Formerly the Mitsubishi sheetfed offset distributor in India, Provin Technos became the authorized distributor and service agent of RMGT when the joint-venture ofRyobi and Mitsubishi Was Implemented on 1 January 2014.In two financial years (from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2016), the company has covered considerable ground in terms of press sales and engineering services.
The Indian market has come of age believes Vinay Kaushal, director of Provin Technos, “When we started our association with Ryobi-Mitsubishi, people were sceptical. The market was looking towards the few big brands. However, when printers began to understand the value-for-money approach that MGT and Provin stand for, there was no looking back.” Printers look to meet their needs in the most efficient manner and after-sales service is obviously one of their top concerns. Service has been a top priority for Provin as well. Its engineers usually respond to any service call within 24 hours at any location throughout India. “And if it is a metro location, our response is within six hours. In fact, we are sending three more of our engineers to Japan to receive training at the RMGT headquarters. Altogether we now have 20 engineers across India seven of whom have been trained in Japan. This Shows our commitment to our customers.”
The Indian commercial printing market has recently seen some tough years. “2013-14 was one of the most disappointing year for the industry. It was a tough time for all the heavy metal and equipment suppliers. However, we kept faith in the market and our persistence and efforts have paid off. The market has improved a lot – from a market size of around 30 new multicolor presses in 2013-14 to around 60 new presses in 2014-15 in which we managed to score well. In the current financial year which ends in March 2016, the market is expected to increase to a size of about 80 new multicolor and high configuration presses in which we are looking at installing a ballpark figure of 25 new presses. This would put us at the second position in the market, after Komori and I think to achieve such a figure speaks volumes about our presses and the service and trust that we have earned in a short span of time.” Kaushal expects the next financial year to be even better – “I expect at least 100 new multicolor sheetfed offset presses to be installed in India next year.”
At around 25 new presses for this year, Provin Technos and RMGT are more or less at their upper limit in terms of delivery in India. Kaushal says, “In the current financial year, we have already captured a market share of around 25%. By 2017-18, we are targeting a 40% share. However, at our current manufacturing capacity, this will be difficult to achieve. RMGT is planning an expansion of its production capacity in Japan which we hope to confirm later this year. If that happens, then we are certainly on track for achieving a good growth in the upcoming years.”
UV enabled packaging presses
The Indian packaging market is also looking up for RMGT, says Kaushal. RMGT has already installed a 6-color plus coater 926 press at Baroda with another 926 scheduled to be installed in June. Stylo Imaging in Kolkata has already installed a 7-color plus coater – a full UV press specialized press which has a shell type skeleton transfer cylinder. All these presses come with conventional UV at the moment which is upgradeable to LED UV at a later stage according to the requirement of the customer, explains Kaushal.
