2020 in review
Prior to the lockdown, all major print segments were showing promising growth. The lockdown has negatively impacted all the segments in varying magnitudes. Post-lockdown, the packaging segment has indicated growth as many packaging-printing houses are upgrading their pre-press with thermal CTPs with a focus on productivity, automation and sustainability. The commercial segment is also exhibiting some demand, mainly on technology conversions from CTCP to thermal devices. Investments and installations in the newspaper segment are still conservative. Overall, the investment confidence has slowly started to return in niche segments, and we expect appreciable recovery with the new normal in the coming two-three quarters.

Doing business during pandemic
This pandemic is truly a Black Swan event. All our customers and consequently, we, have experienced a demand destruction. The packaging segment has remained robust and shown positive trends. The major change has been customer demand for safe product packaging. In newspaper, commercial and publication segments, the recovery is slow but trends indicate likely recovery of 80-85% in a couple of quarters. The new normal, we believe, is going to be all about creating a new scope for print.

Plans for 2021
Every crisis is an opportunity, and we at TechNova have used this Black Swan event to transform the business and enhance efficiencies, identify new strategic opportunities for growth and expand our product and services portfolio to better serve every need of the customer. Going forward, the biggest change we foresee is the behavioural shift in customer’s preferences. We believe efficiency, automation, safety and hygiene will take the centre stage in decision-making.

Most popular kit in 2020
We have seen our customers continue to invest in ThermoStar T9 HS thermal CTP and Duplo DDC 810 spot UV and foiling and Jwei LST digital cutting tables. These not only help increase print volume but also drive-up profit per page.