JK Offset and Packaging was launched by JK Jain from a 950-square-foot space in 2002, later moving to a bigger 1200-square-foot space in New Delhi’s Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I. In 2009, Jain started a new company named JK Offset Graphics in a 12,000-square-foot space spread across several floors in Okhla Phase I. The commercial printer added another 7,000 square feet of space in 2024 near the original space. He has a third space spanning 30,000 square feet in Okhla Phase II, where he runs a sister concern, Tofaa India, which manufactures rigid boxes apart from commercial printing operations.
JK Offset and Packaging started with refurbished Dominant and 2-color Heidelberg machines in 2002. From 2005 to 2009, the printer added three more refurbished Heidelberg machines to the operations.
In 2013, Jain sold off all his refurbished machines and restarted printing operations with a Komori Enthrone 20×30. In 2016, he added another GL-34 25×36 Komori and acquired an RMGT 4-color plus coater from Provin Technos in 2019. He recently acquired (2024) an RMGT 920ST-4 color press from Provin, an upgraded model of the same press he had acquired in the pandemic year 2020.
In the prepress department, JK Offset Graphics has several thermal CtPs while the postpress equipment comprises Stahl folding machines, a Bindwel perfect binding machine, fully automatic Polar cutting machines, and a Muller Martini flow line along with postpress machines from Indian as well as Chinese manufacturers.
On the RMGT machines, Jain said, “We have had a very good experience with RMGT, which was the major reason why we opted for a second RMGT 920ST 4-color press. Our machines have a good speed, low breakage, and a praiseworthy on-call service. We have handled a run of 251,000 books for Pratham Books in one month on the new RMGT press. We have handled large runs of 220,000 copies of the fortnightly magazine New India Samachar on the RMGT press. These two large runs show that the presses are capable of handling large runs. The feeder on the RMGT machines is also very good.”
“The first new machine we procured for our operations was from Komori,” he said, adding the company manufactures high-speed machines.
While 75% of Jain’s commercial printing jobs comprise tender-based government jobs, the remaining 25% are for private publishers. Jain prints magazines, coffee table books, annual reports, and other books for the government. He has printed coffee table books on railways, NTPC, Election Commission, electronics, travel, wildlife and nature for the government. The orders for coffee table books range from 500 to 2,000 copies. Jain has received several awards from the Printers Association every year for the coffee table books printed by him.
Safexpress has been a client for the last 22 years, Jain said, adding the firm has stayed with them ever since they began their printing operations in 2002. Many automobile companies get their promotion literature printed by JK – Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Renault and Hero Motors. Publishing clients include Pratham Books, PMP Publishers, Orient Blackswan, Pitambar Publishing Company, Open Door Publications, Orchid Press and US-based NGO Room to Read. Smart Value from Chennai is another big client, Jain says.
“Printing is a complex activity with 10 to 12 steps – every step of a printing operation faces its own set of challenges. On the whole, meeting small timelines is a big challenge as everyone wants instant deliveries. Moreover, paper prices are volatile, which makes procuring raw materials at a favorable cost challenging, especially for tender-based government jobs. The acceptance or approval of the final product by the client is another big problem that we face. At the end of the day, you need to delight the customers, which is important for repeat orders,” Jain said.
However, the biggest challenge is delayed payments by customers, he said, adding in government jobs, it sometimes takes up to 7 to 8 months to get payment approval.
Diversification into packaging
Jain Offset Graphics has diversified into packaging with its sister concern Tofaa India in 2022 in the new 30,000 square feet space in Okhla Phase II. Tofaa India is primarily into manufacturing rigid boxes for gifting, mithai boxes, and miscellaneous jobs for wedding planners, bakeries, pharma boxes and jewelry companies. The operation is handled by Jain’s son Saksham.
Khoya, Akhand Sweets, Nihira, India Habitat Centre, Yuna Weddings, Consortium Gifts, Geini Prints, Main Patisserie, Tuilireries Patisserie, and Divinity Jewels are some of the companies that get their rigid boxes manufactured from Tofaa. While gifting companies comprise 50% of the rigid box manufacturing operations, 30% are for mithai boxes and the remaining 20% are for miscellaneous jobs, Saksham Jain said.
While most of the rigid boxes are manufactured for Delhi-NCR companies, some work has been done for a client in Bhopal along with some exports for Dubai. “We plan to export our rigid boxes,” he said.
The largest rigid boxes are 20 x 15 inches and 20 x 18 inches in size while the smallest size is 2 x 3 inches for ginni (gold coin) boxes for jewelry brands. Tofaa can produce 3000 to 4,000 boxes in 12 hours and 20,000 to 30,000 rigid boxes in a week, depending on the size.
Saksham Jain says rigid box manufacturing is a labor-intensive job and one needs to have a good team to survive in cut-throat competition.
According to Saksham Jain, while the printing market is saturated, packaging is a relatively new segment and evolving in many ways. There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the Indian packaging industry at the moment, he said. “Printing, on the other hand, is mostly going toward digital. Everything has gone online, which has resulted in fewer and fewer printing jobs,” he added.
Other than rigid boxes, Tofaa India manufactures nearly 300,000 to 400,000 monocartons per month, mostly for pharma companies.
