"The printing scenario has improved," says Sanat Shah

What is the outlook for Manugraph in 2011?
The Indian newspaper publishing is moving vertically as well as horizontally.  Literacy rate is increasing by leaps and bounds. There is bound to be an increase in the newspaper circulation in accordance with the literacy rate. Also realty prices are moving upwards. In this context, the Smartline 4x1 press which is comparatively shorter in length will be an attractive procurement by the newspaper industry.

Is the market picking up?
Yes, but I must admit that the newspaper and publishing industry may not see the boom which we witnessed between 2004-2007.

What is Manugraph’s plan for PrintPack 2011?
Manugraph has set a benchmark for the Indian printing industry. At PrintPack, we are highlighting the Cityline Express with an integrated autopaster which is a space saving design. Along with the Cityline Express, we will highlight the newly developed Smartline 4x1 with a speed of 70,000 copies per hour. Smartline 4x1 is the first Indian manufactured double width machine along with the F1270 folder designed by Manugraph DGM featuring 2:3:4 cylinder configuration.

We saw some pickup during IFRA in Chennai with orders for Malayala Manorama. Is this going to sustain?
Due to sub-prime financial crisis in America and Europe there was a drastic fall in business in all sectors. Multinationals and large corporates were compelled to cut down their advertisements in newspapers and magazines. This affected the revenue of newspapers and publishers in all countries. India was no exception and there was considerable fall in advertising revenue. This was the period from September 2008 to September 2009. The business scenario has improved during the last ten months and demand has picked up in India, and Middle East countries.

What about the emerging markets?
The whole of Africa has potential. Then there is Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Hopefully, CIS countries like Russia which is developing will be good for the print manufacturing industry. But all this will not match the boom which we saw between 2004-07.

What about the Manugraph plant in America?
Very frankly, the last three years have seen a lot of money spent on the project. But over the last three years we have consolidated our position. The US subsidiary will look after sales of spare parts and warranty services for DGM machines sold by them. It will take care of requirement for add-on towers for its most popular machine DGM 430, DGM 440 and Advantage. However, the sales of complete presslines will be from India. We expect that when the conditions improve, Manugraph will earn good dividend by virtue of the dominant position of its subsidiary in the US market.

Has there been a shift in brand, the Indian brand?
The acquisition of DGM has given us a big edge in the international market (Europe, America and South America), where they know that the Indo-American company provides technology, equivalent to the best on offer. DGM is the best in folders, because of which we could secure orders from Saudi Arabia. We secured an order worth Rs 65-crore from Saudi Arabia, because it was backed by DGM’s technology. Once the economy improves in the developed countries, Manugraph will be a player in these countries.

Other than Manugraph, we see, Ballarpur, ITC Bhadrachalam, JK Papers, TechNova, TPH, Micro Inks, Welbound, Autoprint, Proteck playing a crucial role. How good is the Indian brand?
The Indian industry by and large has been in the limelight and is progressing. In education, it has established top class management schools across the country. Similarly they have made tremendous progress in hospitality and the automobile industry. In media and entertainment they are vying to be number one in the world. Printing industry will flourish, both in printing and production. However, this should be projected across the world – and various events are organised and hosted under one umbrella.

Are you worried about the jitters that we are seeing in Europe? Do you think this could become contagious?
Business in Europe is down and is likely to remain very weak for sometime. As Manugraph’s concentration is in India, Africa, Asia, we are not worried. However, Russia’s (CIS countries) economy is a worry. We hope that the economy will improve soon so that Indian manufacturers could enjoy the benefit of that market once more.

You’ve announced the sale of your first UV web offset press order to the Middle East. How did this product evolve?
The UV curing method for printing on glazed news print will be a tool in the hands of newspapers for the years to come as it has become cost effective compared to gas dryer etc, which defies the pollution norms. Now that greenhouse emission norms are becoming stricter day by day, UV printing is the future of the printing. With the developments in rubber rollers and blankets, I see that dedicated towers can be used both for coldset and heatset. Also, there is a trend of cost of UV ink going down. I see a growth opportunity in this sector.

Do you think UV will become popular?
I think it should become popular. I don’t know why people are shy. There are number of printers doing 16-page commercial work. Now tell me why should a printer do so? His secondhand machine will cost Rs 3- to Rs 4-crore or a brand new machine would cost Rs 15-crore. Instead use a machine that would cost Rs 2-crore. Now I am not talking about those printers who are doing top-end magazine, but those who do magazine work below the top-end level. These machines with a UV deck would give the same result. I think people are a bit afraid and we need to get rid of that scare. We are planning to keep a machine on demo at a print plant and print magazines, and show its working. I have seen in America such type of work being done using UV.

How is the competitive landscape in the print business?
The competitive atmosphere has always been there. In the  present scenario, the severity of the competition will increase, more so because the large manufacturers like Manroland, KBA, Mitsubishi are under heavy financial strains for lack of orders. So when they sell high-tech machines fully loaded with all optionals, they will now offer it at rock bottom prices. Manugraph will have to maintain its high level of quality and effective after-sales service. This will be a key factor in winning prestigious orders from key publishers, both in India and the overseas countries.

Earlier you talked about secondhand machines. Is there a problem within our industry where we have disparate voices, lack of comprehensive policy ...
Now by and large, the policies have been streamlined except one item, which I think will be corrected. It is about the 4x1 machines, where the duty is very low, and excise is similar. But the component parts which go into machines, for example, shaftless drives, three-raceway bearings, autopasters, the duty structure is double. We are addressing this anomaly with the government.

Does this affect pricing?
In the 4x1 category, the foreign players cannot compete. Due to the recession in Europe some players are dropping the prices by 20% to 30%. But Manugraph will be able to face the competition comfortably.

What is happening with a training institute for the print industry? I know it is one of your dreams ...
We need top class training and learning colleges. And to do this, we need funds. It’s not possible for IPAMA to do it. Unfortunately, unless all those involved in printing including packaging centres come together and make a consolidated effort, set up a corpus for the purpose, this dearth in trained manpower will continue. A training college needs good faculty members to teach and an infrastructure for practicals. It’s a very expensive affair. The little training that happens at the local level is fine, but we need top level manpower. For this  we need top level colleges for running printing courses. We need an IIT or IIM type institute for print.

And efforts taken in isolation will not help the cause ...
I think the All India Federation of Master Printers can play a big role. They have over 10,000 top printers as their members. And these printers have to give due respect to every section of the printing industry, including the manufacturers. Today, Indian manufacturers are the back-bone of production. These manufacturers bring engineers and mechanics to pressrooms. And ultimately these manufacturers are going to develop products. Germany and Japan have done it. And now China is following in their footsteps. Likewise India.

The government has committed a budget outlay of Rs 3,500-crore per annum for literacy - and we find there are not enough machines to school books.
That’s what I am telling. Sheetfed is not the answer for magazine or book printing. Magazine and book printers have to adopt web presses; install post-press machines like binders and stitching machines. Their work will be completed faster and would also work out cheaper and make more money. This is a high growth area even for us.

Yes, but some printers are worried about the cut-off for web offset.
True. That’s why we are taking a look at this aspect of cut-off. Manugraph is considering developing new technology for variable cut-offs. We are exploring the possibility of going into the production of converting and packaging machines.

This Feature appeared in the 31 December 2010 issue of PrintWeek India magazine