Ink

Promoters of this year’s ISA International Sign Expo 2011 have artfully captured the imagination of sign industry personnel with the promise that “First impressions start here.”  INX Digital International Co. (booth #4315) has added to that message, which began at last year’s show.  When visitors convene for the April 28-30 event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, they’ll get a glimpse of the future when they see the display INX Digital has waiting for them.

In addition to the wildly successful EVOLVE® Advanced Digital Solutions, INX Digital will be promoting its new Triangle™ EDX inks and Eco Bulk ink delivery system and introduce the new Prodigy™ brand to the sign industry.  A separate business unit, Prodigy currently serves the Graphic Arts with toner and industrial inkjet inks for OEMs, Integrators and print head companies within the digital market.  Upon entering the booth, visitors will walk under an archway designed to introduce them to Prodigy.  Display cases of digital print applications will include a unique variety of everyday solutions that use UV, water and solvent-based products as part of the Prodigy portfolio.

“A year ago at this show, we explained our philosophy and strategic plan for using renewable resource materials and our plans for moving forward,” said Ken Kisner, President of INX Digital Americas. 

“We believe our ink formulation expertise, coupled with EVOLVE and the Triangle and Prodigy brands, makes us an unequalled source for products, technologies and services for the sign industry.  INX Digital has operations in the U.S., as well as Italy, China, India and the Czech Republic, so we are well situated to handle the growing global demands.  The products we have at this year’s ISA Expo will show our vision for the future of digital printing.”

The EDX inks are a new line of eco solvent products and the first time the Triangle brand has offered a colour and chemically compatible ECO product for the alternative market.  With dual compatibility, users can perform cartridge-by-cartridge changeover without wasting ink.  New colour profiles are not required in order to obtain the same colour as OEM inks when printing.  Designed for Roland printers with Epson DX4 print head technology, EDX is a fast drying ink with low odour and is both HAPS- and TAPS-free.  EDX also provides a significant cost savings when compared to OEM eco inks.

Eco Bulk is a perfect example of INX Digital’s corporate commitment to developing more sustainable products.  An integral part of the company’s Green recycling program, the ink delivery system is easy to use and features a unique cardboard box design that consists of 100 percent recycled material.  Comprised of one box instead of five, 440 ml cartridges, the ink is housed within a foil bag.  Once emptied, the bag is disposed of and replaced, a much more sustainable approach compared to plastic.

The foil bag can contain up to two litres of ink, double the current industry standard of one litre packaging.  It also results in less waste, but 440 ml cartridges are available for customers who use less ink.  An extensive test program conducted by INX Digital revealed that more volume allows for greater consistency of the product being delivered through the network.

Bordeaux Digital PrintInk Ltd, a developer and provider of inkjet inks for the graphic arts industry, today announced that its subsidiary Bordeaux Digital Inc., has opened its first R&D and manufacturing facility in the US.  The facility marks Bordeaux's first manufacturing site beyond Israel and will operate alongside the existing factory to offer an expanded portfolio of  UV curable inks, liquid laminates and solvent inks to many of the global markets Bordeaux currently serves, or expects to serve, in the future.

The new factory will provide Bordeaux with a major East Coast physical presence to support Bordeaux Inc. in Santa Clara, California. A new logistics and service centre will start to operate at the facility in the future to provide fast and efficient support for customers in the East Coast and also Bordeaux's customers in the US and Latin America.

The US factory's core products include a complete product line of liquid laminates (clear coatings) and UV curable inks for most leading wide and super wide digital printer brands such as HP™, Vutek™, Nur™, Durst™ and Agfa™ including inks fully compatible with the Jeti™ printer family. The UV inks are formulated to yield a wider colour gamut and exhibit excellent flexibility and superior adhesion on a variety of materials opening many new markets for Bordeaux. These specially formulated inks guarantee that the printed product, on roll stock and rigid substrate, does not peel or flake when cut by a machine.  The coatings are formulated for sign, vehicle & fleet graphics as well as a broad range of other display and specialty graphic applications.

"We are very excited about this new addition to Bordeaux which marks a new phase of business growth for the company following several years of strong sales worldwide," said Moshe Zach, the CEO and President of Bordeaux Digital PrintInk. "We are strongly committed to quality, innovation and service and are more and more recognised as a leading brand, a trendsetter and an innovator of new types of inks for wide format printers. I am confident that the US factory and logistics centre will allow us to provide more solutions, full customer support, further improve our competitive positioning, increase operational efficiencies and make it easier to meet the delivery and cost standards desired by our dealers and customers in the US and Latin America."

Bordeaux is a research-dedicated company focused on development of inkjet inks with improved variety, compatibility, jetability, gamut and adhesion properties of existing products as well as, properties that are environmentally friendly, emphasise health benefits and bring economic value. Moreover, the company meets the highest standards of quality assurance to its customers. Bordeaux's solutions are used in billboards, signs, vehicle graphics, flags, banners and many more digital printing applications worldwide.

Bordeaux's entire portfolio includes Eco, Low and Mild Solvents as well as UV and UV LED technology inks for most leading wide and super wide digital printer brands.  The solutions are available in the form of fully printer compatible cartridges, bottles, cartridges and bulk system bags for cost efficiency and flexibility. Many of the inks are part of the Mix & Match™ products, Bordeaux's proprietary concept enabling on-the-fly swapping with original ink without the need for new ICC profiles or flush.

