Komori organised an open house in Ludhiana on 1 February 2018, around 150 printers from the city attended the event. Welcoming the delegates, Prof. Kamal Chopra General Secretary of Offset Printers Association (OPA) said, time has come for the change to most modern and latest equipment to enhance productions and to reduce the make-ready time. This seminar is being organized to educate the printers about the necessity of latest equipment and machinery. He said, Komori is fast capturing the market of India and I have been told that it is now the maximum selling offset printing machine in India.

The Open House conceded with the installation of first Komori machine at Ludhiana, giving the details about Komori installations Mr. Sangam Khanna president and managing director, Insight Communication & Print Solution said, “We have installed more than 335 Komori printing presses in the last decade. Thus, we see a demand for new printing presses compared to pre-owned. The reasons may vary but there is a definite change in the mind-set of printers in the country”. He said, I am happy to note that now printers in the industrial city like Ludhiana start opting for new printing presses rather than pre-owned. Talking about the spectrum of Komori, from entry level four-colour printing press Enthrone to Lithrone G/GX series for packaging printing to digital inkjet solution Impremia, along with software solutions. Mr. Khanna also showcased the possibility of special printing presses in printing special jobs. He observed that the reasons may vary but there is a definite change in the mind-set of printers in the country,” Khanna said, adding that he was happy to see printers in a city like Ludhiana going for new printing presses.

Akihiro Komori, deputy general manager, Komori Corporation, Japan, said, “We see global trends in India. As per our study, packaging printing will continue to grow from 18 to 20% and commercial and books printing are also growing at the rate of 18% per annum in India. The trend from printed copies to digital is also reversed in the USA and it is positive for the industry.” Komori added that as 2018 is the IGAS year, Komori will showcase its best technology and innovation during the show. Mr. Komori added that to get close to the Indian customers and provide better services, enhanced product reliability and provide information and communications technology (ICT) solutions aimed at improving productivity, Komori Corporation will soon will establish subsidiary in India. He said, Mr. Hirofumi Hoshino will be the managing director of the new venture.

Hoshino, a mechanical engineer has joined Komori in 1977 and was involved in press design and production. He has served in Komori America and Europe. He is a core member of Komori Global Sales and Service Group and associate board director. During this Open House, Hirofumi Hoshino, leader, India Project, Komori, talked about Kaizen in the pressroom and how a printer can turn his machine into a goldmine if he chooses to follow the ‘Five S’ formula.

Prof. Kamal Chopra presented his book ‘Recreating History of Printing’ to Mr. Akihiro Komori to thank him for organizing such kind of event in the city. We have to be ready to accept the changes along with adoption of latest technology. He said Change is the law of universe, may be 5 or say 10 years back PCO were available at every nook and corner now we have the phone in our pocket so the PCO start closing down. Then these PCO shops converted themselves into phone charging booths and now the recharges is available online, have you noticed the change? Today every third shop is mobile shop where you can get service, sale, recharge, accessories, repair and maintenance of mobile. In 1998 there were 1,70,000 employees in Kodak and they were selling 85% of photographic paper. With the introduction of digital photography now there is no sale of photo paper, the company became bankrupt and all the employees were without job within years. Now they have started selling CtP, software, and digital offset machines. Now fast and accurate production is need of the hour, it is therefore we must consider changing to new technologies, Prof. Chopra added.