An Open House themed ‘Revisiting the Book of Life’ organized by Replika Press, the Kundli-based book printing giant on 22 February in Delhi saw an appreciative audience which included publishers, printers and machinery suppliers. Among the industry leaders in attendance were Stephen Esson, group publishing operations director, Penguin Random House, UK; Louise Cameron, group production director, Bloomsbury Publishing; Mike Levaggi, group production director, HarperCollins Publishers; JP Vij of Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers; and Rajiv Beri, managing director, Bloomsbury Publishing India.
The Replika story as witnessed by its publisher clients was recounted in a short company film — Revisiting the Book of Life. Many of the same publishers participated in a lively and forthright panel discussion about the Indian book printing market and their experience with Replika, moderated by Ramu Ramanathan, editor, PrintWeek India.
The extremely warm gathering of friends, family and industry wellwishers also celebrated Replika’s winning the Special Export Award by Capexil for its achievements in book printing exports in January 2016. Its high-value exports pegged at Rs. 75.8 crore in a single year to global markets in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America earned it this special recognition.
Bhuvnesh Seth, the managing director of Replika, while speaking to Indian Printer & Publisher explained that the company’s huge investment in a new plant of more than 4,80,000 square feet, not far from its existing plant in Kundli was a result of the constraints that it was facing in the postpress and binding area. The new plant has separate workflows and space for hard cover and soft cover book production lines. Seth plans to increasingly automate the plant to improve quality even further with fewer manual interventions, to streamline the process and make it more efficient.
Seth took the opportunity to thank all the book publishers who have stood by him all these years and helped Replika grow. Sanandan Seth, director – marketing, and Vikaran Seth, director – production, representing Replika’s next generation also spoke at the event. Each reflected on the progress of the Indian book printing industry which has enabled companies like Replika to not only grow in size but also in their ability to efficiently service the exacting needs of both international and Indian publishers.
Vikaran Seth said, “The lucrative but highly competitive export market is picking up, with quality and cost effectiveness being its key mantras. It’s no wonder that major foreign book publishers are sourcing their production mainly from Asia with India being one of the key hubs. Replika Press has been at the forefront of the book printing export segment of the Indian printing industry.” The company’s director of business promotions, who also looks after major overseas accounts, Jagdish Seth said, “Though I do not come from a printing background, I do admire the organizational capabilities of Bhuvnesh, who is taking Replika to newer heights year by year.”
