Nitai Press on strong growth trajectory

In 2016, Nitai Press, based in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, installed its second press in two years – a high-specification 8-color Nilpeter FB3300S.

In 2014, the company shifted production to a bigger facility and installed its first Nilpeter FB3300S. The 13in, 8-color UV press – with features including screen, cold foil, chill drums, lamination, relam/delam and two die-cutting stations – has a re-insertion facility that can produce 16 or more colors from the same job after reprinting.

Rajan Vyas, co-director at Nitai Press, says: ‘I opted for Nilpeter because the company has a manufacturing facility in India. I could go to the factory and see the press running before taking a decision. Nilpeter offers great after-sales customer support too.’

Success, however, did not come easy to Nitai Press, managed by brothers Rajan and Nitai Vyas. They started a pre-press trading business by the name of Dazzle Agency in 1989-90. The two brothers would meet designers in Ahmedabad, get the design that had to be printed and go to Mumbai to get them converted onto plates. There were no computers at that time. Their uncles, Satish and Pankaj Bhatt, owned a pre-press firm, Liberty Graphics, in Mumbai and supported them by processing the plates for their company. After shuttling between the two cities for nine years, the brothers decided to begin offset printing.

They invested in a Heidelberg 2-color refurbished press in 1995 and used it for 10 years, but could not reach the heights of success they were aiming for. Rajan Vyas says, ‘We had to outsource finishing. We were not prepared at that time to invest in all the finishing equipment required in offset printing. Therefore, we could not control the finishing of the product. Poor finishing – such as binding, varnish or slitting – used to often spoil the print job, resulting in a rejection. We finally decided to take control of the finished product.’

After 10 years of struggle, the brothers decided to transition to flexo printing. They sold the Heidelberg press in 2006 and invested the next two years in understanding flexo technology and getting a loan to buy a flexo press.

The well-educated directors, Rajan Vyas, a commerce graduate with media planning from the Mudra Institute of Communications, and Nitai Vyas, who holds a diploma in printing technology from JJ College of Arts in Mumbai, decided to make their first investment in a 6-color Mark Andy 2200 in 2007. ‘This investment allowed me to finish the product at my factory and give a good quality product to the end customer,’ said Rajan Vyas.

Giving credit for the success to Nitai Vyas, co-director and his younger brother, Rajan Vyas says, ‘I decided to name our business after him because he is the backbone of the company. He has the technical know-how which is absolutely critical in this business. My brother visualizes the product before it’s printed and has a long term vision for the company. We have the confidence and strength to run the business because of his knowledge and expertise.’

Rajan Vyas says that success did not come overnight. ‘Just installing a press does not necessarily cut a good deal. Other people imitating my journey may or may not succeed. It’s important that each one carve their own path and take calculated risks. Sell confidence to your customers so they come back to you with more work.’

Further praising the support from Micro Inks and Nirma, he added, ‘No printer can succeed without support from its clients and the directors of these two companies stood by us at every stage of our business.’

‘Our chartered accountancy firm and guardians, Kaushik Jayendra & Company, guided us at every step. To succeed, it is important that people associated with business are willing to help,’ Rajan Vyas says.

The company has been growing at a staggering 30 to 35 percent year-on-year and catering to pharmaceuticals, liquor, cosmetics, perfumes and barcode label industries in and around Gujarat. ‘We will now target some big FMCG companies,’ concludes Rajan Vyas.

The new factory is spread across an area of 13,000 sq ft and three floors, and converts about 240,000 sqm of paperstock every month. Nitai Press closed the 2013-14 financial year with a turnover of Rs 9 crore (1.34 million USD). With the new press installed in 2016, the company’s target is to grow by 30 to 35 percent in the current financial year and is confident of achieving a turnover of Rs 12 crore to Rs 14 crore (1.80 million USD to 2.09 million USD).