Star Colourpark India located at Gandhipuram in Coimbatore started with one liquid toner photocopier in 1992. Located in the heart of the city, Star Colourpark began by offering photocopying and scanning and later took on digital color and monocolor printing, book printing, lamination and binding.
Recently Star Colourpark has installed a Xerox iGen 150 digital press, which according to Xerox is the fastest color cut-sheet digital printer currently in the Indian market with a speed of 150 pages a minute or approximately 9,000 impressions an hour at a resolution of 2400 x 2400 dpi in sizes up to maximum of 14 x 26- inches.
When asked about what made the organization to choose Xerox over its competitors, K Janakarajan, managing director of Star Colourpark, said, “Excellent quality due to high resolution, color consistency, high lpi, higher print size and auto-duplex are some of the factors that made us choose iGen 150.
High-speed, on-site service offered by Xerox even during the night in case of emergencies, wide variety of possible media, and its support in finding new avenues for revenue generation will definitely help us to achieve our goal earlier than expected.
” Apart from the iGen 150, Star Colourpark also have the Konica Minolta 6000, 7000 and 6501 color presses and other monocolor presses from Xerox and Konica Minolta, Heidelberg Polar cutting machines, Oce plotters, a Megabound case-binding machine, a Horizon BQ 270 glue binding machine and a Horizon APC 61 cutting machine.
Janakarajan says that the Indian digital print market is continuously growing and many offset printers are adding digital presses. He says, “Online printing is becoming more and more popular even among printers in small towns and urban areas. The major challenge now is the continuous increase of paper rates and unhealthy competition because of the reconditioned machines
” Janakarajan adds, “Our annual turnover is about Rs. 6 crore and we have been achieving a growth rate of 10% for the past two years with branches spread over the city and also at Erode. We hope to improve our growth to at least 20% next year, with the introduction of iGen 150. Direct interaction with our customers, continuous upgradation of technology with new equipment, all printing and finishing services under one roof, and the good location of our centres are some of our advantages.
” However, Janakarajan feels that since foreign currencies such as euro and dollar are fluctuating upwards, the production cost is rising as well but market is not ready to accept the increased costs of inputs.
New buzz for Xerox
This new installation has certainly created a buzz for Xerox India in the market. Pankaj Kalra, head, Production Systems Group, Xerox India says that the first installation of the Xerox iGen 150 in Coimbatore is indeed a reason to celebrate and as it is the flagship press of the company, and it proves that the digital printing market in India is always looking to stay positive despite what the economy has in store.
The 2013-2014 financial year has been difficult for most capital equipment suppliers with the slowdown in the economy. The volatility of the Indian currency and escalation of the dollar have also proven to be dampeners for the printing industry with key decisions getting postponed and delayed.
However, Kalra feels that there are some positives thrown in as well. He sees there is a distinct change in the consumers where more and more are ready to opt for digital technology. Kalra says, “With print-runs reducing all the time, more and more printers and consumers are understanding the benefits of digital printing. However, with the share of digital printing compared to offset and other regular forms still in single digits, there is a great opportunity for us to improve and develop it further.”
