Calendar time brings booming business for printing houses
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan
The country's leading printing and publishing houses are poised for another big season with huge turnover with the year 2010 at the onset as orders for calendars and diaries from the leading corporate houses including the big banks are rushing in.
Big players in the printing industry say that they have to double their production capacity from the corresponding time last year to cater to the ever-increasing demand for new year treats from a wider array of corporate customers.
"Last year we printed around 0.6 to 0.7 million calendars for our clients -- mostly from the banking sector -- but this year, we have received orders for around 1.3 million units from various leading banks and business houses", said Rawshon Ahmed, general manager of BRAC Printers.
"The biggest order of the season has come from Sonali Bank that has placed order for calendars numbering 350 thousand units, followed by Janata Bank whose total lot size is 230 thousand", he added.
Each year, according to industry estimates, around eight million calendars under the banner name of various government and private entities found their way to office rooms and upper and middle class households around the country. And this has now turned out to be a thriving and competitive business arena for the printing industry.
The process starts in as early as October each year with all interested business houses recruiting one or more specialised firms through tender for printing a specific number of calendars, greeting cards or diaries under the name and logo of their own entities.
Available statistics show that although the banking sector still leads this annual trend by mile, lately a variety of small and medium business entities have also started to catch up.
"In these days, we receive order for lots as small as 500 units from clients like various shops and retail houses", said Abul Kalam Azad, owner of acclaimed leader in the sector Azad Products.
"For the banks and financial institutions, it's a part of their publicity and marketing strategy", Azad said adding "it is a symbol of prestige and status for many as well".
The largest order received by Azad Products comes from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, that has placed requisition for calendars totaling110 thousand units, while Southeast Bank Limited and Social Islami Bank Limited have procured 60,000 units each from Azad.
Diary is another annual treat for the big organisations on the new years' eve. However, as one insider noted, they are usually gifted to a more selected client base and therefore procured in smaller numbers due to their higher production cost.
According to sources, BRAC, a leading NGO, is going to publish around 100 thousand diaries for itself on the year 2010 from its own printing house at Gazipur. Azad Products on the other hand will supply Kohinoor Chemicals with 15,000 units of diaries.
The cost of printing a calendar ranges between Tk. 8.00 to Tk. 100.00 depending on its size, format and content, industry insiders said, while the profit margin is kept within five per cent to 15 per cent.
Lately, however the popularity of paper made greeting cards are on the wane even among the corporate houses as many are preferring online greeting cards and cell phone SMS even for official greetings in their place.
This major shift in greetings culture means that major telecos are doing brisk business these days on the eve of the new year. Leading telecom service provider Grameenphone for example receives 30 per cent more SMS traffic than usual during the new year's eve, a GP official said.
The country's leading printing and publishing houses are poised for another big season with huge turnover with the year 2010 at the onset as orders for calendars and diaries from the leading corporate houses including the big banks are rushing in.
Big players in the printing industry say that they have to double their production capacity from the corresponding time last year to cater to the ever-increasing demand for new year treats from a wider array of corporate customers.
"Last year we printed around 0.6 to 0.7 million calendars for our clients -- mostly from the banking sector -- but this year, we have received orders for around 1.3 million units from various leading banks and business houses", said Rawshon Ahmed, general manager of BRAC Printers.
"The biggest order of the season has come from Sonali Bank that has placed order for calendars numbering 350 thousand units, followed by Janata Bank whose total lot size is 230 thousand", he added.
Each year, according to industry estimates, around eight million calendars under the banner name of various government and private entities found their way to office rooms and upper and middle class households around the country. And this has now turned out to be a thriving and competitive business arena for the printing industry.
The process starts in as early as October each year with all interested business houses recruiting one or more specialised firms through tender for printing a specific number of calendars, greeting cards or diaries under the name and logo of their own entities.
Available statistics show that although the banking sector still leads this annual trend by mile, lately a variety of small and medium business entities have also started to catch up.
"In these days, we receive order for lots as small as 500 units from clients like various shops and retail houses", said Abul Kalam Azad, owner of acclaimed leader in the sector Azad Products.
"For the banks and financial institutions, it's a part of their publicity and marketing strategy", Azad said adding "it is a symbol of prestige and status for many as well".
The largest order received by Azad Products comes from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, that has placed requisition for calendars totaling110 thousand units, while Southeast Bank Limited and Social Islami Bank Limited have procured 60,000 units each from Azad.
Diary is another annual treat for the big organisations on the new years' eve. However, as one insider noted, they are usually gifted to a more selected client base and therefore procured in smaller numbers due to their higher production cost.
According to sources, BRAC, a leading NGO, is going to publish around 100 thousand diaries for itself on the year 2010 from its own printing house at Gazipur. Azad Products on the other hand will supply Kohinoor Chemicals with 15,000 units of diaries.
The cost of printing a calendar ranges between Tk. 8.00 to Tk. 100.00 depending on its size, format and content, industry insiders said, while the profit margin is kept within five per cent to 15 per cent.
Lately, however the popularity of paper made greeting cards are on the wane even among the corporate houses as many are preferring online greeting cards and cell phone SMS even for official greetings in their place.
This major shift in greetings culture means that major telecos are doing brisk business these days on the eve of the new year. Leading telecom service provider Grameenphone for example receives 30 per cent more SMS traffic than usual during the new year's eve, a GP official said.