Established in the year 2005, Daksh Enterprises claims to be one of country’s leading suppliers of an extensive range of high quality laser cutting & printing machines, inkjet printers and eco-solvent printers. The company has recently added UV technology in its portfolio of offerings. For more than a decade, Daksh has maintained an impeccable record of feeding the country’s signage market with quality products and spare parts. In order to create its own unique identity in the market, the company went on to introduce its own brand.
We at Sign & POP World met Sanju Bamel, the company’s managing director to know what made him start his own brand and how has his journey been so far. Excerpts of our conversation are here as follows:
Which all products do you offer? What provision do you have for after-sales services?
We are catering to the signage industry since 2005. Today, we are one of the leading organisations engaged in offering a huge portfolio of printers and allied machines including CNC Router, Laser Machine, Eco-Solvent Printers, RTR UV Printers, Flatbed UV Printers, Inkjet Plotters, spare parts and inks. All our machines are sourced from reliable and certified vendors, which assures that quality of printing machines is always maintained. Further, all these are backed by an expanded service network. In our team of service personnel, we have technical experts who are pretty experienced and capable of handling after-sales service. We also supply customised printing solutions as per the specifications given by the clients.
Where are you sourcing these products from?
We do not have many brands to sell under Daksh umbrella now. This is because we have started selling in our own brand name except for the eco-solvent machine that we are still taking from SkyColor and selling under their brand name. We are sourcing rest of the machines from various other reputed manufacturers from China. They are our trusted vendors and supply high-quality machines in our own name as per the specifications we prescribe. To maintain the printing or the output quality, we prefer to use Ricoh Gen5 printheads in all our printing machines.
What made you introduce your own brand?
We were sailing quite smoothly with SkyColor for more than 10 years. We were their sole distributors in India. But a couple of years back, suddenly we found out that there are a few other suppliers who are dealing in the same brand that too at a bit cheaper price. When asked, the company didn’t take any note of our complaint and let the situation prevail as it was seemingly going in its favour.
This episode broke my confidence as the brand that I created, nurtured and grew along with, cheated with my sense of security in selling products from other brands. It showed me the way and made me shift my focus from being a campaigner of different brands to a harbinger of my own brand. At this point in time, I am pretty much thankful to peers and our customers who maintained the belief in us and preferred buying our products.
Why one should rely on Daksh?
There are two options – either go for high-end machines from manufacturers like Mimaki, Mutoh, Fujifilm, Epson, etc. or opt for the one available at pocket-friendly price. But the latter is a dicey preposition as the quality is not guaranteed. Even the after-sales service is not offered with regard to a fault or complaint. However, in India, people are actually obsessed with pricing, and prefer to compromise on quality. You can’t expect the combination of cheap machines + quality + service in one bundle. Our products are of high-quality, but price-wise these are reasonable when compared with those of big players. Over the years, we have developed a clientele which is quite loyal and appreciative of our products and the follow-ups.
Moreover, we have our firm belief in setting up a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship with our patrons by providing them with high quality printing machines. For this, at Daksh Enterprises, we follow different customer-driven approaches. We have a team of highly skilled workforce to take of the after-sales service & support. Further, keeping in mind the budget constraint and convenience of our customers, we offer them with multiple modes of payments.
What sets Daksh apart from its peers?
We care for our customers. We meet promises. These apart, the printing machines that we supply are designed keeping in view the international quality standards, and are made using quality assured materials. These machines are appreciated for easy installation, longer operational life, seamless finish, excellent printing quality and low power consumption.
We also offer customised solutions, wherein we develop products in compliance with the requirements and specifications provided by the customers. We deliver the machines within the stipulated time frame. We use high resolution printhead in our machines that enhances the picture quality and improves efficiency. Together all this has brought us many accolades, and hence, appreciation from our esteemed customers.
Can you please share a couple of such instances?
One of my clients from Rohtak in Haryana is using my machine from last many years. He keeps complementing me till date for the machine that we have installed in his premises. Another instance is from Delhi itself. It was in 2008, when he purchased one inkjet from us. We had just started dealing in SkyColor brand as its sole distributor in India. In those initial days, when the technology was not proven, few machines that were installed failed to meet the promises. But it was good luck for us that the machine is still functional and our client is making good business out of the same.
How has the market response been, especially in the last few years?
Just before a couple of years, it was going very well as we were able to sell more than 150 machines in a year. But then, the market suddenly got scrambled as now we are able to manage only up to 60 machines a year. We are facing this problem from last couple of years and the reason is availability of cheap machines from China, but not from quality manufacturers.
Quite a few newcomers who do not have very rich experience except for being employed as service engineers have also jumped on to the bandwagon, and claim to be the master of wide format printing technology. People like them have become traders, and are now finding it easy to go, source from China and supply to an all new league of customers.
Even the end-users have started buying not only the machines but also their spare parts directly from China. They do not need middlemen like us. In fact, they are price sensitive, and hence, never care or consider the quality of product. Their belief gets shattered only when they finally figure out that they are being cheated. All of this is harming our trade. People like us are not happy with all this. However, this is part and parcel of a market like this which looks so lucrative from outside.
How have demonetisation and GST impacted the trade?
These two were major policy reforms in the Indian economy. Although, the steps were taken to upgrade and improve the trade practices, but the outcome is not very good. While demonetisation brought about the county-wide liquidity crunch in the market, GST put the trade at a halt. Quite a few businesses were forced to shut down. However, it’s not that these are not good, but the awareness about these fiscal instruments, especially about the GST, is not up to the mark. Customers are not willing to pay GST, which is not good for the industry. The government should introduce some centres through which it can make people understand the positive points of GST and how it would bring them a guaranteed bottom line by giving their trade practices an order.
How do you speculate the future shaping up for Indian signage industry?
For us, there’s no plan to manufacture here in near future. We will continue the way we are. Anything else can’t be predicted as the market doesn’t fit to speculation, especially after demonetisation, which has changed the market drastically. Still we can anticipate that since price is destined to go up, those with good numbers in their sales can make guaranteed business in the future.
At the same time, we expect a lot to happen in line with the policies of the current government. Most of the trade practices would become genuine as transaction records are to be maintained mandatorily following the implementation of GST. The gray part still exists and keeps hindering the trade from time to time. Nonetheless, these issues will soon be taken care of and good times are expected to come back.