The Print Miracle Expo 2014 held by the Kerala Master Printer’s Association at Kochi from 12 to 14 December was an event with a difference. Held at the CIAL convention centre adjacent to the Cochin International Airport it was bustling with enthusiasm and energy infused by the participants as well as the visitors, largely because commercial printing is still a money making venture in that part of the country. Though digital printing giants like HP, Xerox, Canon and Konica Minolta through its authorized distributor Monotech displayed new models and hogged the limelight at the Kochi show, the offset printers too created a buzz and had their stall full of visitors from the commercial printing market.
Buoyant demand
Ganesan Venkataraman, assistant general manager, sales equipment at Heidelberg says that the commercial printers are doing well in Kerala because the pressure on margins is less than in price-sensitive markets such as Mumbai and Bengaluru. “There is space for quality inKerala and many commercial printers have marketing officesin Dubai and SaudiArabia that helpsthem command better prices,” says Venkataraman. Heidelberg has already sold over 50 offset pressesin the state.
In 2011 Heidelberg installed a Speedmaster CD 102-4 press at Fivestar Offset and an SM 74 -4 offset press at Manappuram Offset Printers. In 2012 a Speedmaster SM 74-4 was installed at Divine Printers and in 2013 a Speedmaster SM 52-4 press was installed at SN offset while in 2014 a Speedmaster SM 52-4 was installed at the St. Francis Press. Other major printers in the state who are Heidelberg clients are Anaswara offset, Varna Printers and Sujili Graphics.
Prepress & postpress equipment
Rajendra Prasad, marketing manager, marketing and communications, Heidelberg says that apart from offset presses Heidelberg has sold a large number of prepress and postpress equipment in Kerala. These include around 10 Suprasetter CtPs and 10 polar cutters, Stahlfolders and stitching machines and a digital press in the state. Venkataraman adds that the demand exists not only in the big towns of Kochi and Trivandrum but also in the peripheral towns where Mannappuram, Divine Printers and Maya Printers have set up print plants.
KP Uthup, managing director of Colortone Process, a commercial printer who also has an HP Indigo press for the photo album market says Kerala is not a dog eat dog market because printers often work for directly for customers in a B2C market where clients are mostly focused on improving quality rather than reducing the price.
O Venugopal, managing director of Anaswara Offset and a past president of the KMPA confirms the trend, but says that Kerala needs to build up its packaging capacities which are in a stage of infancy. Already Esko and Bobst have shown interest and while Esko conducted a conference at the Travancore court on 11 December 2014, Bobst was present at the KMPA Print Miracle Expo 2014 quite upbeat after the sales of a diecutter and folder-gluer to Fivestar Offset. The packaging market is big as Kerala exports varied products from spices to ayurvedic products to rubber accessories to the Middle East for which packaging is often brought in from neighbouring states.