Bordeaux Digital PrintInk, a developer and provider of inkjet inks for the graphic arts industry, will showcase new inkjet ink solutions at Euro-Reklama 2011, Poland's largest trade fair for the large format and digital printing sectors, in Poznan, 12 to 15 April 2011. The full range of solutions, including Bordeaux's Mix & Match  technology, already enjoyed by hundreds of print houses worldwide, will be available on the Polkos stand Hall A3, Booth 28.

"Advances in inkjet inks and printers are enabling us to offer more environmentally friendly and effective solutions with shorter drying times, better colour quality and range as well as greater durability and, above all, solutions which reduce costs, adding more to your bottom line," said Dror Mualem, Bordeaux's VP Sales and Business Development.

Many of Bordeaux's inks are based on the company's Mix & Match technology developed to enable more compatibility for wide and super wide digital printers such as Roland™, Mimaki™, HP™, EFI™, VUTEK™ and many more. Bordeaux's Mix & Match solutions make ink changeover easy and cost-efficient, by eliminating the need to dispose of remaining OEM inks or create new ICC Profiles.

Bordeaux's alternative inks offer an excellent colour gamut, are available in convenient sizes and fully compatible cartridges, bottles and bulk ink system bags for cost efficiency. The inks are produced using pigments and solvents from top worldwide known manufacturers. 

 

Effect of Great Tohoku Kanto Earthquake (Second Report) from Toyo Ink:

We express our heartfelt sympathy to the victims of the Great Tohoku Kanto Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011.

This release provides information on the damage sustained by the Group. The damaged confirmed as of the time of writing is as follows:

Effect on production facilities

Manufacturing sites in eastern Japan experienced minor damage, but production capacity has not been affected.

Effect of rolling outages

The quality of some products would be affected significantly if there is an outage in the production process. We are therefore changing production periods to time periods when no outages are planned.

Effect on procurement of materials

Procuring certain raw materials for products in the Printing & Information Related Business, Packaging Materials Related Business, and Polymers & Coatings Related Business of the Group has become difficult. Each operating company is considering initiatives to minimise the effect of this situation on results.

Effect of radiation on products

The Group does not use any raw materials from the evacuation zones around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant designated by the government. Our production sites are at least 200 kilometers away from the plant. In addition, we manufacture products indoors and store them in containers. We therefore believe that the possibility of our products being exposed to radiation is low and that the effect of the radiation leaks on our products is negligible.

 

Polytype announces that its Virtu Vetro ink series for UV-curable production onto glass surfaces has completed a number of performance tests, demonstrating distinction in several key performance areas. The results provide compelling evidence about the excellent compatibility, durability and behaviour of the Virtu Vetro range of CMYK and white inks on float, safety and other glass types for a variety of industrial digital printing applications.
 
Developed by the Swiss manufacturer for its award-winning Virtu range of wide- and superwide-format industrial printing technologies, the inks were printed onto glass panes and examined stringently by an independent, accredited testing laboratory. A primer Virtu bond was used to pretreat the substrate, which was then printed in controlled conditions before being tested extensively in 21 categories.
 
Of particular importance to Virtu users within industrial digital printing disciplines are conclusions showing the ink's outstanding durability. Virtu Vetro is confirmed to perform excellently with tapes and adhesives, even under stressful conditions; one stress assessment undertaken when using a silicone-based adhesive even demonstrates full adhesion after two weeks of continuous testing. Polytype's Virtu Vetro inks are verified as highly resistant to abrasion, scratching, grinding and polishing, and do not chip or flake when cut.
 
The printed glass was also subjected to heat and light conditions and monitored for resistance to commercial and industrial chemicals, such as cleaning products, ensuring that it meets European standards. Shock tests designed to replicate unusual environments were also undertaken, as were standard condensation, water and Xenon arc lamp examinations. In all cases the Virtu Vetro ink range did not crack, peel or discolour.
 
"This latest round of independent examinations validates Polytype's attention to detail and reconfirms our commitment to providing quality printing solutions to our customers," comments Sylvia Muhr, sales director for Polytype's Virtu business unit. "We are proud to see our dedication to excellence in ink performance confirmed independently, proving that the Virtu family of platforms and inks is the right choice for every kind of output, whatever its destination."

 

Due to the serious shortages and unrelenting cost increases of the raw materials needed to manufacture white and Violet 23 packaging inks, effective May 1, 2011, Sun Chemical will raise prices on all solvent- and water-based white inks by a minimum of 10 percent, and all solvent- and water-based Violet 23 inks by a minimum of 20 percent, dependent upon the amount of Violet 23 in the specific colour formulation.
 
Sun Chemical will continue to monitor the situation with raw materials and may need to make further price adjustments for other packaging inks as necessary.
 
"We regret needing to take this action, but the shortages and subsequent increases in costs for the raw materials needed to manufacture packaging inks have placed us in a position where we need to raise our prices," said Tony Renzi, Vice President of Product Management, Liquid Inks, North American Inks, Sun Chemical. "Despite these challenges placing us in this regrettable position, we are looking for ways to work closely with our supply chain partners on controlling our own costs."