Shankaracharya Laskar of Xerox India with the Iridesse production press. Photo IPP
At the 15th Printpack India show, Xerox India is talking about print and beyond. According to Shankaracharya Laskar, sales director, technology and channels, Xerox India, the concept of print and beyond, the company is looking at three broad pillars for the customer.
“The first pillar is how the customer can expand his or her business. We are looking at a trend where print runs are shrinking and there is a requirement for being more adaptable. There is also an increased requirement for specialty outcomes. Considering all these points, we are working on helping our customers increase their business. The second pillar is how we are able to help customers protect their income. The third pillar is where we can help customers in their workflows,” Laskar said.
Xerox India is highlighting solutions for multiple segments of the print industry. The company is demonstrating its flagship Iridesse production press which has a 10-color engine. Also on display is the Versant series which is in the mid-production segment. While for the entry-level segment, Xerox is showing Primelink series, both in monochrome and color.
“Whether you take the Iridesse or the Versant or the entry-level segments, we are offering CMYK plus enabled solutions,” Laskar says.
Xerox India is exhibiting Iridesse color production press, Xerox Versant 4100 press, Xerox Versant 280 press, Xerox PrimeLink C9070 printer, and Xerox PrimeLink B9100 series.
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.
