Janki Publication
Going for big expansion
Dhananjay S
Gupta
|
Known to be a complete printing
solution provider all over northern
East Bengal, Janki Publication
is a brainchild of Dipak Gupta, who had
nurtured this ISO 9001-certified company
from a very scratch level. “I’m the son of
a grocery store owner in the town. After
my graduation, I briefly worked with a
newspaper printing house where I gained a
full knowledge about the printing industry
and it eventually awaken my spirit instilling
in me the desire to start something of
my own,” recalls Dipak when narrating
in his early days in the industry. In turn,
Janki Publication was established, not in
a big-bang manner, but merely engaging
in screen printing that remains as one of
the mainstays of the company’s major
activities. From offset to digital, screen
exposure and a line of post-press finishers,
Janki Publication boasts an inclusive
combo of printing technologies.
“Though we are profoundly into
commercial printing, our focus is equally
on wide-format or signage printing as
well, for which we plan to escalate to a
new level soon,” explains Dilip,
adding that the division (wideformat)
is solely handled by his
younger brother Dhananjay S
Gupta who, according to him,
is the man of innovative vision.
Equipped with a Caldron CJ
printer, the wide-format division
of Janki Publication is known
to various corporate biggies
that recurrently drop in at their
lobby for quality prints. “We
can say that it’s been just a few years since
we switched to signage printing; but our
aim is to make it larger with the opening
of an extended branch nearby,” mentions
Dhananjay, adding that they will be
investing in a set of advanced wide-format
machines for the new setup.
When enquired of any particular
technology they would prefer to install
in their new setup, Dhananjay says two:
eco-solvent and laser engraving. He adds
that even the current staff engaging in
the company’s wide-format division will
be magnified with the opening of the new
branch. Of the company’s total staff of 25
professionals, five of them are currently
assigned for the division; but plan has been
drawn to depute more as per requirement.
Some of the big corporate companies
that have been associated with Janki
Publication over a long period of time
include Coca-Cola, Indian Oil, Hindustan,
to mention a few. The list, according to
Dhananjay, will surely be lengthened, and
their production capability of 10,000 sq ft
per day will also be boosted, following the
opening of the company’s new wide-format
branch.
SUN Prints
Value of high-end prints
Mutoh Valuejet at SUN Prints facility
|
Notable among all in the Siliguri
wide-format printing market, SUN
Prints is distinguished for some
big reasons—quality prints they deliver
and machines they own. One may wonder
what this signage player has equipped
in their production facility. It’s a line of
green technologies—HP Latex and Mutoh
ValueJet (eco-solvent). In addition to these
high-end printers, this leading signage
firm in the town boasts of a well-equipped
finishing and fabrication division where
installed laminating machines, cutting
plotters and others. Though they have not
yet furbished into full swing, SUN Prints
has plan to expand their modular sign
making unit, designed for high-end interior
signs and way-finding display systems.
Established in the year 2006, under the
aegis of RK Agrawala, SUN Prints has
earned its reputation of being one of the
finest sign makers in the town with a
number of landmark signage projects they
have executed over the span of last one
decade since its inception. “We believe in
quality; it
could be in
prints or in
our service,”
asserts RK
Agrawala,
adding that
they focus
on what it
makes them
standout
amid the
crowd. SUN
Prints,
apart from
being a significant PSP, makes high-end
illuminated signs of all kinds, be it backlit
or LED-embedded display systems. Overall
objective of the company is to cater a
comprehensive portfolio of display items.
A team of half dozen well-trained signage
professionals plays vital role in triggering
SUN Prints to deliver quality in prints
and service. Such trait of the company
attracts a number of outstation corporate
clients who come down to Siliguri and its
neighbouring towns for outdoor campaigns.
Singling out the cities and towns around
Siliguri wherefrom SUN Prints pull their
regular customers, RK Agrawala makes a
quick count on his fingertips: Darjeeling,
Gangtok, Guwahati, Patna..., naming a few.
And he counts Big Bazaar, Future Group,
Wai-Wai, Pentaloon as the clientele they
have been closely partnered over the years.
AD-Wave Creations
For those quality seekers
Sunny
|
When it comes to counting the
signage firms in Siliguri that
could impress big corporate
customers, it would surely include ADWave
Creations among ‘top five’. The
reason is simple! They have a set of highend
machines, which consist of a Mutoh
Valujet eco-solvent printer from NEGI Sign
Systems & Supplies, alongside a couple of
Gongzheng solvent printers from Mehta
Cad Cam Systems. “What we are planning
is to upgrade our machine portfolio soon;
even the Gongzheng printers have to
be upgraded with brand new ‘Starfire’
printheads,” states Sunny, founder, ADWave
Creations.
