“The big area of focus for us is in the digital space for dispersants and resins systems”

What are the products you produce for printing ink industry? Its application in other industry eg Paint or any coating industry?

We produce advanced technology hyper-dispersants that maximise the aesthetic property of the pigments.  We also produce surface modifiers that improve the surface properties such as scratch, feel, slip etc.  Our focus is to improve the efficiency at the customer’s end by providing micronised easy to disperse powders and compounds.  Our hyper-dispersants and surface modifiers are used in every industry wherein pigment dispersions and surface properties are critical hence find application in everything from plastics, textiles, architectural paints, coatings, automobiles finishes and refinishes and epoxy flooring and wood flooring.

What new products have your company recently launched and what kind of inks do they produce?

Health and environmental compliant products in hyper-dispersants such as 72700 and 76500, which can be used for non-toluene and non-MEK inks.

As consumer spending is exponentially increasing in the retail space, FMCG companies are striving hard to differentiate with innovative packaging for which we have launched new surface modifiers range products to give texture effects in UV coatings.

Products for anti-counterfeiting technology such as holograms are becoming more prevalent as such we have introduced full range of finish lacquers products that provide extremely sharp images and heat resistance properties.

Are you seeing any difference/change in the buying pattern from ink industry?

Yes, we are seeing more interest in eco-friendly raw materials due to the demand in the local market and regulations in the export market.  This has increased demand for the compliant products in our range.  We have also seen interest in indigenised products, which puts higher demand on our application development lab here in Mumbai.

Do you have a manufacturing plant in India?

Yes. Lubrizol established its first plant in India in 1966 in the oil additives business.  We also have a production plant for food additives at Vadodara.  We are now in the process of establishing a general chemical site in Dahej.

Raw materials continue to be among the top cost pressures for small and midsized manufacturers, and the ability to manage these costs remains a top sourcing concern. How should the procuring company address this critical supply concern?

Small and mid-sized manufacturers face the challenge of bridging the technology gap with larger manufacturers, and at the same time, are expected to price their products at lower costs.  We recognise this challenge and strive to provide technology as well as better costs in use i.e. in all cases you would find that our products provide better performance at lower dosage levels which basically means lower costs in the end formulation or the application cost which is an intrinsic value which the customer derives through use of our product.

The print industry has been witness a change in the way print is being demanded. The structure of the traditional process (offset) which is associated with long-runs is being challenged by growing demand for short-runs, now fast getting recognized with digital printing. What do you make out of this development?

 More than five years ago we recognised the emerging trend towards digital printing and subsequently established a full-fledged laboratory in USA. We have developed a range of products mainly in resins and dispersants to be used in the digital ceramics and textiles and in printing inks for the wide-format. Lubrizol has manufacturing capabilities for the same in UK and USA.

As supply chains become more complex and exposed to global risks, what’s the best approach to reduce the vulnerability of this operating environment?

 We have established an inventory base in the India to meet the growing demand for our products and assure speedy, and consistent supply to key customers

Has quality been sacrificed by specifying inferior, alternative materials or components? Are ink makers approaching product design in a different way?

We are seeing the opposite trend in our customer base where customers are striving to achieve highest quality and excellence so that they are able to deliver to export market and differentiate with the local competitors.  This trend has increased interest in formulating products using Lubrizol products.

What other factors, beyond price, should ink makers consider when choosing suppliers?

Manufacturers should look at the total cost of the processing, efficiency of production and reducing their production time, which leads to higher capacity utilisation. This reduces the operation costs. Specifically one  of  our  dispersants  for  web offset and  heatset  inks, which  does  this is Colorburst 2160, which is able to reduce processing time substantially.

Customers of printing ink manufacturer are looking for greener technologies, who in turn would demand raw material which will help them produce such products. How is your company meeting those needs?

 Lubrizol is now promoting solvent-free resins for the liquid inks and paints and bio based surface modifiers compounds for sheetfed inks that cater to the needs of those companies interested in greener products.  We continue to develop newer products to meet the greener technology needs and have several exciting projects in our development pipeline.

China has managed to dislodge the global players in technology, volumes and economies. What has stopped Indian multinationals or the large Indian companies or otherwise from creating the same kind of scaling operations?

India is unique as large portion of enterprises are family-owned business when compared with China.  This is due to the form of government, the cost of capital and sub-regional nature of the business in this country.  So while this does not always allow massive scale operations it actually does provide an excellent platform for rapid change and new technology adoption.

What areas are your R&D efforts focusing on for the future?

 The big area of focus for us is in the digital space for dispersants and resins systems.  The second one is the ink receptive coatings (IRT) which makes any surface receptive to inks thus reducing the number of variances of ink needed for increasing the range of surfaces that can be printed on.

The article has been compiled by Noel D'cunha and was first published in Ink News

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