Started six years ago in Kandivali’s Akurli Industrial Estate, Mangal Paper Mart now has two plants there. Last month the company installed a new Komori Enthrone LS29 for commercial printing including products such as calendars, leaflets, brochures, catalogs and stationery.
We already had a Komori and we knew about the kind of quality a Komori press gives. Moreover, we got very good feedback about the machine from our peers in the industry. They had good things to say about the brand. Since our earlier machine was second hand we wanted a new one this time. In the end, considering all these factors, it was a very easy decision to install another Komori,” says Amit Kotak, partner in the company. The strengthening of the Indian Rupee against the Japanese Yen and attractive financial schemes helped in the purchase, Kotak adds.
Apart from the 2005 Komori Lithrone 26, Mangal Paper Mart also has a Heidelberg single color press which was purchased three years ago. For short-run work of 50 to 100 sheets, the company uses a Konica Minolta digital press.
Apart from the quality of output of the Komori, Kotak says, it was the compact size of Enthrone LS29 which weighed in on the decision. “One of our galas (working space) is 800 square feet and we wanted a compact machine that could easily fit in there. Given the limited space that we have, the size of the machine becomes very important.”
The fact that a Komori commands a decent price in the second hand market was an added bonus for Kotak. “If we want to sell this machine in the future we are confident that we can at least recover half of our investment. This factor is important from the point of view of finances.”
Speaking about his company’s performance, Kotak points out that the last couple of years have been difficult and Mangal Paper Mart has seen marginal growth. “Recent years have been tough but we have managed to clock some growth. We have been able to run our presses 24 hours a day.
Also, what helps us is that our prepress department is in-house. However, what we have seen is that the work backlog has shrunk dramatically due to the slowdown. Four to five years back, we had a work backlog of almost seven to eight days which has now come down to two days. This clearly shows how the economic slowdown has affected the commercial print market.”
Another fallout of the slowdown, according to Kotak, is the sharp decline in margins. “A decade ago commercial printers operated with margins as high as 60%. With the slowdown of the last few years coupled with severe competition, margins have shrunk to as low as 15%. Moreover, the cost of both labour and raw materials
have gone up rapidly but our prices have remained constant.”
Since the digital operations at Mangal Paper Mart are minuscule, Kotak said at the moment there are no plans to expand in digital print. “We generally deal with very large quantities and large-scale digital printing business is not our cup of tea. It is also an expensive and risky business because high-end digital machines are costly and do not have a good resale value.”
Kotak says there are no investment plans for at least another year. “We have just invested almost Rs 3 crore in the Komori Enthrone LS29. We would like to recover this investment first and then think of investing in something
new” Kotak concludes.
