Nazdar manager issues warning over ink purchasing
Rich Dunklee, global market segment manager at Nazdar Ink Technologies, has called on industry members to take care when purchasing new inks, saying that companies should carefully consider the application in question before making an investment.
Tuesday, 11 Apr 2017 10:37 GMT
Rich Dunklee from Nazdar says companies should thoroughly research any new inks before purchase
Dunklee is well placed to pass judgment on matters within the inks market, with Nazdar stocking a variety of options, including products suitable for inkjet work.
Although Dunklee accepts that while alternative inks can cause issues for some print companies, more often than not, these products offer a cheaper option with the same amount of quality as OEM inks.
However, he also warns that it is down to the print firm to establish whether the ink is of good enough standard to produce a high level of output and not cause damage to printing machinery.
“There are many ink manufacturers or suppliers claiming to have inks that are identical to the OEM, especially in the wide-format market sectors,” Dunklee comments, adding: “Put quite simply, they don't. Some do have products that are very close in certain key characteristics such as colour, resistance to scratching and chemicals, and odour.
When assessing a manufacturer’s claims, ask the supplier to provide details on how these claims were reached and to be shown the test results”
“Speaking as the representative of a manufacturer with nearly 100 years of ink development experience, I can tell you that no alternative ink is always going to be a 100 percent match across all properties. The key is figuring out which properties are very important, and which are less important.
“When assessing a manufacturer’s claims, ask the supplier to provide details on how these claims were reached and to be shown the test results.”
Dunklee adds: “No product is 100 percent reliable, not even the OEM. Ask for statistics on failure rates to ensure you know what you are dealing with and have recourse to complain if it appears the products you are receiving are failing more often.
“Ask how the manufacturer performs quality control, if they follow any manufacturing process standards, and if they have a method of quantifying their claims of batch-to-batch consistency.”
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