The firms that are included in The 1000 have to adhere to the 5P test:
- Printability
- Profitability
- Performance 
- Progressiveness
- Popularity

Our system to collate The 1000 is to promote the fact that we’re putting together the best of the best. We have visited most of the firms that are a part of this elite group - and thereby estimate the companies, and also update The 1000 at the end of the year. Naturally some firms are better at information exchange than others.

When we host the PrintWeek India Awards we request the print firms in the performance category to submit their balance sheets and financial statements. This data is vetted by our auditor. The big news for 2012 is, investments, sales and profits are up!

This does seem to fly in the face of the commercial reality and “market sentiment”.

However, once you factor in the enforced impact of natural selection, driven by the tough trading conditions, then it does make sense.

The print industry in India is seeing double digit growth in most sectors; And even though Drupa 2012 did not boost the general market conditions, the print firms listed in The 1000 have witnessed an upward trend in margins and profits.

The structural change in the industry will continue through expansions, nimble technologies, M&A and structural changes.

At PrintWeek India, we believe the signs for the 2013, are positive.

There’s little doubt that overall volumes of some traditional commercial printed products will decline, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the ‘value’ of the market has to mirror that descent. It could just mean that the mix is changing and we need to focus on adding value in areas other than ink on paper, whether it is cross-media applications, marketing services, clever applications or just good old fashioned high-quality customer service.

Because if you look at some of the companies that are thriving in this year’s The 1000, that’s exactly what they all seem to be doing.

And this is what we - along with our partners Xerox India - are celebrating: The 1000 (classified into The 300 and The 700).

The 300
It’s a good time to be in the print industry.

The Indian packaging industry worth $20 bn is expected to grow up to $60 bn in the next five years. The low per capita consumption of packaging in India is an indication of immense scope for growth. Demand for packaging (be it: folding cartons, corrugation, labels or flexible packaging) will continue to grow.

While speaking to one of the largest print buyers, we were told, the flexible packaging in India including flexible plastic, flexible aluminium/paper, flexible paper, and flexible aluminium/plastic accounts for 65% of all the packaging forms. The trends suggest that consumers opt for large sized packages; also, the small sized packages are seeing a lot of action. The easy-to-open packages like pumps or sprays are becoming popular especially in beauty and personal care products.

It’s interesting to note that Indian mLLDPE demand is estimated at 70ktpa (kilo-tonnes per annum) in 2010 and will exceed 200 ktpa by 2020. Target markets are dairy products, edible oil, food, detergents, cosmetics.

This is our focus in The 300.

Other than packaging we have added ePublishing and pre-media firms to our list. We feel, the way a book or a packaging product is ‘produced, delivered and consumed’ is getting transformed. The e-packaging or e-publishing segment has the potential to integrate pre-print, printing and fulfilment under one roof. With investments at varied functionalities, the creators can ensure the content is attainable in both, the print and the digitised. The good news is: Indian players seem to have decrypted this space and leveraged their competitiveness over their overseas counterparts adhering to their proficient pre-print services.

Also we have two segments in screen printing which include industrial parts. For instance, we learnt from our editorial team in AutoCar that Mumbai-based Classic Stripes is the largest supplier of automotive decals with a production capacity of 20 million automotive graphic sets. 

These are The 300 stories we celebrate in this section.

The 700
There’s a paperback edition we picked up at the railway station. Going Places: India’s Small-Town Cricket Heroes.

This fun read by K R Guruprasad analyses how cricket is no longer the domain of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. And how the game is perceived beyond the main metros. The book looks at the new XI comprising, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan - who catapulted from small  towns and villages to the international arena.

The book looks at how the rough-and-tough life in Azamgarh, Davangere, Ikhar, Jalandhar, Jamnagar, Kakur, Meerut, Muradnagar, Naichanpur, Najafgarh and Ranchi made the transition from rice fields and akharas to Lords and MCG and indeed the one-day World Cup in cricket.

The main theme in the book is: how the abject poverty and menial jobs did not deter these players. It was a combination of a supportive family, solid coaching, talent and hard work which did the trick for India’s small-town cricket heroes.

A similar saga is being replicated in the Indian print industry. We are witnessing the best of action in the b-tier and c-tier towns. From Baddi to Sivakasi. From Karur to Morbi. From Jalgaon to Hinjewadi.

We have identified 18 cities in The 700.

The print firms in these cities are entrepreneurial, ambitious and willing to to cover the distance on the quality frontier in double-quick time.

We spoke to one such print innovator in Meerut, and he said, for starts there is the ease of starting a business. This meant reduction of red tapism for dealing with construction permits; procuring electricity; registering property; getting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes;  doing business with blue chip companies and MNCs; enforcing contracts; sourcing materials; and so on.

The 700 is a tribute to the print firms which are “going places”

It’s a tribute to their entrepreneurship; good practices and transparency.

Happy reading.

Ramu Ramanathan
Group Editor,
PrintWeek India and Campaign India

To purchase your copy of The 1000, please contact:
Ganesh Jadhav @ 022 4302 5039, ganesh@haymarket.co.in