Made in India: Made for India

Cheers! Time has come when the ever-growing need for affordable wide format solvent printers is being met by Indian manufacturers.  With the help and support of XAAR, UK, Noida based KVM Technologies have come a long way to offer such printers with excellent print quality at much lower prices than otherwise imported ones.

S&G editor S K Khurana recently visited their small but smart factory to have first hand information on their manufacturing facilities.

Displayed during Printpack  India 05 in New Delhi in  January 05, wide format printers by KVM Technologies have started making inroads into the Indian signage industry. Within the short span of just over eight months, they have an impressive installation base of over 40 machines. These are solvent-based 3.2 m wide format printers and are available in two models. Printers with 8 Xaar 128 printheads are available under the brand ‘Colorjet-I’ whereas those with 12 similar printheads are branded as ‘Colorjet Pro.’
On entering their manufacturing facility, one feels an aura of quality consciousness all over the place. As per Rackesh Langer, project leader, KVM Technologies, “From day one, our whole team had a single point mission to develop these printers with a capability of producing optimum quality prints and we started working accordingly.” He further informed, “It was in June ’04 that this project was conceived with the initiative by XAAR India, which opened their Indian office in Gurgaon. Infact, XAAR had planned to start their activities from Mumbai but somehow after coming in contact with us, they opted to open their office in north.”

“We started evaluating the requirements of each and every part of printer except printheads, which were obviously to be provided by XAAR. Understanding each part of the machine and
then either manufacturing or outsourcing depending on the availability, became the initial programme for all our team members. Step by step, we went on further and today with in-house manufacturing of over 180 components, we have been able to reach this level, where we have already shipped good number of printers,” Langer further revealed.
“You will be surprised to know that it took us over 6 months to realise that we needed to develop ‘firmware’ (an integrated component which can be called as ‘heart’ of a printer) in-house. This is a part, which actually receives the ripped data from CPU and forwards to the heads, which eventually prints on the substrate. As such, there were other numerous components to be looked into like motors, cables, etc.  Certain parts were to be developed with CNC whereas few were needed to be foundry casted. We had to make a huge investment in getting our own dies made,” informed Langer. Elaborating further, Langer said, “To develop ‘firmware,’ we probably must have invested over rupees one crore. But, definitely, we feel it as a worthwhile investment, as we can now look for future where we shall be able to use heads from Spectra or Konica on our printers.”

To maintain precision in their total system of manufacturing, they were careful enough to source their required material from established manufacturers who are well-known for their quality standards. “Most of the extruded parts are being supplied by reputed Indian companies and the vital component by specialised Indian company which has proficiency in producing 3.2 m long ‘bed’ having precision profiling. It takes care of the proper and constant gap between the media and head so as to achieve the perfect print quality. To avoid any data loss, we are using optical fibre cables, which costs a lot. Believing in ‘Technology of your own’, we not only developed our own ‘firmware’, but do have our own mechanical tool room which facilitates us in keeping a regular flow of availability of parts,” Langer proudly told.

To maintain the accuracy and finishing, the bending for the cabinets is performed by CNC whereas cutting by saws is avoided and instead laser beam is used. “After the assembly of the printer is completed, each one goes for extensive testing which include DC testing, dummy working tests for mechanical checks and finally 24 hour print test. Perfect packing is done before shipping so as to avoid complication during installation at customer’s place,” added Langer.

Marketed by Apsom Infotex Ltd, their printers have reached all over India which include places like Chennai, Gulbarga, Mysore, Jorhat, etc. Customer support engineers have been trained at the factory level so as to offer full service wherever needed. With an installed capacity to produce around 20 printers a month, the promoters do have plans to foray into exports. They have experienced the great potential in countries like Russia, South Africa, Jordan, UAE and Malaysia.

The company dreams to have a much bigger place for manufacturing where they can house few conveyor lines assembly, as seen in the automobile industry. With such ambitious plans, signage industry of India can always look for made in India printers at much affordable prices with pride.