Basic equipment investment is a vane to judge whether the ink industry is moving forward. According to the industry, 2005 was a mixed year for the ink industry. Sales rose slightly, but profits were eroded by rising raw materials and energy costs.
With the slight growth of the ink industry last year, the decentralized equipment manufacturers noted that the ink industry's investment in basic equipment costs has increased.
Stewart Rissley, domestic sales manager for Premier Mill's SPX processing equipment, said: "Our standard equipment and proprietary products have increased sales of Axial Pin Disks."
Christine Angos, product applications engineer at Charles Ross & Son, said: "In 2005, sales of our parts were approximately double that of 2004."
The increase in investment in equipment may have two factors. First of all, some areas of the ink industry are in the growth phase, such as digital and UV inks, and ink companies want these products to bring them profit. Secondly, ink companies are looking at how to increase efficiency, and they believe that in the long run, investments in new equipment will certainly pay off.
Kerstin Grosse, an expert in the grinding and distribution division of Buhler's US company, said, “Some market sectors show a trend of growth, and investment in fixed equipment also has room for growth. Similarly, demand from traditional customers is showing signs of recovery. They hope to use this. To optimize the production process."
Harry Way, technical director of Netcom Precision Instruments, said: “In the past year, not only in North America, but also in the ink industry, large-scale investments in fixed equipment have become commonplace in the ink industry,†he said. Sales have also increased substantially. "We attribute these conditions to the growth of the U.S. economy and the company's internal efficiency improvement programs, such as the "6 Sigma" program."
George J. Murphy, domestic sales manager for Hockmeyer Equipment, said, “In the past year, there have been too many changes and actions in the ink industry. We have seen technological upgrading, efficiency improvement, and humanity for operators. Improvements have been made, and more and more people have expressed interest."
Premier Mill's loading and unloading dispersion disc growth points Many areas in the ink industry have achieved solid growth. For example, sales engineers at Korkmaz Oz and Draiswerke noticed that UV and inkjet inks are two very significant growth points. Mr. Rissley said that in North America, all types of inks have grown. For UV inks, Mr. Way holds the same view.
Ms. Grosse said that the growth of ink-jet and UV-curable products in the Midwest, the eastern coast, and the southern United States is obvious, and the development of flexo is the strongest. Ms. Angos also pointed out that in the Midwest and Northeast, water-based and solvent-based flexo inks, inkjet, UV, and offset inks, which are commonly used to print packaging materials, have the largest increase.
Mr. Murphy mentioned that the entire ink industry is facing good opportunities for development.
Mr. Murphy said, “Our Hockmeyer company has also seen the growth and active performance of the ink industry in all regions and fields. Ink manufacturers have been continuously seeking better and easier ways to produce the same or even more. High-quality products to increase the price competitiveness and profitability of products."
Key elements
When ink manufacturers prepare to purchase new dispersion equipment, many factors are considered, including improvements to the production process, fine grain size, and better technical services.
Ms. Grosse said: "We believe that customers' improvement of the process and the pursuit of particle size will never stop. Our customers seem to appreciate the full range of products and services provided, including product development, process planning and design, Reliable and efficient equipment, after-sales service and training worldwide.Because we provide customers with convenient, worry-free one-stop products and services, they can focus on their core competencies in a highly competitive market. â€
Mr. Murphy said, "Customers expect to improve the production process and improve the fineness of the grinding. Usually, we see that customers can achieve the best efficiency of pigment through the improvement of the process, and provide high-quality products so that they can maintain the leading competitive advantage. At the same time, they also hope that equipment suppliers can provide reliable product service and technical support."
Ms. Angos said: “Customer requirements mainly include the following aspects: shorten the grinding time of the product, increase the production speed, improve the production process, improve the particle size fineness, improve the high-shear mixing effect, shorten the cycle time and eliminate non-recyclable Grinding equipment etc."
Mr. Oz said that customers expect that the fineness of the particles can be higher to reach the nanometer level, which is easy to clean during rapid batch production, and can be stable when grinding products of different formulations and viscosities on the same device.
Charles Ross & Son's MegaShear in-line high shear mixer used equipment market For the current state of the ink industry, the market for used equipment is quite large. Ms. Grosse said that many customers are interested in used equipment, especially when customers need to carefully improve existing equipment and seek rapid solutions.
Mr. Murphy specifically mentioned that Hockmeyer has an equipment recycling department that can reclaim or deduct any old dispersers, mixers, or ink tanks, renovate the equipment through the original parts provided by the parts supplier, and then re Quality assurance products are put on the market.
Mr. Murphy mentioned, “Our old equipment inventory has been very successful. In most cases, the old disperser or agitator trades just stay operative. If your old equipment is not from the original It will bring you a lot of risk if you buy from a supplier, not only that, but the final price may also be very expensive.The replacement of spare parts is not cheap, when you achieve the equipment by replacing the dispersion shaft and the mechanical seal grinding chamber At the time of retrofitting, the actual cost is the same as the cost of buying new equipment, so you may not be as good as buying new grinding equipment with the latest technology directly."
Mr. Murphy went on to say: "With my 20 years of experience in decentralized equipment product service and sales, there are very few successful deals for old equipment. Of course, there are some, but it is almost negligible."
Mr. Rissley mentioned that “anyone wants to save costs by buying second-hand equipment. The problem is that this kind of transformation lacks specialized machinery, and most of the companies currently only make changes to their own products.â€
Draiswerke's DCP Distributed Systems New Products & New Technologies
Ink companies focus on how to increase production efficiency and increase particle fineness. These requirements make it very difficult for decentralized equipment suppliers to develop new technologies.
Draiswerke's DCP technology sets a new standard for the wet grinding of high-tech products. The product's pigment size can reach nanometers without metal impurities.
Based on the newly developed modular equipment assembly line based on DCP technology, several grinding and dispersing equipments based on the most common working principle can realize pipeline operation.
First, the product is pre-dispersed in the pre-dispersion/grinding zone. Subsequently, the product and the grinding medium flow into the grinding zone and a strong impact is generated by the interaction of the rotor and the stator. After this step is completed, the mixture of product and grinding media continues upstream, flowing into strong turbulence and high shear areas, resulting in a more uniform and high gloss product.
The outer surface of the DCP dispersion device is coated with a special polymer or ceramic material, which makes it possible to apply zero metal residue when applied to the field where the metal residue requirement is extremely strict.
According to Draiswerke, DCP technology
