Anil Agola, the proprietor of A Square Digital Press, with his new Ricoh PRO C9200 press.
Surat-based A Square Digital Press has invested in a Ricoh Pro C9200 supplied by Monotech Systems, a leading machine manufacturer and one-stop solution provider for the printing and packaging industry. The investment is expected to lift the company’s overall competency in photo album printing, and enhance the quality of print and volumes.
Since its establishment in the year 2016, A Square Digital Press is a well-known commercial printer in Surat. A mainstay of the company’s business revolves around photo album printing. Anil Agola, the proprietor of A Square Digital Press, says the photo album printing market in India is growing fast. “We are tapping this rapidly expanding market by using our new Ricoh PRO C9200 digital production press from Monotech Systems,” he says.
The installation of the Ricoh Pro C9200 color digital press has enabled A Square Digital to print highly textured photos and opened up many other possibilities in premium-quality graphic images. The press is compatible with a wide range of media types, which include metallic, super gloss, high-bulk media, etc., up to 470 gsm at a speed of 115 pages per minute (ppm).
Agola said, “Apart from the highly textured and sharp graphic prints, our new Ricoh digital press is perfectly designed for increasing print volumes with speed and reliability. We are fully empowered to take on more high-volume works to increase our overall production volume with this cut-sheet digital press.”
A Square Digital Press boasts a vast clientele from a vast cross-section of diverse communities and different walks of life. “Wedding photo albums that we produce always feature special effects and graphic designs. This would have been a big challenge if we don’t have the right machines, materials, and manpower,” says Agola. They also print splendid photo books, coffee table books, and many such products and items for big corporate clients and leading retail brands from different market clusters.
A team of 35 experienced printing and graphic designing professionals are the driving force of A Square Digital Press. “We would like to acknowledge Monotech Systems for their support and machines,” Agola 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.
