Calendars Exhibition's expansion with Heidelberg kit ups production capacity

The firm which installed a Heidelberg SM 74 five-colour press last June has pushed its production of calendars to two lakh copies per day with the fifth unit allowing the firm to explore creative ideas.

A mere blip on Kolkata's print industry two decades ago, Calendars Exibition now ranks as one of the top calendar printing firms in India.

The firm's other buy; a Heidelberg Suprasetter 102 has enabled the firm to fire more plates for the presses.

"In today's dynamic business era, innovation is an effective tool for enhancing the efficiency and value to the products," said Govardhanlal Sikaria, managing director of Calendars Exhibition.

Calendar printing sees a surge in demand during the festive season, particularly during October to December.

"We needed to boost our capacity to cope with the seasonal upturn in demand," said Sikaria. He added: "Heidelberg has the most contemporary technology. We opted for the efficiency and reliability of Speedmaster and high quality output of Suprasetter."

The firm was established by Sikaria in 1989. Prior to setting up Calendars Exhibition, Sikaria did business along with a partner, as a canvassar, dealing mainly in wine labels, outsourcing requirements from printers in Sivakasi and Kolkata.

A split in partnership enabled Sikaria to solely own the company, after which the  firm stopped outsourcing, and installed its own press.

Today, the company which also specialises in commercial print business, runs two single-colour Komoris and a two-colour Mitsubishi alongside the new Heidelberg Speedmaster press.