Growth has been witnessed in several verticals in the Indian signage market over the last few years. Constant surfacing of prominent media manufacturers is considerably a big milestone of development ushering across the segment. Each of them is ambitious about taking their products to the world class. Home- grown Indian media manufactures, such as Pioneer Polyleathers, have marked success in production of quality printing materials, which are now increasingly in demand all around. Close on the heels of Pioneer are some new manufacturers in the block, looking ahead for broader activities. Here’s the transitory spotlight on them.

Nav ratan Specialty Chemicals
Valued materials caterer

Suresh B Nambiar and Lalit Patel

Producers of some of the popular PVC-coated materials and foamboards under the brand names, Signmagic, Megarich, Megasign and others, Navratan Specialty Chemicals LLP indigenously manufactures quality materials in its state-of-the-art plant in Sanand, located a few kilometers from its corporate office in Ahemdabad. The manufacturing plant built on 100 acre land has the capacity of producing 25,00,000 linier meters of PVC banner materials a month. Variations in the product line of the company comprise eco-solvent materials to fulfill the increasing demand and consciousness of ‘green’ printing in the current market.

Lalit Patel, director, Navratan Specialty Chemicals reveals that they manufacture seamless width upto five meters. “But we do customisation in widths and lengths of rolls as per the need and requirement of our customers,” he mentions, explaining further the features of the company’s printing materials offered in varied values starting from 240 to 440 gsm in banner medias; 480 to 510 gsm in backlit. On product portfolio expansion, Suresh B Nambiar, national head– marketing, Navratan Specialty Chemicals shares that they are planning to add vinyl range to their product line. He further stresses on adoption of marketing plans to explore new segments in a broader level, giving deeper focus on quality, reliability and durability in materials for best of satisfactory level to the behest of their customers.

---

Pioneer Polyleathers
Indeed a pioneered move

Jitu Mishra

One of India’s forerunners in manufacturing flex banner media, PVC foam sheets and self-adhesive vinyls, Pioneer Polyleathers rules the domestic market and its footprints spread covering some overseas destinations as well. Purnendu Kashyap, GM (sales & marketing), Pioneer Polyleathers (P) Limited informs that Pioneer materials have been successfully distributing across Nepal, Bangladesh, UAE, Singapore, Turkey and Bahrain for years. Manufacturing plant of the company, spreading over 10 acre of land, is equipped with world-class equipments from Taiwan, Germany, Korea and China to deliver multiple production lines for flex banners, foam sheets, vinyls and reinforcement fabrics.

Getting raw materials from some of the world’s renowned suppliers, Pioneer Polyleathers produces 300 containers of flex banners and 50 containers of foamboards and 30 containers of vinyls in a month. And the company’s reinforcement fabrics are woven on LIBA knitting machines from Germany. The perfect combo of highend machines, technologies and raw materials from internationally reputed sources eventually makes the products of Pioneer Polyleathers world class. Regarding latest launches, Jitu Mishra of Pioneer Polyleathers mentions Starprint (340 gsm) as one of the company’s recent introductions in the premium range.

---

Khushbu Vinyl
To the needs of all

Avnish Gautam

Manufacturer of vinyl materials, PVC foam boards and flex medias, Ahemdabad-based Khushbu Vinyl boasts of being capable to deliver widest varieties of printing materials to the need and demand of their clients at both domestic and international arenas. “We do supply our products to some overseas markets. But it is really a pride for us to compete with global players and such constant development in the domestic level is the need to accelerate our industry forward,” asserts Avnish Gautam, VP-marketing, Khushbu Vinyl Pvt Ltd. The company’s indigenously engineered line of frontlit materials is ranged from 200 to 440 gsm and backlit range is in 550 to 610 gsm.

