Interview with Michel Caza by FESPA on Screen Printing Technology & Future of Printing Industry

Hi Friends,

Its my pleasure to share a video interview of my Guru Michel Caza prepared by FESPA (www.fespa.com).

In this video he speaks about Screen Printing Technology, UV Special Effects Screen Printing & Future of Printing Industry in general.

I am sure this video would be of great use to you guys.

I hope you will like it.

Have a creative year ahead.

Bhargav

DMI Workshop Flashback 2011

Hi Friends,

Let me begin my first blog wishing all of you HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012. May the year bring you HAPPY, PEACEFUL, DELIGHTFUL & SUCCESSFUL MOMENTS.

It was a wonderful year 2011 for Grafica and DMI. But I still recollect those great memories of associating with you during various exhibitions, DMI workshops, and road shows and of course through my blogs.

Before I start FLASHBACK 2011 at DMI, from the bottom of my heart I thank all my customers, well wishers and friends in the printing industry who were very supportive through the year and special thanks to all DMI sponsors. It’s because of your overwhelmed support and trust we are able to continuously improve and bring new innovations in screen printing.

Watch DMI Workshop Flashback 2011 VIDEO.

I am sure you will agree that DMI has changed the rules of the screen printing industry in India by imparting advance knowledge, bringing new innovations etc. and Grafica Flextronica kept this industry alive and kicking by introducing advance and affordable technologies. Actually the fusion of Grafica & DMI has not only brought the screen printing process in the lime light all over the world but the overall industry has been immensely benefiting due to our innovations.

Throughout the year DMI has introduced many new techniques in special effects screen printing to compliment offset and digital printing for value addition.

Today I am glad to present this video where you will be able see detailed and close up images of many new special effects screen printed products which were demonstrated in my various 2011 workshops.

Watch DMI’s Creative Sample Gallery VIDEO.

So keep in touch through my DMI workshops or various other events of Grafica. For your information my next DMI workshop is scheduled on 2-3-4 February 2012.

Finally I cannot end up this blog without thanking my entire team Grafica and DMI team who performed brilliantly during the year.

Wish you all the best.

Happy Screen Printing 2012.

Bhargav

Learn how to screen print 511 Solid Colors with just 9 Impressions

In this workshop at DMI starting from 1st Dec to 3rd Dec, I am going to teach how to achieve 511 solid (pantone) colors in just 9 impressions.

This technique was developed by my Guru Michel Caza and he was quite generous to teach me when I was undergoing my training in his company Graficaza at France.

He named this technique “Caza Superimposition” where I remember he used to achieve 64 spot colors with only 6 impressions. But this research at DMI went even further where I developed how to achieve 511 spot color by just adding only 3 impressions more.

It would be a nightmare to print more than 100 special spot (solid pantone) colors and making 100 screens for each color. Its also difficult to stock and manage so many special colors.

Now its possible to do that using a special technique which I will be teaching in our coming workshop at DMI starting from 1st to 3rd December 2011.

In this workshop we are going to screen print around 100 different spot (Pantone colors) and also with few metallic spot colors on a calendar with just 9 impressions only.

Later we shall also add around 12 new UV special effects on the same calendar. One of the special effect out of that will be UV MIRROR INKS.

More over we will be also printing this calendar on a Transparent Plastic, Metallic Foil and a Rigid White Sun-board

This technique will be shown at DMI for the first time in this coming workshop and I am very excited to screen print this calendar in front of all the lucky participant who have registered for this workshop.

If you are a Grafica customer (within India) and if you wish to get this fantastic DMI 2012 calendar at your doorstep than kindly leave a message with your contact details on this blog post and I shall try to send if possible.

This superb technique can be explored by any screen printers in many applications where you want to screen print more 50/100 solid (spot) colors with limited impressions to save cost and to make more profits. So far I could list down only few of them for your ready reference:

1. Calendars
2. Wedding Cards
3. Dairies
4. Books, Notebooks & Stationery
5. School bags
6. Toys and Games
7. Fancy stickers and labels
8. CD/DVD covers
9. Gifts and Novelties
10. Art & Serigraphy
11. Packaging
12. Packaging on Transparent Plastic
13. School Bags
14. Carry Bags
15. and you can also compliment this idea on a offset or a digital prints also.

In the last workshop we screen printed Table Matt and Tea Coasters on a MDF and I am sure you can make good money if you sell this idea to any good chain of hotels and restaurants.

