Digital printing is seeing significant growth: Vijaya Grafiks’ Prashanth Kumar

How has your company and your customer base performed in 2024, and what is your outlook for 2025?

We have received ample support from the industry over the past year, securing several repeat orders from customers such as Hari Om Manufacturer (Poanta Sahib), Shaurya Monocarts (Derabassi), Evora Packaging (Punjab), Chanakya Printing and Packaging (Noida), White Print O Pack (Baddi), Uma Print Pack (Kirti Nagar), Shivam Brandwrapper (Kundli), Jaiswal Art Press (Narayana), and Shree Devi Packaging (Agra).

Are volumes increasing? What is the demand for print like?

As label manufacturers and commercial printers transition into packaging, we are continuing to develop new inquiries and orders.

How is your company adapting to the shift towards digital printing, and how do you see the growth in offset printing?

I fully agree that digital printing is seeing significant growth. However, offset printers involved in packaging are unlikely to be heavily impacted. As the digital printing industry grows, the offset printing sector will likely grow as well, especially with advancements in automation that are improving offset printing technologies.

Is the growth rate of digital printing similar in India, and is it a good number or is there room for improvement?

We are innovating by introducing batch code printing and inspection on our carton folder gluers for shorter runs.

How is your company using emerging technologies, like automation and AI, to improve efficiency and product quality?

We have launched a tape applicator that can be widely used across various machines for different products, including shipper cartons for the online market, reusable courier bags, and the corrugation industry.

What is your view on evolving customer expectations regarding faster turnaround times, quality, and certifications like ISO 9001 and BRC? How is your company responding?

We are responding to these demands by launching a new Carto Pack system that can be installed on any carton folder gluer. This innovation reduces production costs and increases productivity in collecting and handling finished cartons from the folder gluer.

How is your company innovating to meet demand for shorter print runs and personalisation, while maintaining offset technology strengths?

Looking ahead, we are upgrading our existing Veenine model to the Veenine Pro, which will handle bump and turn for commercial envelopes and specialised packaging, including conical cartons. This model is easily upgradable to handle four- and six-corner cartons and a tape applicator can be installed. It also supports Parma code or bar code scanning and online error correction. We can install inkjet or laser jet printers to print batch or variable data inline.