Onyx, EssCee and Usha in Bengaluru eye growth

Onyx Printers has installed a Heidelberg Speedmaster SX-74 , which is capable of printing substrates in 50 x 70 cm format.

 

Pradeep Herur runs the company along with his brother Channabasappa (Channu) in Bengaluru and are engaged in packaging and commercial printing. At Drupa 2012, the brothers got a chance to take a closer look at the Speedmaster SX-74 and were impressed with the short make-ready times and quick job change-over.

 

Pradeep Herur of Onyx Printers, said, "We were off to a bumpy start like any other fledgling business, but the journey has been and continues to be incredible. All the hard work is paying off now. We print with passion and enjoy the pressure."

 

Onyx Printers has a clientele that includes advertising agencies and companies in the corporate sector. About 60% of the work at Onyx involves packaging printing whereas the rest is commercial printing. Onyx has also made a successful foray into bag-manufacturing, widening its horizons. The Speedmaster SX-74 could be easily configured to match their requirements perfectly to a tee.

 

After graduating in Fine Arts from Davanagere, Pradeep and Channu ventured into designing, and set up an advertising agency in a 500 sq/ft rented office. Initially, the printing jobs were outsourced, however, the growing demand from customers and the passion to provide quality and timely service to the clientele motivated them for an in-house printing set-up.

 

Today, Onyx Printers operates from a self owned 12,000 sq/ft office, and employs 50 people. With the addition of the Speedmaster SX-74, they have widened their portfolio which now includes an in-house design, CTP, printing and finishing equipment.

 

Meanwhile EssCee, an ISO 9001:2008 company converts 300 tonnes of paperboard per month. This translates into eight lakh cartons a day. In 2013, this firm with B V Shashidhar and K R Chandrashekhar who are the helm of this firm in Rajajinagar have installed a five-colour Heidelberg with online coating plus a CTP platesetter and a folding machine and a UV coater. All this in 2013. The 120 staffed print firm has an in-house mess in which they serve meals round the clock.

 

Meanwhile in the digital segment, Usha Prints installed a C7000VP and IR ADV 8295 machine in September 2013.

 

Usha Prints, a 15 year old company established by B H Srinivas for services in screen printing, operates from a 30,000 sq/ft facility with three four-colour offset, one CTCP and finishing equipment. With the addition on digital kit to their facility, Srinivas believes they would able to complement their offset volumes as they would be able to print both offset and digital under one roof. Also the Canon presses can provide an instant proof to their CTCP customers.

 

Srinivas who has focussed on pamphlets, visiting cards, posters, danglers, etc is keen to launch online printing services for up country customers. He hopes to launch this service "soon". G Nagsundar of Geetanjali Graphics, who is also vice president of the All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP), “Printers in Bengaluru are opting for new kit.”

 

He said, "The basic trend which is noticeable in this region is to bring out quality product to the fullest satisfaction of the customers. It is in this process that the Bengaluru printers are continuously updating their facilities." 

 

In spite of a sluggish period, he expects the top print firms to notch solid revenues. His own firm hopes to up the ante from Rs 20-cr to a healthy Rs 32-cr by the end of the financial year.