BMPA's Drupa Impressions 2012 - Panel on Commercial Printing

The panel comprised of Rupesh Sawant, director of Superlekha; Milap Shah, director of Print Stop; Rajiv Vohra, director of Repro India, Tushar Dhote, director, Dhote Offset and Shailesh Sharma, managing director, Inndus.

In terms of takeaway from Drupa, the panelists agreed that B2 format was exciting from a digital perspective, one was looking at this technology from the point of view that it would strike a balance between offset and digital on the cost per sheet.

“It could be an interesting development if it can bring down the cost per sheet. Unfortunately, there were no timelines on its availability given,” said Sharma of Inndus. “For a digital print firm like mine, we were excited by the new post-press development like the PUR technology.”

From a technology point of view, it may have been one of the best, but it also was a deterrent to buying. “This Drupa did not give correct answers to what should be bought. Those who went there with a mood of buying ended up not buying because of the technology, which was still in a mid-phase.”

The discussion on future of commercial print vis-à-vis digital ended with the panellists agreeing that in spite of the onslaught of new digital technology, offset will continue to reign. 

“All the way-to-go pointers are directed towards digital and printing is no exception,” said Tushar Dhote of Dhote Offset. “Digital is the future, but analogue is the key. As a single owner enterprise, I will have to survive with commercial offset technology but that should not hinder me from looking at digital playing a larger role.”

Sharma was the opinion that digital is not at all a threat to the commercial offset printer, it is to the digital print providers themselves. “The corporate print buyer, if need be, can install a digital press in his own premises, making digital print service providers like us redundant. But they will never install an offset press.”

At the end of the day though, it boils down to the strategy you adopt in doing business, regardless of which segment of the business you operate in. “You have to evolve your business or train your investment in providing services that your customer wants rather than providing him with overcharged services which he does not want. He is not going to pay you,” said Sharma.

He also suggested that print service providers should not work to capacity but keep spare capacity to cater to those customers who need quick delivery and are willing to pay. “It will bolster your bottomlines.”

There is one theme that the panellist agreed upon was that while the prices for things all around had increased, the prices of print remained the same and at times, lower. “I think we as printers are competing at the wrong ends; we are catering to the wrong customers.” There is a need to change; for which a collective action is the answer.

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