Muscat Printing Press declares year on year growth, upbeat about the future

Details: Published on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 04:00; Written by Shilpa Jasani

Rajan Pillai is in an enviable position today. While stories of doom and gloom float around him, he proudly reveals a 30% growth in the last 12 months saying: "Recession has not affected the bigger, well managed printing presses in Oman, and we, at Muscat Printing Press are talking of growth and expansion."

Born and brought up in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, Pillai has been a printer for most part of his life. After graduating from RYK College of Science, in Nashik, Pillai did a post-graduation in printing technology from the prestigious JJ College of Fine Arts in Mumbai, in the year 1979. He has worked in North Yemen and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as a printer, before joining Associated Press in Mumbai as a printing supervisor. Pillai's fortunes intertwined with those of Muscat Printing Press in 1987, when he joined them as their production manager, going on to becoming their general manager in the year 1993 and finally becoming the deputy managing director in the year 2005, a post he holds till today.

"The technological jump we see today amazes me. Any types of jobs can be accomplished today and that too in record time and there is a solution for every problem. Though we may not have the same machines in Oman as you would see in the UAE, but that is because there is no need for such technologically advanced machinery, but when you compare printing techniques, they are very much at par with UAE. In fact, when we opted to technologically upgrade at Muscat Printing in 2008, we purposely chose the 4-colour machine over the 5-colour. We invested a total of 700,000 Omani Riyals and the machine runs 24/7."

Muscat Printing Press has recently received an order of 100,000 Omani Riyals (AED 1 million) from the Ministry of Education for printing textbooks. "Commercial jobs are in plenty," says Pillai, "and as far as I am concerned we are in a position to expand. We also specialise in printing annual reports, from where the bulk of our business comes in. In April this year, we printed annual reports of 22 companies. We intend to expand to Salalah very soon, the unit is expected to be ready by early 2011."

Talking of market and industry trends, Pillai is of the opinion that recent research has predicted that the Middle-East market would continue to grow at 7% per annum. The rise of GDP across the region was fuelling demand for the newspaper and magazine market which in turn would increase the demand for quality, speed and colour innovation. "However, I also believe there are too many presses in this region; with many newcomers investing into machinery without having any knowledge of printing. As a result, they under-quote prices and kill the market to survive, which they do for a short period and then you hear of their units turning sick, but if you are professional and a printer that focuses on quality, you can still survive."

Growing from a small printing press to a 3.1 million Omani Riyal organisation has been a long journey, and Muscat Printing today owns 4-colour SpeedMaster, PrintMaster, Stahl folding and other smaller machines along with a digital printer for customers requiring shorter runs. "Today the market for digital is growing due to more demand for short run jobs," explains Pillai. "Depending on the region, the compound annual growth rate in retail value of digital print jobs is more than 9%. Corporate print buyers are looking to improve their supply chain management using the new technologies to substantially lower their cost and shorten the turnaround time, while offering better tracking and consistency. It is estimated that savings of 14% can be made as a result of the move to print via web because this by its very nature moves much of the accountability for accuracy from the printer to the client while reducing wastage."

The print unit has been working with overseas clients as well, among them a Bulgarian publishing house that publishes magazines which are distributed in the Middle East.

Taking pride in their employees, Pillai says that the staff is their strength, and people have been working with the press for more than 20 years. "I do not believe that by reducing staff you can sustain recession, and we attribute the success of our company to hard work, dedication and honesty. My definition of success is simple, Do what is right, in the right way, at the right time."

Advising other printers in the region Pillai says, "Keep pace with the technological developments and try to cut down cost by introducing better technology and faster turnaround times which will be the most significant drivers of growth. Five years down the line, I see Muscat Printing Press as becoming the best printing press in Oman. We have the best staff working with us and I would say we all work as a team; that is why we are the best."

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