The image was first screen printed using process color inks and later we added 9 UV special effects inks and varnish to add value to the product.

I am sure many good hotels and high class restaurants would not mind in spending on such creative stuffs. You can also make the menu cards on the same MDF to complete the concept.

CLICK   HERE   TO   SEE   MORE   DETAILED   PHOTOS   OF   THIS   PRODUCTS

These photos will help you to create more ideas and to make more profits from your screen printing business.

At DMI we work hard to support and educate screen printers FREE OF COST… and I am sure we will keep doing this in future…

In our next workshop you will learn more about this 511 solid (spot) color techniques on the following products:

1. Revolving Table Lamp Stand, Screen Printed on Acrylic surrounded with MDF border.

2. Wine Bottle Box (Packaging) on metallic foil with high quality UV special effect.

3. Candle Light Stand with Fragrance

4. Plastic Diaries and Note Book Covers with UV Mirror Inks.

Remember all above will be screen printed using the new 511 solid (spot) color technique with only 9 impressions…

Have a profitable week.

Bhargav

Grafica shows the path of value addition to visitors @SGIA Expo 2011

I am just back in office after witnessing two mega exhibitions – SGIA 2011 in USA and PAMEX 2011 in India. The SGIA Expo 2011 was held during October 19-21, 2011 at New Orleans and PAMEX was held during 1-4 November at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

First let me share my experiences at SGIA. This time we had showcased the famous Nano Premier League (NPL and NPL plus) package. I spent a quality time with hundreds of visitors. I also attended ASPT’s Annual Meeting held on the sidelines of the SGIA expo.

  

For me the SGIA 2011 show was very important since my company participated in SGIA after a gap of 7 years. Ron Hayden of RH Solutions our Supplier for North America was quite capable in managing the entire show successfully and enthusiastically with additional support from Mike Young, David Eckl & Andy MacDougall. Even my guru Michel Caza was also present most of the time at our booth to answer queries of knowledge seeking visitors.

Our Booth No. 2901 at SGIA was a learning centre for many US and European entrepreneurs, engaged in screen printing. That’s because we had prominently displayed a large collection of creative print finishing samples and many other UV special effects. These samples were screen printed during our regular workshops at DMI.

We distributed our samples to visitors showing genuine interest in value addition. We had exhausted all the samples in two days and visitors were after us to get these samples. We had left only samples on display.

  

Although my initial excitement was focussed on introducing Grafica’s Nano range of machines, at the end, I must say that the expo turned out to be an exciting teaching experience to me. Majority of the visitors to our stall including many offset/packaging printers spent more time in understanding the techniques of incorporating various special effects than watching the live demo of our machines. Lots of sticker and label printers, industrial printers also wanted to know whether such special effects can be incorporated on their jobs.

To my surprise, there were many stalls of ink suppliers but none of them had demonstrated any special effect inks/varnishes or displayed the kind of printed samples we had in our stall.

That’s why I feel our presence in the US market through SGIA platform was very timely and stirred the minds of enthusiastic screen printers who want to explore the market for profitable business. I really look forward to make greater in roads into US market.

Coming back to the response part, I must say it was a new beginning for my company as far as US market is concerned. Nano Print was well received in terms of machine built and easy operational system. But Nano-Print plus was a star attraction because of its usual structural design with parallel lift movement. Its unique features and open from all sides design was well appreciated.

  

On the other hand, Nano-Screen Maker 5-in-1 received big thumbs up that is because it was world’s first all in one screen making system. Some visitors closely observed the system and remarked that 5-in-1 system is a fantastic creation of Grafica and a great space saver. They specially pointed out that within the machine itself lot of space has been saved. Many visitors were thrilled to see the unique and easy mechanism of fabric stretching unit attached to 5-in-1.

In India we are familiar with our market. For me it was important to understand the buyers’ psychology in the US market. I must acknowledge that Mike Young was supportive all throughout the show to achieve my goal. He was really a guiding force.

 

On the other hand, my guru, Michel helped me to deal with European visitors. He was so kind of in responding to visitors’ queries in industrial and graphics printing. I was a great fun and a learning experience for me and even I really had a good time with Michel Caza, Mike Young, David EKL, Andy MacDougall & off course Ron Hayden and I highly appreciate all of them for showing their enthusiasm in support me and Grafica.

