As a part of DIC Corporation of Japan, DIC India offers solutions that address issues of packaging and printing. We are India’s leading supplier of printing inks, laminating adhesives, innovative packaging solutions, and other allied products serving top-of-the-line newspapers, magazines, conversion agents, and both national and international printing and packaging establishments.
DIC India participated in the Asia Coat Show, which was held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre from 17th to 19th November 2022. We spoke to Dr.Mohuya Biswas, chief technical manager at DIC India Limited. Dr.Mohuya Biswas graduated in polymer science technology, and she has completed her Master’s and Ph.D. Currently handling DIC’s technical department, she has been associated with DIC for more than 25 years. We spoke to her about DIC India’s latest developments and offering for the domestic market.
Innovation derived from market trends
She said, “I am passionate about developing new patterns and designs for inks. All our products are market-oriented, as we design them as per the requirement of the customers and the prevaling trend in the market.
We provide innovative solutions to the market. We have a system to connect with our customer it’s called DIC Connect, through which we connect with customers and understand their needs and accordingly develop new products.
We have focused on the education and health sectors, but we have witnessed double-digit growth in the packaging sector. Though it is a smaller sector than the education and health industry, it has immense scope. We are developing sustainable inks.
Inks for Flexible Packaging
DIC has various ink ranges for the flexible packaging industry, like Solvent Based Flexo Inks Product Range and the Water Based Flexo Inks Product Range. There is a new range of Flexo Inks, LED inks, and EB inks. LED inks are sustainable and eco-friendly.
“In off-set, we have Vinyl ink, Low Migration ink. Last year we also launched Direct Food Contact ink, which can be used in mono cartons for food brands like McDonald’s, KFC, Dominos, etc.”
DIC – A Solution Provider
The company is providing total solutions to the market for inks and innovative solutions like the Fountain Solution, Starch Solution, Nylon-based Blanket, etc.
“Recently, we have launched the Sun Colour Box, which is an automated color matching system, and within 5 minutes, you will get 300 combinations for color matching, and you can select color options depending upon the cost, least delta E, etc.”
“For Sun Colour Box, we have done live shows for converters, and brands like Sai packaging, ITC, Parksons, and Can pack. It is a computerized and cloud base system, and the clients are delighted with the product.”
The journey Sustainable Inks in India
“The demand for sustainable ink is not at par with countries like Europe and UK, but it is slowly growing, and people in India are now talking about mineral-oil free ink, eco-friendly ink, low migration & low order inks, etc.”
“Only some industries are moving towards eco-friendly inks, but slowly and steadily, the awareness and eagerness to move to eco-friendly ink are growing. Companies like ITC and Parksons packaging are already using sustainable inks for their Chocolate and Tea packaging. A small segment of customers are also taking these sustainable inks, so there is an awareness.
The more prominent brands have already taken the sustainable approach that drives converters to use sustainable inks. We have tied with nestlé, ITC, and other reputed brands and given them the presentation for sustainable and eco-friendly inks, emphasizing them to talk to their printer/converter for using these inks for printing.”
Inks produced with all compliance in place
“UV flexo and water-based flexo are a trend that is coming. We are producing inks with 100% compliance. We have set a parameter or a benchmark to select a specific grade of raw material, as there is quality control, so all our basic finished inks comply with all regulations. Our factory, which produces these inks, is also ISO-certified.” conculdes Dr.Biswas.
