Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib installs Heidelberg CS 92

To print Sri Guru Granth Sahib & other holy texts

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Heidelberg
Rajinder Singh Chadha, Harmeet Singh Kalka and Manjinder Singh Sirsa

New Delhi-based Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib upgraded its print facility with a brand-new Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 press, reaffirming its commitment to excellent print quality. Run by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), the facility prints Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the central religious scripture of Sikhism and other related holy texts, calendars, diaries, and material in accordance with the Sikh religious code. The sacred texts are then supplied to Gurudwaras (a place of worship for the Sikhs) in India and overseas.

Installation of the Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 press at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib was a festive occasion, with strong participation from DSGMC members, including Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the President of DSGMC, and Harmit Singh Kalka – the General Secretary. “The Heidelberg Speedmaster CS-92 enhances overall print quality and productivity, with quicker make-readies and turn-arounds. We are excited to print Sri Guru Granth Sahib on a world-class quality press. The move to digital empowers cost-effective, and high-volume printing,” said Manjinder Singh.

Built upon the Speedmaster CD 102 platform, the Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 can accommodate a wide array of print substrates with thicknesses ranging from 0.03 mm to 0.6 mm. Boasting print speeds of up to 15,000 sheets per hour, this high-end press is integrated with Heidelberg’s proprietary Prinect workflow to make operations simple and intuitive.

The remote-controlled, calibration-free foil ink fountain of the Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 ensures superior quality and stable coloring through the entire production run, with 500 increments per color zone. A speed-compensated Alcolor dampening system facilitates stable ink-water balance and outstanding print quality. The DSGMC and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) – Amritsar is the only two bodies with exclusive and legal authorization to publish the authentic version of Gurmat literature (philosophy of the Gurus), the holy scripture and other religious texts of the Sikhs. The two committees also supply scripture and sacred literature to NRI Sikhs living in 50 countries.

Manjinder Singh concluded, “The Heidelberg Speedmaster CS-92 is a valuable asset to assist the shift from conventional and monochrome press operations to highly-automated, full-volume, color printing. Waste optimization is an added bonus. With the CS-92, we look forward to setting new benchmarks in productivity and performance.”

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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