And I must acknowledge that Ron of RH Solutions managed the show very well. Grafica really needed a competent professional like him to promote our products in USA. I noticed that he did not waste even a single minute; he was very active all throughout the show. He had the strong backing of David Eckl who is according to me a genius technician and an expert of screen printing machinery and Andy MacDougall who also supported throughout the show.

 
SGIA 2011 in general – my view point

I was told that last SGIA at Las Vegas was better than this year’s exhibition. Even in 2011 SGIA exhibition on the US soil, I was really surprised to see some exhibitors still trying to promote their manual screen printing systems and wooden frames. While in India my company is spearheading the movement called ‘manual to automation in screen printing’, I did not feel good about the promotion of outdated methods of screen printing right at SGIA expo. Even if such companies want to sell their products, I feel they should not promote it at a premier exhibition.

Over all I think the SGIA 2011 focussed only 25% on screen printing. Many leading screen ink and machinery manufacturers found missing. According to me “SCREEN PRINT INDIA” exhibition is very well organized in India and mainly focussed to promote the screen printing technology.

Although textile industry is active in US, many players (inks and machine manufacturers) did not participate in SGIA expo. I think SGIA should also give special attention to screen printing to ensure that screen printing also take the leading role in SGIA EXPO.

In my view SGIA should encourage more and more manufacturers and suppliers to participate the exhibition so that screen printing as a versatile process gets its due mileage.

OVER TO SGIA AWARDS COMPETITION 2011

These entries were evaluated by an elite team of imaging professionals (including my guru – Michel Caza and close friend Mike Young).

Because photography in the gallery was not permitted I had nothing to show pictorially about the award winning screen printed samples. But I can only narrate in words about the kind of creative award winning jobs which were on display. All were brilliant master pieces.

If I am not wrong, India’s multi faceted printing houses grabbed as many as 44 awards out of 50 main categories in the just concluded SGIA 2011 (USA) Golden Image Award Competitions, which only speaks about the growing power of screen printing in India.

I would like to congratulate all award winners:

Spectrum Scan (7 titles), textile printing specialists Tarun Print Tech (15 titles) and Varsha Transprint (9 titles), India’s top automobile decal makers Classic Stripes (6 titles) and PRS Permacel (3 titles) – Industrial labels and membrane switch makers Pune based Unique Labels (2 titles) and Keetronics (1 title).

Interestingly, this year’s highest honors were given to select winning entries, including:
Best in Digital Creativity: “Angels Pillow Cover,” Varsha Transprint, (Mumbai, India)

Best of Show Digital: “LOreal NutriShine Decal,” Spectrum Scan Pvt Ltd, (Mumbai, India)

ASPT Best of Show Garments: “MAN VIEW CHANGE,” Tarun Print Tech, (Sewri Mumbai, India)

Take care…

Bhargav

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Dussera 2011 @ Grafica celebrated with festivity

Everyone waits for Dussera as a day to be celebrated with lot of festivity. But I eagerly wait for Dussera to present my company’s progress report to all my employees. I make my presentation one day before Dussera because it’s the day DMI institute was inaugurated. So this makes me remember that big day of my life every year.

On the auspicious occasion of Dussera all employees of my company were in their festive mood to celebrate with lot of enthusiasm on October 5, 2011. The celebration involved performing poojas and prayers in the factory and offices.

As the day neared to Dussera, I sat down to prepare my company’s progress report and pictorial presentation covering various activities, events, exhibitions, new developments, innovations, achievements, etc. highlighting the performance and activities of the company during the year.

Before starting my presentation, I welcomed all the newly joined employees. Also in my two-hour long address, I underlined the philosophy of the company which helps those newly joined employees to understand our aims and objectives. I always believe that its not just the product which sells but it also depends on how one deals with customers and satisfy with prompt after sales.

The focus of my presentation was on: innovation, quality, productivity, customer satisfaction which I consider as the strong foundation of Grafica. I think by being transparent with your employees we can inject a sense of belongingness and confidence in their minds. I make sure that right from Security, Housekeeping, Canteen Staff to Top Level Management and my Core Team are all present during my address.

The motto of the company was made very clear to the employees. I want Grafica to be No.1 Company in the screen printing machinery business. For me No. 1 does not only mean in terms of sales volume only but No. 1 in terms of customer satisfaction. I want Grafica to be the best company in the world as far as customer satisfaction is concerned by providing quality products and technical support.

