David Savastano, Ink World Editor03.14.11
In many ways, the past few years have been among the most challenging to form a new ink company. However, there are also opportunities to be found, as a small business can provide service at a time when many larger companies can no longer afford to do so.
Such is the case for Liberty Printing Inks. Located in Forest City, NC, Liberty Printing Inks is focused on the water-based flexo ink market, and its team-oriented approach allows for everyone to do whatever is needed to help their customers.
“We do all we can to help our customers, large or small,” said Brian Greene, president of Liberty Printing Inks.“There are four or five of us who will do what we have to get our ink out the door and into our customers’ hands. Right now we are really competitive price-wise based on the fact that we all wear a bunch of different hats here.”
Liberty Printing Inks opened its doors for business two years ago, when Mr. Greene and his colleagues decided that the time was right to start their own business, regardless of the economy.
“It was a challenging time to start a company,” Mr. Greene said. “I had worked in the ink industry for 14 years, and I had a good opportunity to work with a business partner to form the company.We had some pretty good contacts, people I knew would be interested in working with us if I started out, so I knew I could count on them, Still, it was a tough time.”
For Mr. Greene and the people at Liberty Printing Inks, the key to success is providing excellent service and developing innovative products.
“Service is the key,” Mr. Greene said. “Our service has helped open the door for us to get into new accounts.”
The water-based flexo ink market has done fairly well despite the recession, as packaging is holding up better than most printing segments.
The Stable X Paper system represents the newest generation of paper inks on the market, and requires no maintenance due to its excellent color strength, open time and low viscosity.
The Stable X Film system if formulated to produce excellent run-ability and adhesion on most films utilized in the flexographic printing market today. It is formulated alcohol- and ammonia-free, and Stable X Film is also available in a laminating system to address special requirements.
Earth, Liberty Printing Ink’s most environmentally friendly ink system, uses a soy-based polymer, and is formulated to the tightest standards. It requires little maintenance to produce high-density print at a very low viscosity while using higher line aniloxes.
“We specialize in water-based flexo, and can also make inks for envelopes and corrugated,” Mr. Greene said. “We hold our formulations to the highest testing standards in order to provide the quality products our customers have come to expect.”
Liberty Printing Inks has also developed a wide range of specialty inks for its customers. For example, the Stable X Metalline System is an advanced metallic flexo ink containing the smallest particle size, allowing the Metalline System to print cleaner and stronger. It is formulated to be press ready with extremely low gassing and foaming properties.
The Stable X Glo System is designed to give the printer more latitude in press speeds and color strength when running fluorescent inks. Glo Inks are press ready and also available for custom color matches.
Liberty Printing Ink’s inks are completely balanced to utilize the LPI mixing computer, while making in-house color matching easy.
As a result of its ability to work closely with its customers, Liberty Printing Inks is enjoying success; the company recently moved into a much larger headquarters, and continues to grow its sales.
“We have grown steadily ever since we started,” Mr. Greene said. “We are looking to continue to grow. So far, we have targeted the Southeast, but we are now looking to expand outside of the Southeast. We just moved into our new facility a mile from where we were at, but we now have a lot more space. We have a lot of things in the works, and a lot of trials. We’re doing really well.”
Such is the case for Liberty Printing Inks. Located in Forest City, NC, Liberty Printing Inks is focused on the water-based flexo ink market, and its team-oriented approach allows for everyone to do whatever is needed to help their customers.
“We do all we can to help our customers, large or small,” said Brian Greene, president of Liberty Printing Inks.“There are four or five of us who will do what we have to get our ink out the door and into our customers’ hands. Right now we are really competitive price-wise based on the fact that we all wear a bunch of different hats here.”
Liberty Printing Inks opened its doors for business two years ago, when Mr. Greene and his colleagues decided that the time was right to start their own business, regardless of the economy.
“It was a challenging time to start a company,” Mr. Greene said. “I had worked in the ink industry for 14 years, and I had a good opportunity to work with a business partner to form the company.We had some pretty good contacts, people I knew would be interested in working with us if I started out, so I knew I could count on them, Still, it was a tough time.”
For Mr. Greene and the people at Liberty Printing Inks, the key to success is providing excellent service and developing innovative products.
“Service is the key,” Mr. Greene said. “Our service has helped open the door for us to get into new accounts.”
The water-based flexo ink market has done fairly well despite the recession, as packaging is holding up better than most printing segments.
The Stable X Paper system represents the newest generation of paper inks on the market, and requires no maintenance due to its excellent color strength, open time and low viscosity.
The Stable X Film system if formulated to produce excellent run-ability and adhesion on most films utilized in the flexographic printing market today. It is formulated alcohol- and ammonia-free, and Stable X Film is also available in a laminating system to address special requirements.
Earth, Liberty Printing Ink’s most environmentally friendly ink system, uses a soy-based polymer, and is formulated to the tightest standards. It requires little maintenance to produce high-density print at a very low viscosity while using higher line aniloxes.
“We specialize in water-based flexo, and can also make inks for envelopes and corrugated,” Mr. Greene said. “We hold our formulations to the highest testing standards in order to provide the quality products our customers have come to expect.”
Liberty Printing Inks has also developed a wide range of specialty inks for its customers. For example, the Stable X Metalline System is an advanced metallic flexo ink containing the smallest particle size, allowing the Metalline System to print cleaner and stronger. It is formulated to be press ready with extremely low gassing and foaming properties.
The Stable X Glo System is designed to give the printer more latitude in press speeds and color strength when running fluorescent inks. Glo Inks are press ready and also available for custom color matches.
Liberty Printing Ink’s inks are completely balanced to utilize the LPI mixing computer, while making in-house color matching easy.
As a result of its ability to work closely with its customers, Liberty Printing Inks is enjoying success; the company recently moved into a much larger headquarters, and continues to grow its sales.
“We have grown steadily ever since we started,” Mr. Greene said. “We are looking to continue to grow. So far, we have targeted the Southeast, but we are now looking to expand outside of the Southeast. We just moved into our new facility a mile from where we were at, but we now have a lot more space. We have a lot of things in the works, and a lot of trials. We’re doing really well.”