CMYK

GraficaNewsIndiaVOL - 2 PAGES- 8 MUMBAI FEBRURARY 2014 PRICE - Rs. 2/- ISSUE - 2

14 - 16 March 2014, Stall No: C05, Hall No: 5

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Grafica will showcase its most sought after Nano-Print, Nano-Print Plus, Nano-UV, Nano-Screen Maker 5-in-1, and Nano-Sharpener. Grafica’s

team of experts will perform live demo of screen printing various exotic UV special effects, including Magical ‘glow in dark’ over duly offset

printed Taj Mahal poster. Visitors can also get an opportunity to glance through a huge collection of DMI’s highly creative screen printed samples.

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Visit Grafica's stall @ Printex'14, Mumbai

at Bombay Exhibition Centre, NSE Complex, Goregaon East, Western Expressway, Mumbai

So, Don't miss to 'buy' the idea of 'luxury In Print'

nano-prinTag’s spectacular performance @ KnitWorld - Ludhiana

With two CamShell

on growth path AA's

Ad-AidsJeevan Prints installs 2nd nano-prinTex

PUNE

nano-prinTag scores 50

in 6 months

TIRUPUR

Nano-Print plus

Nano-Print

Nano-Screen Maker 5-in-1

Nano Sharpner

CMYK

GraficaNewsIndia 2 Feb 2014

Bhargav’s BlogBhargav’s Blog

I personally invite all printing professionals to visit our stall at the forthcoming Printex’14 expo in Mumbai on 14-16 March 2014 (details on front page). My team will perform live demo of printing various stunning UV special effects. So, don’t miss to ‘buy’ the idea of ‘LUXURY IN PRINT.’ Meanwhile, I am happy to reveal that our nano-prinTag has been a big hit both in domestic and export markets, with orders crossing 50 in just six months. For the first time in the history of my company, the first batch of 15 machines being shipped to export market. This proves the confidence level of overseas customers in brand Grafica. (page 3). I personally thank and wish a great success to the owners of Jeevan Prints, Tirupur, who have reposed confidence in brand Grafica by installing two nano-prinTex. (page 2) Our Nano-Print, the entry level semi automatic screen printing machine introduced in 2009, proved to be a stepping stone of success for many ambitious screen printers such as Pune-based AA’s Ad-Aids who have installed two CamShell after initial success in automation. (page 5) One would wonder why, in this digital and offset age, people still prefer screen printed visiting cards? Read success story of Nashik based Sunflow India Enterprise. (page 6) I congratulate Hitesh Vadecha for his tremendous success in value addition. He undertakes religious print projects with value addition which he learnt in DMI workshops. (page 7) Have a great season ahead!Bhargav Mistry

Tirupur based Jeevan Prints has installed one more Grafica's nano-prinTex. With these two nano-prinTex, the company has now doubled its DTG screen printing capacity to meet growing demand for machine-prints.

Established in 2004, Jeevan Prints is specialized in DTG screen printing that includes photo-realistic prints and special effects such as foil, glitter, gel and bead prints. They undertake printing on kids, men's and ladies wear. Jeevan Prints caters to export market and select domestic leading brands. Their 10000 sq.ft production facility houses Grafica's two nano-prinTex (both 8 col / 10 pallet), 2 flash curing systems (nano-flashTex) and Nano-Screen Maker 5-in-1 (a complete screen making system), manual chest printing machines, and long manual tables. In all they have direct to garment screen printing capacity of about 10,000 to 15,000 pcs per day.

Interview with Vijaykumar R and Selvam G, partners of Jeevan Prints:

Reasons for automation:In manual we never used to get that soft-hand feel; registration accuracy and sharpness was also a major issue. Manual screen printing is tedious and it occupies huge space; it requires more manpower involving constant supervision, production was low and there was limited scope to improve quality. On the other hand, automation is an efficient system, highly affordable and viable, so to say, in our factory 2 nano-prinTex have replaced 4 manual chest printing machines. Automation is necessary to print multi colours/cut colours using pigment/discharge inks.

Impact of automation:The impact of automation was instant and we found tangible benefit. So, we decided to invest in one more nano-prinTex with confidence. With two machines we are achieving production targets

and deliver quality prints. Our customers are delighted and place repeat orders and we have also acquired more clientele.

