“We cater to over 20% of the city’s digital print requirements,” said Amit Bhide of KC Bhide Technologies.

The Ricoh machines which were installed in September, 2012 have fired two lakh A3 size copies within a span of three months. “The Ricoh C751Ex helps us to offer offset like print quality to our customers,” added Bhide.

Bhide was impressed with the service network of Ricoh in the city. “After all, a digital machine must accompany an excellent service support for enhanced productivity. After evaluating all the options, we decided to rely on Ricoh as we found their service support to be strong enough in Pune.”

Established by K C Bhide, grandfather of Amit, as K C Bhide Block Makers, the block making firm 60 years ago, which later developed itself as a pre-press bureau K C Bhide Technologies sourcing CTP plates to printing firms in Pune. The pre-press house made a foray into digital printing in 1998. The company is now being managed by Amit and his brother Chandrashekhar.

Besides the Ricoh machines, the firm also houses a Xerox 7000 a Roland digital printing machine for indoor signage applications.  

In 2012, the company launched a web-to-print portal artandprintshop.com to enable online printing of personal, promotional, commercial, and informational print products such as business cards, letterheads, flyers, catalogues, brochures etc. “Art&PrintShop is aimed to cater to the print requirements of artists, freelance designers, small and medium businesses, or anyone that needs print materials in small or bulk quantities. It helps you capitalise on the advantages of the digital age,” added Bhide.