Bharadwaj: “Some of the books have runs that are above one lakh, and sometimes we need to break and continue to produce books in parallel. Every day is a new day in learning” Shri Balaji Publications has been in the news. The publisher-printer has installed an entire range of hard cover machines from Impel in its factory in Muzzafarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The reason: the two-decade old Shri Balaji Publications produces a wide array of books for various competitive entrance examinations and central boards. In these hard times, they needed a hard cover. The three founders, Ashish Agarwal, Neeraj Bhardwaj, and Prabhat Kumar, also ensure the distribution of these books all over India through their eRetail network since most of these books are prescribed for the CBSE board or for competitive exams. Other than higher education reference books, there are books for competitive exams like JEE and NEET. The book factory, which runs two shifts of eight hours each, has a built-in area of 10,000-sqft. The founders say, “As a publisher, we provide the best quality of content, which helps the students to gain knowledge. We do not compromise in the quality of content and naturally, this gets extended to the print and binding quality. We integrated backward as we were not getting the quality from the market despite willing to pay the price.” That’s how the factory boasts of two WB@2500 and a full range of case-binding machines. This includes the Starplus case-maker, casing-in and joint forming and a Wohlenberg gatherer plus three-knife trimmers. This is backed by a Heidelberg four-colour press as well as three Rota Print web presses. The founders, speaking exclusively to PrintWeek, explains, “Since 2018, the Impel-Welbound team in North India, led by Anil Kumar, has given us great support in our binding unit. We trust its quality and technical support. When we dared to set up our own hard cover binding system, we could not think of anyone else.” The training at Shri Balaji Publications included Impel-Welbound’s top managers, including the division’s CEO Rohin Kumar, visiting the headquarters in Muzzafarnagar. But there is a story within the story. The Shri Balaji team built the factory from scratch in three months. During that period, the machines were installed plus the books were being produced in-house. Neeraj Bhardwaj says, “As publishers, our jobs were outsourced till December 2017. Then, at the start of 2018, we thought of having an in-house printing press.” Bhardwaj continues, “This was a risk, which we took, as this decision was in the midst of our peak academic book season.” When asked why they opted for this disruption, Bhardwaj says, “We took this step because we were not getting the quality in books. Our books were being delayed in the market and we had rejections as these did not meet our quality aspirations.” Beneath the veneer of textbook production, there is a lot of complexity. For example, the books for JEE and NEET require a huge number of versions and revisions. These require complex organisation and need a very agile print production facility. Bharadwaj says, “Some of the books have runs that are above one lakh, and sometimes we need to break and continue to produce books in parallel. Every day is a new day in learning.” The team at Shri Balaji is grateful. Ashish Bhardwaj says, “We had huge support Impel-Welbound that helped us set up and turnaround jobs fast.” rabhat Bhardwaj adds, “We never thought of producing hard cover books in-house. And when we set this up, with the support from Impel-Welbound, the company advised us on everything that can go wrong or right, and we felt confident.” Rohin Kumar, CEO of Impel’s hard cover machines vertical with an automatic case-maker Impel-Welbound partnership The Impel-Welbound group, after establishing and streamlining the soft cover book production in Bengaluru, decided to foray into the hard cover book segment. Suresh Nair, director, Impel-Welbound, says, “In our erstwhile avatar in the partnership with the Kerala-based Intimate Machines Group, we were always focused on soft cover bookbinding. We had internal expertise with respect to application, thanks to our partnership with Henkel Adhesives. We did not look at making hard cover machines as the segment already had a few suppliers clamouring for sales.” Nair continues, “However, every time we were having a discussion with a new customer – usually a commercial printer establishing in-house bookbinding, the requirement used to come up. Even our existing customers complained about the lack of quality hard cover-making equipment. While there were some solutions, the casing-in and finishing operations remained the forte of artisans; or you needed to import machines.” There are top class solutions for book-block making, from companies like Joy D- Sign; but there was a gap when it came to quality solutions for hard cover books. Nair continues, “Instead of starting from the scratch, we teamed up with experts in the field, like Rohin Kumar, who comes with the experience of running a company manufacturing such machines. We gave it the capital and design infrastructure to come up with products that will handle the diverse requirement in commercial printing, be it sizes, material or productivity.” The Impel-Welbound team added after-sales support which included solid training in the technology so that the process becomes fool-proof. Conclusion The unlocking, which began in May 2020, threw up challenges which have not been witnessed before. Availability of material, labour and technical support remained among the top of issues faced by book printing. Machines were stranded without trained manpower or they broke down and refused to work. Rohin Kumar, CEO of Impel’s hard cover machines division, says, “Impel-Welbound differentiated itself by being able to supply raw material, spare parts and after-sales support, just in time despite all the challenges.” He adds, “We had engineers based out of places like Guwahati, Mathura, Kolhapur – and for the customers facing an operational challenge, this was a huge relief. A few customers looked at this as a signal for trying out the hard cover solutions from us. And this resulted in sales to markets like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, NCR region and so on.” Kumar signs off, “Quality is part of the Shri Balaji’s eco-system and its takes pride in delivering a book with the right content and quality.” Case in point, a voluminous, two inches plus Physics textbook – Advanced Problems in Physics.

