Third party inks in the wide format

market can save a print companymoney and they might provide addi-tional application options too, butthey also have the potential to inflict

a bad experience on a printer, with damage tothe print head a typical outcome in suchcases. For peace of mind therefore, a greatmany printers stick to the OEM-recommendedinks, even though they usually cost more.

These are the choices that printers operatingwide format equipment have, and accordingto Clive Harper of Ink & Print, which sells VanSon third party inks, increasing numbers of UKprinters are choosing the third party option.

He told Digital Printer: ‘It’s an interesting mar-ket to be involved in and it’s a market that isgrowing. We started with it two years ago andprobably grew 50% last year. In SouthernIreland, the majority use third party inks but inthe UK it’s only 20-30%. I think people in theUK are a bit more cautious, but that is lifting toa degree.’

He said that companies might save as muchas 30% on their ink costs by using third partyinks instead of OEM, making its attraction obvi-ous. These are not the only benefits though,according to Rich Dunklee, global market seg-ment manager for Nazdar’s UV inkjet inks, whosaid that wider colour and adhesion gamutscan also be developed. ‘OEM inks are typical-ly engineered for versatility, so that a user canget the most out of a piece of equipment,’ he

said. ‘In developing a third party ink, we cantake two different approaches. First, we candevelop an ink that increases either the colourrange of the OEM ink, or increases the varietyof substrates that our ink will adhere to; some-times we can achieve both. In other cases, wedevelop speciality inks that make one specificfeature, like adhesion to adifficult substrate, even better.’

Clive Harper observesthat third party ink devel-opers have been able toimprove original OEM inkcharacteristics, and getthem to market morequickly.

The fact is though thatnot all inks are madeequal – a point thatseems accepted by thethird party ink manufactur-ers/suppliers and theOEM manufacturers –and this is where it getsconfusing for the inkuser, according toEpson’s Phil McMullin.‘Some third party inksare quite good andsome are not,’ he toldDigital Printer. ‘Trying tofind the right ones

before you do damage to the printer is hit andmiss, so I would caution against that as a sup-plier to the print industry. If you prefer peaceof mind you are always safer with the genuine inks.’

Not surprisingly, Epson is ‘not a fan of thirdparty inks’, Mr McMullin said, adding: ‘Our

belief is that by design-ing the chassis, the printhead and the inks wecan control all aspectsof the print experiencefor the customer anddeliver consistentcolour when they wantit. We put a lot of effortinto that and the twomost important parts ofthe triangle are thepiezo print head andthe inks. We areresearching and design-ing the ink sets that willbe reliable through ourprint heads. We feel thatif you change any com-ponent of that by put-ting third party inks inyou are opening your-self up to inconsistencyin the print processpotentially. I’m not sug-gesting that some of the

The accountant will love them but your equipment supplier will most likely hatethem: use of third party inks is said to be on the rise in the wide format sector.Digital Printer looks at the issues involved.

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Third dimension

September 2015

‘By designing the chassis,the print head and the inks we can control allaspects of the print experi-ence for the customer anddeliver consistent colourwhen they want it.’ Phil McMullin, Epson

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manufacturers are not producing them in agood environment, but we go to extrememeasures to produce inks in clean rooms.Picture high tech facilities with people dressedin white suits, gloves and masks; temperaturecontrolled rooms; no contamination: that’s theenvironment we are producing our inks in and we believe it’s critical in maintaining that consistency.’

When a customer has been using third partyinks on an Epson printer and these havecaused damage to it, the case is easily proven,he said, and the warranty will be invalidated. It is very clear how the issue has been causedwhen the company’s engineers do their analy-sis and interrogate the firmware.

Good and badThere are a number of issues that arise from MrMcMullin’s words: the variable quality of thirdparty inks, the degree of investment that suchmanufacturers can and do put into researchand testing, and the invalidating of a machinewarranty through (typically) damaging the print head.

Clive Harper from Ink & Print does not denythat there have been some bad experiences,saying that five or six years ago there wereproducts coming from the Far East. ‘People gottheir fingers burnt; those inks were not readyfor the market and that has stuck in people’s minds.’