I dwelled upon my company’s real strengths and opportunities in the market; quick measures required to overcome the various weaknesses and threats in view of the stiff competition in the market. I also revealed about Grafica presence in the market.

Every year we have broken our own records by launching innovative products in screen printing. Last year NANO-PRINT, NANO-SCREEN MAKER 5-in-1 & NANO-SHARPENER and NPL Package. This year we celebrated the success of NANO-PRINT plus and NPL plus Package. Following this we also had two more products to announce NANO-UV 18″ & 24″.

 

Just before Dussera, I was felicitated by BMPA for DMI’s efforts and success in the field of education in screen printing. I felt the award belonged to entire team at DMI. Hence I handed over the memento to DMI team while the entire Grafica family cheered them.

Since Grafica has already started its export to US & EUROPEAN countries it was also important for me to highlight that MADE IN INDIA products are well accepted in the global market.

 

I explained how to be productive and become quality conscious in all areas of operations. I also drew special attention of the employees on specific areas which I feel is more important for every company such as energy saving, minimize use of paper and plastics even in their personal life and the most important aspect was to maintain CLEANLINESS whether its home, factory or public places.

Investing on Education has alway been on the TOP of my list. The proof is DMI… As this is our 6th year and I am proud to announce that we almost trained more than 1200 printing professional through DMI Workshops.

Beginning this year, as a corporate social responsibility, we have also started offering educational support to all our employees’ children by donating complete educational materials comprising of note books, stationery, school bags, uniforms etc. This activity is taken care by Yashomati Dhirubhai Mistry Foundation an initiative of Grafica Flextronica, in memory of my beloved mother. In order to encourage our employees’ children we have also taken initiative by offering financial assistance and scholarships to deserving students. I feel education is an important component next to health.

After education Healthcare of our employees and their family is also been my most important priority, hence we have covered most of our employees under medical insurance.

Because if anyone want to achieve growth make sure that your employees and staff are taken care of their basic needs including their transportation. This also means the company should be responsible to create better and hygienic working environment because don’t forget that large part of our life is spent at our workplace. I don’t hesitate to write that the condition of TOILET & WORKPLACE reflects your companies image.

I also revealed various future plans and developments envisaged for the next financial year 2011-12. At the end, I expressed my gratitude to all team leaders and their team members for taking Grafica to greater heights. While thanking all employees, I emphasized that each and every member of Grafica and DMI family is important and part of company’s growth.

After my presentation there were rewards for best performers from various departments in three groups 5 years and above, 10 years and above and 15 years and above.

My presentation followed by a delicious lunch and enthralling entertainment program which lasted till 6.30 pm.

The entertainment show with over two dozen performances was a big hit and beyond my expectation. I told the employees this was the real reality show wherein employees got a chance to prove his/her hidden skills by performing on stage – be it singing, drama, dance, poetry, drawing, instrumental music, etc. There were huge cash rewards for the most entertaining group and individuals.

         

           

When employees were given a chance to perform on the stage they excelled in their artistic skills. I believe in the same way they can perform extraordinarily if they were given a chance to perform with new responsibility to engage more on innovation and creativity.

I end this note by thanking all my customers, suppliers, friends and well wishers without whom Grafica could not have reached to this success.

Finally, I also have to say good bye as I will be flying to New Orleans for SGIA show as Grafica would display its range of products at Booth No. 2901 with all DMI creative samples. I would be updating on this event with photos so stay connect to my blog to see what’s going around in SGIA 2011.

Just after my return from SGIA, I will have to rush to New Delhi for PAMEX 2011. So if you are visiting Pamex 2011 at Pragati Maidan New Delhi then make sure we meet at Hall No. 3, Stall No. 3072.

Good Luck,

Bhargav

Thanks BMPA for recognising DMI’s efforts and success in screen printing education

Thank you BMPA for recognising DMI’s “efforts” and “success” in screen printing education

At the recent High Point 2011, an annual function of Bombay Master Printers’ Association (BMPA) held on September 30, 2011, I was taken by surprise when I was called on the stage to receive a trophy on behalf of DMI for its “efforts and success” in screen printing education and training.

