Consumables

After successful establishment of the Colorbase database with saved ICC profiles for Heytex sign media in the summer of 2012, cooperation between Heytex and Color Concepts has been further expanded. Since the beginning of 2013, Color Concepts has also supported Heytex with their personal advisory customer service in the entire field of colour management - optimal advisory quality achieved by synergetic management of qualified technical knowledge.

In the complex interaction of medium, printer settings, inks, soft-ware etc., negative print results can have various causes and only an individual analysis will actually help the respective users.

In order to provide even better long-term assistance to our custom-ers, Heytex service advisors will from now on be supported by the Color Concepts colour management experts in all matters regarding the printing process. Thus, the experts of both companies with their respective know-how will offer consolidated technical knowledge under one roof.

Occurring problems can be solved immediately in a global way and without any expensive delay in production. A new hotline was also opened for this purpose: +31 10 258 07 41 for European customers (from 9 am to 6 pm) and +1 801 975 2602 for US or overseas customers (from 9 am to 6 pm MST / Mountain Standard Time).

It goes without saying that Heytex will continue to bear general responsibility for the entire service portfolio, which means that the possibility of direct contact with Heytex will remain. The processing of material-related customer complaints will also remain the exclu-sive task of Heytex.

All existing possibilities of using the Heytex Colorbase database as well as the set-off provisions regarding the creation of new profiles by Color Concepts will remain unaffected.

“This additional optimisation of our colour management portfolio will provide another sustainable service to our customers and further improve the competitive position of Heytex sign materials”, Arnoud Mekenkamp, Marketing Manager Sign, summarises the advantages of the new general agreement with Color Concepts.

Sihl Direct UK has launched a transparent polyester film for window advertising applications. The new film clings to the window surface when the special coating is activated by soapy water, making it extremely simple to apply and easy to remove.

The ClearSOL WetCling Film 125 glossy has a solvent and latex compatible coating and offers an excellent colour reproduction and quality printed image. The clear film has a special coating, which when soaked with soapy water activates a cling effect glue.

This glue means the film can cling to many smooth surfaces, allowing the printed side of the film to be displayed on, for example, glass, aluminium or Dibond. Excess fluid can be squeezed out using a normal window scraper. Thanks to this glue coating the printed image is protected from any mechanical wear and tear and can be removed without leaving residue. As the glue is only activated by soapy water, no release liner is needed, producing less waste during application.

Ian Turnbull, Operations Director at Sihl Direct UK, says, “This product is very simple but very effective. It’s so easy to use and none of the printed quality is lost. The product delivers excellent colour brilliance and high colour saturation. It’s also suitable for use with latex inks, so is a good all round product.”

The ClearSOL WetCling Film is available from Sihl Direct UK and authorised resellers.

For more information, please visit www.sihl-direct.co.uk

Fujifilm today announces the opening of its brand new digital ink manufacturing facility at its manufacturing plant in Broadstairs, UK. The company’s investment in this state-of-the-art facility, alongside an upgrade to its R&D department, highlights Fujifilm’s long term commitment to the wide format digital sector and builds on its ethos of providing its customers with industry-leading solutions manufactured to a consistently high standard.

The new digital ink manufacturing facility has been two years in planning and development, and is the result of an investment of over €4 million, with an additional €2.5 million invested to upgrade the R&D department.

The new manufacturing facility has a footprint of 1800m2, and is built to accommodate a projected annual increase of 56% in the production of UV ink at the site, manufactured in a range of batch sizes of up to 4000 litres. This projection reflects the demand for Fujifilm wide format digital inkjet solutions and the success the company has had in helping its customers transition to digital in this growing market segment. The facility has the capacity to manufacture 6000 tonnes of ink per year, which will be produced in a variety of packs from 250 ml RFID tagged pouches and cartridges up to 10 litre packs for high productivity wide format printer platforms.

Colin Boughton, operations director at the Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems Broadstairs site comments, “We have planned everything meticulously over the last few years, recognising that to stay at the forefront of digital ink technology with our range of Uvijet inks, we need to work with state-of-the-art equipment and have the ability to increase production and packing volumes. We were delighted to win the “Best Process Plant” award at last year’s “Best Factory Awards” in the UK, evidence of what we have achieved so far. Our vision is to remain at the forefront of this technology and to re-invest every year in order to maintain that position. For instance, we have worked closely with a specialist company to develop next generation dispersion equipment for our inks, and this will allow us to reduce particle sizes to less than 100nm – true nanotechnology!”

He continues, “We are pleased that the transition from one manufacturing area to another was completely seamless, with absolutely no disruption to our production output at all. In fact, some people didn’t even realise we’d started as the transition coincidentally took place during one of our busiest production months for digital ink. Further investments in equipment will take place during 2013, keeping Fujifilm at the cutting edge of UV digital ink manufacturing and packing technology.”

Over 340 employees work at the Fujifilm Broadstairs site and over 80% of these are involved in digital ink R&D and manufacture. It was of utmost importance that the workforce should be included as much as possible in the company’s plans, resulting in over 80 employee ideas being used in the final design of the facility. In addition, a high level of importance has been placed on training for all staff, as Fujifilm is keen to ensure that everyone has a full appreciation of digital technology.

