Ekjot Printers, a signage, commercial printer, and supplier from Lucknow, recently installed an AccurioPress C12000 from Konica Minolta to enhance production speed, quality, and decrease turnaround time.
The Alambagh-based printer that supplies widely to local businesses has seen steady growth despite being relatively new to the business with Covid striking within the first two years of its establishment in 2018. Proprietor Gurdeep Singh, though, stayed optimistic in the hope of capturing the printing market sooner or later.
Alambagh, located on the road towards Kanpur, is a commercially bustling area with wholesale markets for fruits and vegetables, and shops for smartphone repair, clothes, and sweets. During our visit, the roadsides were filled with dozens of vendors selling rakhi. The area was especially busy due to the Metro and bus stand with the narrow roads occupied by eRickshaw and rickshaw pullers.
Flex, vinyl glowing sign boards, roll-up stands, and pamphlets comprise Singh’s signage business and for commercial printing, he makes posters, visiting cards, calendars, stickers, brochures, letter pads, wedding cards, and billbooks. The commercial business includes short-run digital book printing with in-house binding. The C12000 press was installed as the proprietor was impressed with the machine’s speed and quality of print. He also owns presses from Epson and Canon.
Singh, who has an experience in printing, started Ekjot Printers with monocolor machines. “I have worked at printing presses and wanted to have a business of my own. During my initial days, the commercial printing market was booming with all sorts of jobs and requirements. Post-Covid, the market wasn’t the same. During the pandemic, many new digital mediums became available, especially in the education and banking sectors. The demands kept falling,” Singh said.
Although the printer has witnessed decent year-on-year growth, the profit margins keep on fluctuating. “The commercial printing market in Lucknow is not doing well. Fluctuating paper prices and shortage of jobs affect businesses. We are standing due to our consistent supply that reaches all across UP. Occasionally, we get some business from Japan or the US,” he said.
The commercial printer is not considering any expansion at the moment as the market is not stable. “As of now, we plan to stick with what we have and what we have been doing. As printers, we are looking forward to some support from the government. We need better subsidies and some reductions in tax as the margins are not in favor of small-cap commercial printers,” he added.