As the invite sent to me had clearly stated that at this function BMPA would felicitate my friend Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath, for being honored with this year’s ‘Education Award of Excellence’ from Printing Industries of America (PIA). By receiving this honor in US he has not only made India proud but proved that nothing is impossible if you have the will and courage. This man is not only dedicated and devoted but also gifted to our printing industry. If you ever get chance to listen to his lectures or talks do not miss I am sure you will be highly inspired by him…

I felt greatly honored when this award was presented to me from this legend (Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath) who is not only my close friend but also a well wisher of DMI.

I remember well that day when I called him up with the request to inaugurate DMI in 2006, he willingly accepted my invitation without any excuses. Since then I have been more closely associated with him and on several occasions we shared same stage at various industry forums.

When he was at Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), as head of the Printing Technology Department, he had invited me to make presentation on advanced screen printing technology which was great honor and I willing accepted and we had a great time in Manipal together for couple of days.

Whenever he visits any printing exhibition he makes it a point to visit my stall and he always spends time to see DMI’s creative print finishing samples. That’s because he is an intelligent academician who knows the importance of each and every printing process. I very well remember what he said after visiting our stall at Print Pack 2011 in New Delhi: “Bhargav, screen printing today is not what it was 6-7 years ago. With the kind of experiments that you are making at your DMI, it appears to me that it has emerged as a printing process to be reckoned with.”

I think this award is also a tribute to my father, late Shri Dhirubhai Mistry, the founder of Grafica group of companies. As a genius in printing technology, he himself was a student of Sir JJ Schools of Applied Arts, Mumbai. It was his vision to set up an institute like DMI to provide full fledged education and training to students in screen printing and make them finest screen printing technologists rather than machine operators. Grafica took up the initiative to make his dream a reality and I will continue with his mission.

Have a nice weekend…

Bhargav

I will miss you Steve

I will miss the genius Steve Jobs.

He changed the game of mobile computing and personal computer.

Although he died with Virus in him but his devices never carried any Viruses as long as he was alive and I am sure his philosophy and ideas will continue in Apple Computers to offer more and more creative hardware and software.

I believe that as far as Apple continues to grow and offer better products Steve Jobs will never die.

To me he is still alive because I use all his products the MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, iPod and all the Softwares

The industry will never get such a visionary man like Steve Jobs for ever.

I can never forget him because I have learn lots of good thing from him

October, 6th 2011 is noted in my diary

Bhargav

Looking forward to see you at SGIA 2011 New Orleans USA

Hi Guys,

Back again after a long gap due to many new and important project that are underway to surprise the screen printing industry shortly. Hhhmmm….

After returning from the FESPA’s General Assembly 2011 which was held this time in Budapest, Hungary I again got chance to meet my Guru Michel Caza and many other industry friends. We had good time exchanging ideas and sharing experiences about screen printing industry scenario.

Budapest is really beautiful city worth visiting. Here are some of the photos of this wonderful place.

Generally when ever I visit anywhere I have a habit to take my Pro DSLR Camera but this time for some reason I could not. So all these photos were taken from my iPhone 4. But when I saw them on my computer screen I was really amazed with its quality even in low light conditions.

PHOTO GALLERY OF BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

Ok so now let me now pen down my blog covering some of the past events.

PrintWeek India Awards 2011 update!

And the awards go to… Screen Printer of the Year – Eswara Screen, Chennai

And the Special Award – Grafica’s Nano-Print – goes to an emerging screen printer
Mirror Image, Ahmedabad

My company was exclusive sponsor of the screen printing category. I appreciate all printers who had submitted their entries with a spirit of healthy competition.

SPAI-FESPA Cross Country Table Top Exhibition:

We had successfully participated in a series of SPAI-FESPA Cross-Country Table Top exhibitions (CCTTEs) at various places, recent being in Ahmedabad, Morbi and Rajkot in Gujarat. Earlier, we had earlier participated in similar show at Aurangabad, Pune, Nashik, Surat, Vapi and Baroda. I personally feel that this kind of road shows at regional level will definitely boost the screen printing industry and it will also help local screen printers to learn new ideas and advance technology in screen printing. With the help of this road show my people were able to meet and interact with many screen printers who have still not visited any exhibitions so far. So I personally believe that these kind of regional road shows is a great initiative from SPAI & FESPA. Not only it’s good for printers but also economical for exhibitors to display their products conveniently.

Actually our main focus in all these shows is to educate screen printers about new trends, technologies and applications in screen printing which can help them to get new ideas so that they can implement it in their process and offer creative ideas to their customers locally. Frankly, almost all visitors were thrilled to see our innovative ideas which we demonstrated in print finishing and other packaging products 100% screen printed.

