Sterling Publishers is a name that needs no introduction in the world of publishing. Having been around for the last five decades, the publishing major has over 5,000 active titles in its repertoire, which include storybooks, readers, encyclopedias, activity books and puzzles for children, in addition to self-help guides, books on art and history, cookery books and the classics for general readers. Over the years, Sterling has grown and diversified into printing, and about 5 years ago into packaging printing and converting.
We met Vikas Ghai, director, Sterling Publishers, at their spacious new plant in Greater Noida for a discussion on the company’s growth story and how it looks at the future.
“The digital revolution has brought about a bigger sale of books and there’s a lot more awareness in smaller cities. The entire format of selling books has changed in the last 10 years, with traditional book shops adding other alluring merchandise on their shelves―from confectionery to mobile phones, etc. On the other hand, supermarkets too feature books among other necessary household items and grocery. The entire book supply chain has become better organized with the supermarket and big eRetail formats venturing into the seling of books,” shared Ghai.
He further explained that the margins are under pressure at the moment although the sales have not come down. The growth in terms of topline has not been affected but the bottomline has been hit. In terms of export of books, Sterling supplies to more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, Asia and Africa. The publishing firm has also secured licenses from Walt Disney and Warner Brothers for certain categories.
“We print for other people and we have our own publications as well. We have separated the in-house publications to another unit while we use this unit to service client orders. Our main clients in India are from the educational segment and the local distributor network. We publish books mostly in English.”
In order to increase its visibility, Sterling participates in various book fairs around the world. They are a regular at the London, Frankfurt, and Bologna book fairs while in India, they participate in the World Book Fair in Delhi along with a few others.
Digital impact
Talking about the impact that the online medium has had on book sales, Ghai states, “There are categories of books which have been affected by the Internet and there are those that have had little or no impact whatsoever. Works like reference books have been affected as you just have to Google to find out about anything these days. However, a child still needs to learn to write and cultivate their reading habit, which is best done with a physical copy of a book than any digital device. However, digital has its own advantages that one cannot deny. The kind of interactive and interesting material that can be created digitally for the child is beyond what we can achieve in traditional books. So, both books and digital platforms have their own space. There are pros and cons, but both will survive. I don’t think it’s the end for printed books yet.”
Talking about infrastructure, Ghai explained that Sterling mainly uses Heidelberg and Muller Martini. They have three Heidelberg CD 102 presses of 4, 5 and 6 colors, respectively. The sewing and binding machines, all from Muller Martini, are fully automatic ones, while the folding machine is a Stahl Heidelberg. Their gathering machine is a Brehmer and they use a Haraus machine for case-making, thereby showing an overwhelming preference for German engineering.