((l-r) Devendra Pathak and Manoj Kumar Pathak Ghaziabad-based Education Stores have completed the installation of WB@2500, a six-clamp perfect binder from Impel-Welbound. Founded by brothers Devendra Kumar and Manoj Kumar Pathak, the 23-year-old company is an integrated print house with a focus on book printing. They cater to large private publishers as well as government textbook corporations and mostly just-in-time printing. “Tough situations call for tough people to make brave decisions so that the customer is not inconvenienced. We are not used to hiding behind excuses and when our customers needed the right quality products, delivered quickly, we needed the WB@2500,” said Devendra Kumar. Speaking further about the investment and the timing of it (semi-lockdown situation in the region), Manoj Kumar said, “When one of our customers wanted about 15 lakh saddle-stitched books delivered at different locations in India, with a near-impossible time schedule, we gladly accepted the challenge.” The WB@2500 with the maximum speed of 2,500 books per hour is packed with several features including separate side glueing, adjustable ornamental creasing, inline cover feeding, powerful cam based nipping station and delivery among others According to Impel, the new WB@2500 was dispatched from Bangalore, delivered, installed, commissioned and training imparted to the operators – all that under ten days. “This is a new record for us, and maybe the new normal in the coming days”, said Anilkumar Nair, director sales of Impel-Welbound. “We are seeing the demand come back for machines, since May 2020 and we have already shipped six machines to the northern region. Insourcing and quality enhancement are the key reasons for the demand,” he added. “The technical know-how shared by the sales and installation team has enhanced our knowledge of bookbinding techniques. They have helped us to achieve the highest quality of perfect bound books. Many of their suggestions have helped us to rectify the errors in our existing process. Most importantly, with this addition, all books produced are of the highest quality which is giving our clients complete satisfaction and this is a matter of pride for us,” said Devendra Kumar.

(l-r) Anil Jain, Sunil Jain and Navin Jain with the newly installed machine New Delhi-based Arihant Offset has installed a brand new WB@2500 six-clamp perfect binding machine manufactured by Impel-Welbound in Bengaluru. Founded in 1998 by Anil Jain, the offset printing unit located in Nazafgarh Road focuses primarily on large Government tenders, across India, with a specific interest in textbooks. “As some of the jobs that we undertake are of huge volumes, sometimes there is huge pressure on capacities. We also cannot build fresh capacity as some of these jobs are seasonal or once in a while. We have additional print partners in NCR and Mathura who help us in times of such capacity requirements”, said Anil Jain. “We have always met our customer requirements, be it on turnaround times or quantity or fulfilment. Our USP is- be it one thousand books or one million, we will produce and deliver it, anywhere in India,” he added. The sprawling 40000 sqft plant is equipped with a wide range of pre-press and post-press equipment apart from a raft of presses. Talking about some of their challenging jobs, Jain said, “ We are especially proud of a book made for the ministry of agriculture, from design to delivery in 72 hours. There is also a 65 million books order for a textbook corporation, which was delivered in 60 days from the date of order.” “And not to forget when Punjab Technical University wanted six lakh answer sheets within one week, they relied on Arihant to fulfil the order, and we promptly delivered them,” he added. “As they are used to meeting such near-impossible deadlines when they ordered a machine, they wanted it installed within 10 days. We had just done such a task recently for another customer and that gave us the confidence”, said Anil Kumar, director sales of Impel-Welbound. “From the time of discussions, order finalisation to installation, we found the Impel team to be professional. One of the top reasons we opted for WB@2500 is that we wanted to insource some of our critical jobs that are high value,” said Jain. “Apart from the top quality finishing, the MIS feature of the machine was something that impressed us. As we cater to tenders that are time-bound, the information of production and cost parameters on a daily/periodic basis is helping us immensely to track the status of the jobs,” he concluded. This is one of the seven WB@2500 perfect binders installed by Impel-Welbound in NCR region so far, since partial lifting of lockdown in the area since May 2020.

