Since his appointment to the Nazdar team in February 2018, Jim Whitehead has been engaged in promoting Nazdar’s product offerings in the flexo technology sector to the UK and other European markets.
Having previously worked at leading companies including Sericol and Fujifilm, Jim now has responsibility for sales management of Nazdar branded and OEM private labelled screen, digital and narrow web products. Since his appointment, he has been busy evaluating, establishing and maintaining profitable channels for Nazdar products throughout the EMEA region.
With more than 20 years' experience in the printing ink industry, Jim is ideally positioned to champion the growth of Nazdar in the flexographic print industry. Nazdar has a strong presence in the USA narrow web flexo market and Jim has been appointed to extend this reach throughout the EMEA region.
Having entered the USA flexo market in 2006 offering a full range of water-based, UV, and UV LED technology, Nazdar has a proven track record. The business has grown organically and now has its sights set on the EMEA marketplace.
The company offers its high-quality flexo ink solutions to support the majority of end-user segments, including prime label (home care, food & beverage, personal care), pressure sensitive, in-mould, packaging (film, folding carton, paper), thermal imprintable, and more.
A particular focus for Jim and his team is the burgeoning UV LED market. Jim explains: “To date, UV LED technology has been adopted more readily in the USA than in Europe, partly due to grants from energy providers to switch to low consumption manufacturing processes. The US bias is unusual as the EU has tended to be the early adopter of new flexo technologies in the past.”
Jim is keen to educate the UK and other European markets as to the offerings that Nazdar has available. He continues: “Some press manufacturers and label convertors don’t fully appreciate the breadth of UV LED curing ink products that Nazdar has. It’s not just a case of white and colours being available; the whole portfolio – including thermal varnishes, foiling and laminating adhesives, peel and reseal packages to name but a few – are available in UV LED curing technology.”
But why would label convertors consider UV LED curing? In a nutshell it’s a great way of saving energy – which, in turn, reduces costs. UV LED lamps, like in the home, use far less energy than conventional mercury lamps.
Jim continues: “Additionally, there is no ozone production, so less extraction is required. Lower heat output from lamps means it is easier to manage temperature-sensitive substrates and – again – less heat extraction is required. Other benefits include a longer lamp life, and the improved print consistency courtesy of the fact that peak output is better maintained with UV LED technology. Finally, there are also increased time efficiencies as UV LED lamps are ready to work in minutes, compared to the long heat up time of mercury lamps.”
The Nazdar inks portfolio is broad and encompasses opaque white, CMYK and base colours, metallic, fade resistant, a wide range of varnishes, peel and reseal varnish and adhesives. With dedicated UK technical, service and support teams based in Stockport, Cheshire, Nazdar is well positioned to take advantage of the growing UV LED sector.
For more information on Nazdar and its comprehensive range of ink solutions, please visit www.nazdar.com.