“Our PVC flex materials are specially designed for the Indian market. These materials, featuring stable chemical characters and excellent ink absorbency, can deliver fine and standout textures amid conventional products,” explains Avnish. Seeing the road ahead lying wide open for new prospects in the Indian market, Khushbu Vinyl is now on the verge to open a new manufacturing unit for sun-boards. Also, in the pipeline for future expansion is the company’s plan to go for laminate films.

---

QREX Flex
Domestically focused

Dishant Patel

One of the top largest automatic calendaring plants in India is at QREX Flex—indeed an owner’s pride. Dishant Patel, CMO, QREX Flex Pvt Ltd rightly says that the country’s signage market is now growing to maturity. Of course, constant emergence of indigenous (media) manufacturers in a progressive move is a gesticulation showing a new momentum of expansion in the world of signage and graphic art in the country. In this sense, Dishant feels that the locally produced printing media are rather cost effective and designed as per the suitability of local environment.

QREX Flex’s product line comprises flex medias of different kinds, such as frontlit and backlit intended for banners as well as others including industrial coated tarpaulin. The materials are manufactured on machines imported from Germany and Taiwan. “Starting from 220 gsm, our materials are tailor-made as per the requirement of customers,” says Dishant. Capable to produce finished products of short to widest seamless widths, QREX Flex materials are characterised with specific features including waterproof, fireproof, antistatic which eventually protect them from environmental and chemical damages.

---

Jindal Specialty Textiles
A complete range

Sandeep Jindal and JP Pandey

In order of produce PVC flex sheets and tarpaulins in world-class quality, Jindal Specialty Textiles collaborates with the latest Korean and German technologies and delivers finest range of materials now prevailing in the Indian signage market in best of price. Reffering unique quality of their products, Sandeep Jindal, managing director, Jindal Specialty Textiles Ltd reveals their JINFLEX range of medias posses robust tear strength, tensile strength, water proofing, glossy, shine and matt ability. He adds that quality control in their products is maintained through best of selection and research on raw materials and utilisation of latest machineries and tools in manufacturing process.

Jindal Specialty Textiles has a separate inhouse production setup for fabric materials in which they maintain optimum tear strength by using best of yarn. The manufacturing plant of the company is equipped with a family of fully-automated calendar and laminator machineries to maintain quality and vulnerability in outputs. Vishal Sharma, director, Jindal Specialty Textiles Ltd mentions that they offer varied sizes and types of PVC flex materials depending on the market orders from minimum of 0.76 m to a maximum of 3.2 m. He ensures that the quality of products being produced is at best of its credibility with quality quotient at par with best standards.

---

Swarup Polymers Pvt Ltd
New player in the block

Abhinav Gupta

Just a few months old in the industry, Swarup Polymers arrives in the signage market with an anticipation to bring a new change. In connection to the company’s new venture into the signage domain, Abhinav Gupta, director, Swarup Polymers Pvt Ltd narrates, “The story of our establishment can be unfolded from the day when our founder chairman Ram Swarup Gupta switched to auto parts dealership at Kashmere Gate in Delhi in 1966.” He continues, “The products he kept adding in the business included several odd items like granites, marbles, but in successful ways.” Then it was this year, he opened a flex manufacturing unit at Ghaziabad, looking forward to exploiting the gradually growing digital large-format printing market.

Swarup Polymers is an ISO 9001:2008-certified company now manufacturing PVC flex starting from 240 gsm and onward in 3.20 m width and 50- 75 m rolls. “We couldn’t say much about the market now because we are new and in the litmus testing stage. But we feel the signage market of India is now getting on a fast lane, bringing in fresh opportunities for new business in different industrial segments,” shares Abhinav determining a big expansion plan towards new verticals in manufacturing materials for innovative signage and display applications.

Now, the constant emergence of home-grown brands of printing substrates/materials not only offers choices of products, but also a new advantage to PSPs or sign makers when it comes to working or dealing things directly or in a closest proximity with manufactures. And on the other side, this will help India find a prominent spot in the map of signage product manufacturers of the world.