Recollecting the early days of AD-Wave
Creations, Sunny narrates that he got the
inspiration of professional sign making
from his uncle who was then a commercial
artist engaged in poster panting around
20 years back in the town. “It was the
creativity in his work that impressed me
a lot; since my younger years I thought of
taking up a career in graphic art,” shares
Sunny, who is now enjoying the art of sign
making, but looking ahead to making it in
a bigger and broader way with the adoption
of new and modern equipments in the
production setup of AD-Wave Creations,
which is barely four and a half years old in
the industry, but surging like quite an old
and experienced signage thespian.
“We are vendor of three eminent ad
agencies working for big corporate clients
based out of big cities,” mentions Sunny.
Moreover, some of the leading customers
of AD-Wave Creations, which have been
associated with them for years, include the
big retail players, such as Turtle, Clarks,
Fast Track, among others.
AD-Venture
In a different swing
SR Chakarborty
|
Barely a six-year-old in the market,
AD-Venture is now experimenting
new ways to pave a broader path
to innovative sign making. SR Chakarborty
is the main architect behind the creation
of this new signage firm, established in
the year 2010, after his departure from
the Kolkata branch of Keith Electronics,
one of the leading manufacturers of highly
demanded cutting plotters of different
models and configurations in India. “Had
it not been with Keith Electronics, I would
have failed to open my own firm to-day,”
says SR Chakarborty.
Soon after he left Keith Electronics, SR
Chakarborty invested in a Graphtec cutting
plotter, which is the lone machine now
running at his small and compact sign
shop situated in a busy bye-lane of Bidhan
Market in the town. With a little help from
his friends who run wide-format printing
firms, SR Chakarborty manages to produce
wide varieties of display items, which
include retro-reflective signs and products
of such kinds installed on the highways and
other roads around northern West Bengal.
“It is quite challenging to work on retroreflective
signage projects that we got
through some public tenders. Perhaps we
are the only company in Siliguri exclusively
engaging in this activity, which is indeed
a new model of sign making in the town,”
says SR Chakarborty.
When enquired about the way they control
quality at AD-Venture, SR Chakarborty
states that the selection of right material is
vital for it; for them, 3M media serves all
proposes when handling any retro-reflective
project. So far, so good, AD-Venture has
carried out a number of retro-reflective
projects on highways and toll plazas on
various stretches across northern West
Bengal. AD-Venture has big future plans in
pipeline, among which the magnification of
their machine portfolio is on top of all. For
this, according to SR Chakarborty, they are
planning to invest in a large size, around 10
ft, solvent machine and a digital production
press. Another major point in their future
plan is to venture into direct marketing,
instead of banking on mid-agencies.
Pracharana
Old lineage of sign-making
Subroto Sarkar
|
Exactly 32 years back, artist
Shyamal Sarkar opened a painting
shop in Siliguri, engaging in making
posters, wall murals, shop-front displays
and the likes. Over the years, with rapid
changes being ushered in the tradition of
sign making following the advent of digital
large-format printers, routing machines
and highly textured substrates, Shyamal
had to transform his business model, from
manual to digitisation. “Of course, in
order to sustain, one must go for a change
in accordance to the rhythm of market
trend; otherwise progression may remain
stagnant,” says Subroto Sarkar. Shyamal’s
young and enthusiastic son Subroto is
now handling every bit of activities at
Pracharana after his father’s retirement
from hand-painted job. “When the trend
and prospect of hand-painted signage had
been gradually deteriorated, we eventually
adopted a Nutek Prime digital large-format
printer to follow the new direction of sign
making,” tells Subroto.
So far, Pracharana is a signage corner
where only local customers do come in
for small to mid-size projects. Backlit
vinyl boards, wall arts, banners for offices,
dukans and public utilities are some of
the major signage items the signage firm
normally handles for its regular customers
in economical rates. Next level plan of
the company is to expand its production
facility, which is planned to be situated in a
new and larger location. And Subroto
looks forward to investing on a
high-end environment-friendly printer that
could meet the demands of both big and
small clients.
