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Technology Gap Analysis Study for Mysore Printers Cluster * Dr. G. Devakumar1 1Faculty of Management and Commerce, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, (RUAS), Bengaluru 560 054 *Contact Author E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Mysore Printers Cluster is a group of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises engaged in . They are engaged in various printing technology such has, , , single , drum type and plate type press based impression . There are about 250 enterprises in this cluster. TIFAC New Delhi has come forward to award this consultancy project entitled "Technology Gap Analysis Study for the Printing Cluster in Mysore, Karnataka" to M S Ramaiah University of Applied Science, Bangalore. The primary aim of this project is to identify the technological gaps in Mysore Printers Cluster and provide recommendations to bridge the gap. Based on the survey, primary data, secondary data, recommendations and suggestions provided for this project, which emphasizes on various training modules with topics and brief contents proposed for the future training requirements at Mysore printing cluster so as to enhance the knowledge and cognitive skills among the various level of employees for market sustainability. This can be carried out by employing the domain experts to conduct workshop for grass root level reach in the minds of the targeted audience.

KeyWords: Technology Gap Analysis, MSME, Mysore, Printing Cluster.

1. INTRODUCTION Mysore Printers Cluster is a group of a number of Micro, Manufacturing processes in the cluster to ensure progressive Small and Medium Enterprises involved in printing, chiefly growth for potential entrepreneur's sustainability using traditional methods like offset printing machinery, 7. To bring out the causes of the existing technological gaps, screen printing technology, single color printing, drum type suggest remedial measures, suitable machines/supplier with and plate type press based impression printing methods. their cost, and present it in the form of a report with projected There are about 250 enterprises in this cluster. Some of the market major products of the Mysore Printers Cluster are: Business 8. To recommend and suggest a plan for making focused cards, Text , Pamphlets, Journals, Wedding cards, technological interventions in the cluster , Letter heads, Hotel menus, Calendars, Receipt books, ID Cards and so on. 3. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MYSORE PRINTERS CLUSTER 2. OBJECTIVES Brief overviews of the cluster consist of cluster details, printing unit details and raw material details. These can be The objectives of the study were: found in Table 1 1. To carry out literature survey related to printing technologies in the traditional printing units and advanced 3.1 Introduction to Different Printing Technologies printing industries across the globe Printing is a reproduction process in which printing is 2. To carry out preliminary background study on existing applied in order to transmit information (images, graphics, printing technology, the number of industries involved with text) in a repeatable form using an image-carrying medium available variety of the products (e. g., a printing plate) [1]. 3. To conduct pilot study and prepare a survey questionnaire The background history of printing goes back to the from primary and secondary data duplication of images by means of stamps in early times. The 4. To carry out survey in order to understand educational use of round seals for rolling an impression into clay tablets qualification of people involved in the present status of the goes back to early Mesopotamian civilization before 3000 printing technologies and the annual turnover of the Printing BCE, where there are the most common works of art to Cluster in and around Mysore, Karnataka survive, and feature complex and beautiful images. In both 5. To identify the printing materials covering the entire and , the use of small stamps for seals preceded production and value chain and make comparison of these the use of larger blocks. In China, India and Europe, the technologies with advanced technologies printing of cloth preceded the printing of /papyrus. The 6. To identify the existing technological gaps with respect to process is essentially the same. In Europe, special energy environment and productivity, as well as in the presentation impressions were printed on silk until the 17th

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century. The development of printing has made it possible Domestic and industrial market for books, newspapers, and other materials to be is Mysore; and few of them Market produced in great numbers, and it plays an important role in supply to neighboring districts / 12 Domestic and promoting among the masses. It was summarized states and other countries that , of the German city of , Export developed European printing technology with the around 1439, and in just over a decade, the European age of printing [2]. Printing Technology can be broadly classified as

Conventional and Non-Impact Printing.

