Technical discussions, networking and presentation of the ‘best in print’ awards were highlights of WAN-Ifra’s Indian Printers Summit, the group’s first South Asia live event for two years.

The event – the twenty-ninth such summit – also included the launch of a special report on the use of 40gsm newsprint, and two round-table discussions.

After a string of online events and conferences, the face-to-face conference saw more than 100 media executives from about 20 organisations in attendance, learning from experts and interacting with suppliers.

The first panel discussion looked at optimising operational and capital expense, and strategies for managing assets and new investments. Taking part were RD Bhatnagar (chief technology officer of DB Corp), BS Shesh (vice president, supply chain at HT Media), Lakshmivenkatraman RP (former head, technical and production of THG Publishing) and Amit Khurana (chief operating officer of TechNova’s newspaper group).

A call for cooperation – whether it was between publishers with surplus capacity, or suppliers able to rationalize parts availability – was a recurring theme.

“One great area is machines which have towers which are not fully utilized and can be repurposed,” HT’s BS Shesh said. “Every company has a bit of redundancy, and we need to look at how we can work together.”

The second panel covered product and process innovation, and how companies can recalibrate their thinking prowess. Taking part were Snehasis C Roy (technical director at Bennett Coleman Co, and chairman of the World Printers Forum’s India Chapter), Pradyumna Mitra (engineering general manager at ABP), Peter Britto (deputy general manager of The Times of India) and Dr. K Subramanian (senior vice president of Ashok Leyland).

Best in Print – Asia 2021 winners were awarded in three categories, based on newspaper circulation numbers. 

United Printing & Publishing’s The National bagged the Gold award in the less than 50K circulation category. 

Bennett Coleman & Co’s The Times Of India (Lucknow and Ahmedabad) won the bronze and silver awards in the 50-150K circulation category, with Hong Kong’s Apple Daily – which ceased publication earlier this year – taking home the gold award in this category.

For the ‘more than 150K circulation’ category, The Times of India (Navi Mumbai and Mumbai) bagged silver and gold, while ABP’s Anandabazar Patrika won the bronze award.