Following its philosophy, the company is constantly bringing in technologies that are affordable and stable.
Apsom Technologies has created an indisputable niche in India’s digital printing industry and has incessantly been playing an important role in the growth of country’s visual communication industry for more than two decades. Having established a strong presence across the country, the company is known for its technology solutions that it offers to meet and exceed customer expectations, right from simple scanning to tricky colour matching, from substrate selection to picking the right film for lamination. In an exclusive chat with Sign & POP World, Vir Vikram Bhatia, Managing Director, Apsom Technologies, assures that the company has all the answers for graphic as well as digital textile market.
Sharing his thoughts on current trends, Bhatia opined that the industry is going in two directions – one is UV, while the other is sublimation. He said, “We Indians closely follow the trend from the West, mainly US and European countries, wherein a lot of printing on fabric through sublimation is going on. Moving in tandem, we have just launched our back-to-back UV RTR machine in 3.2 meters in four colour options. With these, we are primarily targeting the signage industry for backlit, banner, outdoor-indoor etc., besides the home furnishing industry for printing on textile to include bed-sheets, curtains, sofa covers etc.”
Recently, the company organised a meet in New Delhi, where more than 100 trade associates came together to grace the occasion. Expressing his gratitude, Bhatia said, “We thank you for your belief in Apsom Technologies and the trust that you people have been showing in the brands for so many years. Our basic idea is to provide good, stable and affordable solutions to the industry for which we are continuously striving forward.”
The company that takes credit for introducing brands like DGI and KM in India has lately taken the responsibility of marketing Mimaki’s machines to its customers in the Eastern, Western and Northern regions of the country. “In 2018, we have come up with a variety of UV machines at a very affordable cost but with stable technology, which as of now is available only with HP and EFI but at a price not affordable to many PSPs,” said Bhatia.
Speaking on the need for so many UV machines at one time, Bhatia explained, “Before this, the industry was brimming with the solvent and eco-solvent technology. In the last couple of years, the government has also become slightly vigilant about the environment, wherein the plan is seemingly to ban all the products and machinery which are not eco-friendly. The move is not restricted to India but across the world. The drive for green technology is on the surge, which has given a strong push to the manufacturers of such technologies.”
He added, “Going in line, we have come up with five UV machines this year. One of these is back-to-back printing machine – Skyjet’s SDL 3300 – that has the advantage of bringing the same effect at day and night. Earlier, there was a three-layer printing technology i.e. image-white-image for the needed day & night effect. But with this machine, white layer is not needed as it can print the images on both sides, properly aligned to each other at the same time. Besides, one can also do a lot of other creativity with this printer.”
According to Bhatia, SDL 3300 – one of the series of single & double sided printing machines from Skyjet – promises high investment cost performance for which the manufacturer has obtained patent approval for China Japan, USA and other countries. Featuring heavy roller structure, commendable rigidity, no distortion, 8-years life time, special RIP operation mode saving 1/3rd of waiting time; the machine is capable of printing different patterns on two different media at the same time.
Double side printing provides high value application solutions, avoids homogenous low competition, and gives customers a reason to invest a little higher than usual. It replaces low-efficiency and low alignment accuracy with twice printing technology, and meets the requirements of specific tool such as flags that are generally used at airports, malls and stadia. Its simultaneous two-side printing, wherein the equipment works independently for both front and back leads to capacity increase by 100%.
With 50% ease in operation, the machine curbs the escalating labour cost without any juncture picture. Further, it brings more eye-catching effect in the light box and does value addition in the advertisement for chain businesses like banks, super markets, etc., without adding to the cost. SDL 3300 perfectly substitutes the double ink volume method and solves the colour effects when the lights are turned off. It replaces the costly colour-white-colour printing technology for the same effect as suggested.
“With this machine, we can now compete with HP and EFi, which are highly-priced. We are, therefore, targeting medium level of customers across India who don’t need to invest big but can still own the technology. The machine is highly affordable at 30-40% less price that what is currently available in the market. Being roll to roll, this machine can be compatible with any flexible media.”
According to Bhatia, this technology has been patented by the manufacturer in the beginning of the decade. At that time, it was making solvent back to back, of which, it sold more than 250 machines to its customers across the world including India & Bangladesh. He said, “The company has developed the machine with UV technology only a couple of years back. This is the first machine in India, while we have already sold the same to our customers in Korea, China, Japan, and to a few European countries.”
Nonetheless, he strongly feels that only bringing UV machine will not solve the problem unless the media or substrate gets a facelift. “For this, we suggest our trade partners and industry friends to opt for environmentally-friendly media. We also insist that if that kind of media is not available here, then we should bring it from China or Europe, as it is the future, and a company will not be able to survive without moving to such media. Thus, we want to convey a clear message that unless both media and printer manufacturers move hand in hand, we will not be able to change the fate of the industry.”
Established as a service provider for the IT industry, the company strived to evolve its business with changing times, from being a hardware vendor to a solution provider for the signage and textile industry. Today, it deals with various multinational organisations throughout USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Canada, and others. With offices in major cities and with a strong dealer & reseller network, the company has been working towards bringing latest printing solutions to its customers at an affordable rate.
Speaking on the provisions that Apsom Technologies offers to its customers in India, Bhatia said, “Owing to our two-decade stand in the industry, we have developed a very deep understanding of signage & textile market in India. We believe that a critical component to the success of any given brand or product is the availability of trained manpower being able to provide satisfactory service & maintenance. In our case, we have a dedicated service division with a pool of trained manpower. Each of our engineers has been given special training on the products by our associates. This gives a much needed edge to our sales efforts.”
When it comes to technology partners, Apsom Technologies sources its quality products from globally renowned manufacturers. For instance, DGI is a true technology integrated digital printing solution provider and has developed its own inkjet printers & cutting plotters based on perpetual R&D efforts stemming from precision machine manufacturing technologies & digital printing algorithms.
Mimaki Engineering Co. Ltd., the Japanese printing technology major, manufactures high-tech sign making equipment, digital printing machine, computer-aided input & output devices used in architecture, engineering, graphic arts, engraving & 3D modelling. Another name in the league is Japan-based Konica Minolta InkJet Technologies Inc, which offers an industry specific varied inkjet textile printing system comprising mainly of Nassenger V & VII series, in sync with the industry’s growing demands.
Shenzhen Runtianzhi Image Technology Co. Ltd. (FLORA), Shenzhen, is known for its extensive research on wide format digital printing machines and inks. The company is a leader of the printing industry in China and has a very good capability to produce reliable and better machines. ColorGATE has been a leading developer of extremely reliable, user-oriented software for the graphics industry, supplementary goods and services, such as training and technical consulting, round out the range of products.
Having been a major player in the Indian signage industry, Apsom Technologies is known for the distributorship of a line of versatile machines of all qualities and configurations, and over the last few years, the company has switched to digital textile printing. Bhatia signs off by saying, “Since then we have been serving as the sole supplier of a range of digital textile printing systems for diverse range comprising fabric, apparel and home furnishing applications. It also focuses on providing its customers excellent after-sales services by trained engineers.”