The Rep's that do the rounds in this industry or are the first point of contact for the ink & consumables companies. Do you believe they should have the ability to offer both sales & technical support, or only sales with the ability to have a technical adviser within that company help solve issues?
Any printer that has worked in a smaller print firm would know that unfortunately the technical assistance given within this industry is directly related to the % sales a particular company is going to make out of you.
Here is a list of comments that we have received over the years from various ink & consumables companies to either questions relating to a product they sell or a call for technical help.
Q: What is the tack rating of this particular ink set?
A: Its a pretty good tack
A: probably more a low tack as most bio inks these days are.
Q: What is the Glycol % or the fount your recommending as we have asked for it to be under a certain %
A: Not sure, I will have to find out & call you back. It shouldn't matter what % glycols are in it they are needed.
A: 80% glycols
Q: This will effect drying do you have anything with a lower glycol level
A: Glycols have absolutely no effect on ink drying.
Q: We are having a --------- problem with your cyan & we are running the fount you recommended, any other cyan we try works. Although prior to calling you we have checked rollers & settings, switched decks altered the fountain solution % still no change, do you have any suggestions?
A: Hmmm I don't know what would cause that issue it is a high quality ink, we ship it in & sell it as is. We have some customers using 1000's of kg's a month sorry can't help.
Q: The msds of your ink doesn't list the specific drier load in the ink can you get me that information please I need to know to see if its compatible with a specific fountain solution?
A: Thats the only information we have, since this ink is running on machines at 17000sph it is a high quality ink so I think the manufacturer keeps the drier load % a secret so other companies don't copy.
A: It has a good amount of driers in them & we find it drys well.
Q: The roller & blanket wash your trying to sell us, does it contain Aromatic or aliphatic hydrocarbons or both?
A: Not sure, why? Its a good wash people love it it washes up really well
Q Do you offer a bio based wash void of petroleum hydrocarbons ?
A: full vegetable based washes are a misnomer, there is no such thing. petroleum has been used during the manufacturing process of the raw materials and will still be in the product. They are no better then a hydrocarbon wash
Q: This ink & fountain solution you have recommended the screens are not staying open & we are getting a large amount of picture framing & blanket piling. All roller settings, blanket packing have been checked prior to calling you, we didn't have this issue prior to using your product, do you have any suggestions?
A: If your roller settings are correct, your fount dose correct, conductivity correct then I have no idea what would cause that. We have heaps of people using that fount no one else has that problem.
A good one was when I was talking to the supposed ink technician for our state and asking questions regarding an ink set, he was struggling to answer and said I dunno I'm not a chemist just an ex printer.
Worst one of them all is when you miraculously do get a "tech" through the door for help & you ask how are you, have you been busy? "Yeah flat out its crazy" Then they stand there and don't actually do anything other then check the PH & conductivity of the fount. Then scratch their head & say no one else is having issues. We have another product you could try maybe that will work
Well if no one else is having issues then why the f---- are you flat out busy.
Anyone else have some good one liners over the years from sales or techs from ink & consumable suppliers?
Any printer that has worked in a smaller print firm would know that unfortunately the technical assistance given within this industry is directly related to the % sales a particular company is going to make out of you.
Here is a list of comments that we have received over the years from various ink & consumables companies to either questions relating to a product they sell or a call for technical help.
Q: What is the tack rating of this particular ink set?
A: Its a pretty good tack
A: probably more a low tack as most bio inks these days are.
Q: What is the Glycol % or the fount your recommending as we have asked for it to be under a certain %
A: Not sure, I will have to find out & call you back. It shouldn't matter what % glycols are in it they are needed.
A: 80% glycols
Q: This will effect drying do you have anything with a lower glycol level
A: Glycols have absolutely no effect on ink drying.
Q: We are having a --------- problem with your cyan & we are running the fount you recommended, any other cyan we try works. Although prior to calling you we have checked rollers & settings, switched decks altered the fountain solution % still no change, do you have any suggestions?
A: Hmmm I don't know what would cause that issue it is a high quality ink, we ship it in & sell it as is. We have some customers using 1000's of kg's a month sorry can't help.
Q: The msds of your ink doesn't list the specific drier load in the ink can you get me that information please I need to know to see if its compatible with a specific fountain solution?
A: Thats the only information we have, since this ink is running on machines at 17000sph it is a high quality ink so I think the manufacturer keeps the drier load % a secret so other companies don't copy.
A: It has a good amount of driers in them & we find it drys well.
Q: The roller & blanket wash your trying to sell us, does it contain Aromatic or aliphatic hydrocarbons or both?
A: Not sure, why? Its a good wash people love it it washes up really well
Q Do you offer a bio based wash void of petroleum hydrocarbons ?
A: full vegetable based washes are a misnomer, there is no such thing. petroleum has been used during the manufacturing process of the raw materials and will still be in the product. They are no better then a hydrocarbon wash
Q: This ink & fountain solution you have recommended the screens are not staying open & we are getting a large amount of picture framing & blanket piling. All roller settings, blanket packing have been checked prior to calling you, we didn't have this issue prior to using your product, do you have any suggestions?
A: If your roller settings are correct, your fount dose correct, conductivity correct then I have no idea what would cause that. We have heaps of people using that fount no one else has that problem.
A good one was when I was talking to the supposed ink technician for our state and asking questions regarding an ink set, he was struggling to answer and said I dunno I'm not a chemist just an ex printer.
Worst one of them all is when you miraculously do get a "tech" through the door for help & you ask how are you, have you been busy? "Yeah flat out its crazy" Then they stand there and don't actually do anything other then check the PH & conductivity of the fount. Then scratch their head & say no one else is having issues. We have another product you could try maybe that will work
Well if no one else is having issues then why the f---- are you flat out busy.
Anyone else have some good one liners over the years from sales or techs from ink & consumable suppliers?
