Designer
Giving the best signage cocktail

Inception of Designer was marked as a tiny printing vendor equipped merely with a mini offset machine in a corner of Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. The company however kept unearthing the prospects lying in the alternative side of the region’s printing market. “In the same year, our business expanded with the installation of a laser cutting machine from Mehta Cad Cam and another one in the following year from Apsom,” elucidates Ajay Singh, proprietor, Designer adding that flex printing was a new entry into their business with a new line of printers, such as Infinity YF-1232B Plus, HP Designjet 9000, etc in the portfolio.

Now the production facility of Designer consisting of laser cutters, plotters and high-end flex printers is perfectly designed for their customers demanding the best in the region’s signage market. “Right from smallest companies in the local market up to big corporate giants across India are whom we have been working with,” mentions Ajay. In fact, the attribute that counts first as the USP of Designer is rather the company’s capability to cater a cocktail of signage under one roof. ‘Complete Printing Solution’ is the trademark every client of Designer in and out of Jaipur identifies with this young but growing player.

Advertising agencies, event management firms and leading companies from different industrial sectors are major clients who have been associated with Designer since the very beginning. What attracts customers from the neighbouring cities like Jodhpur, Bikaner is its quality assurance. Commenting on the overall quality control, Ajay expresses his appreciation of the mutual support from those local machine distributors. He concludes his words of gratification by highlighting machine providers like Infinity Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd who helps Designer gravitate to new momentum always.



Kamaldeep
Offering a total solution

More than what we normally expect from a printing company are lined up at Kamaldeep, located at Sardar Patel Marg, Jaipur. The company’s job profile vastly covers the activities in documentation, offset (pre-press and press) and most of all, the signages. Each of the three segments has top of the line modern installation of equipments, be it CtCP or multicolour offset press or digital document production system. Ashok Varandani, proprietor, Kamaldeep asserts, “Though we have a strong wide-format facility, it’s still tough for us to pick up direct marketing. So is the reason why we extensively operate through agencies bringing us works of leading corporates, such as Spice mobile and Classic toothbrush (backlit category) and others like Sony Ericsson in the telecommunication sector.” Ashok assisted by his younger brother Narendra established Kamaldeep in 1986, a company whose current turnover is more than Rs 45 million. Lots of hard works and persistence have paid and they eventually brought the success to the company, which is indeed a heavyweight offering unique grand-format prints for backlit, billboards, banners, fleet graphics, exhibitions, in-shop displays, stage graphics, floor graphics, bunting mesh printing, etc in Jaipur. Ashok believes in the consistent update of service and technology as a mantra to success.

Mutoh Osprey (10-ft and 5-ft) printers, Mutoh Valuejct eco-solvent printer, Graphtec print cum cutting plotter, GCC laser engraver, Color Edge CNC router make the company’s production unit a perfect workshop to deliver the finest outputs. “We observe the client’s needs carefully and then go for practical solutions that are likely to fulfil the expectations,” mentions Ashok adding that the company’s objective is to provide the best quality service at the best possible price with no hassle to the clients. Kamaldeep is known for ensuring consistent results apart from adhering to delivery schedules.



City Communication Advertising & Marketing
Committing to the best quality

Fairy tales carry the plots where an ant can be turned into a mammoth. More than such fictitious concept is the fact that City Communication Advertising & Marketing was simply an agency providing services to printers across Jaipur, Delhi and Gujarat. But today the then service provider has grown as big as one of the well known signage printers having the state-of-the-art facility equipped with a range of high-end printers like Vutek Ultra Vu II 3360 FC, capable to print both sides and ColorSpan 72UVR. “I’m proud of my Vutek printer, which fulfils all my expectations to work with Samsung, LG, Airtel, Sony Ericsson (telecommunication) Koutons (garments) and Binani and Birla Plus (cement),” asserts Ajay Pareek, director, City Communication Advertising & Marketing.

