Mr. Ashish Save, Director-Insight Print Communications shares the company’s journey in an interview with Sign & Pop – 30 Apr 2020

Founded in 1992 in Mumbai, Insight Communications has charted its growth path based on its commitment to customer service and well being. India’s largest supplier of Graphic Arts equipment sales, Insight has played a crucial role in establishing some of the biggest global printing brands in India. A forward looking organisation with one of the most professional setups, Insight today operates out of nine offices across India, and a well-diversified board that has kept pace with times and trends. In a tete-a-tete with Sign & POP World, Ashish Save, Director, Insight Communications, talks about its associations with different brands, especially HP Latex. Read on to find out more.

Throw some light on your association with HP.
We are the channel partners for HP Latex in India and have been selling the brand from the last 15 years with a huge success rate. Till now, we have sold more than 1000 HP Latex 1.63 metres printers and over 50 HP Latex 3.2 metres wide format printers.

With which other brands are you associated?
Along with HP we are associated with Komori for offset commercial printing and packaging, Kodak for offset pre-press, Miraclon for Flexible packaging pre-press, Dai-Nippon Screenand Konica Minolta for digital label printing, GCC for UV spot Varnish, Summa for post-press finishing equipment, router and cutting solutions.

How big is the share of signage solutions in your turnover?
Signage comprises around 40% of our entire turnover.

Do you plan to enter new verticals in near future?
We always try to explore new verticals and avenues. Right now, we are trying to explore glass printing, for which we have identified a couple of products wherein ceramic inks are used for printing on glass. We have realised that the life of ceramic inks on glass printing is very high. This is a good area to enter and we are looking at it. However, we are very careful and try to avoid conflict with the principles. Our goal is very clear; if we are representing HP then we don’t try to get into any new product line for sign industry.

How big is your customer base now?
Insight Communication is the largest graphic art partner for India Inc. In terms of customer base, it is around 5,000 across verticals and product lines.

How is the market for wide format doing in India? What prospects do you see in this area?
Wide format market is growing for sure but it is pretty competitive. There are several Eco-Solvent and UV machine suppliers in India, however, HP Latex is the only company that is standing out amongst all of them with its Latex printers that use water-based highest level of Green Guard Certified inks. These printers are much more versatile and can print on a wide range of media that can cater to applications such as Home décor (Wall Paper, Canvas, Window Blinds), Traffic Sign, Soft Signage, Vehicle wraps, Industrial labels, laminates, etc.

What are your views on UV printing?
Number of UV printer manufacturers or dealers in India is growing rapidly but there is less print volume of UV printing compare to Latex or Eco-solvent. In last couple of years several low cost Chinese UV printers have entered in Indian S&D segment. Due to fierce competition among UV Printer manufacturers, hardware and ink quality is getting compromised. Also because of multiple suppliers of Print Heads and Inks, UV printer manufacturers always struggle to find correct match of head technology along with inks. On the other hand, HP Latex Printer is based on HP thermal Print head which is compatible with water based Latex inks, making technology much more predictable and dependable.

Recently HP launched Hybrid Flatbed called R2000 which is based on 4th generation Latex inks. R2000 is having certain advantages over competition like wider colour gamut, vibrant colours, durable and flexible inks, high adhesion and scratch resistance, glossiest white with high opacity that resists yellowing over time. HP latex R2000 is most versatile printer which can print on wide range of rigid and flexible substrates. For sure it is best option for handling peak productions with lower production cost and superior print quality.

Don’t you think the market for HP in very niche? How do you position this offering in a price sensitive market like India?
Sign & Display segment in India is overcrowded and getting competitive day by day. Customers are looking for various opportunities with their existing investments. Here HP Latex printer adds lots of value as using singe machine along with S&D customers can enter in to new verticals such as Home Décor, Traffic Sign, Soft Signage, Vehicle Wraps, Industrial Labels, Laminates, Window Graphics, etc.

What steps are you taking to promote eco-friendly technologies in the printing industry?
We always try to educate brands and agencies about the benefits of Eco friendly technologies such as Green-guard HP latex inks. We also try to educate end users. Government is also working towards promoting green technologies and media. Some pockets like Karnataka and Kerala have banned flex printing and we are working towards positioning 3.2 Meter HP Latex printers with Eco friendly textile fabric which is recyclable. Recently we installed 3.2 Meter wide format HP Latex 3600 printer specifically in billboard segment in Kerala.

Are you looking at including 3D in your offerings?
As of now, we have not identified any manufacturer but it is there on our radar. Cost of 3D printing is very expensive in actual industrial production and it is mainly used for prototypes and sample making. It has a long way to go in India.