Siliguri-based Janki Publication was established in January 1997. Like many print businesses in India, it started with just a screen printing frame, a computer for designing, a couple of employees and a total investment of Rs. 1 lakh. After 22 years, the company has grown to two plants, one for commercial printing and the other for wide format signage. It now has staff strength of 35, with customers across the Northern Bengal and parts of Assam.
The owner of Janki Publication, Dhananjay Gupta along with his younger brother, Dipak Gupta, who heads the company’s wide format unit, have played a crucial role in the company’s growth. Recollecting his early days Dhananjay says, “Soon after completing college, I enrolled myself in a local newspaper company where I gained thorough knowledge of designing on a desktop computer for two years. Soon after, I was determined to open my own company.”
During its early days, Janki supplied screen printed stationery and then took up offset printing, subsequently adding wide format signage. The company has three Autoprint small offset presses and a cutting machine from an Amritsar-based manufacturer. For wide format signage, Janki bought a Caldron CJ 4000 inkjet printer that prints 5000 square feet per day. The company recently purchased an eco-solvent Epson SureColor SC-S40670 machine as it experienced a rise in local demand. Gupta explains, “We change our business style according to the demands by our customers. Our direct involvement with brand owners helps us understand their demands better.”
Janki is involved in designing and printing of various administrative paperwork, stickers and logbooks. Initially, the company supplied to the local market and with the rise in demand, it spread out to different corporate agencies across the neighboring states. It currently outsources 4-color offset print work jobs while the single or double color printing is done in-house.
Dhananjay says that the company is a significant print supplier to the pharmaceutical segment. It takes up advertising projects from these companies and prints various signage and display works, both outdoor and indoor. It also prints leaflets and other manuals in single and double color for its pharma customers such as Zydus Healthcare, IPCA Laboratories, Aristo Pharmaceutical, SUN Pharma, and Torrent Pharma.Janki also caters to other big names in the region, such as Indian Oil and Coca-Cola. Dhananjay says that his business has improved after the implementation of GST and made the entire process easier.
Talking about migrating to packaging, he shares, “If the demand for packaging is convincing enough, we would like to try our hands in that area too but for now we’ll stick to the design, commercial print and signage market only. We design leaflets, pouches, labels and other stationery products for smaller players in the market. On the other hand, well-established MNCs use their own in-house designs for all their print work.”
