Ink

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."

Bordeaux Digital PrintInk, a developer and provider of  inkjet ink products for the graphic arts industry, announced today  the appointment of ScreenProducts as a distributor to sell and support its broad range of solutions in Benelux.  ScreenProducts is a major supplier for the screen printing and sign industry which makes Bordeaux's high quality Mild solvent, Eco solvent, UV and UV LED solutions for all popular wide and super-wide format digital printers, a good fit for its portfolio.

"ScreenProducts  partners with industry leaders to deliver world-class solutions to the digital  printing and sign industry and we are delighted to offer Bordeaux's sensibly priced solutions  to customers who are finding ink prices intolerably high," said Reidar van der Kolk, CEO of ScreenProducts.  "We recognized Bordeaux’s unrivaled leadership in providing high quality reliable ink solutions that address users demand for lower cost options and environmental friendly solutions.  Extra benefits are associated with Bordeaux's  Mix & Match capabilities, so that the transition from OEM inks can be carried out on the fly, without having to flush out or convert the machines."

"We are looking forward to our cooperation with  ScreenProducts  in the Benelux market," said Matthew Reijnders, sales manager at Bordeaux Digital PrintInk. "I am sure that ScreenProducts’ vast knowledge and experience will make this a very successful partnership as we introduce our range of solutions for Roland, Mimaki and Mutoh printers. "

Bordeaux Digital PrintInk Is demonstrating its inkjet ink solutions at Fespa Digital 2011 in Hamburg, Germany from May 24 – 27, 2011. Visit the company's booth at Hall A4, stand D38.

Bordeaux will be demonstrating their products and services on Stand D38 in Hall A4 at FESPA Digital

Wide format inkjet printer manufacturer Mutoh Belgium nv announces immediate availability of a new set of CMYK stretchable UV inks, called 3D UV.  Specifically developed for Mutoh’s Zephyr 65 UV inkjet printer, the Mutoh 3D UV ink offers 200 % elongation capabilities, making outputs fit for wrapping on 3D curved, riveted or corrugated surfaces.  This new non HAP, zero VOC and odourless ink will cover the widest possible range of roll-to-roll applications and is also suited for rigid printing. Available in one litre bottles, the new 3D UV inks are already covered by Avery Dennison’s® ICS Performance Guarantee.   Certification by other media manufacturers will follow.  Mutoh will market the inks all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa through its authorized distributor channel.

“The new 3D UV inks are an addition to our existing 2D UV and dedicated Traffic Sign inks for the Mutoh Zephyr printer platform.  The new 3D UV inks are the result of Mutoh’s ongoing commitment to develop innovative and sustainable printing solutions for large format print providers”, says Arthur Vanhoutte, President of Mutoh’s European operations.

“The new inks are ideally suited for existing solvent users or industrial users with focus on 3D wrapping, looking for a productive machine offering best print quality, roll and rigid compatibility and last but not least offering the flexibility to immediately laminate and apply prints.  Thanks to their extreme stretchability, they will allow the same application flexibility for fleet applications as conventional solvent printers, a feature not available on competitive high-end industrial UV systems.   As our 3D UV inks do not contain any VOCs and finished prints are odour-free, they will offer the same possibilities as water-based printers for indoor applications such as in-store decoration, branding, promotion and wayfinding”, Vanhoutte concludes.

“The fleet market is worldwide growing business”, says Nico Jansen, Avery Dennison’s GRPD – OEM Alliance Manager.  “During the past years, we have been witnessing a new trend whereby print providers are looking for alternatives for their existing solvent printers for fleet and architectural applications, offering more environmentally friendly features.   Mutoh’s 3D UV ink is a great alternative to solvent for fleet applications. Apart from their 200 % elongation capabilities, the inks also offer the unique advantage that prints are immediately ready for lamination and application.  This makes them a perfect solution too for architectural prints”

“We have extensively tested the performance, durability and applicability of Mutoh’s 3D UV inks.  Tests included lamination tests, UV fading tests, application tests on different surfaces including simple curves, compound curves and riveted surfaces, 3D wrap testing, leaving prints for 4 months on a car and removal tests.
Today, we are pleased to confirm that Mutoh 3D UV inks qualify for Avery’s ICS Performance Guarantee program for high quality 3D fleet wrapping applications.  Depending on the Avery digital media and graphics protection used, warranties up to 4 years are possible.”, Nico Jansen concludes.

 

Ink Mill Corporation is pleased to announce that the company has moved into new offices and manufacturing space.  The new Ink Mill facility, located at 6 Bay Rd., Sanbornton, NH, leverages state-of-the-art technology to ensure the highest-level of product quality and customer service and to provide infrastructure for the expansion of new ink technologies that are being developed.

"The move to a new and larger facility is made to accommodate growing sales trends and solidifies Ink Mill as a world-class organisation and manufacturer.  We work for the most demanding of clients and continuously strive to make those clients look good.  This new facility increases our capacity and will allow us to better serve our clients” says Stephen Mills, President.

The success of Ink Mill and the increased demand for its products and services in the digital ink market has made necessary the expansion into this new facility.  Ink Mill proudly serves a wide variety of world-class clients.

“The most important assets of Ink Mill Corporation are the people.  The employees of Ink Mill believe in our customer centric focus, and continually strive to only provide the highest quality of products and services.  This move better enables our employees to both grow professionally and also to continue to meet and exceed customer’s expectations,” adds Stephen Mills.