Saddle-stitching is the easiest way to secure a book, together. The process is simple and the machinery involved is less complicated and compact. The process involves bending a fixed length of wire and forcing it through the pages and clinching the legs to form a stitch. It is a cheaper process compared to other forms of binding. You can do approx. 12,000 stitches with 1 kg of wire.  Also the machine consumes less space. Saddle stitching basics Saddle stitching is done to print jobs in which the spine thickness does not exceed 1 cm. The wire used for stitching is available in various thicknesses (gauge). The choice of wire is made according to the type of job (the thickness of spine and sheets). For thicker jobs thicker wire may be used since the wire has to penetrate the sheets. The stitcher head is made to handle wire within certain range of thickness. The stitcher head consists of the following components: Wire Straightener: The wire which is drawn out of the spool is straightened Cutter: This cuts the wire to a fixed length to form a stitch Stitcher Head: It bends the wire to form the crown and legs Clincher: It bends the legs of the bent wire from the bottom to form a stitch Basics for a good quality stitch Stitching head Good wire: Wires are normally galvanized. Some-times poor galvanizing creates problems with wire draw. The metal plating on the wire can come off in the straightener.  his creates a jam and offers resistance which in turn affects the wire draw and life of the stitcher head.  When wire is manufactured it is wound on a large spool; only to be rewound and supplied in smaller spool to fit in the machine. Wire in the smaller spool, if stored for many days, (gets aged ) starts to remember its shape in the spool. Such a wire would offer a lot of resistance to straightening and wire draw. To check the suitability of the wire, draw and cut about a metre length. The wire should coil back to form the size of a football (i.e. larger then the spool from which it has been drawn). Nearly half the problems associated to stitching would disappear when you replace an old stock of wire with a fresh spool. Consistent wire draw: The stitcher head should be able to draw fixed length of wire consistently.  You should check the length of wire by drawing them through the stitcher and taking it out after cut.  Take about 15 pieces and check if all are equal in length. If it is unequal the quality of stitch will be affected. You can also check the wire after bending, but before clinching, to see if both the legs have equal length.  If the legs are unequal, they would either overlap or have significant gap between them. Both these conditions are not acceptable. Good cut: There should not be any burr at the edge of the wire when the cut is made.  Ensure that you change the cutter when it starts to give burr at the cut. Centered wire: All stitcher head parts should be properly set according to wire gauge so that the wire is centered correctly in the stitcher head. Clinching: Finally the clinching should be accurate with the correct amount of pressure. The clincher should be clean and devoid of any paper dust. John Finn is the Managing Director, Deluxe Bostich Stitcher Int, Ireland

Greeting cards and rare books often feature Deckle edges Shown here is a colored deckle edge “We own a few books where the side (fore-edge) of the text block is not even. The 1st set amount of the pages are about 1/16” out farther than the 2nd set. The 3rd set is about 1/16” out farther than the 2nd set but equal to the 1st set. The 4th set is the same as the 2nd, and so on. It is as if each small binding section of pages was cut at 2 different widths. Is there a name for this type of edge, or is it an error in binding?”  