Saurabh Printers solidifies their digital printing set up with KnowzzleJet Inkjet Web Press

Vinod Gulati, CMD, Saurabh Printers Pvt Ltd has recently installed knowzzleJet InkjetWeb Press, developed by PRESSLINE India, in collaboration with Monotech Systems Ltd. “The knowzzleJet delivers affordable, highquality prints with eco-friendly waterbased inks, for a range of commercial applications, includingbooks, transactional printing, and direct mail. The press supports roll-to-roll,roll-tosheet, and roll-to-fold formats and boasts an impressive 1,600 dpi whichis industry’s highest printhead resolution for both monochrome and colorprinting,” shares Vinod.

“Since publishers are now moving towards short-run for their titles, weare offering digital printing services to them. The press offers printing costs aslow as 4 paisa per A4 page for monochrome and less than 50 paisa for color,enabling businesses to print on demand and avoid bulk printing waste andstorage expenses,” he adds. “In a fast-paced business world, the ability to printonly what’s needed, when needed, is critical. The knowzzleJet addresses thisneed with on-demand printing capabilities, ensuring timely delivery for projectsthat require quick turnarounds.”

Humble beginnings…

“Till 1991, I was doing a job but I quit my job with no intent to start my own business but nature had a different design for me resulting into starting a small bindery unit by the name of Saku Book Binding House in Khanpur.In 1997, when my son Vikrant joined, we started printing as well.Later, in 2003, we took a decision to start a 4-colour for pre-press here in Okhla.There were five or seven people in the basic journey. Gradually, with the passage of time and design, we have come a long way. I have a big support from my elder brother Harishwho is an ex-defence person,our troubleshooter and mentor,” shares Vinod.

“And then in 1998, when multinationals started coming to the country, we were fortunate to get multinationals accounts like Oxford, Tata McGraw Hill, Macmillan, and Orient BlackSwan, Elsevier, Thomson Reuter and local vineries .We installed eight machine in different sizes ranging from Mono to five colour,”he adds.

Diversifying into Australia…

“In May 2005, I got an offer from Australia,where a printing setup with machines was being auctioned. I asked Vikrant if he would like to set up a unit in Australia and he agreed. So, we bought the Westman Printing setup in Sydney and Vikrant moved there. We had clients like Pearson, Pantazol, Taylor & Francis, etc,” he shares.

Moving forward…

“In 2006, we were operating from three units in Okhla, Noida and Khanpur. So, we thought of moving to a bigger space and bought a 6000 sq m plot in EcoTech I, Greater Noida and finally shifted there in December 2014.Till then we had 8 machines of Heidelberg. From there, we took a step further and bought two web printing machines from Pressline

Till 2014 we were using entry level machines of Xerox for our smaller print runs and after shifting to our new premises we immediately added Nuvera 314, Versant 180 and iridesse machine into our technology.Later, we also upgraded our bindery section and bought Memjet in 2020,” he adds.

“We have 12-13 clients, all are multinationals, while in local publishers we have Rupa & Co, Manjul Publishing, Times of India, Hindustan Times,” he adds.

On digital printing…

“My elder son, along with Satish Bajwa, had almost finalized the Screen Dynaponder Inkjet in 2012, but it couldn’t be installed due to technical flaws in calibration with Indian paper on the machine. After the cancellation of order, myself along with my elder son and Satish Bajwa conceived to have the combination of Indian Transport with Forgione printing technology and brought KnowzzleJet,” he shares.

On asking about the kind of jobs they do on digital printers, Vinod replies, “In mono colour, we are doing upto1200 copies in digital while in 4-colour, we are doingupto 500 copies. It is cheaper and faster. Myself and Mamta did due diligence with our publishers that instead of printing a stock for four months (Approx 2000) why not we can break it into the four to five print runs of 500 each to save the holding and warehousing cost and offered them a very competitive rates which most of them accepted.In fact, we locked the cost for 2 years with an exception of paper cost which can be increased / reduced as per the prevailing rate. In fact, we got 2 publishers for whom we are giving 100% services due to strength /Quick TAT of our latest Inkjet technology of Pressline and Monotech.”

“We have printed 36 GSM Bible on our digital machine and we exported this combination to Malyasia. Infact, we can print upto 120 GSM on digital printing,” he adds.
The USP…

“If anybody visits our website, most of the publishers have accepted and documented that work at Saurabh Printers is always delivered on time. I conclude that now our biggest strength is combination of all three technology – Inkjet for smaller runs, Sheetfed for print run up to 3000 and Web for print run of 3000 & above, enabling us to produce about 30,000- 40,000 copies of paperback and 10,000 copies of hardback per day , which has become our strength.I further reiterate that installation of Inkjets has given boost to our image because as and when there is urgent need, the publisher think about us as a solution provider,” concludes Vinod.