#monotech

Chennai-based printing solutions provider Monotech recently marked its 25th anniversary, celebrating a journey that began in 1999. From its humble beginnings, the company has grown into a leading supplier of a diverse range of equipment and solutions for the printing and packaging industry. Today, Monotech offers comprehensive solutions for pre-press, digital printing, digital enhancement, wide-format printing, engineering systems, labels and packaging, and printing software.

“Our journey started with a team of seven people. We faced many challenges but overcame them, and built a great team. Monotech has developed a product line that has facilitated the industry's digital transformation over the years,” says TP Jain, owner of Monotech.

Initially focused on the South Indian market, Monotech harbored ambitions of expanding across the country. The company began by importing refurbished imagesetters and scanners, supplying them to Indian customers. This strategic move helped Monotech establish a national presence. “This strategy paid off well, allowing us to supply value-for-money products from a variety of brands to customers across India,” Jain notes.

Key milestones in Monotech's Journey

A significant milestone was Monotech's venture into computer-to-plate (CtP) technology through a partnership with basysPrint. This collaboration proved to be highly successful. “In terms of new equipment, basysPrint was our big success. We sold a good number of units in India,” Jain says.

In 2007, Monotech partnered with Konica Minolta, a major turning point for the company in the production printing segment. After a successful run, in 2015, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India acquired Monotech's production printing business. “This was a major decision for us as it was a profitable business. We decided to unlock its value and move into manufacturing in a big way. Our Jetsci line of inkjet solutions has since become a global brand,” Jain explains.

In 2012-13, Monotech introduced Scodix to the Indian market, which became a significant success in the upper end of the print embellishment market. To cater to the entry-level market for embellishment, Monotech launched its own Pixelglow line. “Pixelglow has gained good traction despite initial challenges. We have managed a significant number of installations,” Jain says.

Monotech's second foray into the production printing market with Ricoh has also been fruitful. “This is our second inning in the production printing market, and we have had good success with this venture. Ricoh has a solid lineup of products. We see a lot of promise in this space,” Jain states.

Pioneering inkjet technology

Jain highlights the growing importance of inkjet technology in the printing industry, especially for book printing. “Monotech was an early entrant in this segment. Our Jetsci knowzzleJet inkjet web press for the book printing market has gained significant traction. At the industry level, a lot of book printers are keen to embrace this technology,” he says. Monotech’s in-house research and development department is dedicated to developing advanced inkjet products, including label embellishment, on-demand book printing in both monochrome and color, large format printers for signage applications, industrial printing applications, and their own enhancement engine.

“This year’s drupa showcased the dominance of inkjet technology, and it gives us immense satisfaction to see that Monotech was one of the early advocates of this technology,” Jain adds. “Our journey with inkjet has become almost mainstream, and we continue to innovate with our dedicated R&D units.”

Future prospects for the Indian print market

With India experiencing robust economic growth, Jain believes the Indian print market has a bright future. “If you ask me about the short term, I think FY2024-25 is going to be a great year. The first quarter was a little slow because of elections. Also, industry players wanted to wait for drupa to make any big decision. Now that the first quarter is over, I am of the view that the rest of the year will see strong growth,” he says.

Monotech's journey over the past 25 years has been marked by relentless innovation, strategic partnerships, and a commitment to advancing the printing industry through cutting-edge technology. As Monotech looks to the future, it aims to continue its legacy of excellence, driving growth and transformation in the printing industry.

Monotech Systems, a manufacturer and solutions provider for the printing and packaging industry, sold a ColorAqua Hybrid to Wonderpac within the first four hours of the inauguration of the Labelexpo exhibition at Greater Noida on 10 November 2022.

When Trilok Mittal and Minakshi Mittal of Wonderpac saw the machine, they immediately knew that they had found the digital production press that they were looking for. The Sonipat-based Wonderpac is a manufacturer of industrial labels, holographic stickers and pharmaceutical labels.

