Local digital printing ink partnership benefits

WITH 25 years’ experience as an ink manufacturer, NUtec produces UV curable, water- and solvent-based digital printing inks for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their distribution partners in 120 countries.

The company’s most recent partnership with packwise-africa means it can now produce and supply NUtec branded inks in South Africa for HanGlobal, the label and publication division of the HanGlory Group, whose digital label presses are supplied locally by packwise-africa.  

This is according to Uwe Bögl, director of packwise-africa, who explains that the investment in the LabStar 330E enables NUtec to run trials and ensure it creates optimised ink for the Kyocera printheads used in HanGlobal’s presses. 

Warwick Davison, who is responsible for NUtec’s technical marketing, explains that an important feature of this press is the automatic printhead cleaning system. ‘It controls the consistency of printing, eliminates nozzle blockages and provides daily maintenance to extend the printhead’s lifespan. Printhead maintenance is of utmost importance to ensure print quality remains of a high standard and ink isn’t wasted.’

‘This system cleans the printheads in two minutes, with a cost-efficient cleaning solution, pressure and a doctor blade, and then moves on to clean the remaining ink and cleaning fluid on the printhead panel. This is different to most other UV inkjet presses that use expensive printing inks to flush the printheads,’ adds Uwe. 

‘UV-cured inks typically have a shelf life of around 12 months, whereas the inks we have developed have a shelf life of 15 months. Having the inks locally available will optimise the distribution cycle and ensure that it doesn’t take away much time from the shelf life,’ explains international sales manager Darren Claassens.  

Sales and marketing director, Neil Green, emphasises that providing tech support is also an important part of ensuring inks and presses are used correctly. ‘With NUtec’s vast experience and digital printing knowledge base, it’s important to give back by training resellers on the products and providing technical support for printer conversions, maintenance procedures and troubleshooting.’ 

NUtec and packwise-africa believe that supplying these solutions to the local label printing market will allow companies to focus on and invest more in digital inkjet printing technologies for the label printing sector. 

‘We trust that this partnership will give converters the peace of mind that they have local support and consumables whenever they need them,’ concludes Uwe.

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