06.21.23
Jim Bishop, product manager UV, EB & conventional offset products at Sun Chemical, was educated at Colorado School of Mines as a chemical and petroleum refining engineer. He got into the ink business in 1978 on Long Island, NY. His home and future wife both resided there at that time.
Jim grew up on the ocean and spent time on the water. Boating and fishing have been his favorite hobbies. Even in Illinois today, he spends time on his Viking cruiser each summer on the Great Lakes enjoying the outdoors.
Jim began in the ink industry at an American can ink and coating manufacturing site. That’s when Jim became involved in UV inks and catalytic coatings as a laboratory technician. When the plant closed in 1980, Jim began working for a small water-based coating company in New Jersey as their development manager and ran manufacturing also. The coatings offered were intended for graphic arts applications and included products designed for blister packaging, ovenable board, heat sealable and gloss types.
Jim joined Sun Chemical in 1984 as a chemist. Sun Chemical’s R&D center in New Jersey still remains one of the largest in the world. During his tenure there, “it was like being a kid in a candy store and still remains one of the most fulfilling times of my career.”
Sun Chemical then promoted Jim to become a long-range development chemist in 1987, focused on energy curables. During that time, this specific lab developed some ground-breaking technologies still in use today like hybrid UV inks, EB inks, UV plastic deco inks, many ultra-low migration products, and a multitude of energy curable coatings.
“In 1988, I was asked by one of my greatest heroes, Ed Barr, our CEO, to move to Chicago to become a Sun Chemical product manager. His belief in me inspired me greatly and this changed my entire life immensely. I decided at that moment in time that I would never leave Sun Chemical. I consider Mr Barr to be my greatest mentor,” Bishop said.
“From 1994 to 1997, I worked for another amazing Sun Chemical leader, Mr. Bob Lorenz (titled, The Wizard of Wow) as Sun Chemical’s technical manager for new business development. Bob changed my life significantly in so many ways. Most of all, he taught me so much about how to best serve customers by communicating with them at all levels and by offering Sun Chemical’s best technologies to help in many ways to improve their competitive edge. He would say that we can ‘help customers be able to go home at night and not worry about ink or press performance.’ This experience later helped me take on a role as key account manager handling International Paper for Sun Chemical within North America.”
In 2000, Jim built Sun Chemical’s troubleshooting guides which remain online today at https://inktsa.sunchemical.com. Jim believed that it was absolutely essential “to find ways to make customers lives easier.” He also acted as marketing manager for three years helping build the first integrated marketing program for Sun Chemical within North America.
Jim then got back into product management in 2004 on the sheetfed side of Sun Chemical’s North American business and his responsibilities have now been expanded to include UV, EB, conventional and low migration offset packaging inks.
Over the past 20 years, he has spent countless hours working with a multitude of customers at their manufacturing sites to help them adopt the use of Sun Chemical inks and coatings for packaging applications. Jim passionately offered print improvement training and ink handling techniques, such as teaching solvent gravure pressmen to run a high-speed EB offset web press.
During the same 20 years, he has also devoted an enormous amount of time in regulatory affairs with a constant attempt to help the printing industry and brand owners produce safer packages for consumers. “Dr. Greg Pace remains one of my most esteemed guidance counselors in this area,” he said.
During the past 40 years, PIA awarded Sun Chemical two highly coveted GATF Intertech awards for technology based on Jim’s deep involvement. The most recent one awarded in 2012 was specifically centered on his expertise in low migration printing. “To me it meant that I finally got recognized as one of the industry’s leading experts in low migration printing technology.” Jim has provided many presentations about low migration, including at venues like PACK EXPO and to many brand owners.
“Over the past 40+ years, I have been honored to be part of the evolution of printing. It is fast becoming centered on efficiency and building techniques and products to lower the total cost to print. It is also becoming a challenge to get younger people interested in printing. And training them in new ways that inspire change. The Pioneer Award is a very substantial honor bestowed on me by my peers and may be a testament that I may have contributed in some way or another to help shape the industry’s evolution.”
