Established a decade and a half ago by Ashok Kalra, Bhawna Trading focuses primarily on commercial printing output such as brochures, catalogs, fliers, posters as well as customized printing for corporate gifting. Indian Printer & Publisher met Kalra along with his son, Mohit Kalra, who assists his father in the business. Located in the busy Karol Bagh area of Delhi, Bhawna Trading recently upgraded their Ricoh – C651 EX with the Ricoh Pro C9100 press.
The Ricoh – C651 EX was installed in 2013 but Kalra felt the need to upgrade it owing to the demanding productivity challenges. With the upgrade coming within a span of just four years, it indicates the robust growth that the company enjoys. While Ashok Kalra brought in traditional commercial printing business that he had handled all throughout, his son Mohit was more interested in newer segments like corporate gifting. He indicated that he doesn’t want to rely entirely on traditional commercial printing and would instead focus on expanding the business portfolio. Through his own network, he found a foothold in the corporate gifting niche and today it has grown to occupy around half of Bhawna Trading’s overall business revenue.
The need to upgrade to the Ricoh Pro C9100 press is also linked to the varied requirements of Bhawna Trading’s corporate gifting business. Compared to the C651 EX, the Pro C9100 is around 50% more productive and also offers better quality output. Mohit shared the cost advantage of the machine which allowed him to win back a few customers that he had lost. With competitive prices that he can offer with the new machine, Mohit is also able to produce better quality products and ensure higher productivity.
In terms of servicing support, Mohit shared that although there is room for improvement in the way Ricoh engineers respond to complaints, he is nevertheless happy with the way certain automation features of the machine work. For instance, if the ink runs out, the update is automatically logged with Ricoh India’s customer service, or in case of technical glitches, the error is identified automatically and a complaint logged in at Ricoh India’s customer care center. On a scale of 10, Mohit rated Ricoh with a generous 8, which does leave some scope for improvement although he feels this gap could be found in all OEMs.
