Lucknow’s Crest adds a Canon ImagePress C700

After his retirement, Joshi says, he entered into re-manufacturing of printing cartridges business, and started approaching the corporate houses in the City of Nawabs. It was, however, a rough ride, as corporates did not allow those cartridges in their premises. While struggling with the business of refilled ink cartridges, Joshi realised that no corporate wants to invest in printing equipment. So, he started offering A4 printers to the corporates on rent. “The corporates had to buy the ink cartridges from us. It was the only condition to rent the printers. The rest of the expenses, such as printer cost, installation of the device and after-sale services were on us,” says Joshi.
 

Right now, he has an installation base of more than 700 A4 office printers. Later, he started doing the same thing with photocopy machines, and installed 27 photocopier machines. Joshi has applied his business model in two states – Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He now has expansion plans on cards, including diversification.

Then, Joshi, who thrives in challenges, had another brainwave. He visited the information and broadcasting ministry and procured a list of magazines published from the city. Then he prepared a list of magazine publishers, those who require 100 to 150 copies monthly, and approached them. The plan worked. Now, he prints mono pages (internal pages) of nine magazines, for publishers based in Lucknow.

It was around that time, the magazine publishers approached him with the offer to print the cover pages as well. This spurred Joshi’s decision to opt for an entry-level colour digital production printing press, Canon ImagePress C700.
 

According to Puneet Datta, director, profession printing products division, Canon, the new installation in Lucknow is the 21st installation of the series since it was launched around three months ago. “We are getting a good feedback from the market. Hopefully, there will be more installations soon. With this product, we are targeting B-class cities and new entrants to the industry."

Datta added, "We provide the best printing quality in the segment with a resolution of 2400x2400 dpi. The duty cycle of the machine is 400,000 A4 impressions,” he says.

On the Canon production engine, Joshi says, “I am familiar with Canon printers (A4). Personally, I also use a Canon camera. So, I was confident enough to opt for a Canon press. I did not even look at other printing presses.”

With the new press, Joshi first wants to print magazines covers. With more work coming, he plans to expand the portfolio further. “Now we are in a condition to entertain every kind of customer,” he declares.

“Canon 700 is the best machine for people like us, who are planning to enter into the digital printing business. Next year, I may opt for an offset printing press, as our volume will increase,” adds Joshi, saying that he is confident to earn his ROI in one year’s time.

Beside the Canon press, Crest Office Automation already has two small Konica Minolta printers, which produce around 15,000 colour sheets of 12x18 inch and around 20,000 mono sheets every month. Currently, 13 people work with Crest.

“We installed the machine because of its print enhancement and better print quality, which was what we needed. Now, we can print on 13x19 size sheets, and with a little change in software, we can also print on 13x30 inch sheets,” Joshi says.

In total, Crest Office Automation has four verticals, office automation, remanufacturing of ink cartridges, digital printing and solar energy. Joshi’s wife Daya is equally involved in the business, and works with her husband at the printing facility for around 10 hours a day.

In the near future, Joshi wants to open offices in Uttarakhand, a new territory, from where Crest is targeting a turnover of more than Rs 1 crore.