PrintWeek India speaks to A Marirajan of Chima Notebooks

Initially, the firm forayed into the notebook wrapper's national market with a Komori four-colour machine for printing. Later the firm developed and marketed “Chima”, a brand of notebooks catering to the needs of school and college students. The firm has a Heidelberg SM 102 CPC four-colour press, Miller DP two-colour machine and in the post-press, a fully automatic ruling machine, folding machine, perfect binding machine, three-knife trimmer and a Muller Martini flow-line machine which cater to demands. The firm also undertakes and supplies the printing and packing needs of the group’s associate fireworks companies which manufacture and market Chima brand fireworks varieties all over India.

Marirajan of Chima Notebooks, who is also the president of the Sivakasi Master Printers Association (SMPA), as he walks down memory lane, says, "The forties saw the genesis of the printing industry in lithography in the printing annals of Sivakasi. The growth in the fireworks and matches industries in Sivakasi gave a major impetus to the printing industry.

Making forays into the calendars, diaries, trade labels and packing materials in the national levels, the Sivakasi printing industry enjoyed a major share in the Indian print market. That was an era when the experienced and dextrous operators and artists were able to coax the machines to produce good jobs. The new millennium saw the advent of computers, CPC, CTP and other allied pre-press and post–press industries. They changed the face of the printing industry. Sivakasi is no exception, now, the proliferation of the printing industry is national-wide.

Marirajan considers recent trends in Sivakasi, when he says, "The print market and the machinery manufacturers in the western countries have been experiencing difficult times since 2005. But, Sivakasi witnessed robust growth in the print and packaging market till now. In the press segment, instead of going for new machines with high cost, Sivakasi was flooded with rebuilt CPC four-colour machines. In the pre-press, the CTPs and CTCPs have almost eradicated the retouching and platemaking artists. Today, the industry is technology driven. In the post-press, the infusion of new technologies and machineries are rather slow.

Marirajan mentions the number of new systems in Sivakasi. he says, "In the last year, the addition of new presses in Sivakasi is very few, totalling just four machines. There are about 20 new CTP/CTCP machines installed last year. In the post-press, the scenario is not clear with insufficient data. The Sivakasi print industry handles daily an average of 500 to 600 tonnes of paper/boards.

About the labour shortage, and daily challenges, he says, "The labour shortage in the print industry is very acute. When the machineries are becoming very sophisticated, getting the right operator to run them is a big challenge. Gone are the days of the labour intensive industries/machineries."

He feels the "biggest and the life – threatening problem the industry faces, is the power scenario". He states, "In Tamil Nadu, it has forced the closure of many micro and small scale industries. The past 18 months have been the darkest period of the print industry of Sivakasi."

His assessment of the pricing module in Sivakasi is, "The growth in the print industry in Sivakasi and the print jobs handled this year leave much to be desired. There are many external factors that are beyond our control. Even in our press, the pricing module and the market demand projections have gone haywire because of the steep increase in the price of paper and the government policy intervention.

Marirajan highlights the role of Sivakasi in being the first to get a printing cluster in India. He says, "It is a government funded MSME–CDP programme to help the local industries to bring in new technologies and machineries in line with global trends. The work is in full swing and the unit is expected to go on steam by November or December 2013."

MPA has successfully launched MSE Cluster Development Programme and a Common Facility Center for printing industry. The project, which has been approved by the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu, will help the print fraternity by providing governmental financial support.

He has a word of caution when he says, "Not many new hands are coming into the industry. Without the migrant workers from Assam, Bihar and Orissa, the situation would have been far worse."

Marirajan credits that the best thing about the Sivakasi print industry is, "The press has been responsible in the growth of many allied industries in pre-press and post–press segment. The capital investments and the growth of the allied industries has been widespread; and this phenomena has been creating a lot of small and successful entrepreneurs. This in turn, has helped the prosperity of the town."