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L.N. Revathy

Coimbatore , Oct. 17

PRINTING technology is witnessing revolutionary changes. The benefits of quality work in colour, faster turnaround and lower costs are too compelling to be overlooked, says Mr Ranjit Singh, CEO of the printing and publishing technology solutions company - TechBooks.

In a telecom interview to Business Line, Mr Singh said that the Indian arm of the US-based TechBooks had managed to establish its strong presence here. "Most of our competitors have only a USA presence or are solely in India. Companies that are solely based in India find it very tough to expand beyond a certain point and the companies that have a presence only in the US, find it difficult to provide consistent savings. TechBooks has established 3 development centres in India and employs close to 1,800 professionals, who provide content services and solutions. The work is sourced mainly in the US and the UK," he explained.

According to him, there was a greater awareness about the advantages of tech publishing in India. The more successful publishing companies, he said, had started to look at ways to increase the value of their content, into outsourcing the services to companies and at lowering costs. "The universities and colleges in India are offering programmes in printing technologies. We are receiving applications from candidates with relevant education and experience. We feel that the tech publishing market in India is on the verge of major change, similar to the change that has already occurred in the US and Europe," he said.

To a query on the current market conditions in the US, he said: "the publishers focused on the El-hi market have been having a rough time because in the US, the education boards do not have enough money to buy the needed educational materials.

These publishers have been pushing out the buying decisions for services provided by companies like TechBooks. On the other hand, publishers focused on the college market have not been affected by the downturn. College education market has been strong and growing since people unable to find jobs have resorted to staying on longer or going to college to get higher levels of education. This has increased their activity and increased business."

When asked how the company managed to outsource content development for the media, he said that the model varied depending on the complexity of the service and the frequency of interaction. "In some cases the work is sent directly to India from our customers.

The work is project managed and completed in India and the customer invoice is sent directly from here.

In certain cases, the project management and some content preparation work is performed outside India but the composition and detailed preparation is done in India," he explained.

On HR practices, he said that it was highly people centric. "We have a `cell structure' in place which allows people to work in self-managed teams with facilitators to facilitate the activities and coaches for guidance and learning of new skills. The self-managed cells also calls for cross training which leads to personal development. Training is an integral part of our business. The recruitment policy though is very strict. We, however, believe that fun at work is a key tool for stress relief."

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