Indian print entrepreneurs reckon that with improved inter-continental electronic communication, and the far lower cost base that Indian industry operates on, the country is perfectly positioned to become the world’s repro centre, just as it has become the world’s call centre.

To prove the point New Delhi based repro house Express KCS has just been signed up by UK printing giant Polestar to handle its repro needs. Polestar, which is the biggest printer in Britain, believes repro will become commoditised, and unviable from a UK cost base, which is why it has signed up the Indian company for its prepress needs, as it seeks to add value elsewhere. Polestar prints some of the most prestigious magazines and catalogues in Britain.

Managing director of KCS Express Robert Berkeley, quoted in the UK trade press PrintWeek, says that Polestar and its publishers are satisfied with the quality his company can achieve in New Delhi, and says that since the deregulation of the Indian telecoms industry there are no issues with bandwidths. KCS Express has a UK based account management team.

KCS claims it already has several major English printers as customers, who until now have kept quite about their offshore repro activity.

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