It was the conviction in a business opportunity more than anything else that led to the establishment of Autoprint Machinery in Coimbatore in the early 1990s. “When we started with a letterpress unit, we had no printing background. We were convinced that printing had a direct relation to the literacy of the country or a geographical region, and that, if literacy was to grow the demand for print and print products would naturally rise. This conviction led us to start a letterpress unit without really knowing anything,” says CN Ashok, managing director, who along with KG Suresh, joint managing director, has been instrumental in making Autoprint a leading company in the printing industry.
Until the late 1990s, Autoprint was a manufacturer of mini offset presses. However, in recent years, backed by a variety of products and strategies that are sensitive to new market demands, the company has broadened its offerings and now produces sheetfed offset presses, postpress machines as well as agri products.
The performance of the company has improved during the year as has the overall general expectations of printing machine manufacturers as well as the printers. CN Ashok says, “During the first three quarters of the current financial year, sales had not been very satisfactory but the fourth quarter is definitely looking up. We expect to sell about 500 machines in the current financial year with a growth of 10 to 15%. We are finding good take off in our 4-color Dion presses and our postpress machines.”
“The number of 4-color machines booked so far is nine compared to last year’s six which shows a growth of 50%. We have already booked 37 Knight NX non-woven printing machines compared to two from last year showing a growth of 175%. As one of our initiatives for customers, we provided timely service and spares support for the flood-affected 14 machines supplied by Autoprint in Jammu and Kashmir which was appreciated by all our customers.”
For the upcoming financial year Autoprint already has several plans. Ashok says, “We are introducing an offline print inspection machine – the Checkmate 65 for inspecting print and packaging print materials. We have introduced a non-woven printing machine – the Knight NX which has received very good response among printers. We are also diversifying into other new areas for which details will be available soon – one such area identified is agricultural automation products. We feel that there will be a good lead for the postpress machines and are focusing our product development activity in line with this. We are also working out various options to offer services in this segment.”
At the upcoming Printpack exhibition at Greater Noida from 11 to 15 February 2015, Autoprint will demonstrate its 4-color Dion 450+ press and the non-woven printing technology based on its single color Knight NX machines. Ashok says, “We find that the current exhibitions are not very effective in terms of business and showing new products. We have scaled down our participation in Printpack 2015 and have adopted other methods for sales promotion.”
At the last Pamex print exhibition held in 2013, Autoprint had announced its tie-up with Tymi of Taiwan for large format UV equipment for sizes up to 28 x 40 inches. However, the response has not been very encouraging. Ashok says, “Regarding Tymi, we took the agency initially to test the market and hoped to make a breakthrough in the export business. However, the Indian market seems to be very price-sensitive and we are yet to make a breakthrough in this area. Our efforts are on to tap the packaging segment.”
“Affordable pricing along with quality is our mantra, and we would always like to be the value option for our customers,” adds Ashok while telling us that Autoprint is doing well in the African, Far East and Middle East export markets. “In India we are doing well across the entire geography. Domestic demand and consumption is good at this moment. With a single part majority government at the centre, we expect a stable economic situation. Also the ‘Make in India’ movement will definitely be an advantage for Autoprint as all our products are indigenously developed,” Ashok concludes.
