KCL Imaging buys India’s first Ricoh Pro C9200

KCL Imaging plans to disrupt the Indian printing industry

502
KCL
(From L-R) Veena Ben Kagathara and Jahanvi Kagathara of Surat-based KCL Imaging with the Ricoh Pro C9200

Surat-based digital print specialist, KCL Imaging has reinforced its infrastructure with the addition of Ricoh Pro C9200 digital production press. The press has been installed by Monotech Systems.

Established in 2000 by Hiteshbhai Kagathara, KCL Imaging is one of the biggest digital printing and color lab businesses with facilities in Surat, Ahmedabad, and Rajkot, catering to over 250 clients from the textile and the graphic arts industry.

Veena Ben Kagathara, proprietor, KCL shares, “We have been providing excellent services in the digital printing field for the last 22 years. Ricoh machines have helped us to drive down our costs and increase our profitability by multiple times. The excellent working of the press for the high-volume consistent prints, backed by good after-sales service and technical support from Monotech Systems tilted the scale in favor of Ricoh. 

“At KCL Imaging we are always ready to accept the change and the challenges which is why we are known as the best in the market. KCL believes that change is inevitable and, in the technology, digital field, it is only a win-win situation for the business when the change is accepted. KCL aims to achieve high goals which are only possible with the greatest and latest technology.”

KCL upgrades technology with Ricoh

KCL Imaging is being headed by the two women entrepreneurs Veena Ben Kagathara and her daughter Jahanvi Kagathara.

“We have been using Ricoh for over a decade now and my late husband, Hitesh Bhai was awarded by Ricoh in 2013. He had always thought 10 years ahead of the industry. His inspiration helps us in maintaining this goodwill at KCL. I believe in the same process and am always ready to take the risk. As per his vision, we are trying to carry forward the legacy of the company to take a quantum leap and disrupt the printing industry.” She added.

“KCL could provide high-quality prints with the fastest delivery time with Ricoh presses which gave us stand out in the market. Customers were happy with our company KCL as they also felt technology upgradations were required in the market. We always think 10 years ahead of the industry which helps us to make the first move of change in the industry.

Veena Kagathara installed the first Ricoh Pro C9200 in India to make this change possible and to provide quality and fast service in the field of digital printing to continue making benchmarks. “We have been able to increase the production capacity and we expect the growth to be double. Monotech Systems has always been a great support to KCL Imaging, making proper analysis on our market to suggest us the best fit machine,” she added.

Ajeet Pareek, Business head – Digital Products and Solutions at Monotech Systems says, “It’s been almost a decade Monotech Systems has been associated with KCL Imaging and they have been one of our biggest customers. We express our gratitude for their continued trust in us. It is a proud moment for us to have India’s biggest digital printer covering the textile market in Surat and the entire nation is on board with us.”

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

Subscribe Now

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here