Upadhyay Colour Copier, a Lucknow-based provider of digital printed commodities, recently enhanced its production portfolio by installing a new AccurioPress C12000 from Konica Minolta. The printer, which already owns a C12000 digital press and an MGI foiling machine from Konica Minolta, says satisfaction with its earlier machines, and timely after-sales service from the digital press manufacturer, prompted it to go for a new machine from the company.
Established in 2009, the business is located in Lucknow’s Haiderganj area. The owner, Pawan Upadhyay, who started as a photocopier, noticed the growing customer demand for more printed products, showing him a market space to capture. The commercial printer initially invested in a 4-color machine. Visiting cards, leaflets, letterheads, wedding cards, greeting cards, and projects for school and college students are some of its products.
The AccurioPress C12000 comes with inbuilt automated technology to deliver better productivity, reducing turnaround times to a minimum. It is known for consistency in simplex and duplex printing for inline business cards and postcard cutting with 3,600 x 2,400 dpi resolution. It can perfectly bind books of up to 30 mm in width.
Upadhyay says Lucknow printers are shy of incorporating digital embellishments, foiling, and embossing techniques in their production even to this day. “In early 2022, we installed an MGI digital foiling machine from Konica Minolta. After printing on our digital presses, we give them a run-through on the MGI and anyone who came with any job since then has ended up as our repeat customer.”
Students living near the Haiderganj area are repeat customers of the commercial printer. “We were told by the students that their faculty was quite impressed with the projects that had embellishments or foiling and even set that as a minimum standard for any submission. A good presentation is a good presentation. It’s the era of finishing as a result of which these novel techniques are in strong demand,” he said.
On the commercial printing scenario in Lucknow, Upadhyay says government work has been reduced to a great extent. “Part of their cost-cutting strategies, as we were told,” Upadhyay said. “Heavy losses came with the digitization of banking sectors as most commercial jobs came from there. However, we see it as a transition. Newer technologies are on the rise. We have to unlearn the obsolete and get a better understanding of the new, keeping market demands into consideration.”
Upadhyay Colour Copier sents its products to Firozabad, Lakhimpur, Kanpur, Gonda, Varanasi and other nearby cities, while also supplying short-run packaging through third-party contracts for personal use commodities such as shampoo, oil, or other cosmetics. According to Upadhyay, Uttar Pradesh (barring NCR) is at the initial stages of developing the know-how of the packaging industry, and the coming five years will be crucial.
“If printers have a growth mindset, they will learn that new technologies with automated features and cloud computing are the way ahead. Traditional printers seldom change their operational machines. Older businesses are reluctant to revamp their infrastructure if a machine has no defect. Adoption and open-mindedness are necessary; unwillingness to advance technologically could be fatal as customers only desire what’s latest.”