Market growth; new potential; clients’ steadfast demands for new works—are the factors that instilled to establish City Communication Advertising & Marketing. “Our printing facility opened in 2002 with the installation of an Infinity printer and after having received orders extensively from various corners, we added a Yaselan printer in the same year,” says Ajay. It was in the period 2004-05 when the telecommunication sector received a big boom with the arrival of new players who brought in unmatched opportunities to exploit in Jaipur. “It was Airtel’s entry into Jaipur city that made us install Vutek Ultra Vu II 3360 FC. ColorSpan flatbed was the next addition when the indoor segment also marked a new opportunity.”

As flatbed is still an entry-level market in Jaipur, there is broader scope of this technology in ‘in-store’ segment. “We vastly work for certain companies such as Nokia and Soni Ericsson,” says Ajay adding that they are sole printer for Nokia across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana; Koutons in retail segment in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab; Binani and Birla Plus in cement sector. “We also provide retail display materials to Cola Cola, Samsung and LG,” mentions Ajay adding that they have worked for more than 5000 outlets of Airtel service providers. Eco-solvent, digital and UV are the areas where the company is targeting to occupy in a bigger way, sooner or later.



Ad Tech Signages India (P) Ltd
Getting on to a right direction

Design, print and fabrication—whatever required to mould or create a signage can be done at Ad Tech Signages India (P) Ltd, Sudarshanpura (Extn), Jaipur. “The company was established in 2000 when router cutting and flex printing were quite new technologies in the industry,” recalls Sunil Rathore, director, Ad Tech Signages adding that businessmen from other industries could hardly believe that the signage industry will shine someday like what it is today. This company with a facility comprising a range of high-end printers like HP Scitex Grandjet, Mimaki UJV 160 roll-to-roll and flatbed, Roland FJ 600, DGI VT2 62, Jeti 3312 and other machines including cutting plotter is a one-stop shop for everyone looking for anything in signage.

This company with its own ‘design studio’ is known for a perfect signage solution among its clients rushing from far and near corners of the country. “Apart from Rajasthan, we work for big corporate clients fleeing from other states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” says Sunil mentioning that telecommunication is the sector wherein the company has been solely dedicated for a load of works so far. “Whenever big telecom players enter Rajasthan, we are the one who work for their state-wide launch,” proudly says Sunil mentioning their association with Tata Indicom, Vodafone and Idea so far for launch campaigns. Latest in the list is their handling of the recent launch of MTS across Jaipur and other neighbouring cities.

Tendered jobs of the Government of Rajasthan and renowned garment companies like Levi’s are big names in the company’s client list. Also in the list includes the regional political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. “Our focus is to control everything under one roof to give our clients a perfect solution,” says Sunil. Commenting on next level technology in the industry, he opines that more or less solvent is occupying industry in mass scale. “Eco-solvent is now on the rise giving environmental awareness a chance. But what is catching up innovatively is the application of UV technology in interior decors and others in the industry,” opines Sunil.



BairathE Advertising & Marketing
Increasingly working for a rise

Getting on a range of varied signage activities over the span of twenty years in the industry is Bairathe Advertising & Marketing (formerly Bairathe Publicity)—the first company equipped with the eco-solvent printer Roland FJ 52 in Rajasthan. Activities in its earlier days predominantly were of wall painting and glow sign. “We first installed our Roland cutting plotter in the late 1990s to make a new direction in the business,” says Iqbal Bairathe, proprietor, Bairathe Advertising & Marketing adding that the 10-ft DGI Spacejet printer currently in their facility is one of those installed in the onset of flex printing activity in the market.

Iqbal, in his aim to make the company stand out higher with the value of works and services, deserves to keep updating infrastructure level as per the trends set in the contemporary market. Allwyn CX8 is the latest addition to the company’s existing line of printers—WitColor 3312, Orbest CX8, Roland cutting plotter CX 500, etc. Commenting on future plans to be taken up, Bairathe says that they would wait and watch the feedback of the newly added Allwyn printer.

Works extensively done at Bairathe Advertising & Marketing include glow sign, outdoor banners and fabrication. “Our glow sign division include designing and fabrication of signage boxes and frames,” mentions Iqbal who believes that UV technology is the next-level entry of the company. Cement sector is a major area where the company has been involved to work for leading players and also the other notable in the client list are Baidyanath, Samsung, Videocon, to name a few.