Trust in brand Grafica:We preferred Grafica based on trust and their reputation in graphics and heat transfer industry. We have been getting regular update via email about their various products hence we know brand Grafica very well. Moreover, Grafica renders excellent after sales service which is evident from the fact that there are already some machines working in Tirupur.

nano-prinTex does not have compressor and pneumatics. Hence it is an efficient energy saving machine with satisfactory production capability. In Tirupur power supply is very erratic. We use inhouse generator sets hence we did not want to buy a compressor/pneumatic based machine which requires more electricity. On annualized basis there is a big savings.

Jeevan Prints installs 2nd nano-prinTex to double DTG screen printing capacity

TIRUPUR

Vijaykumar R (left) & Selvam G

CMYK

Feb 2014 GraficaNewsIndia 3

ExhibitionExhibition

At the recent KnitWorld exhibition held on 14-17 February 2014 at Ludhiana in Punjab state, hundreds of visitors were thrilled to watch spectacular performance of Grafica's nano-prinTag. In association with Shori Chemicals, Grafica's representative in Ludhiana, Team Grafica performed live demo of printing high density printing using plastisol inks, and silicon special inks.

Grafica received several order bookings and serious enquiries for nano-prinTag, world's fastest and first all-electrical mechanical automatic direct to garment tag less label screen printing machine. It is amazing to note that despite this being the second exhibition, after KnitVision (17-20 January' 14) held within a month in the same venue at Ludhiana, Grafica's showcased its nano-prinTag with tremendous success.

KNITWORLD-LUDHIANA

Visitors thrilled to watch spectacular performance of Grafica's nano-prinTag

nano-prinTag scores 50 in just 6 months

As on date, Grafica's nano-prinTag order has crossed 50 barely within 6 months of its launch in August 2013. As many as over 15 machines were being exported to Turkey, Middle East, UK and Russia. For the first time in the history of Grafica, the first batch of 15 machines was exported to overseas customers. This is a significant milestone.

Grafica's nano-prinTag:Now also available upto 4 colour / 4 flash / 10 pallet configurationsSalient Features:

! Speed: 2500 prints / hour

! Index Accuracy: Below +/-

0.005 mm (5 microns)

! No Pneumatics

! No Compressor required

! Available upto 4 colours/8

pallets

! Single Phase / Plug N Play

! Compact & space saving

! Most competitive price

Applications:Grafica's nano-prinTag can be used to print tagless neck label, High density labels & logos for t-shirts/shirts, Pocket/shoulder logo printing, Socks/Handkerchief, Hand gloves, Jeans pocket, Vest/underwear/innerwear, Caps, Transfers & high density labels, All types of hosiery, garments & apparels, And many more.

Rocks export market with over 15 orders

CMYK

Feb 2014 GraficaNewsIndia 4

TechnicalTechnical

By Dawn M. Hohl-Nowlin, USA - Uncommon Enterprises LLC

Dawn Hohl-Nowlin is a Technical Trainer

and Consultant on screen printing. Her

industry experience includes 18 years with

SPTF/SGIA, USA, overseeing screen

printing workshops, developing training

resources and conducting process-related

research. She is a member of the Academy

of Screen and Digital Printing Technology

(ASDPT). She can be reached at

uellc@comcast.net

The screen is by far the most important component for quality screen printing. But the squeegee is the point of contact where the print is actually transferred to the substrate, making it a critical variable to understand and control. Unfortunately, the squeegee is often one of the most neglected tools in the process. In this series of three articles we will cover squeegee selection, squeegee maintenance and squeegee sharpening.

Squeegees have been made out of three primary materials, rubber, neoprene and polyurethane. High density polyurethane squeegees are the most widely used in screen printing today. Polyurethane squeegees are formulated to offer various levels of abrasion and solvent resistance to match different printing applications.

DurometerDurometer describes the hardness/softness of a squeegee on the Shore 'A' scale. The higher the number the harder/stiffer the squeegee. Screen printing squeegees are typically available in 55A to 95A hardness. Most manufactures color code their squeegees by durometer for easy identification on the production floor. However, that color coding is not universal and can be confusing if squeegees are purchased from different sources. A gauge called a Durometer is used

to measure Shore on the actual squeegee which is useful to monitor age/degradation and when hardness is unknown.

In general, 55-65 durometer is soft, 70-75 is medium and is considered all purpose, and 80 and above is considered hard. Softer squeegees deposit more ink and conform better to irregular surfaces than higher durometer squeegees, but have resolution limitations. Medium to harder blades are more suited for finer detail, thinner ink deposits and may be required when printing highly viscous inks. Harder durometer blades will resist solvents and abrasion better.

