According to CK Shoukathali, director, Oruma Printing and Publishing, inspired by the thermal technology wave worldwide, the company decided to invest in a high-speed thermal device to take care of the rising demand for quality print in the market.

Established in 2009, Oruma has grown over the year, winning three NAEP awards in 2019 – one gold and two silvers.

Previously, the company was using the FFEI VioStar FA8 violet CTP. “We started with VioStar and still have the machine,” Shoukathali said, adding, “TechNova has been our key supplier for plates, chemicals, software and CTP since inception. It helped us take the right decision about thermal CTP.”

He added that the major challenge in digital printing plates business is the price threat from CTCP plates in the market. “But, we think it can’t match the quality of thermal technology and believe our customers will vouch for quality first.”

Another challenge for Oruma during the installation was to get the ‘big machine’ to the first floor where there was space constraint.

“We managed it with our experienced installation team and TechNova engineers helped us get it done effectively. They installed and made the ThermoStar T9 HS Aurora 800 plus online machine up and running within 12 days. This was outstanding,” he added.

Previously, just before the lockdown, the company had completed the installation of an Orient web offset machine with 578-mm cut-off. Besides this, Oruma has two 546-mm cut-off web offset machines and a new four-colour Komori Lithron GL 429.

Shoukathali said with the new installation, the company’s productivity has improved by 30% in plate output time as the current machine is 40 plates per hour inline CTP device.

Oruma also works as a service bureau for the printers in and around Thrissur where there are no other CTP plate bureaus. With thermal technology and the high speed machine, the company now expects to service its customers faster and better.