(L-R) Rick Stanford, VP global business development and Raj Rana, sales manager with the TexCoatG4 at the Baldwin stand at ITME 2022. Photo IPP
Baldwin Technology – a well-known name in the newspaper, magazine, packaging, and type printing segment – exhibited its TexCoat G4 at the ITME 2022 exhibition held at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida from 8 – 13 December. Way back in 2015, the company introduced the TexCoat G4 machine to the textile industry.
The machine intends to replace pad finishing, and dip and squeeze-type finishing with precision spray. “With the precision spray finishing, it’s contact-free and customers end up saving water, electricity, and energy. Customers are now replacing their old bath systems with this digital spray technology,” says Rick Stanford, VP global business development, Textiles, at Baldwin.
Since the machine’s introduction in 2015, Baldwin has installed about 90 units in the marketplace, mainly in Europe, Turkey, and the Americas. Beginning this year, the firm is expanding into markets in Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, moving over to Vietnam, Thailand, and all the countries in the far east.
“We are excited to be at the show. The attendance is fantastic and the show was sold out from an exhibitor’s point of view. We spoke to people about how they can have more sustainable solutions for textile finishing. We finally had a chance to be face to face to discuss what sort of advantages the TexCoat G4 has for the market,” Stanford says.
Raj Rana, sales manager at Baldwin, adds, “The TexCoat G4 is a new concept for the market. This is the first time we have introduced this concept in India. We are sure that the industry is waiting for such energy and water-saving solutions.”
On the textile printing market in India, Stanford says, “Our interest is on the digital printing side. One of the ways we can help with that is by providing the pre-treatment finish on the fabrics before it is processed by the digital printer.
“Baldwin is already well established in India in other markets such as the offset printing industry. We are fortunate that some of our team members in India also have textile experience. According to our plan, our team in India will promote the TexCoat G4 to the textile industry going forward,” he signs off.
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.
