With the latest investment, the four-decade old company is now equipped with contemporary technology in-house to cover the entire process chain from prepress through post-press. It is no mean feat for a small-town outfit. The credit goes to the present owners Mr. M.V. Nagabhushana Rao and Mr. M.V. Bhadra Rao, who assumed control of the press in 1978 from their father and founder Sri M.V. Satyanarayana. Under the leadership of this dynamic duo, the firm is constantly expanding its horizons to meet the new challenges in this highly competitive and fragmented business.

The company is engaged in printing Hindu literature, academic text books, workbooks, brochures, posters, magazines and wedding cards. Prior to the rendezvous with Heidelberg, Sri Laxmi Ganapathi Images has been working with used machines. The decision to go with Heidelberg equipment was certainly not spontaneous. Mr. Bhadra Rao visited Heidelberg’s Wiesloch production facility in Germany to get a personal handle on the company and the equipment he planned to buy.

But, once he set his eyes on the press, and the ensuing demo, his perspective underwent a 180- degree transformation. At that point, the decision to buy the Speedmaster SM 74 became a no-brainer. “It was love at first sight”, he recalls with a chuckle. “We were looking to improve print quality and speed, while reducing paper wastage”, he adds. The Speedmaster SM 74 four-color press matched his requirements to a tee.

Success smile: Veerabhadra Rao and Nagabhushana Rao with the Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74.

The Prinect Press Center of the Speedmaster SM 74, with its innovative intellistart process-oriented operator guidance system, enables straightforward and precise machine control, while the speed-compensated Alcolor dampening system produces brilliant print results. The Speedmaster SM 74 can process a wide range of printing substrates, from thin paper to board, ranging in thickness from 0.03 mm (0.0012 inches) to 0.6 mm (0.024 inches). Automation components like autoplate reduce make-ready and setup times phenomenally compared to other presses.

The Print-shop has also installed the state-of-the art, Heidelberg Suprasetter A106 CtP-high performance pre-press equipment, which offers exceptional smart plate handling. The equipment can process 18 plates per hour with plate formats from 370 × 323 mm to 930 × 1,060 mm. Equipped with unique thermal laser technology developed by Heidelberg, the plate-setters are almost totally protected against production failures by the Intelligent Diode System (IDS).

The Heidelberg experience has turned both the Raos into hardcore Heidelberg loyalists. “The investment is already beginning to pay off”, says the excited Nagabhushana Rao. “Ever since the equipments were installed, the orders are pouring in”, he adds happily. His enthusiasm is contagious, as this is also Heidelberg’s maiden installation in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, an unexplored market ripe with potential.

Success smile: Veerabhadra Rao and Nagabhushana Rao with the Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74.

Looking ahead, the Raos’ are already considering further investment in Heidelberg equipments in the next few years. This time their choice would run on the lines of a Heidelberg CD 102 press in the 70 x 100 format and a Polar cutter. “Progress is about the choices we make. Heidelberg has tuned out to be one of our best business decisions”, concludes Bhadra Rao.

For more information please contact:
Rajendra Prasad
Marketing Manager
Heidelberg India Pvt. Ltd.
E-mail: rajendra.prasad@heidelberg.com
Mobile: +91 98401 26119