Pacific Southwest Container, INX Highlight Advantages of Ink Dispensers

For ink manufacturers, producing inks is the first part of helping printers create the products their customers want. Putting the ink on the substrate is the next stage, and that requires skill as well.

Oftentimes, ink dispensers become a key part of the printing process. Modesto, CA-based Pacific Southwest Container (PSC) is a leading independent provider of packaging solutions in the western United States. PSC works closely with INX International Ink Co., its longtime ink partner.

Pacific Southwest Container has grown dramatically since being founded in 1973 as a small family business serving local businesses in Modesto. After 51 years and three generations of ownership, it is one of the largest privately held packaging companies in the US, with more than 1,000 team members working from four locations.

More than 400 team members are stationed at the Leckron Road complex on the city’s east side. The two-building operation totals 730,000 square feet of space and produces packaging solutions ranging from folding cartons and corrugated/flexo, to retail displays, basket carriers, and protective packaging. PSC is also the largest single face lamination producer in North America.

The company services an international client base involved in the agriculture, consumer electronics, craft beer, wine and spirits, medical devices, pet care and personal care products, retail and snack food, and technology industries. They produce box sizes designed for small confectionary items, up to large store displays.

PSC began formulating its own inks for the past 18 years, when it installed its initial GFI formulation dispenser, utilizing INX’s expertise as its sole provider of conventional and LED base colors. By having access to an infinite amount of color-matching inks, they were ready when corporate customers began demanding brand-specific colors and custom color consistency for every production run across all media.

The patented formulation dispensers – another was added in 2010 – have since been rebranded as AccuBlend HV. They are part of an INX high-performance ink system which includes AccureX Precision Dispense Cylinders filled with INX base colors, and Colorbook software. Combined, they improve color consistency and have eliminated clean-up time, reduced waste and any lost press time waiting for ink to be delivered, and substantially decreased substrate waste.

Bryan Redding heads PSC’s seven-member offset ink group. He began working at PSC 29 years ago as a manufacturing associate, earning promotions to become the pressroom shift supervisor and later as the planning/scheduling and ink room manager. He currently leads the pressroom, sheeting, and ink departments.

“I worked in prepress when we still used film, and worked every position on a litho press,” he said. “The GFI dispensers are the same machines we’ve used over the years. All we do is clean the dispenser carousel every three months and perform regularly prescribed greasing.”

“The dispensers reduce waste and allow us to benefit from several things,” said Redding. “Our average run length is 15,000 sheets and our range is pretty broad, from 300 sheets to 300,000. Our dispensers are used mainly for production efficiency.

“We can efficiently blend spot colors as needed on-site without having to wait for order processing and delivery from vendors,” added Redding. “With the ability to make ink on demand, we can reduce excess overages and address any work off ink that we may have into other like-color batches. Thus, we have also decreased our waste ink disposal fees.”

Michael Brice, VP of sales & business development at INX International Ink Co., noted that INX’s commitment to consistent quality with tight manufacturing standards of various mixing base systems that can be used in the GFI mixer ensures the formulas being dispensed are a match to the desired color.

“Of course, the formula loaded into the GFI’s database must be correct,” added Brice. “This is accomplished through the INX color management software and established databases. Our large batch manufacturing creates economies of scale that can be translated into competitive pricing for the bases. Hence, reliable, consistent, and repeatable colors manufactured on-site deliver an economic advantage to a printer.”

Brice noted that INX provides a range of support for printers using an ink dispenser.
“Engineering and maintenance support, color management equipment and technical support, quality control procedures and equipment, mixing/blending equipment, ink room/blending station procedures, and an auditing process all ensure that the customer-run blending station is operating efficiently,” Brice observed.

Brice said that INX can tailor its services to maximize ink blending with GFI’s ink dispensers.

“INX can develop a customer-run, ‘ink-on-demand’ blending operation through GFI dispensing technology,” Brice said. “State-of-the-art blending capabilities are enhanced by a suite of color management services – matching and QC – as well as inventory management. Consistent colors can be manufactured on site at the quantity levels needed, while keeping ink inventory at minimal levels.”

“I have worked in our ink lab since before the GFI ink dispensers were installed,” added Joel Soto, a veteran PSC ink technician. “We used to weigh everything out by hand, and it has saved us so much time and money. When I first started, everything was done by hand and even our formulas were done on a spreadsheet. The GFI ink dispenser calculates all the math for us, which helps maximize our performance, production time, and efficiency, all while eliminating waste.”