PrintWeek India speaks to A Balasubramanian of Champion Litho Press
The Champion Litho Press was founded in 1957 and is a family owned business and caters to packaging boxes and folding carton segment for tea, agarbatti packaging etc. A Balasubramanian, who was the former president of the Sivakasi Master Printers Association (SMPA) says, "Sivakasi is famous for printing for all sort of jobs and is especially famous in Tamil Nadu for government text book printing as well as few jobs from Andhra Pradesh. Every printer has created a niche for themselves in segments
04 Sep 2013 | 3108 Views | By Priya Raju
In terms of trends, Balasubramanian zeroes into new trends, "Publishing segment is growing as there is growth in demand for export of books and volume. The packaging segment has taken a hit as the turn around time for delivery is very short and time taken for transportation is high and cost factor involved goes up too. "
Balasubramanian states, the growth in Sivakasi has slowed down considerably. "A decade ago, print industry was growing at 30-40% but presently the growth rate is below 10%." He adds, "There has been around 10-15 CTP and CTCP systems installed. Also most printers in SIvakasi prefer investing in secondhand machines."
Balasubramanian talks about the labour issue when he says, "In the present generation, a majority of the labour has migrated to metropolitan city and there is scarcity of labour nowadays."
He adds, "I feel that in the next ten years this will be one of the major issues. Also, the abrupt hike in paper prices is our immediate and major concern. Due to this, it is very difficult to participate in government tenders as it becomes difficult to cope up with the changes in the rates."
He adds, "I feel that in the next ten years this will be one of the major issues. Also, the abrupt hike in paper prices is our immediate and major concern. Due to this, it is very difficult to participate in government tenders as it becomes difficult to cope up with the changes in the rates."
Balasubramanian feels the "pricing of print jobs is cheaper as compared to other cities as a majority of the printers own the premises and machine and do not have any loans attached to it."
He points out, "Also, most of them use second hand presses and the quality consistency of jobs printed is at par with that of the jobs printed internationally."
He points out, "Also, most of them use second hand presses and the quality consistency of jobs printed is at par with that of the jobs printed internationally."
He feels the worst thing about the print industry in Sivakasi is, "The growing labour issues and the scarcity of electricity which is a prevailing issue. Intervention is required by the Tamil Nadu government to solve these issues."
To conclude, he lauds, "The best thing about Sivakasi that whatever is the volume and the type of jobs required be it labour intensive or automated high end jobs; Sivakasi can cater to the needs."