When Gurgaon based Vrishti Impex made an investment of Rs. 2 crore in digital printing, little did it know that a year later it would witness a growth of 50% and also make a successful move up the value chain. With its consistent quality and cost-effectiveness, the Kornit Avalanche DC Pro has made it possible for the company to offer reasonable cost-effective digital printing to the industry at a time when digital print is a growing trend. Spurred by its success, Vrishti has been organizing ‘open houses’ to create awareness and promote digital printing with the help of Kornit Digital. This time the open house specially focused on buying houses.
he two-day event saw many buying house representatives visiting the factory of Vrishti Impex to discuss the various aspect of digital printing with Mukesh Seth, MD, Vrishti Impex. “We are already working with 12 buying houses, but there are many more that don’t know about such cost-effective digital printing available in Gurgaon. Most of the buyers were impressed by our designs like print on stitches, across the seam, on the placket and even on buttons of the garment. Since we are also offering overall printing option, it gives more freedom to the designers to play with the design. Apart from that we also inform them the cost-effectiveness of the machine, as we can give best printing quality in 35 to 50 rupees if the print area is 125 sq. inches in 6 to 7 colours and shades, so they can plan their product development and design accordingly. Likewise we also educate them on how to achieve better printing results, including how important it is to give us a file of 300 DPI (dots per inch) for superior print reproduction.”
Though screen printing is much more in use in India, Mukesh believes that digital printing is a better option, particularly in the case of prints up to 150 sq. inches with number of shades and colours, which are not always possible to get in screen printing. “A year back I was struggling, making 15 screens and getting each approved yet the buyer was not happy with the quality, but now with the new machine it is perfect in the first attempt. We also require less labour, resources and processes, as only three people are required to run this machine, which produces 2,500 pieces per day in the size of a A4 page, whereas for achieving the same in screen printing, at least 10 people are required in a complete unit with different departments for printing, curing and other pre- and post-treatment processes.
While earlier, Vrishti Impex was losing orders just because of capacity limitations, the same is not true today. Also from being limited to only boutique orders, the company is now easily catering to mass orders. “We are very particular about on-time delivery, and since our printing is not affected by the working conditions, we can deliver consistent quality print from first to last piece, which has created more opportunities for us,” says Mukesh.
The company is exporting its own products to Brazil, and though there are many players offering digital prints, Vrishti is competing with them successfully. With focus on innovations in designs, they are now offering digital printed tees. Mukesh points out that the timing for more innovative designs is perfect as the market is improving and surprisingly buyers are giving good price also.
Elaborating the technical specialties of the technology to the visitors, Sandeep Mehta, Sales & Marketing Manager – India, Kornit Digital said, “This is a one of a kind machine with both discharge and digital printing, guaranteeing greater depth in prints with multiple colours.” Another highlight of the Kornit Avalanche DC Pro is the NeoPigment printing process which enables digital textile printing customers to harness all of the benefits of pigment ink while avoiding the drawbacks. Not only removing any pre-printing process, this technology enables the printer to print on all types of fabrics and even on seams, zippers and cotton buttons. An integrated humidifying system makes the machine resistant to the daily variations in room climate, and a back-up battery system allows the main power to be turned off when the machine is not being used.
Talking about the cost-performance ratio of the machine, Sandeep added, “People need to understand that the cheaper machines are assembled, while we manufacture the machine, the software and the print head, and this integration guarantees high quality, accuracy in colour matching and lower machine downtime.” The machine has a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and the gives a faster Return on Investment (ROI) due to low ink and maintenance costs. “I remember the recently concluded Hong Kong Fashion Week where there were no Indians in the ‘small order quantities’ area, which was very disappointing. With these kinds of technologies we can tap the potential of this segment of the business…Which I believe is huge,” concluded Sandeep.
