Kolkata's B R Gupta adopts automation with a Grafica

The company, which was started in 1959 by Late Begraj Gupta (B R Gupta), is claimed to be the first Marwari wedding card showroom in the east zone, offering a range of wedding cards and boxes involving designing and printing. Over the decades, the company modified the method of wedding card printing - from die printing, foil printing, letter press, manual screen printing, offset and now advanced screen printing.

B R Gupta's sons, Radhey Shyam Gupta, Kishan Gupta and Rajendra Prasad Gupta (second generation) continued the business which was later taken over by the grandsons, Vijay Kumar Gupta (V K Gupta) and Harish Gupta (third generation).

Now, V K Gupta’s son Rahul Gupta (fourth generation) has recently joined the family business.

“These days wedding cards have a combination of screen printing and foil stamping. But the demand is growing for screen printed cards due to the possibilities in designs plus UV special effects," says V K Gupta.

The 55-year old wedding card specialist has a printing unit and warehouse located near the Hoogly river. In addition, there is a showroom and office in the wedding card market in Kolkata. They have complete post-press facilities, which include UV, cutting, punching, etc. They are engaged in both wholesale and retail business. Their special focus is on retail, customised and designer wedding cards. They also make invitation cards and sweet boxes for various seasons/occasions.

The company caters to customers in Kolkata, and West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, and Ranchi. They also cater to overseas clients in UK, USA, and Bangladesh. “Even 50 years ago, we used to export wedding cards under the brandname ‘Lovely's’. Under this brand, we produced eight to 10 lakh cards with one single design by the name of Lovely's Chunrey, which was a copyright. 

“Customers these days have become quality conscious and prefer fancy cards with sober colours, and simple but striking designs,” says V K Gupta. He adds, “Price is not an issue for the premium segment of card as long as they are satisfied with the design, colour combination and finishing of the product.”

Impact of automation
“We had a manual screen printing set-up which was just good enough to print normal wedding cards. We prefer quality products. And with Grafica’s Nano-Premier League system we are able to explore possibilities and creativity. Automation is needed to convert creative design/concepts into appealing products. This is aneabled through value addition, with the use of UV special effects. With automation, we are able to maximise productivity and curb the labour problem, too,” Gupta concluded.