You are in:
INTELLIGENT THINKING by Robin George
Think Vision
Vision Supplies Ltd launched its range ofThink inks a little over 2 years ago, a range of UV process screen printing inks formulated and marketed exclusively by them for the demanding UK market.
With considerable investment made by the Company Vision realised their goal of manufacturing process screen inks that would adhere to a wide range of screen printable substrates, giving companies the opportunity to reduce the number of ink products they use and stock. Significant benefits are achieved, the stock value and range of ink products held reduces, limiting the products used allows a faster stock turnover, reducing waste and giving considerable cost savings. By doing so operators are less likely to incorrectly select inks that may not adhere to a substrate so the potential for jobs being rejected reduces.
The range was launched with the Type 01 formulation. Which is a relatively low cost process ink designed to be printed on paper, board, vinyl and similar substrates.
Vision's ultimate goal was to produce an ink that could be printed on all of the commonly used point of sale products with the development of Type 02. Type 02 is used to print on an extremely wide range of substrates which include papers, boards, vinyls, styrenes and polypropylene, including fluted products.
Type 02 has been firmly established in the marketplace for over 18 months and is commonly used by many screen printing companies.
Think Differently
Vision Supplies were one of the first UK based companies to develop a true multi-substrate screen process ink, these ink types were not readily available a few years ago.
Colin Hale, Operations Director at Vision takes up the story, "Our company's philosophy is to develop or supply unique products to our client base, these products must be of the highest quality and have significant or unique advantages in production for us to consider including them in our range.
The development of our own formulations was borne from our frustration at not being able to distribute an ‘off the shelf' ink that would give our clients the kind of performance they needed. We had worked with a number of ink manufacturers to try and develop a stock solution that would out-perform existing products in the marketplace without real success."
Vision's only course of action was to develop their own unique formulations working with a well respected European ink manufacturer, they were able to quickly develop their range of inks and oversee the complete product development from start to finish.
Their formulations are unique and exclusive and are quality controlled not only by the manufacturer but in-house at Vision where each batch of ink is tested extensively.
Colin Hale continues, "Our process of development is of course ongoing, and working closely with our clients we will further develop our products to ensure they maintain the highest performance whilst being cost effective. This is a difficult balance to achieve but something that we have been very successful at maintaining throughout the development of the products. Our growth in ink sales in the UK is something we are very proud of, there are good products from our competitors who have been established in this marketplace for many years, although our growth in this area clearly shows that many of the existing products were not delivering what many of our clients required."
Think Detail
Press ready formulations reduce the amount of time operators spend prior to the production run, Think formulations are manufactured without the use of water or oil based solvents which maintains their colour stability during printing.
Vision's attention to detail is not limited to the performance of the inks but extends as far as the packaging of the products, the unique colour coded ink labeling system allows the operator to easily select the right colour for the job.
The products are supplied by the litre and available from 5 litres up to 200 litre containers, distributed from Vision's base in Leeds where large volumes are stocked and readily available.
Type 01 has become the default choice for many screen printers looking for an economic high performance process ink suitable for a wide range of substrates, available in process colours with bases, tinters and varnishes. VOC free the ink has extremely high mileage and stable colour throughout even the longest print runs, and is available in both conventional UV and flash UV formulations.
Type 02 has been developed to offer the ultimate in process screen printing performance with a formulation which adheres to the widest range of substrates in the Think ink range, including papers, boards, vinyls, styrenes, pvc's, flat sheet and fluted polypropylene products. VOC free giving outstanding ink mileage and the ultimate in colour stability over long print runs. Like Type 01 a wide range of bases, tinters and varnishes are available, Type 02 is also available in both conventional and flash UV formulations.
"Further developing the Think range of products is something Vision are committed to," Colin Hale continues, "we will launch a number of new products in the final quarter of this year, testing of these products is currently being finalized, products which our clients have asked us to develop and products we are very excited about.".
Think Success
Paul Waterton, Managing Director continues, "We research and develop all our products in finite detail and only when we are absolutely assured of their performance and economy do we market them.
A good example of this is our success with products from Chim 92, which has transformed the way many companies cleaned screens, from a relatively unpleasant time consuming process into something that we have shown can be simpler, less time consuming, offer significant environmental benefits, yet be economical, and this type of business idea is something we are continually developing."
He continues, "In times of low economic growth and falling retail sales our clients need support from their supply chain, it is important that they can select products that offer the best performance and economy in use, we work hard with a very loyal customer base to ensure our company delivers the right solutions. Our clients are very complimentary, not only on the performance of our products but also on the way that we conduct our business, some of our competitors are reducing the levels of technical and sales support they offer, our company is continuing to develop the products and services we offer.
Vision has increased its market share of consumable products year on year since we established the company, turnover has increased in the face of difficult market times, but we have continued to expand by offering unique solutions and delivering exactly what we promise!"
For more information on the Think ink range, Chim 92 range of equipment and chemical products contact Vision Supplies Ltd
Tel: 0113 2008270, Fax: 0113 2777282, e-mail custserv@visionsupplies.co.uk