Table 1. Mysore Printing Cluster Details The conventional printing technology uses master plates. Before going into the actual printing process, a master plate Cluster Details has to be prepared. The master plate contains the image to be printed on to a substrate like paper, polyethylene etc. Name of the 1 Mysore Printers Cluster Depending upon how the master plate is prepared, there are Cluster various printing technologies. Mysore Engineering Cluster, # Name of the 2 331/A, SPV Hebbal Industrial Area, Mysore Age of the 3 30 years Cluster Address of the No. 441E, Hebbal Industrial 4 Cluster Area, Ring Road, Mysore - 16 Geographical 5 8 Km radius Total Units in 6 250 the Cluster Direct=1125, Indirect= 8,000 SC/ST= 50 Total Men= 900 (80) percent of total 7 Employment employment Direct/Indirect Women= 225 (20 percent) of Fig. 1Classification of Printing Technologies

total employment Considering the conventional printing technology (which 70% Micro utilizes master plates), technically speaking, there are four 25% Small Scale 8 Type of Cluster fundamental methods of printing: 4% Medium  (Image & Non-Image areas 1% Large Industry are in different planes) Letter heads, Business cards ,  Gravure Printing (Image & Non-Image areas are Text books, Pamphlets, in different planes) Journals, Wedding cards , Products of the  Planographic Printing (Image & Non-Image areas 9 Labels, Hotel menus, Cluster are in same plane) Calendars, Receipt books , ID  Screen Printing (This technique is based on screen Cards , Files ,Gift items and & ) Currency Printing Majority of the cluster Technology members own offset printing 3.2 Operation Process Flow Chart 10 used in the machines and some have screen Plate layout and design is carried out in software like Coral Cluster printing and Draw, Adobe or Photoshop. Plate is prepared by exposure,

Average 11 Turnover of the Rs. 50 crore Cluster

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overhead dryer so that the ink is dried before it goes to the • Layout/Design next unit [4]. • Plate preparation Prepress After the substrate has been printed with all colors, the web

may be fed through an additional overhead tunnel dryer so • Loading finalized plate in to offset machine • Offset printing as to remove the residual solvents or water. The finished Press product is then rewound onto a roll or is fed through the • Cutting cutter [4]. • Numbering

• Binding, etc Post -press

Fig. 2 Operation Process Flow Diagram washing etc. After post press process, wasted paper is collected for recycling purpose. Paper thickness used for printing varies from 74µm to 841µm based on the requirement.

4. Flexography / Flexographic printing uses flexible (soft) printing plates made of rubber or . The inked plates with a slightly raised image are rotated on a cylinder which transfers the image to the substrate. Flexography uses fast- drying , is a high-speed print process, which can be printed on many types of absorbent and non-absorbent materials [3]. Fig. 3 Process Flow Chart

4.2. Digital V/S Offset Printing Flexography is used primarily in the packaging industry, , and newspaper printing. The first Flexography press Offset printing is preferable and more economical if larger was built in and it is named as Aniline Printing, runs and formats are involved. However, for smaller runs, rubber printing plates were used with aniline oil-based inks. Digital Printing is a clear choice. It is also more It was mainly used for printing of food packaging. Ammonia customizable. Other major advantage of digital printing is and alcohol were used as ink dying agents; these can cause avoiding cumbersome pre-press steps, owing to the fact that air pollution. Pollution control was much needed for older Digital Printing is a master-less printing technology. inks [3].

4.2.1 Comparison between Digital and Offset Printing 4.1. Process Flow of Flexography The major operations involved in Flexography printing, The pros and cons of both technologies based on present which are listed as: Image preparation, Plate making, state of art are tabulated below for better comparison [5]. Printing, Finishing. The process of printing each color on a Offset Printing Digital Printing flexo press consists of a series of four rollers: Allows the widest range of Difficult to reproduce  Ink Roller colour re-production. colours accurately  Meter Roller  Plate Cylinder Bright florescence,  Impression Cylinder Pantones, metallics, foils Pantone colours cannot be The ink is initially transferred from an ink pan to the meter and varnishes can all be reproduced roller or Anilox Roll (which is the second roller) by the first produced using this roller. The Anilox roller then meters the ink to a uniform method of printing. thickness onto the plate cylinder. The substrate then subsequently moves between the plate cylinder and the Allows the most accurate Colour consistency is poor impression cylinder, to the roller [4]. colour re-production and The impression cylinder applies pressure to the plate consistency cylinder, thereby transferring the image onto the substrate. The web, which by now has been printed, is fed into the UAS - JMC 33 Vol 07, Issue 01

