Contracts with Colorful Capabilities

Ink agreements run the gamut, ranging from complete overhauls of the existing ink room and the establishment of new inking facilities to simply the addition of new management approaches, experienced inking personnel, and technical support. No matter how ink suppliers intervene, however, ink agreements result in reduced raw material and work-off inventories, just-in-time ink access, and an overall well-managed ink lab. "Our ultimate goal is to try to create a situation where the right amount of the right ink is at the right press at the right time, and, hopefully, we will have eliminated [the printer] from having to spend additional resources to do so," said Mike Impastato, vice president of market development at Flint Ink (Ann Arbor, Mich.), which has been providing what Flint Ink calls graphic technical centers (GTC) for years.