Squeegees are available in solid durometer or multi-durometers sandwiched together. Dual and Triple durometer squeegees use a different durometer at the print edge and a harder durometer on

the inside or main portion of the blade . The inside harder layer prevents excessive bending while the outside layer allows the edge to conform the substrate surfaces.

Profile and EdgeBlade profile refers to the squeegee's printing edge shape and affects the squeegee's adaptability and ink delivery. There are many unique profiles available, such as round, double beveled, single bevel, diamond and blunt bevel, which are used for applications including bottle/container printing, high precision electronics printing, and irregular object printing. But rectangular blades are the most common for flat graphics printing.

The printing edge sharpness of a rectangular squeegee is the

(Figure 1)

primary ink deposit and image definition control

. A sharp edge offers controlled ink deposit and sharp detail during printing. An edge with a small to large

radius will give progressively greater ink deposit with less detail sharpness. An edge that is chamfered will give the greatest ink deposit for thick film applications. Squeegees will wear with use and the edge must be re-sharpened regularly to maintain desired results.

Effective Printing Angle and Free HeightSqueegee free height refers to the dimension of the blade extending out of the holder and determines how much a blade will bend under pressure. The effective printing angle is the actual angle that forms during printing between the squeegee and the screen . As the blade bends the actual printing angle changes and subsequently the

printing force changes. The free height, squeegee angle, squeegee pressure, durometer, blade profile, screen tension, off contact, ink and substrate are all part of this equation.

As the free height is reduced from repeated squeegee sharpening and wear, it cannot flex as well which makes it stiffer during printing. A squeegee in this state will act like a higher durometer blade, changing ink deposit and print quality. Triple and dual durometer blades

(Figure 2)

(Figure 3)

were designed to minimize these changes as the very hard durometer in the center (or top) prevents the blade from bending, while the outside softer durometer allows adaption to the printing surface throughout the life of the squeegee . Another squeegee design called composite squeegees use fiberglass

reinforcement to provide maximum stiffness, which keeps the effective angle the same regardless of free height or pressure. Another option is to use metal backing supports to standardize the free height of the blade, helping to maintain a consistent effective printing angle

. As wear and sharpening shorten the free height of the squeegee, the backing is adjusted.

Length of SqueegeeUsing a squeegee extending 25 mm beyond each side of the image will maximize the free mesh area of a screen. Free mesh area is the distance between the ends of the squeegee and the inside of the frame. The larger the free mesh area the less off contact is needed improving registration, print clarity and ink deposit uniformity. The practice of rounding off both ends of the squeegee helps minimize mesh stress at the ends of the squeegee. It can be accomplished either by clipping with a specially designed cutter, or rounding with abrasives.

(Figure 4)

(Figure 5)

Squeegee Essentials - Part 1 Squeegee Selection

CMYK

Feb 2014 GraficaNewsIndia 5

For many progressive minded screen printers intending to adopt automation, Grafica's Nano-Print proved to be a stepping stone for success. A point in case is Pune-based AA's Ad-Aids. An ISO/TS 16949 2002 certified company AA's Ad-Aids had half dozen manual screen printing tables. After facing numerous production and quality issues, they kick started their journey in automation by installing Grafica's Nano-Premier League (NPL) which also included Nano-Print. Since then there was no turning back. Now the company has Grafica's two CamShell (20” x 30” and 30” x 40”), one Nano-Print plus and complete wide format screen making set up – all running at full stream. “We print on any surface/ substrate,” says Vikrant Ghotge, CEO of the company. The second generation entrepreneur has a passion for soccer, safe yet adventure bike riding, among many other leisure activities. He

joined the family business after graduation in 1995. 'Discipline, learning, practice' - are some of core values that he follows to achieve success in business, sports and adventures.

Interview: Tell us about the beginning:My father Vivekanand Ghotge started with commercial printing. He used to deliver jobs on bicycle. He used to supply visiting cards, banners, stickers to Tata Group but there came new jobs related to industrial screen printing such as product application labels for vehicles. We did not start off as

industrial printers, but situations demanded us to become supplier of industrial printers to automotive and related industries, job after job. What's the impact of automation?Soon we made entry into automation, we registered 10-15% growth and it is moving northwards. Automation is important to sustain your business and keep growing. We kick started automation specifically to improve quality and productivity. Why are you loyal to brand Grafica?As we found it difficult to achieve productivity and quality with half dozen manual screen printing tables, we made a first entry into automation. But our effort turned out to be a fruitless as the machine we bought from an Indian manufacturer did not work. It was a flop. Later we heard about Grafica and one of our industry friends recommended their machine. By this time Grafica had

also launched their Nano-Print. Later I attended their NPL launch party where I booked the machine. Since then I never think of other manufacturer whenever I want to buy screen printing machine. Their machines perform as per the claim made by the company. We are fully satisfied with the quality of their machine and technical support.

