Inks: The Real Deal
With cost increases at virtually every turn, inks are at the center of several hot issues affecting the package-printing market.
January 2008 by Tom Polischuk
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There’s nothing easy about manufacturing—no matter what the product. It requires a finely tuned confluence of equipment, materials, and people, along with a host of additional factors that can make the difference between success and failure.
In package printing, inks play a key role in the manufacturing process—to say the least. There’s plenty of other peripheral processes required to get printed materials out the door, but inks and their “kissin’ cousins” such as coatings and adhesives, are what makes these materials a printed product.
Today there is a lot of activity within the ink world. As a material category, inks have been hit hard by price increases for many months now, and the growing emphasis on sustainability is starting to impact material selection alternatives, use and handling, and processing.
With these factors as a backdrop, packagePRINTING sought out a number of executives to get their perspectives on how ink issues are impacting the bottom line.
pP: In recent months, material prices have been on the rise, led, in many instances, by ink prices. How have these increases impacted your business?
Wade Bryant, technical services manager, Cadmus Whitehall Group—We have not seen a drastic impact.
Mike Nowak, president, Coating Excellence International—We have not been able to pass along ink increases and have had to offset these increases with efficiency gains in other areas.
Dave Rydell, VP corporate and global technical development, Diamond Packaging—We are members of the Independent Carton Group. We purchase our ink under a national contract. We will not be impacted until the contract expires and is renegotiated.
Jay A. Luft, VP of operations, McDowell Label and Screen Printing—The price increases have forced us to look into making sure that we are purchasing in a cost-effective way, along with reevaluating our current ink suppliers.
pP: Have you been able to offset ink price increases by pursuing alternate ink options or reducing ink usage?
Bryant—Yes. New press technology has allowed us to reduce our ink usage.
Rydell—We continually explore alternative options in an effort to reduce cost. With our inks, we use an automated ink feed system to reduce waste.
Luft—In anticipation of possible ink cost increases, we initiated efforts—with our ink suppliers—to investigate the opportunity for limiting the number of products [ink materials] we would need for all of our different print processes.
In package printing, inks play a key role in the manufacturing process—to say the least. There’s plenty of other peripheral processes required to get printed materials out the door, but inks and their “kissin’ cousins” such as coatings and adhesives, are what makes these materials a printed product.
Today there is a lot of activity within the ink world. As a material category, inks have been hit hard by price increases for many months now, and the growing emphasis on sustainability is starting to impact material selection alternatives, use and handling, and processing.
With these factors as a backdrop, packagePRINTING sought out a number of executives to get their perspectives on how ink issues are impacting the bottom line.
pP: In recent months, material prices have been on the rise, led, in many instances, by ink prices. How have these increases impacted your business?
Wade Bryant, technical services manager, Cadmus Whitehall Group—We have not seen a drastic impact.
Mike Nowak, president, Coating Excellence International—We have not been able to pass along ink increases and have had to offset these increases with efficiency gains in other areas.
Dave Rydell, VP corporate and global technical development, Diamond Packaging—We are members of the Independent Carton Group. We purchase our ink under a national contract. We will not be impacted until the contract expires and is renegotiated.
Jay A. Luft, VP of operations, McDowell Label and Screen Printing—The price increases have forced us to look into making sure that we are purchasing in a cost-effective way, along with reevaluating our current ink suppliers.
pP: Have you been able to offset ink price increases by pursuing alternate ink options or reducing ink usage?
Bryant—Yes. New press technology has allowed us to reduce our ink usage.
Rydell—We continually explore alternative options in an effort to reduce cost. With our inks, we use an automated ink feed system to reduce waste.
Luft—In anticipation of possible ink cost increases, we initiated efforts—with our ink suppliers—to investigate the opportunity for limiting the number of products [ink materials] we would need for all of our different print processes.
Companies Mentioned:
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