01 — The Brief
Five printables, one locked calendar.
Affinity 2025 — the socio-cultural fest of AIIMS Raebareli, run by the Students Welfare Association (SWAR) — needed every printable that goes around a delegate's neck or into their hands, and they needed it fast. The design files were ready. The fest dates were locked. What they didn't have was a vendor who could turn around five different printable formats, in volume, without making the timeline the buyer's problem.
The order shape:
Resident Cards — 1,000 pieces, 3.5"×5", printed dori lanyard, plastic casing, 300 GSM
Delegate Cards — 1,500 pieces, 3"×6", double-sided with hologram, punch in/out, no casing or lanyard, 300 GSM
Registration Cards — 500 pieces, 3.5"×5", with casing and lanyard, 300 GSM
Event Passes — 100 pieces, 3.5"×5", with casing and lanyard, 300 GSM
Certificates — 700 pieces, Landscape A4, 250 GSM
3,800 pieces. Five SKUs. One academic calendar that wouldn't move.
02 — The Pivot
Why it wasn't a race, even though it was a race.
The conversation that locked the deal wasn't about price. It was about scope. SWAR had been quoting around for a vendor who could do the lanyards AND the cards AND the certificates AND the holograms — and getting back four different quotes from four different printers, each with their own lead time, each with their own QC standard, each with their own GST treatment.
Merchland picked up one call, walked Vinay through the spec sheet end-to-end, and consolidated the entire run under a single invoice. The print method (offset for the cards, digital for the certificates), the GSM choices, the casing material, the lanyard print style — every decision was made on the same call. No vendor handoffs. No "let me check with my printing guy."
One conversation, one partner, one invoice — that's what the crunch timeline actually bought them. Not speed for speed's sake. Speed because nothing was waiting on anyone else.
The five SKUs, side by side.
Each format carried its own production wrinkle. None of them were exotic alone; in combination, on a 3-day clock, they're where a fragmented vendor stack breaks.
Resident + Registration Cards — 1,500 pieces combined, 300 GSM, 3.5"×5", with casing and printed dori lanyard. The everyday workhorses of the fest, worn around every on-campus delegate's neck for four days straight.
Delegate Cards with Hologram — 1,500 pieces, 3"×6", double-side print, 300 GSM, punch in / punch out access control. The hologram strip was the single biggest QC checkpoint — placement consistency across 1,500 pieces is where cheap printing shows.
Passes + Certificates — 800 pieces combined: 100 cased-and-lanyarded VIP passes plus 700 Landscape A4 certificates on 250 GSM. Two different print methods, dispatched in the same parcel.
03 — The Delivery
Design lock to dispatch in three working days.
Design files landed. Proofs went out the same day. Approvals came back within hours. The full 3,800-piece run was printed, cased, lanyarded, and dispatched from Kolkata to Raebareli in three working days — start to finish.
Vinay, the core SPOC from the SWAR team, was the single thread that kept the comms tight. Print proofs, casing samples, hologram placement on the Delegate Cards — every decision moved fast because the loop stayed small. Two people on the brief, end to end.
04 — Beyond Affinity 2025
From printing partner to merch partner.
The printables run was the proof. The conversation that started after dispatch was about the next edition — and it wasn't only about more cards.
SWAR has come back to Merchland with enquiries about custom apparel for Affinity 2026 — tees and hoodies for the organising team, branded merchandise for delegates, possibly fest-edition jerseys for the sports day component. Affinity 2025 was a printables-only deal because printables were what was on fire. The next edition is a full-merch conversation, and Merchland is the incumbent in it.
The fastest path from "printing partner" to "merch partner" is a 3-day delivery that didn't slip.
05 — Snapshot
The order at a glance.
Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
Client | Students Welfare Association, AIIMS Raebareli — Affinity 2025 |
Segment | Education — Medical College Fest |
Product Types | Paper ID Cards (300 GSM, with and without casing), Dori Lanyards, Plain Certificates (250 GSM, Landscape A4) |
Total Units | 3,800 pieces across five SKUs |
Print Method | Offset print on cards, digital print on certificates and lanyards, hologram applique on Delegate Cards |
Lead Time | 3 working days from design lock to dispatch |
Delivery Geography | Kolkata → Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh |
Outcome | Single-partner printables run delivered on time; expansion conversations open for Affinity 2026 (custom apparel) |
06 — FAQ
Questions, answered.
How did Merchland deliver 3,800 printables for AIIMS Raebareli in 3 days?
The Affinity 2025 order was consolidated under one production plan from day one. All five SKUs — Resident Cards, Delegate Cards, Registration Cards, Event Passes, and Certificates — moved through the same proofing loop with Vinay at SWAR, so approval cycles stayed short. Offset for the cards, digital for the certificates, hologram applique on the Delegate Cards, casing and lanyard assembly in parallel. Three working days from final design lock to dispatch from Kolkata to Raebareli.
Can Merchland handle multi-SKU printable orders for college fests under a single invoice?
Yes — Affinity 2025 is the case in point. The order combined five distinct printable formats (ID cards in two casing variants, certificates, lanyards, and holographic Delegate Cards) on a single GST-compliant invoice. Single-partner accountability removes the typical fest-organiser headache of chasing 3-4 different printers for one event. For fest organising committees, that consolidation is usually the difference between meeting the event date and not.
What printables does Merchland offer for medical college and university fests?
The Business Printing range covers everything a fest needs around the delegate experience: Paper ID Cards (300/350 GSM, with optional casing in two sizes), PVC ID Cards, Dori and Satin Lanyards (digital or screen print), Plain and Framed Certificates (300/350 GSM), and Power / Plain / PVC Gum Stickers in custom shapes. Hologram application, double-side printing, and punch-in/punch-out access control formats are all in scope.
Does Merchland do apparel alongside printables for the same event?
Yes — the broader Merchland catalog covers custom tees, polos, oversized tees, hoodies, varsity jackets, and jerseys alongside the printables range. The Affinity 2025 conversation is itself moving in that direction for the 2026 edition. Combining printables and apparel under one supplier means one design brief, one QC standard, one invoice, one delivery — which is the model most college organising teams say they actually want.
How do I get a quote for custom merchandise from Merchland?
Email contactus@merchland.in or call +91 62899 04011. Visit merchland.in and submit the inquiry form with your design brief, quantity, product type, and deadline. For fest-scale orders with multiple printable or apparel SKUs, mention the event date up front — production planning works backwards from dispatch.
