The first of the many more…
PrintWeek India Awards night, celebrated on 2 October, saw eight categories throw up a new name. The firms share their shopfloor-cum-print philosophies about an award-winning job. The season of print awards has culminated. The print industry has its series of awards, beginning with the with the National Awards for Excellence in Printing (NAEP), SGIA Awards, the HP Awards, the Technotrans Green Printer award and the PrintWeek India Awards. This year at the PrintWeek India Awards, we had eight fir
21 Nov 2013 | 4978 Views | By PrintWeek India
Anandabazar Patrika, Kolkata
(Newspaper Printer of the Year)
Our shopfloor team was very delighted on receiving the award. We, at ABP, believe that planned print quality initiatives are almost always cost effective in the long run. Today, we operate at 20% less than the market cost because of the continual investment in technology, which requires regular technical meetings, conference calls, and occasional visits with our network of suppliers and vendors. Today, in a limited marketplace, collaboration may be one of the ways to raise and optimise resources. We operate by the mantra – do not compromise quality for a planned cost and have one of rarest rate of customer complaints. We have received the second world ranking by Wan-Ifra colour quality club. In the coming times, print is here to stay. It is environment friendly, user friendly, prestigious, and trustworthy, compared to alternative media.
Buzz IMC, Chandigarh
(Personalisation, VDP and Transpromo Printer of the Year)
Business today is not a one man show anymore. The team either makes or breaks a company. The entire team at Buzz IMC is elated with the award and in all earnest it is their efforts that have earned us this laurel. Buzz IMC has made a niche with everything in-house: offset, digital, large-format, plus the bonus of being an advertising agency. This unique mix allows us to experiment a lot and we are no longer substrate-dependent, like other printers. Our association with our network of suppliers and vendors is relationship driven and mainly one-to-one.
Producing a job, for us, starts with strategy. Our focus is to create buzz and build campaigns that have a long lasting impact and add to the brand value and we usually have access to client’s budgets and plan accordingly. We never push a printed product if the brand does not need it. It is imperative to understand what is the objective of a communication, and accordingly suggest between a direct mailer, a brochure or a cross media campaign. Since we are not substrate-dependent it gives our design team the leeway to experiment regularly and with our digital capability we are in a position to create mock-ups to share with clients and do a pilot test run to check the efficacy of the communication piece.
We consider compliments to be flattering, but also understand that in our service industry, we are as good as our last job or campaign. One of the best compliment we have received is when Marshal, the only mustard oil in India won the brand of the year award and dedicated it to us. It was a very proud moment. But we need to move ahead and not rest on our laurels and raise the bar each time.
Group FMG, Chennai
(Creative Repro Company of the Year)
The Group FMG Team in India, the UK and US, with all of our clients included were thrilled about achieving the PWI award. We consider this award to be a pinnacle achievement in the field of reprography and print in India. There were email blasts that went across to our global teams and to clients alike, with celebrations on the shopfloor followed by commendations from the India group’s MD to the contributors who strived to make this possible. For our entries, we set five conditions as internal qualifiers to choosing our images for submission to the awards. We wanted to pick the work that our customers thought was; most demanding from a creative frame of reference, work that delighted our customers, work that was of international standard, work that brought into play much of the advanced Photoshop tools and, work that conformed to the printers and specialised print profiles used by our customers.
From a business level, this award has furthered the confidence and commitment to the services we render to our clients, and the same was endorsed in writing by our clients. There has also been that stimulus created now which has got clients wanting to engage more with us to provide for them print and print-to-digital solutions. At a production level, clients have said they are reassured of our processes encircling quality and production management and that they are renewed in confidence about seeing the best-in-class pre-media work delivered to them continually.
New Jack Printing Press, Mumbai
(Social Stationery Printer of the Year)
Team New Jack feels enthused, energised and ecstatic about receiving the PWI Award. It will make us strive even harder to do exemplary work.
