Eco-friendly signage solutions by Technova

Media Expo 2019, New Delhi

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Thyagarajan Iyer, chief operating officer, digital print media, Technova with Deepak Chawla, general manager of marketing, Technova. Photo IPP

TechNova, a supplier of Total Imaging EcoSystem, displayed its latest range of signage media as well as the cutting tables that it distributes in India at Media Expo 2019 in New Delhi. The company displayed a Konica Minolta digital press, Jingwei LST–0604–RM and JingWEI CBD08 II-31116-RM digital cutting tables, and banner media including NovaSign Banner Satin PVC 200 Grey Back, NovaSign Eco-sol Banner Satin PET 190 Grey Back, NovaSign Artistic Satin Canvas 345, NovaSign Artistic Gloss Canvas 370, and NovaSign Specialty Glass Film 250 SA. The glass film was launched by the company for the first time at Media Expo 2019.

Environment-friendly media

Deepak Chawla, general manager of marketing, Technova, said, “In terms of our signage media, our focus is on Green media by replacing PVC with environmentally friendly materials such as PET, PP, Paper fabric such as polycotton, etc. Customers today are diversifying their businesses and looking to innovate their offerings to their customers. Hence, we need to offer end-to-end solutions rather than just products. They need a onestopshop for such solutions. While we continually work towards introducing new products, our focus has been on making products more environmentally friendly. We started our ‘Go Green’ mission in 2009. My personal belief is that no product can be completely eco-friendly; it can only be eco-friendlier than the last product. We are trying to do that in all of our product ranges.”

NovaGlass and NovaLux

The Technova stand received good footfall throughout the three days of the show, “We have regularly been participating at Media Expo, and it is a significant event for us. The footfall at every Media Expo is crazy. We get to meet our customers and channel partners, and this year we have finalized a few deals during the show. We launched our very exciting Glass Film, NovaGlass, this year. One can put our printed vinyl sheet on an ACP sheet on top of which NovaGlass can be put to make it look like printed glass. The film gives the impact and feel of a glass surface. The biggest advantage of glass is its flatness and sheen; these films provide both of the advantages. While the biggest disadvantage of printing on glass is handling, weight, risk of breakage, with NovaGlass, you can achieve the finish of printed glass without any disadvantages. The full product, including the ACP sheet, printed vinyl sheet, and NovaGlass, is called NovaLux,” Chawla said.

Speaking about the digital cutting tables, Chawla said, “We have displayed one small and one bigger digital cutting table from JWEI. The smaller cutting table is more popular because of its price point, functionality, and minimal footprint.”

Upcoming green trends in the signage industry

Reflecting on the changing trends in the signage industry, Thyagarajan Iyer, chief operating officer, digital print media, Technova, said, “Technova is doing well, our business is growing at a healthy pace. But the signage industry is shifting from PVC to PET-based materials. Naturally, Technova is also shifting to PET. In terms of technology, there is a shift towards soft signage. In Europe, soft signage is all over the place. With sublimation being a popular choice for printing, soft signage will take over in the next few years.”

“The sensitivity towards eco-friendly solutions is yet to be fully developed in India, unlike the other countries. The media has to be green, and if we use it for landfills, it should be able to decompose. There is a regulation in Bangalore and Kerala that dictates that every hoarding has to be green and decomposable. Even polyester is not allowed. These are the upcoming trends in the industry,” Iyer concluded. 

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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