Sometimes we receive questions from not only book printers, but from individuals interested in bookbinding. If it gets “technical,” this former teacher has the privilege and pleasure of answering them. Here is one such question I received earlier this month: “We own a few books where the side (fore-edge) of the text block is not even. The 1st set amount of the pages are about 1/16” out farther than the 2nd set. The 3rd set is about 1/16” out farther than the 2nd set but equal to the 1st set. The 4th set is the same as the 2nd, and so on. It is as if each small binding section of pages was cut at 2 different widths. Is there a name for this type of edge, or is it an error in binding?” Let us try to understand this phenomenon. Deckle Edges As we are all aware, earlier papers were made by hand. In this operation, the paper pulp is flowing between the frame and the deckle of the mould. This hand casting operation created unusual, beautiful edges. When papers were made by machine, the paper manufacturers tried to imitate that feature by means of a jet of water or air. Other deckle edges can be formed on dry sheets by means of tearing, cutting with a special type of knife, sand blasting or sawing. In earlier book manufacturing, there were no machines available for trimming the edges. As a result, the folded signatures (sections) were left untrimmed—a tradition carried on until a few decades ago. As a hand bookbinder, I have bound many French books with untrimmed signatures or deckle edges. Such untrimmed edges became popular in the late 19th century and lasted to almost the 1990s. For publishers, we had to imitate such rough deckle fore-edges on common machine made papers for many best-selling books. On folding machines and web-printing presses, we used special, dull knives to create such an effect, with the results, that virtually every single sheet varied in its dimension on the fore edge. Librarians did not appreciate that trend as such bindings collected dust, were unsightly (to some) and difficult to turn. Having explained you the process where we tried to create the deckle edges as an ornamental feature, now let us look at a case where these are developed unintentionally. Web-Printed Variables Book and catalogue offset printing is done in sections of 16, 24, and 32 page configurations. One of the largest printing companies on this continent printed a thick Gun Catalogue. A few days after trimming a smooth edge, the Q.C. Manager sent samples to the RIT book testing laboratory and stated that they are unable to figure out this “phenomenon.” Their client rightfully objected to that “saw-toothed” fore-edge and threatened to reject the entire 100,000+ order. Older books often feature untrimmed, rough edges What was going-on? The answer is simple. When using heat-set web offset printing, printers use one large mill-roll of paper after the other. Each section is printed individually and then stored in a warehouse. It often takes days, and even weeks to print such a large order. Most often, printers operate their expensive web presses around the clock, which mean each crew may have a different idea of how to dry the ink, especially large, solid areas. The crews may use different heat settings. Such fluctuations in the paper and in the printing processes will have some consequences. After trimming, the paper is picking up moisture and then wants to grow back into its final “resting” position. Different heat settings, storage conditions and moisture content in each individual section then results in uneven growths. This description is an experience from an actual consulting assignment where, as is most often the case, the binder gets blamed! Older books often feature untrimmed, rough edges. One large German law-book printing and hardcover binding company I visited solved this problem with trimming the book blocks twice. First they trimmed open the folds. Then they let the book blocks rest for 72 hours, giving the paper a chance to adjust to its environment. A three-knife trimmer in front of their hardcover binding line then did the final trims. Those were the smoothest book edges I have ever had the pleasure to observe. Communications in regards to Trimming As we now know, a book with genuine deckle edges is one a bibliophile will always treasure. Some time ago, a library binder in the Midwest (no longer in business) received such a valuable book from a rare book library with the instructions “Save the Deckle Edges.” When the rebound book came back to the library, the librarian noticed that contrary to their instructions, all three sides were trimmed smoothly. When the librarian lifted the cover, she noticed an envelope. It contained the “saved” deckle edges!  

