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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Pablo M. Lee and Nicholas Hellmuth
September 2019
Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. InksRex-Tone Industries Ltd.
Factory Visit1
Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. InksAfter FESPA 2019, we had the opportunity to visit the several facilities and factories of A.T. Inks in Vadodara, India. A.T. Inks is the registered trademark and brand name of ink products sold by Rex-tone Industries and is the largest inkjet ink manufacturing company in India.
Rex-Tone Industries Limited has a long his-tory in the pigment industry. After 31 years of working with multinationals in the dyes and textiles field, Mr. Harish Goswamy founded this company in 1994 to move into the inkjet ink business.
From left to right: Pablo M. Lee (FLAAR-REPORTS), Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR founder), Dr. Pradeep Koyadan (A.T. INKS) Nitin Goswamy (A.T. INKS), Neerav Goswamy (A.T. INKS).
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
From left to right: Dr. Pradeep Koyadan (A.T. INKS) Nitin Goswamy (A.T. INKS), Pablo M. Lee (FLAAR-REPORTS), Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR founder), Neerav Goswamy (A.T. INKS).
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
The corporate headquarters are located at Mumbai with production and research & development facili-ties located in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
During this visit we had free access to the demo room, R&D labs, and each different factory where we could observe the ink manufacturing process and see test prints of their wide gamut of inkjet ink products. Plus we visited several local printing companies to see how the inks functioned out in the real world.
These are the front covers of three FLAAR-REPORTS on the
site-visit case studies.
In addition to visiting a factory, in order to make a complete evaluation we prefer also to visit printing companies which are using the inks or printers or media or cutter or laminator that we are studying. For A.T. Inks we visited several printshops and have prepared three separate FLAAR-REPORTS. These you can download on our web sites.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
The first thing we could observe during our visit is the technical and intellectual capacity of the A.T. Inks team; all this incombination with advanced technological resources with which they have an advantage in this competitive market.
Their staff is highly qualified and experienced and has been involved in multiple aspects of the color business acquiring knowledge and experience in both impact and non-impact printing on different substrates.
A.T. Inks covers a wide variety of ink products compatible with wide format digital printer inks: solvent, eco-solvent, ce-ramic, UV, UV-LED, and water based.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Thanks to its good quality and reputation the company has been growing little by little and is now composed of five ar-chitectural complexes (and they already have plans for the construction of a factory where all the areas will be togeth-er) thanks to which it manages to keep its multiple clients around the world supplied.
In the R & D department, they are always innovating to keep up with the vanguard technologies and thus fulfill the ex-pectations of their products or to solve the needs of specific clients.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Bright friendly colors are crucial. A cheap ink will have low-bid results. A well formulated ink will have good color spec-trum and the colors will last longer.
The FLAAR-REPORTS team has visited ink factories around the world. The A.T. Inks factories (plural, since there are sev-eral, each one handling a different aspect, such as pigments), deserves a rating as professional quality.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. InksDuring the visit to the factory we could observe that the ink manufacturing process is fully automated, eliminating a lot of the possibility of failure due to human error.
The whole process of research, development and manufac-turing of the ink is carried under strict quality control.
Visiting the factory and some customers is a good way for to better understand the capabilities, experience, and dedica-tion of a company.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Here are several of the many test printers inside the factory.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
A pertinent observation is on the size and worldwide pres-ence of A.T. Inks. Dr. Nicholas first visited their factory more than 8 years ago. The company has grown considerably since then (though they were large already before). We would also discretely mention, that as typical for international-focused ink factories, they make ink for distributors around the world under other brand names. We do not publish these brand names, but we mention it because you may already have ex-perience with their inks under another brand name.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. InksA.T. Inks also has its own factory of dye pigments in which it produces its own compounds, thus obtaining indepen-dence from the international market of supplies for the manufacture of inkjet inks.
