(From left) Krishna Prasad, Nikhil Kanekal, Manfred Werfel, Samir Patil and Rani Reddy at the WAN-IFRA India 2018 Conference in Hyderabad. Photo Wan-Ifra
Wan-Ifra is hosting India’s Printers Summit 2021 on 17 and 18 November 2021 in Chennai. The event is co-sponsored by The Indian Newspaper Society. The annual event in India for the print community takes a new format this year and will be held as an ‘invitation-only’ occasion to learn from experts and to meet with suppliers to review their upcoming products and services.
The event will begin with the welcome dinner and proceed with the “Best in Print Asia Awards” on 17 November where invitees meet and greet over cocktails and dinner and recognize Asia’s best newspaper printers. The award showcases the publications’ ability to print at the highest quality according to international ISO standards (ISO 12647 & ISO 2846) and Wan-Ifra standards.
The next day is reserved for networking and in-person meetings with product and solution providers to discuss business and the latest developments in the industry. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn and exchange ideas over two panels on cost and CAPEX optimization and innovation in product and process.
Thus the hybrid event will have a live face to component consisting of the dinner on the first evening and the best printed Asian newspaper awards followed by two panel sessions on the next day with plant of time to visit the sponsors stalls. This is expected to be a partial return to normalcy where the networking aspect takes place as well some technology understanding and marketing. About 110 attendees are likely to come to Chennai to take part.
Only limited seats are available for Wan-Ifra Indian Printers Summit. Click here to claim your invitation today.
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.