Fusion of print processes along with innovative use of materials and post-press techniques and subtle handling; to enhance the designs, help us to create our award winning print-work.
We consider ethical and honest dealings help us to gain and sustain our connections with the vendors, suppliers and customers. Today, innovation is the word to go by and innovative use of print processes and materials helps us to strike a right balance. However at New Jack, ‘exceeding customer expectation’ is our mantra, which we do not compromise in any circumstances. Though recent times have been tough, we are optimistic about the future. Print is not the same and we need to accept that change is inevitable. However one cannot compromise on quality because as I have been told, ‘Quality is when a lay man can perceive the difference.’
Perfect Print & Pack, Vasai
(Small Printer of the Year)
Our entire team is very glad to have received this recognition in the industry. It is an honour to be titled as the Small Printer of the Year. The credit of the award goes to all, our team and the suppliers and vendors. We have regular vendors and feel it the best to have been able to sustain the relationship till date. Today, however, what is essentially difficult is to convince a customer to pay the price for quality. But our principles are simple, timely delivery and quality output, will bring clients to you, irrespective of the price. At Perfect, we tell the clients, ‘we print your imagination with quality‘. On our shopfloor, we constantly strive to get the employees believe in the mantra too. Because without discipline and quality, one cannot succeed. There is a lot more we have to achieve, this is just a small beginning.
Prodon Enterprises, Mumbai
(Book Printer of the Year - joint winner)
We have received a PWI Award after sending entries for the last five years. We have given the staff a small cash incentive for the same. I am personally very satisfied to bag such an award as the competition is very stiff and all the top presses in the country participate at these awards. But we are only as good as the work and the creatives we get. We are constantly working with our clients to offer better solutions. It is a constant evolution. Different clients and their different methods help us to get better moulded. We had produced only six quality book print jobs of which we sent four entries for the Awards. It is not to say that excellence and print awards depend on quantity but it does help.
While the team is a core part that drives these achievements and accolades, it is extremely important to treat our suppliers as they form an integral part of the final product. One has to plan taking into account their strengths and limitations pertaining to quality of production and timeliness. One has to pay suppliers promptly and make them feel they are part of the team. We strongly believe in using the best of inputs be it tangible or intangible to maximise results. I remember being told, keep things simple, do not over-promise. Explain all pit falls that may exist before starting and always give proofs that the press can replicate. Our press is on even keel with the very best the world over. It is a question of believing and striving to give one’s best. To raise one’s performance bar, by doing in a better manner what one is currently doing and by following ISO.
Trigon Digital, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru
(Pre-Press Company of the Year)
We are proud to be the youngest company to get recognised with the PrintWeek India award. There was joy and excitement in all our facilities (Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru). Understanding the customer’s requirement thoroughly is the key to produce a good job. Likewise, understanding the printing process and the substrates well before you start processing any job is important. A client comes with different requirements for printing. In instances where we are unable to cater to them, we connect them to our network of suppliers and vendors. Enhancing the creativity of the design are some of the value propositions we serve on the customers plate. At Trigon, we believe – ‘Your imagination is our limit. It is always the man behind the machine. Every technology has its own benefits and disadvantages. Leverage the benefits and ignore the weaknesses.’ Our industry should focus on educating and training the employees.
Quenby Transfers, Bengaluru
(Screen Printer of the Year)
The award has made us all very happy and it is a great motivation to all of us. Our management has dedicated the PrintWeek Award to our shopfloor and technical team.
The entries are part of our regular designs and we showcase them in our library to our customers during their visit. For us, it is very important to maintain good connections with our suppliers and vendors while growing. Participating in events like Fespa, PrintWeek Awards and the like help us build our network even stronger. Our R&D team works on new cost efficient system for every product to keep our customer happy. We started our business in India in 2006 with six UK customers. Now we have around 130 strong customers spread across Asia and Europe. Besides quality and service, the biggest compliment for us is when our customers refer Quenby to others.