Jim grew up on the ocean and spent time on the water. Boating and fishing have been his favorite hobbies. Even in Illinois today, he spends time on his Viking cruiser each summer on the Great Lakes enjoying the outdoors.
Jim began in the ink industry at an American can ink and coating manufacturing site. That’s when Jim became involved in UV inks and catalytic coatings as a laboratory technician. When the plant closed in 1980, Jim began working for a small water-based coating company in New Jersey as their development manager and ran manufacturing also. The coatings offered were intended for graphic arts applications and included products designed for blister packaging, ovenable board, heat sealable and gloss types.
Jim joined Sun Chemical in 1984 as a chemist. Sun Chemical’s R&D center in New Jersey still remains one of the largest in the world. During his tenure there, “it was like being a kid in a candy store and still remains one of the most fulfilling times of my career.”
Sun Chemical then promoted Jim to become a long-range development chemist in 1987, focused on energy curables. During that time, this specific lab developed some ground-breaking technologies still in use today like hybrid UV inks, EB inks, UV plastic deco inks, many ultra-low migration products, and a multitude of energy curable coatings.
“In 1988, I was asked by one of my greatest heroes, Ed Barr, our CEO, to move to Chicago to become a Sun Chemical product manager. His belief in me inspired me greatly and this changed my entire life immensely. I decided at that moment in time that I would never leave Sun Chemical. I consider Mr Barr to be my greatest mentor,” Bishop said.
“From 1994 to 1997, I worked for another amazing Sun Chemical leader, Mr. Bob Lorenz (titled, The Wizard of Wow) as Sun Chemical’s technical manager for new business development. Bob changed my life significantly in so many ways. Most of all, he taught me so much about how to best serve customers by communicating with them at all levels and by offering Sun Chemical’s best technologies to help in many ways to improve their competitive edge. He would say that we can ‘help customers be able to go home at night and not worry about ink or press performance.’ This experience later helped me take on a role as key account manager handling International Paper for Sun Chemical within North America.”
In 2000, Jim built Sun Chemical’s troubleshooting guides which remain online today at https://inktsa.sunchemical.com. Jim believed that it was absolutely essential “to find ways to make customers lives easier.” He also acted as marketing manager for three years helping build the first integrated marketing program for Sun Chemical within North America.
Jim then got back into product management in 2004 on the sheetfed side of Sun Chemical’s North American business and his responsibilities have now been expanded to include UV, EB, conventional and low migration offset packaging inks.
Over the past 20 years, he has spent countless hours working with a multitude of customers at their manufacturing sites to help them adopt the use of Sun Chemical inks and coatings for packaging applications. Jim passionately offered print improvement training and ink handling techniques, such as teaching solvent gravure pressmen to run a high-speed EB offset web press.
During the same 20 years, he has also devoted an enormous amount of time in regulatory affairs with a constant attempt to help the printing industry and brand owners produce safer packages for consumers. “Dr. Greg Pace remains one of my most esteemed guidance counselors in this area,” he said.
During the past 40 years, PIA awarded Sun Chemical two highly coveted GATF Intertech awards for technology based on Jim’s deep involvement. The most recent one awarded in 2012 was specifically centered on his expertise in low migration printing. “To me it meant that I finally got recognized as one of the industry’s leading experts in low migration printing technology.” Jim has provided many presentations about low migration, including at venues like PACK EXPO and to many brand owners.
“Over the past 40+ years, I have been honored to be part of the evolution of printing. It is fast becoming centered on efficiency and building techniques and products to lower the total cost to print. It is also becoming a challenge to get younger people interested in printing. And training them in new ways that inspire change. The Pioneer Award is a very substantial honor bestowed on me by my peers and may be a testament that I may have contributed in some way or another to help shape the industry’s evolution.”
