Exploring print power on the Indigo 10000 at Mazda

Playing host: Mazda Imaging feasted more than 40 print production heads with tech gyaan, sample showcase and food.The visit to Mazda's Mahalaxmi unit was part of the series of Print Yatras, that We The Production People (WTPP), a club of print production professionals, organise.The initiative is in association with Print Week India.

The Yatra began with a live demo of the HP Indigo 10000, the B2-size (20x29-inch) press, which Mazda installed earlier this year. For Phiroze Havaldar, Mazda gained an edge over its counterparts because of the bigger size.

Mazda's print man, Noor Ansari, walked the delegates through the built and operation of the 10000."The 10000 can print 4000 sheets in an hour and can print 30-40,000 prints per day."

The workhorse has a media versatility and can handle substrates from 80-350 gsm. Said Havaldar, "The Indigo can handle fair number of textured papers, however, printing on heavily textured paper is a challenge. Mazda is looking for a pre-coating machine, which will enable it to use any kind of textured paper."

The Indigo 10000 will drive Mazda's growth in the commercial printing segment while providing new and innovative products to the photo industry in India.

The beginning with Indigo 3050: Mazda, which produced photo prints with silver halide technology for amateur as well as high-end professional photographers, introduced the concept of photo book in India in 2006 with the installation of Indigo 3050.

Following the demo, Raju, Strategic Account Manager, Indigo and inkjet press solution, HP India, highlighted the capabilities and capacities of the HP Indigos especially the benefits of a B2 size press.

Raju spoke about how applications in bigger size can be done digitally, thus making it possible to print even one copy of a larger than life poster, coffee table books and what have you.

The many visiting card avatars of Raju.

Of Mazda, one thing is apparent; they have historically been a niche and quality player and as Havaldar in conversation with Ramu Ramanathan said, they want to stay that way. A case in point is the production capacity of the 10000. Havaldar said, "The capacity is ample. We are not filling it as we are taking our time to find customers who appreciate quality and where we can add value.”

"This is the kind of output we can deliver to enhance your work," said Havaldar, during a show-and-tell. The work showcased here is the recently printed Mumbai Freeway project. With the B2 size and seamless binding the photographs in the brochure seem lifelike.

Havaldar proudly shows off the thickest book that they printed on 10000. It was a 1100 page section-sewn book. Mazda printed three orders of the same job each with a print run of only 10 copies.

"What we could not do with A3, can be done with B2,” said Havaldar highlighting a B2 poster of an election campaign.

A round-up to the the Q&A was a showcase of the array of work that Mazda has produced on the Indigo.The B2 format HP Indigo 10000 at Mazda is the first device in India which caters to the general commercial print.

This press caters to a vast array of new applications, thanks to the larger sheet size. This include pocket folders, six page brochures, posters, large covers, landscape books and oversize lay-flat photobooks, but the possibilities extend beyond commercial jobs into the photo-specialty and publishing.

“One B2-size sheet can accommodate six 9.5x9.5-inch size pages. Hence a square sized brochure or book is an exciting and economical proposition for the marketers,” said Havaldar.

A token: PrintWeek India presented Phiroze Havaldar with a personalised magazine cover page.

There was a question from audience about the problem of white edging while creasing or folding paper with solid prints. Havaldar said: The edging problem has to do with paper and creaser. You need an extremely precise creasing machine. Mazda has Morgana auto creaser which allows it to produce big seamless wedding books without cracking on folds.

Members of the We The Production People group, saw and confabulated over the work on showcase.

They came. They saw. They concurred.

The front desk of the Mazda office carries a sign: If you have an idea, make it bigger with a Mega-Book with the Indigo 10000 B2 print.

The We The Production People team got their photos shot at the beginning of the Print Yatra. The idea, conceptualised by Hemant Randive, was to give each of the attendee a personalised print when they exit Mazda.

Each of the participant in the Print Yatra took home an Indigo 10000 print. This is Shireesh Sabnis of Publicis in the customised Mazda calendar

HP's top brass speaks about Mazda's Indigo 10000 installation