Till now we completed only 9 road shows out of 63 and in each event we distributed 100′s of creative samples which were screen printed in DMI. In fact the total cost of these 9 shows were peanuts if I consider the sampling cost which we distributed every where to all visitors. Each show was planned for 3 to 4 hours and in such short time there were around 150 to 300 foot steps in various regions, according to my team Ahmedabad and Rajkot was better in terms of visitors counts compare to others.

Since it was difficult for me to visit all places so when this show was scheduled in Pune I thought its better to visit and come back in a day since it was close to Mumbai.

Interestingly Ramu of PrintWeek also wanted to visit and have a look so he also joined me from Mumbai and we had a nice time together exchanging ideas of various printing industry. Since his knowledge and information in broadly focused on various printing industry so I got a better chance to interact with him about the Indian printing industry.

PHOTO GALLERY – SPAI_FESPA CROSS COUNTRY TABLE TOP EXHIBITION

Now Over to DMI Workshops:

It makes me really feel happy, charged and proud to conduct houseful workshops repeatedly. This time we have amazing group of creative printers from all over India and few from abroad. Here is the group photo of my July Workshop.

As you see in the photo below I had presented them exclusive 3D Screen Printed Certificates. Participant were overwhelm by receiving this certificate from me.

I am yet to prepare my write about my recent DMI workshop concluded on 22-23-24 September were we screen printed creative table matts and coster on MDF (Wood). I shall reveal all what we did in this workshop. So please bear with me few more days…

The next DMI workshop is now scheduled on 1-2-3 December, so go ahead and register soon. In this workshop there are big news, great surprise and many more exciting offers coming up… So log on to our website regularly and stay updated.

Now Some Exciting News:

SGIA 2011, New Orleans, USA

I feel proud to announce that we might be the first Indian screen printing machine manufacturers to show case wide range of products live at forth coming SGIA Expo 2011 in New Orleans, USA on October 19-21, 2011. If by any chance you are planning to visit this exhibition make sure to meet me at Booth No. 2901.

We shall also display an array of creative print finishing samples and many more UV special effects which were screen printed during my Workshop in DMI.

After exploring our DMI’s creativity in India through various workshops now it’s time I shall explore this idea even in US and the European market.

I also look forward to meet my colleagues at ASPT (Academy of Screen Printing Technology) annual general meeting which is scheduled during SGIA 2011 Expo.

PAMEX 2011: 1-4 November 2011:

There is mega exposition in New Delhi – PAMEX 2011. The event will take place at Pragati Maidain during 1-4 November 2011. My team is busy in fine turning the plans.

Grafica’s will display a wide range of screen printing machines and allied products at stall no.3072, hall no.3. These include: Cylinder Press, a fully automatic screen printing machine with inline UV; Camshell, a heavy duty semi automatic screen printing machine; Nano-Print plus and Nano-Print, UV curing machine along with NPL & NPL plus.

Do not miss to touch and feel large collection of creative print finishing samples produced during various workshops at DMI. So just after my return from US I will have to immediately rush to New Delhi for Pamex. So I really expect to meet all of you soon at Pamex 2011.

3rd Indo-German Conference on Packaging Printing in Mumbai

My friend, Kiran Prayagi informed me that 3rd Indo-German Conference on Packaging Printing is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on 22nd and 23rd November 2011. So i thought it would be great if any one who is really interested to know more about packaging and printing technology should definitely register and learn many great ideas from worlds renowned speakers.

Organised by pmIndia, a joint venture of Institute for Print and Media Technology and Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany and Graphic Arts Technology and Education (GATE), the conference will be addressed by experts from the European and Indian printing industry on the science and technology involved in special applications.

You may contact him directly for more details:
Kiran Prayagi, email: officemumbai@pm-india.in
Or register your seats online CLICK HERE

Grafica @FESPA Mexico 2011



Grafica’s recent participation in FESPA MEXICO (18-19-20 August 2011) turned out to be a great success. So Grafica now makes its presence in MEXICO.

Now signing off at 2.45 at midnight. But before I say good bye. I would like to wish you and your family HAPPY DASERA…

Have a cheerful Navratri weekend…

Bhargav

Strengths Weakness Opportunities And Threats in Screen Printing

“With advancement taking place at all levels, screen printing has evolved as indispensable and a ‘versatile’ printing process”

I would like to pen down some of my recent thoughts about screen printing in the form of a quick SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of Indian screen printing industry scenario.

