Goyal Offset Works adds Heidelberg SX102 8-color perfector

Goyal Offset Works, a commercial and book printing facility in Sonepat’s Kundli Industrial Area, recently added a Heidelberg SX102 8-color perfector to enhance its capacity. As earlier reported, the book printer added a new Heidelberg CX92 4-color offset press in early 2024.

Set up in 1978 by CL Goyal in Delhi’s Daya Basti, the printer has continuously migrated to larger premises as the business grew, first to GT Karnal Road and then to the plant in Kundli in the Delhi-NCR. The company’s second-generation director, Prince Goyal, who now heads operations, joined the family business in 1995 when the GT Karnal Road plant was still operational. The Kundli plant has a built-up area of 50,000 square feet on a single floor. With six floors, it has a total area of 300,000 square feet. 

In our recent visit to Kundli, we encountered the third generation – Prince Goyal’s son, Ramit, who spoke of the business’s association with Heidelberg. “Initially, we used to purchase refurbished Heidelberg machines, and even after my father joined the business, we kept adding refurbished machines because of the ROI angle.”

“However, after acquiring the new Heidelberg CX92 4-color, we saw the positive change in our book production. Its remarkable quality and productivity made us acquire the Heidelberg SX102 8-color perfector – doubling our production with even better quality in less time for long-run jobs,” Ramit said.

Book production all year round

Primarily a book printer, Goyal Offset Works also prints diaries and calendars from May to August. While it mostly prints textbooks, educational reference material, children’s books, and learning material for competitive examinations, it also prints general and fiction titles. 

Although generally seen as a seasonal activity with book printing orders in the country peaking before the new academic session, the plant has work throughout the year, the load increasing periodically during the rush period. 

Though Ramit didn’t have much exposure to printing operations during his school years, he was fascinated by the book production business once he started visiting the family’s plant. “I developed a keen interest in printing and now enjoy looking after production and sales. I visited drupa for the first time with my father in 2024 and we finalized the Heidelberg SX102 there. It was a good learning experience to witness the latest technological advancements from major manufacturers,” he says. Ramit and his father are visiting Print China in May. “I will look for people to collaborate for raw materials and spare parts of machines,” he says.

CL Goyal, who regularly visits the Kundli plant, is a major pillar of support, Ramit said. Speaking about his father, Prince, he adds, “My father supervises everything. I am trying to learn the ropes of the business from the older generation.” 

New presses provide the edge

Apart from the new Heidelberg CX92 4-color and the just installed SX102 8-color presses, the Goyals have two refurbished Heidelberg double-color machines, two 4-colors, two 8-colors and a 10-color refurbished press from Heidelberg. 

The fully equipped plant’s prepress and postpress sections include a Technova Amsky thermal CtP, three Polar cutting machines, eight refurbished Heidelberg Stahl folders, a refurbished gathering line from Polygraph Brehmer, a refurbished flow line from Muller Martini, and a KM 473 binding line from Kolbus. It has two shrink packing, two carton packing, and two thermal lamination machines from Indian manufacturers for the packaging of the printed books. Two refurbished Heidelberg Stahl folders, two Aster Astronic section sewing machines, and a KM600 ratio binder line from Kolbus have been recently added. 

While the older refurbished machines are working well, Ramit says the new machines give them the competitive edge. “When you focus on growth, you need to break barriers and do something different. We will continue expanding in the textbook printing industry as we see a lot of growth in this segment. However, getting a new 8-color perfector will help us expand in a way we haven’t done before.”