Artist Madhav
Continuing essence of signage art

Guess what would you find in this industry dating back to around 40 years. That would be nothing but the absence of computerised (flex) printing machines. This is the story Artist Madhav sharing with his fellow industry people about his journey from hand-painted signboard to flex print signage. Madhav, who is better known by his initial name with a prefixed title ‘Artist’ all over Rajasthan, has been in the signage business of murals, sign boards, cinema posters, commercial paintings over the last four decades.

In his comments on the changes taking place in the region’s signage industry, Madhav sums up that the onset of the era of computerised printers couldn’t completely swallow the entire practice of hand-made signage activities. “I agree with the notion that the flex printing has brought a new revolution in the signage world. But there is still room for hand-painted graphics in the industry,” comments Madhav. Artist Madhav entered into flex printing in 2005 with the adoption of a five feet DGI printer followed by a ten feet ColorJet printer in the following year. “When the existing machines couldn’t meet some of our expected standards, we installed a new printer: Infinity YF 12342B,” says Madhav.

Madhav however mentions that the company’s artistic activities are still predominantly manual. “We design wedding and music concert stages using thermocol materials to decorate the set-ups,” he adds mentioning that their work is identified only by their regular clients. Prominent clients for whom Madhav has been working for a long period of time include Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar and Mountain Dew. Artist Madhav’s vehicle designs for road shows are one such popular talk not only among its local clients, but also by the corporate leaders like Mountain Dew.



Blue Bird Entertainment (I) Pvt Ltd
Heading on to a new expansion

History of Blue Bird Entertainment (I) Pvt Ltd shows a roadmap of the company being grown to offer everything. This company, located at Vishwesarreya Nagar, Jaipur was just a trading unit when it first kicked off in 1998. “Till that time we had no printing machines and my association with Chennai-based Cactus Imaging helped me introduce our production facility equipped with an Apsom Colorjet printer in 2004-05,” explicates Ajit Soni adding that the company’s infrastructure keeps changing with regular updates of the best of machines and technologies.

As of today, infrastructure of Blue Bird Entertainment consists of four printers—Infinity 1232B, Roland SP-540V, Roland Soljet Pro-III and HP Scitex Grandjet. Praising the services and supports of their machine suppliers, Ajit remarks, “We are very thankful to our local machine providers like Infinity Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd, Apsom and HP for their supports without which we wouldn’t able to acheive our goal.” Client list of Blue Bird Entertainment includes Reliance, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, Idea in the telecommunication sector and in the oil sector are IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. Those from other segments prominently included in the list are Samsung, CEAT Ltd, Apollo Tyres, Religare, LIC and some PSU projects.

Eying the market of Rajasthan, Ajit reveals that the signage segment was significantly growing over the last 2-3 years. But the growth seems to have a standstill in the last six months. However, he firmly believes in a new prospect to be turned up soon in the telecommunication sector as corporate leaders like Tata DoCoMo and Aircel have arrived in Jaipur and it would restore the lost lustre of growth in the region’s signage industry soon. Outdoor hoardings and in-store designing are activities exclusively done by Blue Bird Entertainment, which is also a certified 3M Authorised Converter. In addition, the company is heading to a new start either in neon or LED by the next financial year.



Mehta Plast Corporation
Moving ahead for a change

The genesis of Mehta Plast Corporation dates back to 1977 when the company was one of the leading suppliers of plastic sheets and raw materials in Rajashthan. Founded by Mahabir Chand Mehta, the company is a big name in manufacturing acrylic sheets in the region’s signage market. Further expansion of the company led to an entry into signage domain using hand-cut machines. “The companies we then worked with for their acrylic signage were Nestle, Videocon, BPL, etc,” mentions Mukesh Mehta of Mehta Plast Corporation.

A leap in Mehta Plast Corporation’s long innings in the industry took place during a visit to a Plast India exhibition held in New Delhi where the company got inspiration to boost into new technology with the adoption of a cutting plotter. “We bought a Gerber cutting plotter in 1995 and began to extensively cater glow signs to the companies like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL),” says Mukesh. After that the expansion of the company’s facility continued with the gradual adoption of inkjet printers and laser cutting machines. “We bought DCG laser cutter and 10x4 Woodpecker router machine from Mehta Cad Cam,” mentions Mukesh adding that the portfolio has been updated with new printers, such as Epson 9600 Pro (EPS), Mimaki JV33, DGI Rex 62, etc.