STRENGTHS:

Automation and UV technology – One of our valued customers who had 15 manual tables has now as many as 7 semi automatic screen printing machines. There are many screen printers whose business has doubled or tripled over the years ever since they switched over to automation along with UV. So, semi automatic and fully automatic screen printing machines are now making inroads into Indian screen printing industry in a big way.

In the last decade, from a predominantly manual printing process there has been a big shift from manual operations to semi-automatic and now fully automatic printing machines. Going by my own company’s sales performance, there has been steep increase in the number of screen printing machines (and UV curing machines) sold in the last couple of years than it was five to ten years ago. Also, a noteworthy transformation is that there has been quantum leap in the number of visitors to our pavilions at various printing industry exhibitions than it was 5-10 years ago.

That’s because screen printing not only involves low investment which is a big advantage for those wanting to join the screen printing business, but also there has been widespread applications of this versatile process and greater awareness about the immense benefits of and need for automation.

“Quality” improvement: Quality in screen printing seems to have come a long way. Today, with automatic precision machines, it is possible to get a result that years ago would have been a dream. Let the world believe that the screen printing process today is faster, better and cleaner.

New trend – combination of processes: There has been a growing trend of offset printers/packaging companies setting up inhouse screen printing unit instead of outsourcing. There are many digital printers who have set up screen printing units to meet the market demand for ‘total print solution’. Screen Printing is the perfect complement to offset and it works in tandem to help generate more business.

WEAKNESSES

Education – lack of knowledge!

I would say knowledge is the key to success to any business. What’s the use if screen printers have fully automatic screen printing line without having a proper knowledge?

In screen printing industry there is not only lack of ‘knowledge’ but also lack of ‘knowers of knowledge’. Inspire of this drawback, over the years, bravo, our screen printers have made drastic improvements due to their sheer hard work and inclination to learn from self help, by reading technical articles, attending exhibitions, seminars etc.

I think the technical education think tanks in India should really make an immediate analysis of the printing education offered in various institutes which is MINUS “advanced screen printing”, they touch upon only some basics and outdated elements of screen printing… very sad especially when the Indian screen printing is adopting automation in a big way and the need for trained screen printing professionals is shooting up. In the recent past, there has been a growing trend of offset printers embracing screen printing, whereas the printing institutes emphasizes more on offset and other printing technology.

On my part, I am determined to take screen printing education to a greater height through my own institute DMI. I am receiving tremendous response from the industry. What was started as workshops with 8-10 participants today our workshops are always houseful with long queue of waitlisted knowledge seekers.

I had produced and screened a video film ‘Screen on Screen’ in 15 cities few years ago. Following this success, we followed it up with yet another round of all India campaigns (ten) whereby we took our entire Nano Premier League package to show the screen printing process live to printers.

I fully agree with Mr Narendra P of Pragati Press, Hyderabad who recently said that the old mindset ‘screen printing business can easily be started with an investment as low as Rs. 500-1000 to print visiting cards, letterheads, etc, has to change now. That’s because technological development in screen printing has moved much ahead of this thinking. I strongly also agree with his view point that in screen printing every step is a ‘science’. So without learning this ‘science’ nothing can be printed qualitatively. By learning new techniques we can assimilate it in our daily practice.

OPPORUTNITIES:

Applications, unlimited: Screen-printing is a fantastic technology that is used by many industries with so many old, new and not yet discovered applications – both flat (plastics, cloth, metal, thin to thick papers, sunpack/sunboard, rubber, leather, wood, glass, footwears, PCBs, ceramics, etc) and non-flat substrates, by using appropriate machinery and inks. Further, this process is also widely used in packaging, labels, Smart-cards – the list of screen printing application is endless.

Growing trend – Value addition through various UV Special effect inks/varnishes: What was started as Spot UV – matt and gloss – today with the availability of various UV special effects, screen printers have now great chance to excite consumers. The range and variety of effect is extensive and it provides the marketer, print buyer and designer with a number of exciting possibilities.

