“IT’S UNREASONABLE FOR GOVERNMENT TO THROW LOCALS INTO UNFAIR COMPETITION” – George Ugwu, Exact Solution Boss
Ifeanyi George Ugwu is a founding member of Exact Solutions Limited. A graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Enugu State University of Science & Tech., he also attended Cross Media Training Centre (South African Printing College) where he obtained a Diploma certificate in Printing Technology. Today, his business represents a host of printing machines manufacturing companies as their sole agent in Nigeria and West Africa. In this interview with PRINTERS DIGEST Editor Samuel Nwaekwu, the young energetic Lagos based entrepreneur bares his thought on the position of the Nigeria printing industry as well as proffering solutions. Excerpts:
Can we meet you sir?
My name is Ifeanyi George Ugwu. Different persons in the Nigeria printing industry know me either as George Ugwu or Ifeanyi Ugwu. Prior to 2009, I was known to friend and co-workers as Ifeanyi, but then when I left Nigeria to spend some time in South Africa, it was quite difficult for that community to manage with pronunciation of my native name so my middle name came up.
How is the name George known to the industry?
George Ifeanyi Ugwu is an individual that has a personal life and also connected to Exact Solutions; you probably should know better – how George is known to the industry. I should say that I am a privileged founding member of Exact Solution; a Nigerian company registered in 2003 with the core vision to provide quality technology and service to Nigeria’s print industry and to industry practitioners.
Can we talk about the many more activities that prepared your voyage into the printing industry?
I started in the industry as a youth corps member with Heidelberg Nigeria Limited, that was in year 2000. I completed the youth service and then worked for a private printing company, Planet Press from 2001 to 2004. The idea of what we do today was conceived in 2003 and that was the year Exact Solutions was registered. At the end of 2004 I travelled to South Africa for a Diploma in Printing Technology certificate course. By the way, I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer, so going to South Africa was to have better understanding of printing as a trade. So the one year spent in South Africa as a student helped me to have a good balance of engineering as well as the technology side of printing. While in South Africa for the Diploma course, what I saw and learnt quite amazed me. South Africa was having a market I did not expect. They are so advanced that I had to have a rethink on my original plans. It made more sense that I should work in the advanced market of South Africa in other to reach the right level of preparation to play in the Nigerian market. Fortunately for me, I was on a one-year study leave without pay. Considering that my study was self-sponsored, the moral burden of resigning my job in Nigeria was low. So I took the bull by the horn, returned to Nigeria and resigned officially my appointment with Planet Press. My first employment in South Africa was as a Printers Mechanic with Shinorara Africa in 2005. Shinorara Africa is a South African company that is authorized agents of Japanese Press Manufacturer Shinohara in Southern Africa. I also worked with Wilro Printers Engineers, a leading second hand machine and engineering service provider in South Africa. Finally I worked with one of Africa’s largest printing group, Caxton Group until July of 2009. Upon my return to Nigeria in September 2009, Exact Solutions Limited started active operation with Mutoh digital wide format printing machines. The wide format machines actually presented us the best of chances to make inroad into the Nigeria’s print market especially with ease of set-up of such business due to low budget and skill entry requirement. Superior print quality and simple architecture of Mutoh printers was the icing on the cake that ensured a very smooth entry for us.
So where is Exact Solutions in business today?
I must say that God has been most gracious to us. Once stability was established within the wide format market, we had to go back to the root, which is offset printing. Between 2010 and today we have reached the status of a total solution provider for Offset Printing and packaging printers. The brands we offer include the following, Koening & Bauer Group (KBA), Fujifilm Graphic Systems, Perfecta Cutting Systems (Guillotine and Press Peripheral equipment manufacturer, MBO Folding Machines, Kolbus for Perfect Bindery and Hard Cover bindery of books, Meccanotecnica (the world’s leading brand of book sewing machine). Working with KBA and our other partners, for us goes beyond business, it is a passion.
The passion not to compromise quality informed the choice of supplier partners that we make. Just take a close look and you see that each one of our partners stand out; Mutoh is Japan’s first manufacturer of Plotting and Drafting machines. The company pioneered Eco solvent printing technology. Our star product, KBA is