After Surat, Mumbai and Delhi, now it’s Ludhiana’s turn to install digital printers in the search for growth opportunities. As this city is using plenty of polyester and cotton/polyester blends, which are very responsive fabrics for digital prints, it is an added advantage for the digital segment. Decreasing price of digital printing along with simultaneously increasing cost of traditional printing is also a reason for the same. Growth is in all segments; be it job workers or direct manufacturers using it for their own production needs, big exporters or domestic brands, fabric or garment manufacturers. As per the users and technology suppliers, as of now there are near about 100 digital printers in the city and both are equally enthusiastic about the growing demand of digital printing.
Four companies offering ink as well as digital printers recently took part in two events at Ludhiana and all of them met plenty of garment manufacturers and job workers who were interested in the same. Having strength in ink manufacturing and also offering printers, Sarabjeet Singh of Indyatex Solutions, Noida was one of them. “The demand for digital printers will definitely grow in Ludhiana as people are getting aware of the advantages of the same and also ready to invest for new ways of value addition. We are expecting 30 new installations this year,” shares Sarabjeet Singh who recently launched florescent ink (long lasting on polyester) which has proved to be a great success, as per the company.
The opinion and experience of Sandeep Bhatia of VK Enterprises, Delhi on the potential of digital printing in Ludhiana is even more enthusiastic. “I have installed almost 40 printers here in the last one-and-a-half years. While most of them are with job workers, there are some T-shirt manufacturers also who have made the investment. KD Creations, Jain Fashioners, SM Printers are few of the well-known names where we have made installations. We are expecting good business in the coming years also,” avers Sandeep. To offer hands-on service and immediate support, the company has appointed 3 engineers, who are stationed in the city.
Between the various kinds of digital printing technology, the Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printer has a little edge over fabric printers in the city because maximum companies are manufacturing either tunics or Tees and require printing directly on the garment. “Ludhiana is a new market for us but we can say that for DTG, Ludhiana has more scope than any other hub after Surat,” says Divye Gupta of Texcellence Co. India, Faridabad. He is expecting 8 installations this year with pre- and post-process units, which is actually the strength of the company. Though balance of speed and cost is as usual a prime concern for the users and suppliers, each supplier has their own claims, be it the cost-effectiveness of their printer or perspective on quality issues. For most technology suppliers, the main challenge is still the awareness of digital printing and its advantages at the mass level of industry. “A medium level or common customer is still not familiar with the technology behind digital printing, even where it can be used and what kinds of fabrics are more preferred for digital printing; so we are explaining to them all these aspects in detail,” says Sandeep.
The expected growth of the segment is also attracting new technology suppliers. Ludhiana-based Nav Pankaj Creations is one such company that has recently launched digital printer (flat bed) of Flying Tiger and it prints complete roll of fabric. Amit Jain, Proprietor of the company feels that domestic as well as exporters will adopt digital printing in this hub, which has motivated him to enter the segment. “We have seen a good growth in embroidery and allied machineries of value addition, now it is time for digital as local manufacturers have to give something new and digital is the best option for them. Garment manufacturers are asking a lot about it from us and we are expecting 15 installations in the first year itself,” says Amit with conviction.
For most technology suppliers, the main challenge is still the awareness of digital printing and its advantages at the mass level of industry. A medium level or common customer is still not familiar with the technology behind digital printing, even where it can be used and what kinds of fabrics are more preferred for digital printing; so the companies are explaining to them all these aspects in detail.
KD Creation started almost 6 years ago with one small digital printer and now they have 5 printers, with the maximum of 72 inches size. As a job worker of digital printing, the company is very confident about increasing demand of the same as only 10 per cent of total products are using digital printing as of now because of price pressure, brands too are currently more concerned about price. “I feel that digital printing is something many exporters are doing only on the buyer’s demand; it will increase if they will do it willingly and offer new ideas to the buyer. Some work for digital printing is also coming from Amritsar and Jalandhar,” avers Rajesh Kundra, Proprietor, KD Creation.
Another shift which is supporting growth of digital printing in the city is the increasing share of summerwear based garments and that too with digital print. Offering value-added fabric to the garment manufacturers, Parmeshwari Silk Mills have 5 digital printers and designs are the strength of the company. “Digital printed fabric is very much in demand, so growth is natural,” reasons Ranbir Singh, President (Marketing) of the company.
As the market matures and more and more manufacturers look at digital printing as a future growth direction, Ludhian will continue to be a lucrative market for digital printing technology. However, skilled labour is still a constraint. “Trained staff is very difficult to find, so I myself train all the operators,” says Rajesh. Despite these challenges the coming year is expected to double the number of digital printers in the city.
