Consumables

Bordeaux Digital PrintInk, a developer and provider of inkjet inks for the graphic arts industry, has been at the forefront of delivering innovative inkjet ink solutions for more than a decade and is dedicated to the evolution and advancement of complete solutions for printers and print shops, offering economic value combined with quality. Bordeaux will have an expanded portfolio of solutions customised to industry trends to match virtually every OEM printer and printhead in a variety of packaging samples and delivery systems, on display at Fespa Digital 2011, as perfect examples of this commitment.

Along with the new solutions Bordeaux's US subsidiary, Bordeaux Inc., has opened a new R&D and manufacturing facility in the US expanding the company's product portfolio to a full range of innovative UV and UV LED semi flexible and flexible inks as well as new Mild and Low solvent ink (Free of Cyclohexanone and NMP), and also clear coatings to better meet growing customer needs for a complete line of solutions from a single source.  One of the key benefits of Bordeaux's solutions are that  they are offered in bottles, variety of bags, cartridges and bulk ink system for all printers, printheads (DX4, DX5 &DX6) and applications. Another advantage is Bordeaux's Mix & Match features allowing easy ink changeover, saving time and costs.

"We believe the combination of our wider product range, expanded manufacturing capability from Israel and the USA and a worldwide distribution network can deliver a complete line of value added solutions to our customers, to match virtually every OEM printer and printhead type, " said Moshe Zach, Bordeaux founder and CEO. "Bordeaux will continue to deliver cost saving solutions adopted to specific requirements of printers and print shops for greater productivity, high speed printing and environmentally friendly applications while not compromising on quality," continues Zach.

At Fespa, Bordeaux will have a complete line of products on display. Visitors will find the Bordeux Bulk Ink Delivery System, supplied with appropriate chips and resetter, in use with a Roland™ VS™ printer.  The Mutoh™ ValueJet 1204™ printer will be on display using  PENR Eco Solvent ink. Bordeaux's Mimaki Bulk Ink Delivery System using 2L ink bags will be featured with a Mimaki JV5™ with PRMS5 Mild Solvent ink for high speed printing. Bordeaux will unveil a new line of water-based and UV curable liquid coatings as well as a complete line of ink solutions for the Mimaki printer, including Washing Cartridges specifically for Mimaki JV33™ and Mimaki JV5™. Bordeaux will also demonstrate its new Cleaning Kit for cleaning the printhead capping station .

MACtac Graphic Products introduces PERMACOLOR PermaGard PG6000, a high-gloss, clear overlaminate with an extremely smooth adhesive coating used to transform almost any indoor or short-term outdoor graphic into a dry-erase board.

Designed to bond to a variety of substrates, PERMACOLOR PermaGard PG6000 is suitable for use with dry-erase markers. In addition, Permacolor PermaGard PG6000 is an extremely cost-effective solution for indoor and short-term outdoor applications.

“At a very competitive price point, PERMACOLOR PermaGard PG6000 can be used as an economical overlaminate indoors as well as outdoors for up to one year,” stated Mary Ann Kucera, marketing manager, MACtac Graphic Products. “MACtac’s new dry-erase overlaminate allows our customers to improve profitability, without forgoing quality.”

PERMACOLOR PermaGard PG6000 is a repositionable, clear 1.0-mil polypropylene film coated on one side with a clear acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive. The film face is dry-erasable and helps retard colour fade caused by ultraviolet light exposure. The adhesive is protected by a 1.2-mil polyester release liner that provides for easy liner removal and a near distortion-free adhesive surface.

PERMACOLOR PermaGard PG6000 is intended for use on digital images including inkjet, electrostatic, and thermal to impart protection from abrasion, moisture, and other potentially damaging effects in both indoor and outdoor environments.

 

Following its return to the Sign and Digital UK show in more than a decade, Antalis McNaughton reports a tremendous response to its stand and the topics and products on display.

A steady flow of visitors were greeted with a friendly introduction to Antalis McNaughton, its knowledgeable staff, innovative branded and unbranded products and reliable services over the course of the three day exhibition.

Chris Green, market manager for Antalis McNaughton Sign and Display says: "Our objective was to encourage printers to discover a world of creativity and view Antalis McNaughton as a reliable alternative to their current supplier. Judging from the reception, leads and feedback we received throughout the show I think we surpassed all of our initial expectations.”

Visitors to the Antalis McNaughton stand could discover a range of innovative new product launches such as iPrint Pure 3D that when printed displays a full 3D image. Stafix static cling, a printable white and clear static cling film that can be quickly and repeatedly applied to most surfaces including plastic, metal, ceramics, flooring, glass and wood, and Antacote Lite, a new hanging signage substrate designed to combine ecology with increased dimensional stability.

Visitors also reported great interest in Antalis McNaughton's augmented reality package which bridges the gap from print to digital layering digital content such as videos and graphics into a real time digital display.

To view the augmented reality experience and discover more about Antalis McNaughton’s Sign and Display range, visit www.antalis-mcnaughton.co.uk

InkTec, based in South Korea and Sawgrass Technologies, Inc.,  today announced that they have entered into a license agreement under which InkTec, as an authorised Sawgrass licensee, will begin selling InkTec’s sublimation inks to worldwide market.

InkTec is a professional inkjet inks and material manufacturer. Sawgrass is an industry leading developer of innovative printing technologies.
 
