L to R: Ashok Pahwa and A Appadurai of HP India with the HP Indigo 15K. Photo IPP
HP India unveiled three new products at the 15th Printpack India. The company has for the first time showcased the HP Indigo 100K digital press, which was launched virtually, HP Indigo 15K digital press, and the HP Indigo 6K digital press. It has also launched the Holo Lens. The company has one of the biggest participation this year with a total space utilization of 452 square meters at the expo.
“The HP Indigo 15K digital press has the latest feature in the B2 segment. Through this press, we are targeting the commercial and the soft packaging segments. Also, we are targeting those printers who are using smaller Indigo presses. We have also built in a lot of automation in this press,” said A Appadurai, country manager, Indigo and Inkjet Business Solutions, HP India.
HP Indigo 15K is equipped with FM screens and a wider range of substrates, with additional options up to 600 microns. The new inks include ElectroInks Premium White and Invisible Yellow.
Ashoka Pahwa, business manager, commercial business, India and Sri Lanka, HP India sales said that the photo segment is at the pre-pandemic levels but the commercial printing segment is yet to come back as strongly. “The volumes in the commercial segment have shrunk. These printers are facing challenges with inventories. So, we want to help them grow,” he says.
HP India’s business sees robust growth
Appadurai said that HP India has seen massive growth in business post the pandemic because digital technology effectively helped printers run their operations. “Also, there have been thousands of startups who have come up since the pandemic and most of them are in the food industry. All these guys need quality light packaging in small quantities. And these startups have also helped boost our business,” he added.
Appadurai said there is a supply chain problem globally but HP Indigo customers have not faced any major issues because of the company’s manufacturing location diversifications. “Our diversification has taken care of supply chain issues. Also, we have absorbed a large chunk of raw material price and passed on only a fraction to our customers,” he said.
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.