Secret of your Success:I have yet to achieve that success, and I feel success stops if we stop learning. Learning is a continuous process. I also believe in 'practice with discipline makes man perfect' and this applies in business and sports. I make it a point to visit exhibitions because you get to learn some knowledge, ideas, see new technology there. With strong team work, we have grown from strength to strength keeping strong principles in mind and the ever important success mantra: 'Affirmed Commitment for Value Based Ultimate Quality'.

CustomerCustomerPUNE

With two CamShell moves on growth trajectory AA's Ad-Aids

Vikrant Ghotge

Growth is where automation is… in industrial screen printing!

CMYK

Feb 2014 GraficaNewsIndia 6

Nashik based Sunflow India Enterprise's success in visiting card business may bring some surprise to many small and medium sized commercial screen printers who might think that their days are numbered against the backdrop of competition from offset and digital revolution.

“We have not only survived but are successful in our visiting card business because we offer value addition,” asserts Amol Choudhary, Sunflow India

Enterprises, Nashik, Maharashtra, who dumped their 3 manual screen-printing tables and embraced entry level automation.

He attributes his company's stupendous success in visiting card

business to following game changing factors: a) Entry level screen printing

machine – Grafica's Nano-Print

b) UV technology – Nano-UV and wide range of UV special effects/varnishes

c) Value addition concept – An idea showered on them during 3-day workshop at DMI.

d) Design/creativity – Willingness to offer customers always unique products.

The company offers Visiting cards,

commercial printing, Packaging, and Custom made Wedding cards – all with value addition (spot UV and special effects). They also undertake banners, t-shirts, non-woven bag printing. They cater to design studios, offset printers and

direct customers in pharma, agro (pesticides, seeds), food and beverages (wine), and real estate sectors for their packaging needs.

The company's value added visiting card printing business was a big hit. “That's because we do not undertake normal visiting cards; our cards always have one or more UV special effects. This is our profit making business as more and more people now prefer screen printed cards instead of ready-made offset or digital printed stuffs,” asserts Amol. “We also use special papers (e.g. tinted, hand- made, non tear-able, fancy papers) some which cannot be printed on offset or digital. We are witnessing

25% growth in our business,” says Amol.

DMI gave ray of hope:“In DMI workshop, we learnt the technique of UV special effects. We sharpened our skills in Pre press and Screen-making technique. We also attended DMI's Hands on training. It was a practical refresher course. We got chance to practice, learnt more about UV special effect, and received tips to improve quality and productivity. It gave us a feel good factor. We believe that unless and until we learn advanced technology, survival and growth in commercial screen printing is impossible,” concludes Amol.

DMI IMPACT STORY

Sunflow India Enterprise gets steady order flow for screen printed visiting cardsVisiting card business with value addition is still profitable

CustomerCustomer NASHIK

Bhiwandi based Dhanshree Flexographics has turned its focus on rural markets of Maharashtra state. As the name suggests, the company is engaged in the manufacture and supply of packaging / shopping carry bags

made up of cloth, paper, jute, non-woven, PVC. Their screen printing unit at Panvel houses Grafica's Nano-Print for exclusively undertaking non-woven bag printing.

“Non-woven bags are in big demand and we are targeting small towns of Maharashtra as plastic bags are fading away,” avers Nilesh Berde, proprietor of Dhanashree Flexographics. His brother Amol Berde runs packaging unit (bags) in Daman while Nilesh is

managing their 3000 sq.ft plant in Bhiwandi, a town located on farther north-east of Mumbai.

“We are eying rural market in a big way because there are scores of shops and stores selling grocery, cloth, jewelry, medicine, etc. We also supply bags to garment/apparel manufacturers, shopping malls, sweets and food bazar” says Nilesh. “With automation quality has improved and production targets are met with ease,” he concludes.

