a massive segment for the large format printers. Consumers buying expensive homes are ready to invest in printed wallpaper that can give a living room a fresh contemporary look. The signage markets in western and southern parts of India are comparatively larger than the northern market,” says Ashish Save, director at Insight Communications.
Save declined to disclose the exact number of installations but said that it would be higher than last year. Edifice Technologiesis another supplier of HP large format printers based in Mumbai. Saumitra Trivedi, managing partner, Edifice Technologies says the first six months of 2016 have been excellent with the number of installations done by Edifice up by almost 30% compared with the first half of 2015. “Growth in graphics has been very robust,” he says. Edifice recently installed Mumbai’sfirst HP Page Wide XL 5000 at Arihant Jumbo Zerox.
In terms of some new launches this year from HP, he says that the number too is up over 30% in the first half of this year. “More is expected post drupa.” Trivedi says that more and more digital press manufacturers have realized the importance of emerging markets.
In terms of trends witnessed in the recent past, he says one of the most important one is that printers are now replacing their machines before the lifespan is over. Earlier, he says, the printers used to continue using the same machine even after its lifespan was over. The scenario has changed and printers opt for presses in time. “Not only do they become technologically up to date but with newer machines their cost is also lower.”
Earlier, the printers used to continue using the same machine even after its lifespan was over. The scenario has changed and printers opt for presses in time. “Not only do they become technologically up to date but with newer machines their cost is also lower.”
