The second generation at Mumbai’s Paper Print Services is taking the business forward by embracing new technologies and venturing into new areas. US educated Puneet Rawat has set up a digital printing division, Paper World, at this traditional offset printing house. He joined his father’s offset business in 2006 after returning from the US and has been actively involved ever since.
“Sometime back I was thinking of ways to take our company toward a path of expansion and growth. I had the option of adding another offset press. I also had the option of building an in-house digital printing division. After careful evaluation of options, I decided that ROI on a new offset machine would not be attractive due to low market prices. We decided that opting for a production-level digital press would be the right choice,” Rawat says. Paper Print Services installed a Ricoh C7100 in September this year. The press is housed in a separate unit in Shah and Nahar Industrial Estate away from the offset facility in the same premises.
Rawat says his business model is such that it is geared towards catering to printers and not end customers. “We are offering the best rates in the market and are looking to play the volumes game. We are the printer’s printer and will not approach any end customer directly. But at the same time we want to keep color management in mind. We are getting our Ricoh press Forga certified and will also coordinate with Forgacertified consultants. Our machine will not be a jobber’s machine. Major focus will be on standardization, which is extremely important for me as well as for our company’s growth,” he states. To begin with, Paper Print Services will look to utilize the Ricoh C7100 for all kinds of jobs from customers from pharma, FMCG and consumer goods segments.
Staying abreast with technology
Holding an extremely optimistic view of the digital printing business, Rawat plans to keep up with the technology going forward. The company plans to add a new digital press every 18 months to remain the most competitive in the market. “In the digital printing business, one has to be abreast with the technology to be competitive. Since for the next five years we are here to print for other printers and focus on volumes, we need to offer the best rates and that can be done only when we have the latest technology at our disposal,” he concludes.