India has made substantial gains in education. This is a country where 250 million children attend schools. Yet one of its most stubborn development challenges is the fact that 33 million children of primary school age still are not enrolled in school. Right to education is enshrined in the Constitution. The central government launched an ambitious scheme for education. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an effort to universalise elementary education by community-ownership of the school system. The SSA hopes to provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6 to 14 age group by 2010. There is also another goal to bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the community in the management of schools. India may boast the record for producing and selling the cheapest textbooks in the world Education is one of the key demand drivers for the growth of print world over. The sheer size of the education market in India ensures that this would probably be the largest factor. However, there are challenges in turning this into a value proposition. Free education – free books Innumerable interventions have been planned for the growth of enrollment. One of it includes: Free textbooks to all girls and socially backward children at primary & upper primary level within an upper ceiling of Rs. 150/- per child (less than $4). The state will continue to fund free textbooks being currently provided from the state plans. As a result, the state government textbook boards form the largest segment of publishers – in terms of quantity of books, produced. All such boards put together are estimated to produce anywhere between 1.5 to 1.7 billion textbooks per annum. That’s not all. The government is laying tremendous thrust on innovative activities for girls’ education, early childhood care and education, interventions for children belonging to backward and needy section of the society. There is a thrust on computer education especially for upper primary level. There is a big opportunity for the book printing industry in India; since the preliminary requirements of the SSA include huge quantities of publishing: school wise/EGS centre wise incentives of free textbooks and notebooks, teaching materials and information system etc. The state government textbooks are printed by empanelled printers selected through a tendering process. Often such tenders see unhealthy compe-tition leading to unrealistically low rates for printing. Huge compromises are then made in the production process, in terms of machines, consumables and quality control. This, in turn, leads to poor quality in production as well as delays in supplies. At times, one has to educate the state board government authorities that one three-side trimmer is the equivalent of three or four automatic cutting machines in productivity of trimming books. And similarly, four automatic pinning machines is equivalent to one online saddle stitching machine. Make and age of machines, special attachments, capacities – these are often not given much importance. In most cases there are no gradations for vendors. The ignorance among government authorities and the unhealthy competition deter highly successful printers who can produce books with better presentation quality. The rate card of NCERT, the premier national textbooks publishing body is a good example. For binding 1,000 signatures of A4 size book, the rate is about Rs 40 (about $1). That means a book of 10 signatures will fetch 40 paise – this is less than the cost of adhesive used in binding the book. Ironically, their tenders have always seen more and more new printers joining the bandwagon. Private education Private publishing The other side of the spectrum is the enormous growth seen in Investment in Private education. With growing income, the huge Indian middle class queue up to send their children to private schools. Today this is a significant part of their annual spend. There are the private publishers who produce textbooks and guides based on the various national (ICSE, CBSE) and state syllabus. Every such segment has a few national players; many more at the state levels. One can estimate about 700-800 million books per annum from this segment. Even in this segment we’ve witnessed a high level of fragmentation and competition. This ensures that the cover prices are very low. In fact India may boast the record for producing and selling the ‘cheapest’ textbooks in the world. “When a textbook on physics reaches a teacher for evaluation and recomme-ndation, there are 30 plus options on the table. The books maybe in different sizes, varying in presentations and in price; but how can the teacher evaluate so many books and decide which is the best for his / her students? Even if your teaching is based on a new book, it will take months before realising if the product (read content) is good. So, then, content is no more the king. It is price and relationship with teacher and school that sells the book. The low entry barrier in publishing ensures that the pressure on pricing is huge,” says Vivek Govil, President and CEO of Pearson Education India. (At the GLOBALOCAL Conference in New Delhi). Also, this makes the value chain unbalanced. Because the student at the top of the pyramid is willing to pay the right price, which is much higher than what the publisher is staking his claim to. (It is only the books on specialisation or super-specialisation subjects that command a premium). The cost of books, as a part of the school education budget in India is a humble 5%. We are not talking about the subsidised books published by the government. For example, a student studying in a private school in Mumbai, following the state board syllabus, would spend anywhere between Rs 20,000-40,000 per annum (about $450-900) on school fees alone. As against this he or she will spend a maximum of Rs 800-1000 ($22) on textbooks, guides and workbooks - all put together. This is an example where the consumer can afford and is willing - but the supplier is not in a position to ask. As there is no value realised, huge levels of compromises are made on both presentation and content quality. Content is often “cut and paste”. Poor quality of paper (50 gsm cream wove white printing paper from a b-grade paper mill is the norm), compromises on design to reduce cost, mono-colour printing, shabby binding and so on. This has made