Dhanshree Flexographics focuses on rural market for its screen printed non-woven bags

BHIWANDI

Amol, Kapil and their dad Anil Choudhary

Nilesh Berde

CMYK

Feb 2014 GraficaNewsIndia 7

CustomerCustomer

Hitesh Vadecha, a Mumbai-based entrepreneur specialized in executing print projects related to Jain religion events and discourses, tells his success story in automation and value addition – two great tips that he received in DMI workshops on advanced screen printing.

“We religiously follow standardization in screen printing and creatively apply techniques of UV special effects, using Grafica's Nano-Premier League plus (NPL plus) system,” avers Hitesh Vadecha adding “I feel there is a great benefit if we follow such tried and tested system.”

His printing firms Kirit B. Vadecha and Vadecha Enterprises offer turnkey printing service exclusively for religious activities of Jain religion – discourses, festivals, events, etc. These include invitations (in card and booklet form with varied sizes), religious books for the occasion, stickers, posters, labels, banners, badges, leaflets, flyers, gifts items, and other jobs, as per customers' requirement and programme design. Vadecha's have customers in Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Pune, Nashik, etc.

Interview:

What are the challenges in religious print jobs?It is very specialized work, totally different from other print activities as it requires knowledge of the Jain religion. With proper knowledge, we are able to guide our customers and do justice to every job religiously.

Our each job is as hectic as the event itself requiring lot of attention and devotion. The cycle requires anywhere 24 hours - 10 days to complete. Screen printing is just one of the many processes that we use to execute the job, which also involves Offset printing, BoPP lamination/ matt finish, Foil Stamping, and

Emboss.

Most of these jobs require ‘decoration’, I mean value addition treatment on cover, envelopes, inside page titles. While customers are ready to pay premium price, we ensure to deliver them the best print jobs with quality. The challenge is how to make every job unique because there is limited number of UV special effects. We have already used following UV special effects: such as Spot UV (matt and gloss), Glitter (silver and gold), Sand, Abrasive, Crystal, 3D reflective and many more.

Blessed with DMI's knowledge:I had the fortune of attending 3-4 workshops and my team also attended the workshop. We follow DMI's workflow and standardization related to print finishing/UV special effects just as per their guidelines, and that way we are able to maintain quality. I believe, mere learning is not enough, we should 'practice what is being preached at DMI institute', do some experiment, and produce some good jobs using all new technology and techniques. Benefits of automation:Firstly let me tell you that I got exposed to benefits of automation during DMI's various workshops. With automation, jobs can be delivered with perfection. Moreover, when we had manual set up, there was lot of absenteeism due to strain. Now our workmen work with enthusiasm as they do not have to struggle anymore to pull and push that squeegee.

DMI IMPACT STORY

MUMBAI

Kirit B. Vadecha value addition

undertake with devotion and

religious print projects

Hitesh Vadecha (left) with his team

Stunning creative work with exotic UV special effects

Screen racking

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continued the business which was later taken over by his grandsons Vijay Kumar Gupta (V.K. Gupta) and Harish Gupta (3rd generation). Now, V K Gupta's son Rahul Gupta (4th generation) has also recently joined the family business.

The 55-year old wedding card specialist have their printing unit and warehouse located on the other side of Hoogly River, besides a show room and office at a busy wedding card market in Kolkata. They are engaged in wholesale business, with special focus on retail, customized and designer wedding cards. They also make invitation cards and sweet boxes for various occasions. The company caters to customers in Kolkata/ West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Ranchi market. They have even clients in UK, USA, and Bangladesh. “Even 50 years ago, we had exported wedding cards under the brand name 'Lovely's'. We had card brand which had continuous production of 8-10 lakhs with one single design by the name of Lovely's Chunrey which was a copyright. This card was also exported to USA,” says V.K. Gupta.

“With automation we are able to maximize productivity,” says V.K. Gupta.

“Customers these days have become quality conscious and prefer fancy cards yet with sober colors, simple striking designs,” he concludes.

4th Generation Manufacturer adopts Automation -

Wedding Card

Kolkata based B.R.Gupta & Co, a 4th generation Wedding Card Manufacturing firm, has adopted automation by investing in Grafica's Nano-Premier League plus (NPL plus). The company, which was started in 1959 by Late Begraj Gupta (B.R.Gupta), is claimed to be the first Marwari Wedding Card Showroom in East Zone, offering wide range of wedding cards/boxes involving designing and printing. B.R.Gupta's sons, Radhey Shyam Gupta, Kishan Gupta and Rajendra Prasad Gupta (2nd generation)

KOLKATACustomerCustomer

V.K. Gupta

Rahul Gupta

B.R.Gupta & Co