Alochhaya
For better letter-signs
Partha Sarathi Ghosh
|
Asole cut-letter maker in Siliguri,
Alochhaya is acclaimed widely
for its creative endowment in
illuminated sign making. Such attribute
of the signage firm makes them highly
demanded among their clients that
predominately include departmental shops,
hotels and corporate buildings, situated not
only in northern West Bengal, but in far-off
corners of the whole eastern region. “Our
client base is stretched from Siliguri to
Gangtok, Guwahati, Kohima and Bhutan,”
says Partha Sarathi Ghosh of Alochhaya.
Partha is in his mid-20s, now running this
50-year-old glow sign making firm. One
may wonder ‘how?’ This is a lineage his
grandfather, who was then an artist, passed
on to him, just another artist in the third
generation of the family.
“Apart from a jigsaw, we have no machines
in our production facility. I know it may
sound absurd to say everything at our
end is done manually in this world of
digitised and highly automated sign-making
machines; but we maintain a standard,”
narrates Partha.
In the list of
signage items
that Alochhaya
delivers are
LED-embedded
letters, glow
signs, backlit
posters and
all sorts of
illuminated
promotional
displays. On
quality control,
Partha states
that they particularly use only branded
materials, such as Taiwanese LED brand
HiLight with two years warrantee, assuring
value and efficiency in their end products.
Beyond Siliguri, some nearby regions where
Alochhaya has so far built a strong client
base include Assam, Nagaland, Sikkim
and Bhutan. “We are planning to cover the
whole eastern and north-eastern regions. In
a few months we are heading to other new
areas, like Manipur, to mark our presence
as we have talked to some new clients out
there who showed interest in our work,”
mentions Partha. Alochhaya has a team
of five sign making professionals that
include designers and artists. Next level
development of the company is to invest in
a set of new machines that may include a
CNC router and a channel letter bending
machine, soon in near future.
Graphix
Classy styles and designs
S Talukder
|
There must always be a good
designer behind every attractive
graphic art. This statement
is true with what Graphix is doing in
creating graphic designs for promotional
ads, corporate brochures, cards of
all sorts, manuals, etc. Incepted in
the year 1998, engaging in printing
business in the first place, Graphix
has eventually been transpired into a
full-fledged graphic designing centre
by its founder-cum graphic designer S
Talukder, catering best of designs to
PSPs and ad agencies dwelled in and
around Siliguri. Talukder says that they
have tied up with some of the best PSPs
in the town to provide their customers
a complete solution—from designing
to final prints. “Sometimes even a best
graphic design may get spoiled due to
poor printout; so we don’t take that risk.
We provide our customers everything
right from designing to final printouts,”
he explicates.
Customers from all
over the region and
neighbouring areas
like Nepal, Bhutan and
Assam come to Graphix
for graphic designing.
One of the persuasive
characteristics of Graphix,
according to Talukder, is
the way they study and
choose colour schemes
to envisage a particular
product or a service. “It
could be either subtle tone or austere
texture of colour, we choose it in
accordance to what the advertisement is
all about, whether it should look classic,
simple or abstract,” he explains, adding
that even common people these days
are very sensitive about graphic designs,
whether it could be of outdoor ads or
corporate brochures.
Other than the normal staff, Graphix
has three professional designers,
including Talukder himself. And the main
customers in its clientele comprise a host
coming from all far and near geographies
of eastern India. So far, some of the big
name corporate companies for whom
Graphix has done a number of landmark
ad and corporate document designs
include LG, Future Group and Inox.
Graphix is now accelerating to expand
its footprints wider, extensively at
pan-India level.
Print View
An inclusive corner
Uttam
Barman
|
In addition to flex printing for signage and display graphics,
Print View provides everything related to printing and
packaging as per dire requirement of their customers.
How could they do all these under one roof? Do they have a mega
machine portfolio? Nay! Print View is a single-machine owner—just
a DGI. But they have tied up with almost everyone in the Siliguri
printing market, both in commercial and wide-format arenas.
“We have been into multi-tasking activity over the last two years;
earlier we were simply into job works for commercial printing,”
says Madhav Roy, founder, Print View. He further explains that the
multiple activities of the company
help their customers find everything
under their roof, protecting them
from running one pillar to another
for minor jobs.
A team of three graphic designers
and a half dozen printing
professionals handle any given
project to the utmost standard at
Print View. Making of LED boards
and glow signs of all sizes and
configurations is one of the multiple
activities of the company. “We use
the highest quality materials and
advanced methods to craft either
an LED display or a street uni-pole;
this is how we maintain quality in
our end products,” asserts Uttam
Barman. Print View deals predominantly with local clients as well
as some leading ad agencies from big cities that often carry out
outdoor signage projects in Siliguri and its surrounding satellite
towns. Next level development plan of Print View is to upgrade its
manpower and machine portfolio.
