A print technologist from Chennai’s Institute of Printing Technology, Pillai started his career as a letterpress composer at Deccan Herald and grew to become vice president of IEM where he won respect and admiration from industry leaders for his technical acumen especially on post-press equipment.

 

“I found him to be one of the nicest person in the industry from our first interaction. His knowledge on the finishing techniques and equipment was fantastic. It is a huge loss to the industry,” said R Jayaraman of Multivista, fondly remembering Pillai.

 

Expressing shock and sadness, Bhuvnesh Seth, managing director of Replika Press said, “He was so soft-spoken and always been a bridge between the customer and the supplier. Personally it is a big loss since he was the go-to person for us when to comes to Kolbus in terms of its operation, spares etc. I also think it’s a huge setback to the industry since his in-depth knowledge on case making and binding will be sorely missed.”“His importance to Kolbus can be understood by the fact that Bastiaan (Dewinter) changed his complete schedule to fly from Copenhagen to Delhi and then Chennai to be part of the funeral,” said Seth.

 

“It is simply a massive loss for us. He has been most dedicated and most eager to do anything for his customers first and then us the suppliers. He was ready to answer questions and help them patiently in all times. He was very valuable to Kolbus in terms of his knowledge and his ability to find technical solutions in every situation. He is irreplaceable and we are going to find it tough to find a champion like him,” said Bastiaan Dewinter, in-charge of marketing for Kolbus in APAC region.

 

He always ensured to harmonise between different stakeholders in his own gentle ways. For me, I have lost a great friend, personally and a perfect colleague, professionally,” said Dewinter.

 

“I can confidently tell you that the Kolbus customers have all bought the machine because of the faith and confidence in Pillai as much as the quality of the product,” said Seth, a sentiment shared by Jayaraman too.

 

“He was confident of surviving the cancer which was diagnosed two months back so much so that he was enthusiastically planning his visit to Drupa in 2016,” said Naren Pillai, son of C M Pillai. He is also survived by his wife and daughter.