JN Arora & Associate celebrate 25 years of success

JN Arora Group is one of the oldest group of companies in the business of supplying printing consumables. “We started our operations on a small scale in 1993, supplying offset inks from Coates of India (now DIC) and Rainbow Inks, United Inks after few years” shares Arun Bahnot (popularly known as Bobbyji), Partner, JN Arora Associate.

“Since then, we have expanded our operations of marketing printing consumables both in terms of geographical coverage as well as the range of products. More recently, we started offering Kodak plates, chemicals, adhesives paper sheets from Avery Dennison. We also started offering inks from Sakata Inx,” adds Rajiv Arora, Chairman, JN Arora Group.

Landmarks in the journey…

JN Arora Associate is celebrating 25th year of its successful business. “We started our unit in 1993 in Mayapuri and shifted to Naraina office in 2003. Since then, there is no looking back,” tells Bobbyji. JN Arora Group has a network of 10 locations, namely Chawri Bazar, Patparganj, Naraina, Bawana, Noida, Gurgaon, Sahibabad, Meerut, Ludhiana and also Hyderabad. Their sub-dealers are located Pan India, some of which include Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chennai, etc.

“We also started Match Plus, a colour-matching centre in 2007, which is the first in the West Delhi belt,” tells Rajiv.

“We have achieved this growth because of our hard work. We go an extra mile to offer technical assistance to our customers. We don’t just sell products, we educate them on how to use it and get the best results,” adds Vimlesh Arora, CEO, JN Arora & Co Pvt Ltd.

Market…then and now

“The market has changed a lot. There has been lot of technological developments in the printing machinery and equipments. Speeds are much higher than before. Conventional UV and LED UV inks have become the trending products. Hybrid printing has already made a foothold as well,” tells Bobbyji.

“The market has become very challenging and we are trying our best to cope up with the market demand by offering new products and reaching to newer markets,” adds Vimlesh.

Trends in the industry

Talking about the various segments of the industry, Bobbyji pointed out that packaging is definitely going up, followed by book printing. “While, commercial printing is almost stagnant. UV and hybrid printing are growing. Print finishing has become very important, especially in packaging, giving us more opportunities to sell inks and varnishes,” he adds.

“In offset technology, I think we have reached the optimum level in technology. There would not be major changes in high-speed and productivity. So, to cater to higher speeds, different kind of material would be needed. So, there is wide scope in consumables,” tells Vimlesh.

Another important trend that Aashish adds is that since short-runs are increasing, there is limited scope for high speed printing, which is useful for book printing and packaging where volumes are high. “Short-run digital printing is making a base for itself. As a group, we are gearing for a complete basket of products,” he said. “Last year, we tied up with Canon for distributing their A3 size colour and mono printers.”

Wide bouquet of products…

“Our product range includes all kinds of consumables used in offset, flexographic, security, screen graphics, screen textile, digital sublimation printing and a range of adhesives and special tapes for many industries including printing, publication, advertisement and promotions, automotive etc,” tells Aashish Arora.

“We represent all the major manufacturers like DIC India, Sakata Inx, Heidelberg (Saphira range of products), Kodak (CtP plates), Vivid Press Room Chemicals, Avery Dennison (self-adhesive gumming sheets) to name a few,” tells Bobbyji.

New products…

More recently, JN Arora has started offering Kodak Sonora X process free plates, which bring the environmental and cost benefits. With run lengths, imaging speeds, resolutions, and handling capabilities that match most unbaked processed plates, Kodak estimates that SONORA X Plates can be used by up to 80% of offset printers.

SONORA Plates can be used to print offset packaging and labels; UV and low-energy UV print; heatset web applications; newspapers (high-volume & automated); long-run commercial prints; VLF applications, etc. “Because there are no processing variables, SONORA Plates can be put on press with no dot measurement needed and no surprises,” adds Rajiv.

On screenprinting & textile printing…

“Screen printing has always complemented commercial, book printing and packaging segments as there has always been a need for special effects, varnishes, etc. So, screen printing has been an ancillary industry for commercial printing. We sell screen printing machines, besides offering complete range of screen accessories like frames, mesh, squeegee, screen preparation chemicals, emulsions, washes, decorating solutions, degreasers, brushes, etc,” tells Aashish.

“We also do technical training at customer end to resolve printing problems. We also do stretching and exposing of screen frames,” adds Vimlesh.

“For textile printing, we have screen printable products for direct textile printing. We also have water-based transfer system and solvent-based transfer systems. We also offer digital sublimation inks for textiles, besides plotter cut, heat transfer media, eco-solvent printable latex, etc,” he adds.

USP of the company

“We have built a good reputation over the years and this is because we offer technical support to our customers, besides offering them a full basket of products. Even if our customers diversify into new printing processes, we are there to support them and offer them the best of the products available,” tells Rajiv. “Infact, customer pain is our pain,” sums up Vimlesh.

“We offer a complete bouquet to our customers so that they can get all products of different printing segments under one roof,” says Aashish.

“Besides, we invest a lot in Human Resource and for each supplier; we have dedicated personnel to service each customer,” adds Bobbyji. Efficient management…

JN Arora Associate is ably run by Rajiv Arora and Arun Bahnot. Other important people in management include Kishore Sachdeva, VK Kohli, and well assisted by Vimlesh Arora, Aashish Arora and Dipeesh Arora.

Focus for the future…

On asking about their future plans, Bobbyji replies, “UV and hybrid will be our focus areas for the future. We will also focus on adhesives. Besides, with the removal of anti-dumping duty on digital plates from China has opened a new area to focus .”

“We want our customers to know that we are there to help them with technical assistance, besides offering them a complete range of quality products,” concludes Rajiv Arora.