“ColorAqua Hybrid is a mid-level label printing production press that enables label printers to adopt digital workflow in label printing at a cost with heavily loaded features of high-definition 1600 dpi full color CMYK water-based inkjet printing based on the Memjet Duraflex inkjet printhead. It is equipped with pre inkjet flexo for water-based primers, coating, white and post inkjet flexo with water-based UV curable coatings that are suitable for phama products,” said Priyanka Rathi, deputy general manager, marketing and communications, Monotech.

Monotech Systems, a manufacturer of inkjet products and solutions for the printing and packaging industry, has appointed Priyanka Rathi as deputy general manager, marketing and communications for its brand Jetsci Global. 

With a background in business development, media and marketing, Rathi will coordinate Jetsci’s day-to-day marketing activities to help raise the profile of Jetsci and its services, in addition to developing and strengthening Jetsci Global's in-house marketing team.

“Over the past 10 years, Jetsci Global has proven that an organization built on innovation can realize its vision and make a difference in the world of the packaging and printing industry. By developing and supplying customized machinery solutions to the world market, Jetsci Global has defied the most popular belief, ‘If something can’t be done, so should not be done ',” says Rathi.

Before joining Jetsci Global, Rathi had worked in various business development, media, and marketing positions in both the B2B and consumer sectors. She has worked as a senior manager, media & marketing, in Digistik, a digital unit of Sai Com Codes Flexoprint.

Her prior experience includes working with the Association of Label Printers and Suppliers (ALPS) and the All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP).

International Business Forms (IBF) has maintained its significant relationship with Monotech’s Jetsci inkjet solutions to install its seventh Jetsci M series inkjet system. The latest installation is again for confidential variable data printing online on another of its narrow web offset presses.

As a part of IBF’s expansion, the Gurgaon, Haryana headquartered company, has set up a second plant at Ghiloth in Rajasthan. The new plant is more extensive at 4,000 square meters and doubles its capacity from one million to two million documents or products daily.

IBF is a pioneer in the confidential VDP printing domain specializing in online VDP on OMR answer booklets, admit cards, attendance sheets, courier dockets, and other education-related products. It uses hybrid narrow width web offset presses with variable data inkjet sur-printing for these secure and personalized education products.

Ajay Jain, the owner of International Business Forms, says, “It took us time to adopt the inline variable data printing system from Jetsci Global, but we have never looked back after the first installation. Now we have seven machines installed and running, and one more is in the course of manufacturing. This technology gave us value and growth and the supplier’s exceptional on-time support and services. We envision a future with all our offset machines equipped with Jetsci Global inkjet systems inline.”

  Canon India(NYSE:CAJ) has reportedly made an announcement that the company is strengthening its partnership with Monotech Systems Ltd for its Wide Format printing business.

Monotech is the national partner for Canon for the Wide Format products in India and currently the only partner to sell and serviceOce range of products. The southern region is one of the largest markets for Graphic Arts business and quick print shops. Technical document systems (TDS) products are primarily sold to quick print shops and a total of 50% of sales comes from this business.

Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice-President, Canon India, said, "The wide format printing market is growing in India and Canon foresees this as a huge business opportunity. We decided to further extend our relationship with Monotech owing to their PAN India presence, strong technical support and sales team and the option of multi-location billing.  We look forward to a more enriching business with Monotech as a partner who would bring business worth Rs.30 crore by 2015. Canon plans to expand its graphic business further and with Monotech’s wide reach and support we will be able to explore new markets."

T. P. Jain, Managing Director, Monotech Systems, said, "We are privileged to be associated with Canon and are happy to leverage its expertise in the Wide Format Printing and Display Graphics Business. We have now formed a new SBU (Strategic Business Unit) within Monotech to focus on Canon / Oce product range and we expect this SBU to contribute significantly to our business turnover in the next few years. With our domain knowledge, strong sales and technical support expertise, we will be able to help Canon spread its business across the country. This will also be a learning opportunity for Monotech as we enter a new phase of selling Canon IPF, Oce Arizona and Oce TDS products - the best in the industry from Canon."