Flex printing edges out traditional handmade banners

Printers see a big surge in demand ahead of general elections.

FAISALABAD:

With handmade banner industry dying and political parties awash with money to spend on advertisements, a comparatively new industry is set to capitalise on the opportunity and make handsome profits in the run-up to general elections, expected to be held in the first half of May.

Flex printing, which is cheap and more attractive in design, is capturing the advertising market and many new investors have jumped in, expecting a big surge in demand before the polls and in the wake of continuous orders from political and religious parties and groups for sloganeering.

Leaders and supporters of dozens of political parties have already started spending millions of rupees on advertisements and most of them are relying on flex printing for the banners, according to industry people.

Though the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government has failed to tackle chronic energy shortages that paralysed the industries, particularly in Punjab, the election year is turning out to be an income-generating period for the flex printing industry.



“Investment in installing a flex printing plant ranges from Rs1 to Rs3 million, which gives average monthly income of about Rs100,000 off-season,” said Khawaja Haseeb, owner of Choice Printing, while talking to The Express Tribune. “This income is expected to go up to a whopping Rs500,000 to Rs1 million per month in the election season,” he said.

Flex printing is possibly one of the few industries that are jubilant these days in the face of security and energy woes. Market people believe that workers and supporters of political parties have set aside big chunks of money for campaigning and say advertisement business has already picked up momentum.

With the popularity of flex printing, the industry of traditional handmade banners and printing on piece of cloth is shrinking fast.

“Handmade banners have become outdated and have been replaced by more reliable and cheaper flex banners,” Haseeb said, adding the trend had changed and businessmen, industrialists and franchises all were using flex banners to promote their sales and businesses.

Foreseeing buoyant demand, Imran Mehmood, owner of Unisource Printing, has imported quality machinery to take big orders and make money. “My printing press is earning profits of Rs1 million per month. We satisfy our customers with our work besides assuring them of timely delivery,” he said.



Few years ago when flex printing was introduced, he said, the aim was to do business in an efficient manner besides reducing reliance on human resource. Mehmood claimed that because of the best printing machines and solutions, his press had become the first choice for the customers.

“Compared to previous elections, it appears that this time candidates and their supporters are spending more on advertisements. Our estimates show that the candidates have 100% more budget than previous years,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2013.

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