From left to right: Pablo M. Lee (FLAAR-REPORTS), Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR founder), Harish Goswamy (A.T. INKS founder), Nitin Goswamy (A.T. INKS).
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Considering that ink leaves a stain if a factory has been operating several decades it is natural to notice it is a very productive factory. Nonetheless, the factory is neat and clean. This is a benefit of being a family-run business where the goal is to make a good ink in a well managed facility.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Being a multinational company means understanding that it is appropriate to interact with local communities and support the development of the school education programs. Here is Harish Goswamy (founder of the com-pany) in an event he plans with the local community.
A.T. Inks has several community support programs with which they support people with limited resources.
One of these projects is the support of rural schools, with which works closely to overcome the lack of infrastruc-ture and equipment. Thus, the children who attend them are provided with supplies so that they have a decent educational opportunity. We especially respect this since FLAAR Mesoamerica itself also has an educational program to assist schools in Central America (www.FLAAR-Mesoamerica.org). Thus we admire the programs of A.T. Inks with schools in their areas.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. InksIf you with to add textiles, metal, glass, or other innovative materials to your printing capabilities, the team at A.T. Inks can assist based on the experience of printing companies in India who have successfully worked out how to handle smooth slippery materials (such as glass, metal, etc.).
It also helps to learn which color management tools work well with fabrics and with a wide range of materials. Good spec-trophotometers and color management software is as crucial as is a good brand of RIP software.
Another tip: your print results will be even better colors if the original photographer has used color balance (color balance in the original photography is different than color manage-ment during printing). To get the best color balance (to make it easier for color management to achieve good ink color while printing), we use Macbeth Color Checker Chart (now known as the X-Rite ColorChecker). This is better in the digital world of today than any Kodak color chart of the world of 35mm film.
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
In addition to contacting A.T. INKS by e-mail or telephone, their team attend the major international trade shows. We saw and spoke with A.T. INKS personnel at ITMA 2019 Barcelona (the high-end textile printer expo), at FESPA Mexico and look forward to seeing them at Printing United 2019 (“SGIA 2019” renamed) in Dallas. Even if they don’t have a booth, you can speak with them in-person.
If you are a substantial printing company and would like to switch to A.T. INKS, contact: A.T. Inks, Americas [email protected] +1 704 893 0291
A.T. Inks, EU, Asia, Australia and [email protected] and [email protected] +91 8511591740
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Factory VisitTo judge quality & capability
of A.T. Inks
Printi ng test by OKI at ISA 2018
FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 in Berlin (European experience)
Printi ng test by COLORJET at APPPEXPO 2018
Our experience at ISA 2019.(Las Vegas, Nevada)
SGI Dubai 2019 HighlightsAPPPEXPO 2019 Highlights
FESPA Mexico 2018 interviews
FESPA Mexico 2018 FESPA Berlin 2018 interviews
Check Out OurLatest Videos
You can also obtain FLAAR-REPORTS straight from our websites:
www.FLAAR-REPORTS.org | www.large-format-printers.org | www.wide-format-printers.net
©Copyright 2019
Printi ng test by OKI at ISA 2018
FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 in Berlin (European experience)
Printi ng test by COLORJET at APPPEXPO 2018
Our experience at ISA 2019.(Las Vegas, Nevada)
SGI Dubai 2019 HighlightsAPPPEXPO 2019 Highlights
FESPA Mexico 2018 interviews
FESPA Mexico 2018 FESPA Berlin 2018 interviews
Check Out OurLatest Videos
Printi ng test by OKI at ISA 2018
FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 in Berlin (European experience)
Printi ng test by COLORJET at APPPEXPO 2018
Our experience at ISA 2019.(Las Vegas, Nevada)
SGI Dubai 2019 HighlightsAPPPEXPO 2019 Highlights
FESPA Mexico 2018 interviews
FESPA Mexico 2018 FESPA Berlin 2018 interviews
Check Out OurLatest Videos
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