David Savastano, Ink World Editor06.15.09
For printers, as with any business, consistency is an essential part of business success. Without consistency, workflow and quality become disrupted. As a result, printers understandably place a high value on consistent quality and service.
“Consistency of ink is very important to us and to our customers,” said Edd Butch, who along with Fiona Cummings is co-owner of Farbotech. “One of our best attributes is consistency. If you love our inks, you’ll love them six months from now.
“Our strengths are our consistently good products and our elite service and color matching,” Edd Butch added. “We have three delivery trucks, which make deliveries in the morning, early and late afternoon all over the greater Los Angeles area. We ship 98 percent of our orders in 24 hours, and 80 percent the same day.”
Providing excellent quality and service has proved to be a good recipe for growth for Farbotech Color.
“We’ve been very successful,” said Frank Butch, Farbotech Color’s vice president of sales. “We have doubled our sales since 1999, which we attribute to our great products and service. We’ve really paid attention to what our customers need.”
Farbotech Color was one of the founding members of the Print Suppliers Group (PSG), a group of medium-sized regional ink manufacturers and distributors who are combining their sales efforts, purchasing power and technical knowledge, and are now able to compete for national accounts.
“The Print Suppliers Group has been very beneficial for us,” Edd Butch said. “It has played no small role in our success. We’re not competitors, so we can share information among ourselves. We are all entrepreneurs, and if something works, we’ll use it. Today we’re becoming a factor in the industry, as we can now go to larger printing companies.”
The merger of BASF’s ink operations with Flint Group has proved to also be beneficial for Farbotech Color, as Flint Group has been supportive of the company’s efforts.
“Flint Group brings knowledge and established products, and they are really supportive of the Print Suppliers Group,” Frank Butch said. “They have really good products, great technology and great people. We can go to medium-sized printers with this technology.”
Farbotech Color recently moved into the printing supplies business with its Perfect Balance program, through which the company offers the ideal ink series and matching pressroom supplies, including press washes, fountain solutions and blankets. This is timely, considering the strict new low VOC regulations that are going into effect in Southern California.
“Small- and medium-sized printers appreciate our Perfect Balance pressroom products program, which offers them a one-stop shopping approach,” Frank Butch said. “We are ink experts who hired pressroom chemical experts, who matched the right products with ours. We also feel very confident about our response to the new regulations in Southern California. We believe we have products that will work.”
“We realize that excellent service includes responding with innovations to meet our customer needs, so that is why we launched our Pressroom products program in 2006,” Ms. Cummings, general manager, said. “Right now I am working on perfecting our web site (farbotechcolor.com) and online ordering system.”
For Farbotech Color, consistency and quality have been and will continue to be the keys to its success.
“The market is still strong, and there are opportunities for companies that go the extra mile to develop products,” Frank Butch concluded. “I still see a lot of consolidation and that will continue, but there always is room for a medium-size ink manufacturer/distributor.”