Sun Chemical Introduces Streamline Inkjet Inks For After-Market

Sun Chemical has launched a line of inkjet inks to be sold in the fast-growing North American “after-market” for wide format digital printing.
    
Sun Chemical will market these inkjet products under the Streamline brand. These inks, both solvent- and water-based, can be used for digital proofing, POP signs, murals, banners, vehicle graphics and billboards/outdoor display applications. Streamline inks can be used with confidence on wide format digital printing devices from most major manufacturers. For those printers who utilize both screen and digital printing devices within the same facility, Sun Chemical can now serve all ink requirements by offering products from Streamline and its Coates Screen brand.
    
Sun Chemical has been active in the digital inkjet market for a number of years, providing large quantities of raw materials and finished inks to the industry. Streamline was successfully launched as a direct-to-users service in Europe during 2005.
    
MaryAnn Johns, market development manager for Sun Chemical North American Inks, said many printers do not realize that there are alternatives available.
    
“Some printers fear that there could be damage to their machinery caused by the inks from third-party ink suppliers or that the colors would not match, creating the need to change color reproduction profiles,” she said. “But our formulating approach ensures color consistency so it’s unlikely there would be any need to re-profile presses. Also, the inks from Sun Chemical are fully compatible with inks supplied by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), so there is no need to flush machines, a process that wastes valuable time and can take several hours. It can take as little as 45 minutes for our ink to be loaded and printing.”
    
The Streamline inks are compatible with a wide range of media and have an expected outdoor life of up to three years.
    
Mark Levin, president, Sun Chemical North American Commercial Group, said sales in after-market inkjet ink sales are growing at double-digit annual rates. He added that Sun Chemical is drawing on its global expertise in this segment to provide an affordable solution for the thousands of digital presses being used in North America.