The knowledge and intentions of many, if not most printing ink companies in 2013 is to provide a new breed of what they want to call technical servicing for ink
They have changed their whole complete business model in what they promote and the methodologies they employ for customer technical service. I will use the example of Braden Supthin Inks, who are a prime example of this, but not the only ink suppliers that use the model. Braden once provided immediate spot on technical service 24-7-365. That is gone. Check their website, the homepage promotes the “G7 experts” as what they offer. More details on this later.
So what is it? It is a person who is GRACoL 7 certified to qualify a given series of process colors in a print operation, pre press to finished printed sheet delivery. The people that do this mostly do not know the difference between ink and Shinola. They are experts at one thing, G7 qualification. So the benefit for the ink company becomes quite apparent. Once a series of inks are qualified on press, the printer is locked into that series of inks. Governed by L*a*b values and the rheologies of the four process inks, no other ink can be run to provide a match to the proofing system. For lack of a better term, that ink series now has a monopoly on that press because of its inherent properties. Since GRACOL 7 certification is normally 5-10K expenditure, the management and owners are very reluctant to switch to another brand.
Now the ink companies have latched on to this fact, hire independent G7 experts, qualify their inks and off they go. No more true experienced immediate technical servicing after G7 qualifying. Call at 8:00 on a Friday night and try to get an ink technician. In all likelihood, isn’t happening. This is a true fleecing of printers by ill intent ink vendors.
The moral of this writing is DO NOT LET ANYONE FROM an INK COMPANY or INK MIDDLEMAN SUPPLIER qualify your presses for GRACoL 7. Get an independent to do it, who knows about Shinola, not ink. And most importantly make sure your ink supplier provides the ‘old fashioned technical service’, that was a major driver in making the print and ink industry a pinnacle of success.
D Ink Man
They have changed their whole complete business model in what they promote and the methodologies they employ for customer technical service. I will use the example of Braden Supthin Inks, who are a prime example of this, but not the only ink suppliers that use the model. Braden once provided immediate spot on technical service 24-7-365. That is gone. Check their website, the homepage promotes the “G7 experts” as what they offer. More details on this later.
So what is it? It is a person who is GRACoL 7 certified to qualify a given series of process colors in a print operation, pre press to finished printed sheet delivery. The people that do this mostly do not know the difference between ink and Shinola. They are experts at one thing, G7 qualification. So the benefit for the ink company becomes quite apparent. Once a series of inks are qualified on press, the printer is locked into that series of inks. Governed by L*a*b values and the rheologies of the four process inks, no other ink can be run to provide a match to the proofing system. For lack of a better term, that ink series now has a monopoly on that press because of its inherent properties. Since GRACOL 7 certification is normally 5-10K expenditure, the management and owners are very reluctant to switch to another brand.
Now the ink companies have latched on to this fact, hire independent G7 experts, qualify their inks and off they go. No more true experienced immediate technical servicing after G7 qualifying. Call at 8:00 on a Friday night and try to get an ink technician. In all likelihood, isn’t happening. This is a true fleecing of printers by ill intent ink vendors.
The moral of this writing is DO NOT LET ANYONE FROM an INK COMPANY or INK MIDDLEMAN SUPPLIER qualify your presses for GRACoL 7. Get an independent to do it, who knows about Shinola, not ink. And most importantly make sure your ink supplier provides the ‘old fashioned technical service’, that was a major driver in making the print and ink industry a pinnacle of success.
D Ink Man
