“We need to value-add our products to sustain in this competitive printing market,” says Varun Tholasi of Bengaluru based Tholasi Print

When you read your early morning newspaper, besides half tones and colour reproduction you look for?
I look for world news and national news to keep myself abreast of current affairs and I sneak a peek at the gossip columns in between

How do you begin your day?
I begin my day at 7 am heading straight to the gym to burn off last night’s dessert   
 
Do you plan your day, meticulously? Or is it ad hoc? Or is there a blue print for the day?
I plan certain important things I need to do for the day, the rest of it is ad hoc owing to the fact that most people in our country don’t do anything on time
 
One person with whom you like to share your daily drive to office! Why?
Steven Spielberg, to listen to his secret behind the magic that makes him what he is, to help me recreate some of the same magic in my life    
 
What is the first thing you do on entering the office
I seek divine intervention to get through the rigors of the day, besides that go around all the production departments with my production manager. 
 
How frequently do you interact with print production supervisors? What do you discuss, commonly?
I interact with my production supervisors at least twice a day, every print job is unique and requires different operations, we go through the production plan for every single print job & every single operation it needs, we discuss production schedules and if everything is going as per the plan  

With the fierce competition, high cost of entry and above all the increasing threat from other media, do you find that traditional ink-on-paper is facing a serious threat to its survival?
I do agree that there is an increasing threat from other media, but I don’t think ink-on-paper will face a serious threat for survival at least for the next few decades. Nothing can replace traditional ink-on-paper no matter how digitized the world gets.
 
Which press does the best printing in India? 
I would have to say Pragati, they have the technical knowledge to bring out innovations with the right quality others can’t 
 
If you won Rs 10 crore. Which printing equipment would you invest in?
I would invest in a Heidelberg six color UV press with cold foil finishing like foil-star   
 
Why do you think many printing houses are on the verge of closing down? And what does this portend for the future of the industry?
We can see this happening because of a number of factors, there is stiff competition in the printing market out there, they aren’t able to sustain their business and provide the right quality and stand out from the competition. It’s pretty clear that we need a USP to sell our services, we need to provide added value to our products to stay on top of the competition, innovate or perish, that’s what it portends for the future of the industry    
 
The best break through in print technology in the past hundred years?
Computer-to-plate imaging systems and the digitization of prepress is the best break in print technology for a century
 
Are you encountering the problems of squeezing profit margins? If yes, then why and how? 
Yes, we are encountering these problems as well. Basic economics of supply and demand in the market determines the price, printing prices have remained the same for the last five years because of increased competition, but whereas input costs have increased lowering profit margins   

For a working lunch if you meet Johanes Gutenberg, what would you talk to him about?
I would ask him if there wasn’t an easier way he could have done it    

How do you motivate your sales & marketing team? Any new promotion strategy?    
I motivate them by interacting with them, convincing them that our services are better than the competition’s, reassurance is important for any marketing team to keep them motivated   
 
The craziest deadline, you've come across?
2,00,000 A4 size leaflets for a telecom company to be delivered in three hours and we did it in exactly three hours
    
Your favorite excuse to your family when you’re late?
I had a late meeting with a client  

Please comment on the technology and machines that you have invested in, in the past few years?
We have invested in a Screen Platerite 8300S in our prepress, coming to the press, we procured a brand new Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 4+L with easy control color management system, the first in the country. We have also procured a range of the latest post press equipment including folders, multi clamp perfect binders and guillotines. With this investment, in addition to our existing presses (Heidelberg SM 74 as well as 2 Heidelberg MOVs) we have one of the best print infrastructures in the city.
 
In India, the two most important barriers are technology and cost! What advise do you have for the printer?
I would advise printers to be cautious about the investments they make, but at the same time they need to make sure they make the required technologic upgrades to stay in the market, they should strike a balance between the cost of investment & the technology the investment offers, return on investment is the key
 
How do you stay in touch with technological developments?
By attending international trade fairs like Drupa, Ipex, China Print, etc. Also trade magazines like Printweek India are a key source of information

Please comment on your official view on CTP technology and digital printing.
Talking about CTP technology along with the digitisation of the pre-press , like I said earlier, is arguably the single biggest technological advancement in my opinion, without which even advanced presses would be left stranded, it has increased productivity & quality to a very large extent. Digital printing has taken the very short print run market by storm, but when it comes to quality, offset printing is still the gold standard and will be for a very long time unless Benny Landa of Landa corporation succeeds with nanography.

One person with whom you would like to have a FACE TO FACE!
The late Steve Jobs, only if he were alive. I’d have to settle with Tom Cruise for now.