Multivista Global, one of the biggest book printers in Chennai is the preferred partner for leading publishers in the world. The 37-year old company is growing at over 100%, since its start as a modest letterpress unit. Today, it operates from a sprawling state-of-the-art 125,000 sq ft unit which provides everything from pre-press to finishing capabilities.

Multivista shifted to the outskirts of Chennai (Kelambakkam) in 2007; and the unit is lauded by the print fraternity as the epitome of top quality print production. Founded in 1974 by S Rajagopal the company is now under the able administration of his four sons who were trained and guided by him.

Multivista’s first major investment was a Heidelberg offset single colour in 1982, which was followed by a Dominant in 1984.  Since then, Multivista has added an impressive line of Heidelberg (CD 102, SM 102 four colour with two colour perfecting, one SM-74 four colour, a SM 102 two colour (with single colour perfecting and a single colour machine), a Roland Parva 2 colour and Heidelberg Supra Setter CTP. The press setup, since the installation of Ryobi 920 series machine in 2008, has been bulked by the addition of another Ryobi 920 series machine and a Heidelberg SM 102 two-colour machine with a single-colour perfection in 2010.

The finishing line has a battery of Stahl folding machines, Polar cutting machines, Muller Martini stitching and sewing machines etc. But the back-bone at the unit is the completely automated Kolbus online soft cover line with 14 station gathering, 32 clamp perfect binder with 8000 cycles per hour and a three knife trimmer with 4000 cycles in-feed per hour.
 
Communication: the key to book printing
The company has created a vital segment in book printing and the clientele includes some of the top publishers in the world including Oxford, Cambridge, Penguin. Jayaraman, director and one of the four siblings said: "Book publishers are looking at quality, delivery, subsidised costs–and India is their preferred destination." He added: "The next ten years is going to see an exponential growth with onus on education book printing."

One of the mantras is: the need for pro-active communication with the client and the third party agencies who are involved in a project. He emphasised that confidence-building measures is a challenge for all the players. Jayaraman points out: "The customer in Europe should be certain about delivery and quality. There shouldn’t be any hanky panky, which is a major concern to all publishers."
 
Systems driven operations
The company has set a target of 13 million books for the current financial year. Thanks to efficient systems, it is achieving it with admirable ease. In addition to standard ISO certifications, regular audits are conducted. The key for the maintenance of their superior quality is a weekly production meeting being conducted every Saturday and the same being the ‘maintenance day’ for the machineries.

"We have implemented SAP thereby integrating the enterprise and making sure a dashboard of critical information is available to the management on a real-time scenario. Production planning is the key to book printing. You can’t have a scenario where the book is ready and the cover has been held-up at the publisher’s end", elaborates Jayaraman.

"ERP is assisting us to resolve accountability issues. We can track jobs. This enables scheduling and creates transparency wherein any delays or emergencies can be circumvented and we can avoid last minute botch ups," he added.

Right investments
 "The decision to invest in the massive 125,000 sq ft workspace–on a five acre land–was driven by the corporate philosophy of setting the benchmark among our peers," affirms Jayaraman. He adds: "Print has a lot to do with mathematics. One has to grasp it, understand logistics and transport, how to use the vessels at the sea port facility and ensure that the vessels co-ordinate with the master vessels in Singapore or Colombo. Every second that is saved is vital." He is happy with the improvement in the seaport and airlifting facilities in Chennai, plus the simplification in export formalities.

A total workforce of 800 employees plus 180 associates in the printing division warrants extra measures for employee satisfaction and events such as staff days are a regular affair. The company also prides itself on on-time payment of salaries (29th of every month).

The company which converts 2500 tonnes of paper per annum is planning to ramp up its capabilities.

"At Drupa, we explored digital and web offset," said Jayaraman.

"The opportunities are abundant and we need to think ahead in this fast paced world but for us the work ethics and values remains the same", quipped Jayaraman