companies like Pearson to focus on complete solutions - including training sessions for teachers, educational aids, question banks, workshops etc; where the book becomes one part of the package and its value is realised in relation to the solution. The academic publisher will forward integrate and invest in educational institutions, thereby realising the full potential of the content. Issues in distribution India is a large country and the rural India still has places that cannot be reached by motors. The free books seldom reach there. The private publishers stay away due to logistical issues. Unless the infrastructure develops in such areas, this will remain a major deterrent. We may need to think out of the box to provide solutions in the short term. For instance in 2009 during a heavy monsoon spell, thousands of school-going children in Bagalkot, Raichur, Bijapur, Koppal, Gulbarga and Gadag districts were distraught that their textbooks and notebooks were washed away in the monsoon floods. If their parents were worried about rebuilding their damaged houses, the children were disappointed at losing their books, with half the academic year over. Responding swiftly to their plight the textbook society, which was established by the State Government, had issued circulars to the Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) in the flood-hit districts to distribute textbooks stored in the block-level textbook godowns (in each taluk) for sale, free so that the children did not lag behind in the studies. The above incident underscores the disparity between India’s haves and have-nots. Even though publishing – and particularly educational publishing forms a large pie of the print market, most of the ‘better’ printers stay away from this for obvious reasons. Lessons to learn Today, a pricing battle is transpiring in other countries, as well. In December 2010, the US Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision on “the pricing of products made outside the United States.” This has implications for textbook pricing because it effectively prevents the new introduction of low-priced academic books. That’s because internationally sold goods usually work like this: the manufacturer produces two types of the same product. One is expensive and lavish, intended to be sold in the developed world. The other version is cheap and basic, intended for sales in Third World countries. Textbooks work like this too. The real barrier that many students have to accessing inexpensive textbooks is that publishers will only sell them the expensive, lavish version. Publishers make the cheap version, which is really all the students need, but the economic version is available in the developing world. The case came down to this: if the producer makes something intended for foreign sales, can American companies buy the product abroad and sell it cheaply back in America? A victory would have meant yes, and might have allowed Americans to buy textbooks for less money. That would greatly cut into publishers’ profits. This is a victory for American printer-publishers. Perhaps a cue for Indian book printers to tread a similar path, soon...

I came across this quote: "Contributors should have some pity for the editor and poor compositors. We should take pride in writing a clear and beautiful hand in our own language ... Especially when writing for a publication, everyone should regard it as his sacred duty to be doubly careful." The author is not a compositor or typesetter. It is Mahatma Gandhi and going by his advise, it seems nothing has changed since 1919. Statesman, author, printer Very few know that Mahatma Gandhi was an astute printer, publisher and journalist. Gandhi edited Indian Opinion, Young India, Navjivan and Harijan. On 7 Sept 1919, Gandhi bought out the Navjivan weekly. However, the British government was threatened by the critical writings of Gandhi. Since no printing press owner was willing to risk its business by publishing reports against the government, Navjivan felt the need to acquire its own printing press. Gandhi counted bad printing an act of himsa (violence). He insisted on clear types, durable paper and neat simple jackets Today, Navjivan's annual sales turnover is Rs 1 crore. These are mostly from highly subsidised in-house publications. Add-itional revenue is generated through the copyright of Gandhi's collected works which adds up to 1,000 books. This includes his autobiography, My Experiments With Truth published in 24 foreign lang-uages, including Braille. A glance through Gandhi's body of work is impressive. Gandhi counted bad printing an act of himsa (violence). He insisted on clear types, durable paper and neat simple jackets. He knew costly books in attractive jackets were out of the reach of readers of a poor country like India. During his lifetime, the Navajivan Press printed many books at a low price. His autobiography in Gujarati was priced 12 annas. There was also a cheap edition of this book printed in Devanagari. Gandhi had simple, practical suggestions. He felt children's books should be printed in bold types, attractive paper, and each item should be illustrated with a sketch. He preferred thin booklets. They do not tire out the children and are easy to handle. Curiously, Gandhi was not obsessed with saving money while printing. Once the Navjivan Press decided to publish a Gujarati translation of Gokhale's writings and speeches. The translation was done by an educationist. When the book was printed, Gandhi was requested to write the foreword. He found the translation poor and stiff and asked it to be destroyed. When he was told that Rs 700 had been spent, he said: "Do you think it desirable to place this rubbish before the public after spending more on binding and cover? I do not want to ruin people's taste by distributing bad literature." Gandhi stopped printing his journals when a Government order restricted him. His press was confiscated, his files were destroyed, his co-workers were jailed. He was never discouraged and remarked: "The press has a role to play. It has to become the people's Bible, Koran and Gita rolled in one. A newspaper predicts that riots are coming and all that sticks and knives have been sold out. It is the duty of the press to teach people to be brave, not to instill fear into them." In today's times, the print industry has a lot to learn from the Father of the Nation.