Dr. Kwang-Choon Chung, CEO of InkTec said “InkTec is a public company in Korea and has been pioneering a variety of inkjet inks for different market applications.  We are glad to license this technology so we can sell our products in various Asian, American and European markets.”

Dr. Mickael Mheidle, President of Sawgrass Technologies Industrial Division, said, “Sawgrass is dedicated to the fast growing digital sublimation market which it has pioneered into a global business opportunity.   We are very pleased that Sawgrass has reached agreement with InkTec for them sell licensed sublimation ink into worldwide markets.  It provides business customers with more choices.”

InkTec joins a group of Sawgrass sublimation licensees including, BASF, Hilord Chemical, Huntsman (formerly Ciba Specialty Chemical), J-Teck, Kiian Group, Kiwa Chemical Industry Co., Mimaki Engineering Company, Nazdar, and Sensient Technologies.

 

Firehouse Image Center, a leading printing business with operations in the USA and Europe, has switched from OEM inks to third party inks for its Vutek QS-series UV flatbed printer.  The switchover has enabled the company to achieve better quality colour on its output, reduce downtime relating to purges and ultimately make cost savings of between 25% and 40% on ink and has been described by Firehouse as being almost “too good to be true.”
 
Firehouse Image Center celebrates its 40th year in business on 1st September 2011.  With one printing facility in Indianapolis, the USA, and another in the Netherlands, the organisation serves the commercial sector and offers photo prints and backlits, POP and trade show graphics, banners and finishing and fulfilment services.  It also has an inventory of printing and mounting materials in stock available for purchase and serves markets throughout the USA and Europe.
 
Spread across its two printing facilities, Firehouse has five Lambda photo printers, a Durst 350 roll-to-roll printer, 3 large Vutek UV-curing printers (including one flatbed), six HP wide format printers and over 30 Epson large format printers.
 
In February 2011, Firehouse became convinced that there were savings to be made by adopting third party inks for its Vutek QS-series flatbed UV printer.  Terry Corman, CEO of Firehouse, had become convinced that third party ink manufacturers would take an enormous share of the UV curable ink business.  When UV curable inks were initially introduced, printing businesses were concerned that sacrifices would have to be made in terms of colour vibrancy and print quality.  However, this has not proved to be the case and a new generation of UV-curable inks that offers a true alternative to solvent inks – whilst minimising negative effects – is now available.
 
He comments, “The price of solvent inks dropped to a very low multiple of their original selling prices and I knew that the same would happen to UV inks.  I went looking for the best third party ink manufacturer I could find.  On the recommendation of a customer of mine, I met up with Stephen Mills from Ink Mill.  Following discussions and demonstrations, we selected the company’s UV curable inks as they were able to offer the best coverage, required the fewest purges and created the most saturated colours of any of the inks I reviewed.”
 
Ink Mill Corporation, based in New Hampshire, USA, offers best-in-class ink solutions for inkjet applications including solvent, UV curable and bio-solvent based inks.  The company also offers a range of pre- and post-coatings for digital ink applications.
 
He adds, “To my mind, this switch was more of an upgrade since the colour was so much better and the problems with the machine far fewer – I believe Ink Mill makes the best ink product on the market for Vutek UV printers.”
 
Stephen J. Mills, President of Ink Mill Corp., assured Firehouse that the transition from OEM to third party inks would be straightforward and painless and indeed it proved to be so.  Ink Mill’s technicians did an analysis of Firehouse’s machines and worked with the company on the switchover until the results were – in Terry Corman’s own  words - “too good to be true.”
 
“We get much better coverage and use far less ink than previously. Our machines suffer much less downtime and the third party ink prices are lower,” says Terry Corman.  “We are in the middle of a very extensive and exacting costing of Ink Mill ink versus our OEM supplier and we are seeing preliminary results showing cost savings of between 25 to 40 percent, depending on the job.”
 
Stephen Mills adds, “Terry and his team at Firehouse Image Center have put tons of effort into calculating true ink costs.  Not only is the Ink Mill QS ink able to achieve better colour and better performance, it is also more stable and able to run with less purging and ink wastage."

Terry Corman concludes, "We will be talking to Ink Mill about switching over our Durst 350 printer to the Ink Mill inks in the near future as well.”
 
Firehouse’s business is thriving.  It plans to add a Durst 900 flatbed UV curing printer to its US facility in the next few months along with a Vutek 3200 flatbed UV curing printer and a second Lambda photo printer to the arsenal of printers at its European operation.
 

NAZDAR (www.nazdar.com) will be exhibiting two new exciting waterbased inks at Fespa Hamburg, 24-27 May 2011.

The Lyson TX650 series, a new digital water-based dye-sublimation ink for transfer applications onto suitable substrates. Designed to deliver excellent color vibrancy and unparalleled durability, TX650 series ink is ideal for a variety of transfer applications including sportswear garments, soft signage and home textiles. Lyson TX650 series ink is formulated for use on an array of wide-format digital printers incorporating the Epson DX4 and DX5 print-head technologies including wide-format printers manufactured by Roland™, Mimaki™ and Mutoh™.

Nazdar will also be previewing a new outdoor ink developed using state of the art development techniques and Hydro Color Technology. This exciting new product is VOC free, has ultra-low odor and excellent colour gamut, specifically designed for printer system integrators enabling them to offer a true alternative solution to solvent and UV technologies for outdoor applications.

Want to know more? Come and visit the Nazdar stand at FESPA Digital show in Hamburg. Hall A, Booth B42.