In 2018, the leading Faridabad-based textbook publisher VK Global Publications got into printing by acquiring a plant in Manesar comprising book and packaging printing, binding, and converting equipment, along with luxury hard box-making capacity. In the past several years, the group rationalized the VK Global Digital Manesar plant with investments in converting and learned the commercial and carton-making processes. It then decided to build a greenfield plant in Faridabad, not very far from the publishing house. Within 22 months, the elegant purpose-built factory, along with several additional investments in equipment is humming.
The VK Global Digital book printing and packaging project was ambitious from the blueprint stage. The planning embodied the group’s belief in designing modern work and production spaces. The now completed 250,000-square-foot load-bearing factory space has a 1-megawatt solar plant on the roof. Within the plant, on most of the 2 acres alongside the building, is a hydroponic greenhouse where the first horticultural crop of lettuce and Kael is just maturing.
Apart from the double height 100,000 square foot production space and meeting rooms on the ground floor, the 50,000 square-foot mezzanine contains prepress and open plan management spaces. Another 100,000-square-foot load-bearing floor is not yet populated.
The main production floor allocates spaces for commercial and book printing and carton offset presses. The folding and binding sections complete the postpress for book production, while the finishing and converting sections with diecutting, hot foil stamping, and folder gluers complete the cartons. There is a third production process with dedicated equipment for producing two-piece luxury boxes for electronic, personal care, and confectionery products.
The move from Manesar to the new plant nearing completion began with installing a new Heidelberg packaging press in February– March 2024. An 8-color Heidelberg perfector was added for book printing. By August 2024, all the equipment from Manesar was moved, installed, and recommissioned. Although not without challenges, the entire closely managed process meant the transition to full production was practically seamless – with few or no hitches in customer deliveries.
In the double-height pressroom, there are ten Heidelberg presses including two 6-color coater UV presses and two 8-color perfectors. Apart from improvement in workflow and material movement in the continuous space, extensive new equipment has been added for debottlenecking and increasing production output.
For book production, apart from the addition of the 8-color perfector, these include the upgradation of the four Stahl folders, and a new MullerMartini section sewing machine supplementing the two earlier Aster machines. A used Muller Martini Accoro 5000 gathering and perfect binding line complements the earlier binding lines.
Premium visual effects and authentication
All the products produced by VK Global – books, monocartons, or luxury boxes tend to be in the premium category not only because of its select customers and the quality of design, paper, and printing but because of the company’s rich experience in security and embellishment using its holographic technology and expertise. For this, the company uses its own manufactured transfer films which can transfer metallics with holographic diffraction and optically active surface patterns, and Fresnel lens films for application on paper, PET, and BOPP.
Hence, the company is a global pioneer and exporter in creating completely recyclable book covers, cartons, or blister packs integrated with Fresnel lenses and other holography patterns. VK Global’s transfer films have been validated under EU EN 13430 certification which classifies the products as bio-degradable. In the case of textbook cover production, these effects can authenticate books that are legally produced under publishing rights at a nominal cost – easily differentiating them from illegal and pirate editions.
VK Global’s biggest book production customer is still its parent publishing company. However, it has produced excellent quality text, general, coffee table, and children’s books for global publishers. It is also one of the selected printers for the recent government project to triple the production of NCERT textbooks for the 2025-26 academic year, to 150 million.
Technology absorption, process, OEE, and human resource optimization
The most significant aspect of the new Faridabad plant, apparent in its architecture and design, is the keen desire of the management to optimize the production workflow and processes and invest in the skill development of the company’s human resources. Director Namit Jain who manages the plant has acquired a considerable understanding of printing, binding, and converting processes and the technology dynamics in just five years. He sees the benefits of having an expert printer from Heidelberg training his team for a sustained three-week program, which he says may sound expensive but is trivial in comparison to the cost of the presses and their complexity and capacity for quality with efficiency.
Educated in computer science, Jain apart from his exploration of the production processes, is one of the few young printers or print businessmen who have taken an interest in the digitally enabled concepts necessary to drive efficiency in printing and packaging businesses today. For instance, he has understood many of the Heidelberg Prinect prepress, workflow, and production monitoring features that are talked about but rarely implemented. This is usually because of the large gap between the educated management and inadequately skilled personnel on the shop floor.
To improve efficiency, Jain has implemented the processes and calculation of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) using Prinect’s spectrum of digital tools. He uses Prinect’s imaging engine in prepress, its scheduling features for production, and its ability to produce pallet tags for production tracking and operational material movement. The modern building, its well-lit and decorated environment, and what is happening inside reflect the same perspective. I find this attitude of breaking down the business challenges and the production processes the most exciting thing about the new plant – the aspiration to excellence without compromise.
