India first, the world later?

Just a few weeks ago my attention was caught by front page of a national daily, carrying an ad of an automobile major with a slogan reading ‘In India first. The world later.’ That punch line in the ad really punched hard to think twice about what it meant is certainly true to its real sense of the term if we apply it in our printing industry. But I shook my head as I don’t agree with it! How come India has become so important to those top of the line machine manufacturers in the world? Do we really have the market to accommodate all sorts of high-end machineries comfortably? Growing economy, untapped business sectors and ever-increasing population of educated youth in the country might make India incredible, and yet at the same time, incomprehensible for some other reasons. Adoption of any high-end printing machinery or equipment which we cannot utilise to the fullest wouldn’t make good sense in business. I have come across few big time printing houses with production facilities upgraded with very sophisticated and mammoth-size equipment, but they are able to run only 20-25 percent of the capacity due to unavailability of right volume or else.

No doubt, India is now a sunshine zone to those international manufacturers who are still gloomed in the darkness of economic slowdown. Now that their aim is to land on the Indian market to exploit the growing business opportunities as much as possible, we need to be wise enough to escape from their big dreams. There is no point of purchasing a high-end machine unless we can click a right market within a reasonable time frame. You need to go for such equipments which match the volume or kind of jobs required in the market. What is the use of installing an elevator in a single storey building?

Well, though it will be inappropriate to have a thought on adoption of high-end equipments that would lie corrugated all year long and be outdated without enough use as our printing industry is still reeling under new phases of developments. It is up to you and your sole responsibility to generate business out of any machine or equipment that you intend to purchase. Good opportunity should not be waited, rather always be created! With all good wishes for the New Year 2012.

NB: With due apologies to all respected printing, packaging and publishing houses who have been able to take right decisions and are able to make use of equipment with appropriate output.

Uncertainty continues…

Whenever the name of China comes, we begin considering over the tools of protection such as anti-dumping and safeguard duties, but such tools may not be favourable in case of every items of trade for long term perspective. In printing industry, the import of digital plates (including CtCP) in India has come again into limelight, with TechNova filing a petition based on their own facts & figures, demand & supply scenario and aluminium pricing, sought to impose 73 percent anti-dumping duty on these plates. While the other parties having interests in the issue are saying that the applicant’s so called ‘apprehension’ is imaginary and a ‘single supplier’ philosophy may not result into a healthy policy. And there are printers associations like the Kerala Master Printers’ Association (KMPA) who are also strongly opposing such duty.

These plates are lifeline for the printing industry, requiring continued supply with ‘acceptable quality’ and ‘reasonable price’. Alternative sources should always be available specifically for consumables. So, in any case, it needs to be ensured that healthy market culture prevails, minimizing monopolistic phenomenon with easy flow of technologies to greater extent.

SKK
sk@print-publishing.com