Mumbai’s Just Print installs Canon digital press

First imagePRESS C9010VP at JustPrint in western India

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Just Print
L to R: Krunal Jivani of Canon India and Shantilal Nisar of Just Print with Canon imagePRESS C9010VP. Photo IPP

Based in the business district of Andheri East, digital print service provider Just Print offers all sorts of commercial printing solutions. In order to better process rising volumes, it recently installed the newly launched Canon imagePRESS C9010VP color digital press. Just Print is an old Canon customer and with two color and one monochrome digital presses was already operating three presses. With the arrival of the new C9010VP, the company has disposed of one of the older color presses. 

“The two other color Canon press we operated were not able to efficiently handle the growing volumes. So, we decided to dispose of one of the presses and get a faster press. Now we have the imagePRESS C9010VP and imagePRESS C850 presses. The one we disposed of is the imagePRESS C800,” says Shantilal Nisar, one of the proprietors of Just Print. 

Nisar says that Just Print has been working with Canon for five years, and it was natural that the company opted for another press from the company. The new press was supplied directly by Canon India and is the first imagePRESS C9010VP installed in western India. 

“Both the technology and the after-sales service of Canon are very good. We have been using Canon presses for five years now and the experience has been excellent. Now that we have the imagePRESS C9010VP, the target is to print 10,000 impressions per day. Since we installed the press in mid-December, we have been averaging 5,000 impressions per day. We hope to double it soon,” Nisar adds. 

The Canon imagePRESS C9010 /C10010VP series was launched in India in August last year. The series is built on the successful Canon 8000/10000 VP platform with additional features such as support for substrates up to 400 gsm, 13 x 30-inches auto duplex, banner printing upto 13 x 51-inches, and quality enhancements like new and higher screen ruling of 200 lpi. Other improvements include the EFI Fiery with 400 FS Platform for RIPping, synthetic media support, and new Fiery Edge Features for better skin tone enhancements.

In addition to commercial print, Just Print also offers signage printing solutions. It also has a full-fledged finishing department for both print and signage.

New Covid-19 wave creates uncertainty

Just Print had seen a sharp revival in business since July of last year as the restrictions imposed during the previous wave of the pandemic were eased. The business had returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, as the new wave driven by the Omicron variant gathers momentum, some of the uncertainty has crept back into the industry, Nisar says.

“Although initial reports suggest that the third wave may be much milder than the second wave, there is definitely some unease that has cropped up in the printing community. We have seen some slow down since the end of December. However, it is still too early to say anything,” he says. 

Nisar suggests that government should not go in for harsh lockdowns as that would be extremely harmful to the economy and will dent the recovery taking shape since the middle of 2021.

“I hope that the third wave remains a mild one. I do not expect any major lockdown, although, some minor restrictions may come into effect. Things will be clearer by the end of January,” he concludes. 

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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