Use of non-paper Substrates: Continuous advancements and developments in polymer technology, expertise and cost-effective manufacturing, plastic substrates are replacing traditional materials in many fields (environmental conditions apply!). These include : PVC, Polypropylene, HIPS, Lenticular Films, Polycarbonate etc. Polypropylene Sheets are extensively used for blister packaging, cardboard boxes etc. Polypropylene finds application in Disposable Containers, Embossing, Gift Box Making out of clear sheets, Freight Packaging, etc. PVC Sheets and Polypropylene Sheets are the best suited for screen printing. Polypropylene is also preferred by screen printers because of its low density and very economical cost. Similarly, PVC is also widely used by screen printers.

Great shift – Indian screen printers: I still recall what Michel Caza, an international screen printing expert said at the FESPA Munich 2010 Workshop titled “The Future of Screen Printing Goes Through Innovation — A comparison between Western and Asian Countries.” He was of the view that “Graphics and signage are only 20% of screen applications where as 35% lies in textile printing and about 45% in industrial applications.” This clearly sums up the potentials and future of screen printing process.

Screen printers should now take the call: During the presentation at FESPA Munich show, which was focused on the “how European countries are moving towards screen and how in Indian screen printing is moving with the latest trend,” Michel had also mentioned that because of industrial production getting shifted to Asian countries, screen printing is also getting more and more attention in this (Asian) region and that is the advantage for screen printers who are into industrial screen printing such as PCB, membrane switches, etc.

Moreover, even Mike Young’s presentation on “Emerging Technologies” proves that screen printing has a promising future. He sees a great future provided the screen printers in India remove all bottlenecks the major being “clean-room environment in the screen making and printing setup.” That’s because he saw hard working and sincere efforts by Indian screen printers to achieve quality through high level of automation. Mike was also quite optimistic about Indian screen printers. He says that Indian screen printers can face the challenges ahead with determination, enthusiasm, passion and courage.

Participation in Awards competitions – great opportunity to printers:

I have been witnessing a growing number of entries and award winners in two major international competitions – SGIA/ FESPA sponsored besides national competitions such as Screen Print India Award and SPAI-FESPA India and PrintWeek India competitions. That’s not only good but a healthy sign, because ultimately it increases appetite for quality improvement on various counts – Complexity, Image definition, precision and sharpness; Colour appearance, Application of use, Creativity, etc.

Still majority of the printers still hesitate to participate in these competitions due to many reasons.

THREATS:

a) Manual screen printing. If our screen printers are catering to industrial printing they should immediately dump manual screen printing tables as there are strict quality and delivery requirements in industrial segment. I have numerous screen printers who have switched over to automation due to all the side effects of manual screen printing – it is tedious, laborious, time consuming, wastage-ridden. I was told by many international experts that India lags behind several decades in screen printing but it is not too late.

b) Use of poor quality raw materials.

c) Use of Out-dated methods: Wooden frames, nylon white fabric instead of polyester yellow fabric, lack of standardisation in screen making although it is well known fact that screen is the heart of printing.

d) Using solvent although UV available for many applications.

Perhaps due to these reasons there is a growing trend in India that more and more OEMs are now setting up their own screen printing units. For example: Tiles and Ceramic industry, electronic industry, leather industry, garment industry, packaging and offset industry and many more. In these areas they used to earlier outsource their requirement.

Conclusion:

Screen printing process evolved over the years. Today, it offers ample innovation & creativity, thus playing a major role in printing industry because of the availability of advanced screen printing machines, UV technology coupled with availability of innovative special effects inks.

Screen printing is now quicker, cheaper, produces better quality images and offers a number of special applications. But advanced screen printing with high level of automation is not everybody’s cup of tea. Having advanced machines in place is not sufficient to run a profitable screen printing business. There is no profit from the press of a button like an ATM card. There is no short cut. Because not only does the set-up process take considerably longer than other techniques, but being able to truly master printing high quality images using the screen printing process also takes much longer, because there are a number of variables involved.

Today, there exist different systems designed to help the screen printers to achieve better result. But it revolves around the simple concept or standardisation of the entire screen printing process.

The comment made by Prof. Dr. Rajendra Kumar Anayath, Print Media Academy, Chennai – a Heidelberg Initiative during his visit to our stall at Print Pack 2011 New Delhi, is significant: “Bhargav, screen printing today is not what it was 6-7 years ago. With the kind of experiments that you are making at your DMI, it appears to me that it has emerged as a printing process to be reckoned with.”

Bye friends and have a great week…

Bhargav