Welbound eyes Andhra Pradesh to be a soaring hub for book printing

In the fiscal year that ended in March 2013, the company has installed 27 six-clamp, and one 12-clamp perfect binding machine, three three-knife trimmers, and two folding machines. Anbukkarasu said, “While in the year previous to this we sold 25 six-clamp and six single-clamp machines, two three-knife trimmers and one Pickwel gathering system. The numbers look good.”

According to Anbukkarasu, the prompt service support from Welbound justifies the numbers.

Ark Bird Publication, one of the major players on book printing segment of Andhra Pradesh, has installed six six-clamp, one three-knife trimmer and one Pickwel folding machine.

In last two years, many new web presses have mushroomed in Uppal and Nacharam suburbs of Hyderabad. As per PrintWeek India’s survey more than ten new lines of web presses have been commissioned in Uppal alone.

The reasons for this are many. One of the factor which is driving the publishing industry is that various state governments are shifting from mono-colour textbooks to multi-colour contributing to the growth· The change in syllabus of some of the state governments also adds to the business.

Secunderabad-based Dachepalli Publishers, which has recently installed a Welbound six-clamp perfect binding machine has registered a growth of over 30% year-on-year. Speaking about the industry structure in the state, Vinod Kumar Dachepalli, director and partner at Dachepalli Publishers said, “There are more than 250 book printing firms in Andhra Pradesh, which on an average churn out more than one-crore books per month.”

Dachepalli believes availability of web presses, cheap labour and electricity coupled with quality work, transparency in operations and more importantly the printer’s tendency to meet deadlines is what attracts business to the firms in the state.