Light inks such as white Cannot produce white or 4.3 Major Causes of the Existing Technology Gap ink can be printed on a light colored inks on dark  Raw material accessibility such as , ink etc. dark surface of a paper papers is enough in Mysore but still some of the cluster (i.e., White ink of members purchase these materials from Bengaluru paper) (Depending on the requirement and non availability of the material in Mysore) Large print runs and copies Larger quantities  Greater number of printers used are of old can be reproduced and exceeding say 500 copies technology and lower output capacity. extremely quickly can be more expensive  Only few are equipped with multi colour printing stations with computer console (CPC). Hence, Variety of paper weights, Weight and size of paper market demands cannot be fully satisfied during size and textures are limited in most cases peak season . In such cases, customers get the work done in Bengaluru Better quality inks Cannot reproduce metallic  Absence or lack of digital embossing machine and inks, foils / varnishes UV coating machine  A greater part of the binding work is mostly Final results are limited to carried out manually. Hence, it may not meet the a semi-gloss / gloss finish required quality.  Most of the cluster members are still dependent on Not able to reproduce a trial version of the pre-press software which leads matte finish l to partial utilization of the tool capacity  Due to lack of design and development centre, Ink is not absorbed into there has been no opportunities in product paper, it rather sits on top diversification. of paper and makes it more  Only 7% of the printing presses operating in susceptible to cracking Mysuru have secured bank loans, the rest have Setup time is slower and a No cumbersome pre-press borrowed money from private financiers and are lot more production steps platemaking steps since it paying exorbitant rates of interest [6] are required does not require master  Majority of the trained young labourers flee to plate Bengaluru and prefer to work in supermarkets and big shopping malls. Cost of printing low Affordable, cost effective  Loss suffered by the cluster members due to non- quantities (say under 500 solution for small print availability of the advanced technology has been copies) can be more runs under 500 copies estimated close to INR 550 lakh per annum. expensive  Lack of marketing team  Every unit is micro in nature. Hence, they don't Just one copy cannot be Just one copy can be have either capital or monetary help to buy printed printed advanced machineries Drying time is Short turnaround time, considerable quick, no drying time for 5. FUTURE GROWTH AND THE EXPECTED inks TREND IN PRINTING TECHNOLOGY Printing press machines The machines can be can be fairly large and handy, space efficient and From the brief description of some of the listed in require trained personal easy to operate Table 16, it is evident that a lot of work is being done in (press men) to work and reducing the environmental impacts of the printing industry, maintain them increasing the productivity; and making the printing technology more energy and cost efficient. For quality print results, an It is quite obvious that VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) experienced press man is a are used extensively. VOCs are a major environmental and necessity health concern. In order to reduce the use of VOCs, lot of alternate techniques are being developed, some of which are: vegetable based offset inks, use of alternate solvents/tensides (i.e., instead of alcohol) in dampening solutions for offset UAS - JMC 34 Vol 07, Issue 01 printing, biodegradable UV inks and water-based 6 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS lithographic printing ink. Since, dampening solution is required where a significant amount of VOCs are used, lot In order to enhance the sustainability of the Mysore Printers of work is being done which attempts to improve the Cluster, it is suggested to adopt a new approach which will techniques of waterless offset printing as well. improve its prospects in the future. These issues came to There are also patents for various dampening and wetting notice while discussing with the cluster members, and while systems for offset printing to accurately measure and conducting the survey. The findings of this study are regulate concentrations of chemical compounds in summarized below: processing liquids. There is scope for reduction of VOCs in  Offset technology is predominantly used in not only offset printing, but also in flexography and gravure Mysore Printers Cluster because it is most suitable printing. Some of the patents listed in Table 16, attempt to and economical printing technology for the come up with compositions for water-based flexographic demands that they primarily address which are and gravure printing inks, thus significantly reducing use of printing products like, text books, journals, VOCs. pamphlets, etc. It is observed that more than 70% of the cluster members are equipped with offset Considering the plate making process in offset printing, printing technology. Computer to Plate has a lot of obvious advantages over the  From the survey findings, it is observed that the older techniques of using Computer to Film. Using, majority of the cluster members are HSC Computer to Plate, intermediate processes like developing qualified, followed by UG, Diploma & ITI. halide films (which are then subsequently used for  It is found that the majority of the cluster members selective exposure of aluminium plates to create images), are expecting growth by up to 10 percent in the etc. are avoided. Hence, the mere shifting of a printing firm coming years, while very few are expecting a from CtF to CtP has positive repercussions like reduced constant or decreased turnover. environmental impact, quicker plate making, better print  The terms "Energy Efficiency", "Environmental quality etc. Few of the patents described in Table 16, attempt Impact" and "Productivity" are important to improve the CtP techniques to make it more economically indicators in a printing firm. Few parameters are feasible, while trying to improve printing clarity. Some of shortlisted under each category: Energy, the patents address the use of inkjet technology to develop Environment and Productivity. Based on the master plates for use in offset printing, infrared thermal measures being taken by an enterprise in imaging, and the likes. contribution towards each of the defined category, it came to light that the majority of them fall in the When it comes to platemaking techniques in flexography, range of 3, on a scale of 1 to 5. there are various ways. Some of the patents described in  It is noticed that emissions of harmful VOCs have Table 16 address flexographic platemaking techniques (CtP) been a major concern. The major sources of VOCs based on Laser ablation, UV blocking inks and UV curable are printing inks and dampening solutions. There inks. have been endeavours across the globe to address this issue, and some of the commercially available Some other domains in which work is being carried are: high alternatives have been reported in this study. Few wear durability aluminium gravure cylinder, automated of them are: Vegetable oil based printing inks, UV production system for a gravure cylinder, laser exposure inks, waterless offset printing etc. methods in gravure cylinder preparation, production  In this study, recommendations are made towards techniques of environmental-friendly BOPP synthetic the upgradation of machineries in various stages papers and corrugated , recycling of gravure of printing, like pre-press, press and post-press. cylinders to decrease cylinder preparation cost and pollution  It is also suggested to establish a Common Facility caused by electroplating and so forth. Centre, to address some of the issues mentioned above. The Common Facility Centre would From Table 16 It is obvious that highest number of patents primarily aid in curbing the losses suffered due to were published in the offset ink domain. Next highest is in lack of advanced machinery and any other waterless offset printing. Finally, to sum up, If ink is facilities. considered as domain irrespective of printing technology, more than 30 patents are published. Least number of patents are published in gravure cylinder area