‘The market is flooded with stories of expe-riences, both good and bad. The bad experi-ences tend to get the most attention,’ said Rich Dunklee.

Robin Titterington from Think Ink Solutions,which sells Imaginx wide format inks forRoland and Mimaki printers, accepted that‘unfortunately there are good companies andthere are bad ones that do not show the samedegree of professionalism in either the devel-opment process, production and/or final QCprocess’, and Chris Bailey of Nazdar resellerQPS explained that some problems do notbecome apparent until the work is completedto switch to a third party ink. Problems canrange from premature fading and loss ofcolour to UV ink adhesion issues resulting inink films actually peeling away or crackingaway from substrates.

Clearly, once a decision has been made tolook into the third party ink market, it is impor-tant to research the potential suppliers. ‘Usersshould make sure that they are dealing with areputable, established ink manufacturer fortheir third party inks, and one that offers an inkwarranty,’ said Rich Dunklee of Nazdar. ‘Theyshould be leery of offers of the lowest price

from companies that don’t have a long historyof making high quality inks. Nazdar has 90-plusyears of experience in making high quality inks,the last 30 of which have included inks for theinkjet market. We maintain dedicated R&D andtest lab facilities for the development and test-ing of UV, solvent, and water-based inks forinkjet products.’

Van Son is ‘very careful’ with its pigmentselection, said Clive Harper, and would notintroduce an ink without being certain of itssuitability because of the potential damage toits name and reputation in the market place.The advice for printers from Robin Titterington

is to ask the usual questions that they wouldask of any supplier to make sure that it ticks allthe boxes. He also recommended using companies that have a presence in Europe.‘Inks are now made all over the world butunless they have a sales office or agent locally,I would not buy the ink,’ he said.

Most reputable third party ink suppliers willoffer a warranty policy and full technical sup-port. Nazdar claims to have the strongest war-ranty available from a third party ink supplier,and Rich Dunklee says that the company ‘guarantees exceptional product performancewhen used correctly, or we will repair or pay

for the repair of your equipment’. Clive Harpersaid that while Ink & Print offers a warranty tocover for damage to a printing system causedby the use of its inks, no customer has everhad to fall back upon that warranty. It exists togive customers peace of mind and overcomethe initial reluctance that some may feel to put-ting anything other than OEM inks through theirprinting system.

Better dialogue The relationships between OEMs and thirdparty ink suppliers appear to be somewhatpatchy. Phil McMullin said that Epson would‘absolutely not’ work with a third party inkdeveloper, since it makes its own inks, and norwould it support a reseller that would sell thirdparty inks. Clive Harper said that though thereare some ink companies working with OEMsand sharing technology, the Van Son inks aredeveloped completely independently. ChrisBailey of QPS said it will work with OEMswhere possible and does so with Roland DGfor dye sublimation applications.

‘The relationship between OEM and alterna-tive ink suppliers continues to be good andbad,’ admitted Robin Titterington. ‘Some com-panies work very closely with OEMs andsome, by the nature of the business, areknown to the OEMs but not really liked, orshould I say are dismissed. If they become atotal nuisance or have products which aresuperior to those currently available, this tends to lead to a better dialogue. We do carry out work for some OEMs currently in various markets.’

At the end of the day, this comes down topeace of mind and value for money. From theOEM’s perspective, it wants to make moneyon its inks. Beyond that, why trust a brandenough to buy its printing technology and thentake a risk on something as vitally important asthe inks? This is the question that Phil McMullinputs forward.

The fact is however that a number of printcompanies do exactly this and are reaping therewards. QPS puts forward several customertestimonials to confirm this, one of whom isPaul Austin, managing director of W.A.E Group,a Leeds-based sign printing firm. He said: ‘Theinks are an exact colour and performancematch to the OEM inks and the cost savingsare obviously a key benefit to us. However, inorder to make the business case work, it wascrucial that the quality and adhesion of the inkswas comparable to the OEM inks and thisproved to be the case.’ n

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‘Five or six years ago therewere products coming fromthe Far East. People got their fingers burnt; those inks were not ready for themarket and that has stuck in people’s minds.’ Clive Harper, Ink & Print

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