Dhanasekaran's view of the print industry is, "As of now the Sivakasi print industry is branded as cheap and best for volume printing. Most of the companies are equipped for large volume jobs. You tend to see similar jobs run at a point of time. For example, December to April is a season for notebook wrappers, school books, charts etc. And then from July to November it is calendars, diary, fireworks packaging, and so on." Dhanasekaran states that wedding cards, packaging products, are a year long project and fill the gaps.
 

Dhanasekaran says the recent trend in Sivakasi is, "Every printer is moving towards creating their own product like calendars, wedding cards, notebook, school charts." In addition, he says, there is a new kit for UV printing, non woven bags for printing etc.

 

He says there has been a recent CTP upswing in Sivakasi. He states, "There was a sudden boom in CTP, CTCP plate-makers. In the past two years there were at least 15-20 new players have installed a CTP system for commercial purpose. Due to the electricity problem in Sivakasi there was no addition of a new press in the past two years. Post-press also suffered due to the power deficiency plus lack of skilled labour."

 

Labour is a sore point of Sivakasi. Dhanasekaran's feels, the scarcity of labour, and their attitude is detrimental to the print industry. Hard work, loyalty of the workers has changed from previous days."

 

Dhanasekaran says, each printer in Sivakasi has his own style of clients and print jobs. He adds, "Ours is a traditionally old company and most of the clients have been printing with us for a long period of time. We are in good relationship with them. Client relationship and service has helped us manage our margins well."
 

Dhanasekaran states the best thing about Sivakasi is that it is one of the biggest print hubs with abundant labour and opportunity to outsource any job.