Underpinning this extensive project is Fujifilm’s commitment to the environment. As always, the company works tirelessly to ensure that all products and processes are as environmentally friendly as possible, and it has invested significantly in alternative methods of reducing its environmental footprint at the new manufacturing facility.

'Waste' energy in the form of heat from production processes and compressed air generation via a bespoke new heat exchange system is used to provide 70% of the heating required for the factory. In addition, a new boiler plant has been installed which incorporates compact, modern, high efficiency modulating condensing boilers that use 40% less fossil fuels than conventional heating systems. Combine this with the latest figures from the site which show that only 7% of the waste generated goes to landfill, with 23% going to energy recovery and 70% recycled, this means that effectively 93% is reused in some way, and the company’s ‘green’ ethos is easily apparent.

This work has played its part in Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems being accredited to the Environmental standard ISO14001, in addition to the Quality standard ISO9001. Accreditation to the Health and Safety Standard OHSAS 18001 will be complete by mid 2013.

Antalis is now stocking the Orafol range of plotter vinyls, digital vinyl and laminates, along with sheets and reels for screen and UV offset printing.  The range of Oracal plotter vinyls are suitable for indoor and outdoor applications, vehicle wrap, glass cover and illuminated installations in a wide selection of colours.

For customers requiring digital vinyl’s and laminates, Antalis now stocks the full range of Orajet vinyl’s including soft PVC, special PVC, polymeric and cast material with Oraguard laminates to match.

Screen and litho customers can also now purchase the range of Oracal removable and permanent vinyls, including the popular 1640 and 1620 100mic sheets and reels, through to the high tack and polyester films required in the market.

Mick Crook, product manager for Antalis comments, “The Orafol products are key additions to our existing portfolio of strong brands which are targeted at the signage and graphical display markets.  Orafol’s name and reputation has been built on consistently manufacturing premium quality products which meet the demands of a market that requires high performance, innovation and cost efficiency.”

He continues, “We have already seen a lot of interest from our customer base and have had to increase our stock volumes and range to accommodate the demand.”

CWE Solutions has launched a new premium line of media - branded 'Expanse' - targeted at wide format print providers.  All Expanse-branded media is fully tested and industry proven to deliver a reliable, consistent and trouble free performance.

The launch range is made up of seven vinyls, two polylaminates, a pop up and a roll up material.  All Expanse media comes with ICC Profiles for the most common wide format printers in use today with particular focus on the HP Latex printer range. The vinyls include a 5-year premium poly-vinyl designed for outdoor durable graphics and a premier Cast Vinyl – Expanse Premier.

Developed for the vehicle wrapping market, Expanse Premier is a 50 micron gloss white cast film with Micro-Air bubble releasing system and tinted, repositionable and permanent pressure-sensitive adhesive. The Micro-Air system allows installers to achieve fast installation while maintaining a high enough tack to ensure long term bond. It’s made of premium quality cast face stock with a lay-flat liner. The Expanse Premier’s adhesive system is designed to provide exceptional opacity, along with easy installation. It also provides superior conformability around rivets, curves, and contours.

Graham de Kock, Commercial Director of CWE Solutions explained the reasoning behind the introduction of the new brand.  “CWE has always offered a premium range of media to ensure our customers’ needs for quality results are met and exceeded. There are certain medias which in the past we, as a highly knowledgeable supplier, would like to have adapted to further improve the properties and output. By creating our own brand, these adjustments can be made bespoke to our customers’ requirements. Purchasing through a predefined channel can also have adverse cost implications and to overcome this we have negotiated with the biggest manufacturers to have products manufactured under a plain label to keep the cost to our customers as low as possible without sacrificing on product quality."

He continues, "Product quality for wide format media in the UK has been suffering with increasingly low quality, cheap products being imported from the Far East. With these cheap imports there is a natural lack of consistency from roll-to-roll and there are ethical as well as health and safety issues that we were concerned about.  As a result of years of research and development, CWE are excited to be launching the 1st phase of the Expanse media portfolio that is of the highest standards both in terms of printed results and it’s manufacture to ensure that the Expanse range will not only meet but exceed our customers high standards.”

For more information, please visit www.cwesolutions.co.uk

Sihl Direct UK has launched three new backlit films - DuraCURE Backlit 170, DuraCURE Backlit 130 and LightCURE Backlit 145 DS. All three materials offer perfect flatness and are ideal to use with UV printers, as well as Solid Ink and offset systems.  LightCURE can also be printed on laser printers.

DuraCURE is an ideal combination of paper and film. Sihl uses a high proportion of paper in order to keep the product as environmentally friendly as possible, using only as much film as necessary to achieve high levels of stiffness and tear resistance.  The multifunctional surface makes DuraCURE ideal for various printing techniques and the rough paper structure gives the products a decorative character and distinguishes them from other ordinary Backlit media.

The LightCURE Backlit film is a double-sided matt coated polyester film for light boxes. Thanks to the special coating processes, this film allows printing on both sides. This in turn produces the best results for both retracted and reflective light applications.

Ian Turnbull, Operations Director at Sihl Direct UK, says, “Once again, Sihl has taken advantage of its extensive research, development and manufacturing capabilities to launch an exciting, high quality range of products. The DuraCURE films allow for brilliant printed colour and perfect ink adhesion. They also offer very good cost to performance ratio and are an excellent range of products that enhance our Backlit Film range.”

DuraCURE is available immediately from Sihl Direct UK and authorised resellers.