Spot Color Dispensers

Efficiently dispensing spot colors can be chal-lenging because most printers don't use large quantities of custom inks. So, they're not likely to keep countless colors in inventory. Wasting ink is an added cost at a time when pricing is competitive and margins are tighter than deadlines. But having numerous special orders sent overnight isn't a cost-effective way to do business, either.

Ink manufacturers can help customers dispense ink more efficiently and accurately. If the system isn't accurate and relatively simple to use, the printer is going to be frustrated with the process and the results, which will be colors that are off. Size also matters: No one really wants a bulky system taking up an inordinate amount of floor space.

A computerized system using state-of-the-art software is also critical. If an operator can call up a preprogrammed formula for a PMS color, push a button and have the color within minutes, the job will run more smoothly. INX International Ink's Magnum system has a compact, 38×40´´ footprint, and it's quick—INX says a five-lb., four-component batch can be dispensed in about three minutes, within an accuracy of +/- .002 lb. per component. Its INX Manager software was developed in conjunction with GFI.

For numerous spot colors, a good system translates into less downtime. “The operator simply calls up the preprogrammed formula on the touch-screen, hits 'dispense' and walks away,” says Dan Babe, INX director of customer engineering services. “Even with mixing, the batch is press-ready in 15 minutes or less, start to finish.”

Superior Printing Ink has its Precision Color Mixing System (PCMS) for in-house mixing use. It includes a Windows-compatible software calculator that integrates to a scale. The blending and recycling system works for both Pantone and non-Pantone color matches using either existing or dormant inventory. And PCMS's small batches are more cost effective than ordering premixed blends.

Hostmann-Steinberg distributes the ColorMatic Ink Doser 2500 dispensing system from Norway's Tronrud Engineering. The greatest cost savings from automatic ink dosing are realized in the pressroom, where ColorMatic allows printers to use only the amount of ink required to complete the run, thus reducing inventory and waste.

“Scales are relatively coarse in their accuracy, and human error simply compounds this problem,” says an official with Cascades Resources, a division of PaperlinX Canada Ltd., which distributes ColorMatic there. “Mixing more ink than is needed is commonplace—always better to have too much ink than to run out!” Many unused portions remain on the shelf and ultimately skin over and are wasted.

“Bad mixes, if caught by a pressman, result in the delay of a re-mix,” the official adds. “Pressmen are also known to attempt corrections in the press ink fountain, resulting in very excessive makeready.” If not caught in the pressroom, he adds, improper dosing can punish printers with customer dissatisfaction or even having to pay for a reprint.