Currently working for a gamut of clients in the oil sector, what it inspires Mehta Plast Corporation to move forward is LED domain, which is looming large to hit Jaipur. Mukesh feels that the region’s signage market is growing to take on newer technologies like UV printing, which will more or less bring a new milestone for Mehta Plast Corporation and the industry as well.



Chemimpex
Mending to make a perfect media world

Chemimpex was established in 1999 with major activities in distribution of acrylic sheets, polycarbonate, vinyl and sun boards. Current product line in the company’s shelves include Starflex, Avery vinyl, Hi Sign (Chinese media). Of those high in demand in the market include the Chinese banner flex for backlit and fronlit media, according to Vikash Chopra, proprietor, Chemimpex. In addition to flex media are a range of inks available at Chemimpex, which include Blackjet Ink, Aqua Tint, etc. This company is also a sole distributor for Epson ink cartridges across Rajasthan.

Stressing on the current situation of the flex media, Vikash comments that the mileage out of Chinese media is large enough and as such accepted across the industry. “In the last ten years, we were exclusive dealer of Hanwha brand, which is no longer imported to India,” asserts Vikash adding that the Chinese brands selling like hotcakes have occupied bigger margin of the market.

In his further comments on Chinese media, Vikash says, “When we search what it makes common people so popular with flex printing today, the credit will definitely go to cost-effective Chinese flex media which bring popularity of flex printing in the industry.” Chinese media at Chemimpex is 40 percent of the total products on the shelves.



Balaji Neon Sign
Going to glow in a wider scale

Keeping themselves at bay from printing and production, Balaji Neon Sign at Bhan Nagar, Jaipur emerged as an agency providing services to signage companies across Rajasthan. Steep growth of the region’s signage market eventually influenced Kanneiya Lal, proprietor, Balaji Neon Sign to open a production facility that can deliver first-hand outputs to its clients. “We first installed a 45-inch GEC cutting plotter which was in fact a big turning point for our company,” says Kanneiya. He adds that they subsequently were able to rope in the multinational giant LG Electronics. The company was also working on a tender from the Indian Railways under which all glow sign works including the applications of backlit displays installed at Jaipur railway station platforms.

Balaji Neon Sign is doing flex printing with five-foot DGI VT2 62 printer and Roland FJ 52 printer. Having been working predominantly in the manufacturing and installation of glow signs for corporate giants like Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics across Jaipur and other neighbouring cities, Balaji Neon Sign popularly involves in in-shop branding too.

“Our main job is to provide the materials and fix them into the in-shop environments,” exclaims Kanneiya while talking about their in-store workloads. He adds that they are equally involved for inkjet prints, translites, even furniture including stools and counter frames for in-store branding projects. Future plans that Kanneiya has in his mind is LED and acrylic boards as he reasons that the business of solvent print getting dimmer day by day.



Computer Arts & Offsets
Getting set to go faster

The name itself says it loud that Computer Arts & Offsets is a hybrid company working for both offset and flex printings. Incepted as a design studio in 1993 with year-after-year expansion of its (offset) machines, the company’s journey into flex printing segment was set off in 2007. “We installed a Nutek Prime 3212 printer after seeing a good scope in the signage industry of Jaipur city,” says Amitabh Garg, proprietor, Computer Arts & Offsets.

This growing company known for both printing as well as designing and fabrication of glow sign boards is located in Chaura Rasta, Jaipur and has been working generally through agencies. Figuring out the company’s next-level venture, Amitabh says that Konica printhead machines are what they are planning to add in their facility. “As per the maturity level of the gradually growing Jaipur market, we will be heading on to switch over to UV technology,” he adds.

“My experience with clients so far gives me an idea that Rajasthan in large and particularly the city of Jaipur city have a huge potential to grow fast in near future,” opines Amitabh revealing his ambition to get closer to the thrust of the region’s signage market.