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7 LIMITATIONS

This study was limited only with the Mysore Printing Cluster with the defined sample size and identified factors and variables and the pre defines demographic profile.

8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to honestly thank Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi, for having awarded this sponsored research project and we are deeply indebted to TIFAC for giving us an opportunity to carry out this esteemed project. We humbly express our gratitude to Mr. Suresh Kumar Jain, General Secretary of Mysore Industries Association, and his colleagues, for arranging various discussions / meeting with the cluster members. Also thanks to RUAS research team and Techno Centre team for the support and contribution in competing this research project.

REFERENCES [1] Kipphan, H. (2001). Handbook of print media. Berlin: Springer [2] Wikipedia, (2015). History of printing. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_printing [Accessed 13 Apr. 2015]. [3] Print Wiki, 2015. Flexography. [online] Available at: http://printwiki.org/Flexography [Accessed 13 Mar. 2015]. [4] Pneac.org, (2015). Printing Process Descriptions: Environment and Printing: The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Centre: PNEAC: The Environmental Information Website for the Printing Industry. [online] Available at: http://www.pneac.org/printprocesses/flexography/ moreinfo7.cfm [Accessed 13 Aug. 2015]. [5] Green, S. (2015). What Is the Difference Between Digital Printing and Offset Printing?. [online] BIO Digital Marketing. Available at: http://www.bioagency.ca/what-is-the-difference- between-digital-printing-and-offset-printing/ [Accessed 31 Jul. 2015]. [6] Reporter, B. (2015). Only 7% of printing presses in Mysuru have bank loans. [online] Business- standard.com. Available at: http://www.business- standard.com/article/economy-policy/only-7-of- printing-presses-in-mysuru-have-bank-loans- 115051100883_1.html [Accessed 14 May 2015].

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