Card Palace
More than cards
Screen printing unit of Card Palace
|
Over the last ten years, Card
Palace has been a popular
corner where cards of all
kinds are prepared using screen
printing technology. But the company
took up digital wide-format printing
around three years back, serving the
needs of the local people who come
down to get printed their personal
display items. This doesn’t mean
that Card Palace has discontinued
its screen printing and deterred card
making. “We were born with screen
printing and card making job; these
two activities will remain with us till the
end,” says Madan Das, founder, Card
Palace.
On the other side, in a separate facility,
Card Palace outsources its flex printing to
a Caldron CJ printer. “Though we have the
facility of flex printing, there is something
advantageous about screen printing over
it. So, when it comes to ‘cards’ we still use
our screen printing technology,” narrates
Madan. Local welfare organisations, kirana
shops, social organisations in and around
Siliguri are some of the regular customers
often drop in at Card Palace for flex
printing. Even people from Darjeeling and
Bhutan come to this popular card maker,
not only for cards but also for signage of
all sizes and types.
Swasti Deepi
Full of illumination materials
Joydeep Chakarborty
|
Glow sign is gradually gaining
new ground in the signage
industry. With the advent of
high-end illumination materials, machines
and technologies to craft innovative
illuminated signs, this segment of the
industry is now getting a quantum leap
when compared it to what it was a decade
or two ago. These days, illuminated display
items have become the most sought
after solutions among brand owners and
advertisers; and applications are abundant
in corporate buildings, shopping malls and
big galas. Sensing this rising potential,
Joydeep Chakarborty embarked upon
this segment, unveiling a flagship store
for LED materials, Swasti Deepi. He
states that there is a huge prospect to be
exploited in the illuminated signage sector,
particularly in small towns.
When enquired about the range of
materials available at Swasti Deepi,
Joydeep unpacks those imported
from China and some indigenously
manufactured brands, which he explains
to be the most demanded pieces in the
region’s signage market. “We keep
just a few premium brands, such as
SAMSUNG and LG, because such highend
products have less or no demand
in the regional market like Siliguri,”
states Joydeep, adding that it may take
some time or longer for sign makers and
their customers in the regional markets
to realise the value and significance of
quality LED materials.
Since a number of sign makers in
Siliguri keep switching to glow sign
making over the last few years,
Joydeep observes the trend of
illuminated signs escalating. In this,
he found the horde of glow sign
makers turning up at the doorstep
of Swasti Deepi now increasing;
they comprise the hordes coming
from far-flung places like Nepal,
Bhutan and many towns of Bihar.
Joydeep is now mulling over the
expansion of product line in which
Swasti Deepi will bring more
materials soon, both economical
and premium ranges.
Flex O Print
Quality of all kinds
Uttam Paul
|
What has been witnessed over
the last one decade or so in the
signage market of Siliguri is the
gradual increase in rate of adoption of
high-end printers among PSPs. Flex O
Print is one among those in the league
whose production facilities have recently
been revamped with high-end printers.
Incepted just a few years back with the
installation of a DGI printer, the company
keeps updating its machine portfolio to
new standards from time to time. Latest
in the update process, Flex O Print has
revamped its production facility with
a Mutoh ValueJet eco-solvent printer,
purchased from NEGI Sign Systems
& Supplies, plus a line of finishing and
assembling equipments.
Flex O Print is known for its competent
outputs and proficiency in service. The
company’s team of eight highly-trained
sign making professionals is said to be the
vitality behind their overall progression.
For the customers coming from far
and near corners of the region, such as
Siliguri, Sikkim,
Bagdogra, Gaya,
Darjeeling, the
company provides
everything of
signage under its
roof. “In addition
to prints, we are
also into glow
sign making; I
think this is one
of the growing
segments now,”
tells Uttam Paul
of Flex O Print.
Now that the
signage industry
is sweeping into
new technologies for high definition
printing, automation and eco-friendliness,
Flex O Print is gearing up for a new
elevation. However, Uttam mentions
that they are not yet decided to go for
a particular technology, just observing
steadily all new marvels one after another
to decide the ones suitable for them. He
arguably points out that the high-end
technologies like latex, UV and 3D are
still at bay in the region’s signage market;
but it has been perceived that customers
of Flex O Print are increasingly conscious
about quality prints these days.
