Kao Collins Adds Swiss Compliance and Colors to Industry Leading SIGMA Solvent Ink

Kao Collins announced two major developments to SIGMA, the company’s best-selling TIJ ink for HP 45si industrial printing systems. The ink, first released in 2019, captured the marking and coding industry by storm with its industry-leading 12-hour decap time and 24-month shelf life.

Compliant with Swiss Ordinance Annex-10

Chemists at Kao Collins reformulated the revolutionary solvent-based ink to meet Swiss Ordinance compliance and developed color versions of SIGMA to support industry needs.

All new SIGMA inks meet the requirements specified in Annex 10 of the Swiss Ordinance.
Kristin Adams, Kao Collins’ Marketing Manager, said, “Focusing on the future is at the core of our business, which means staying ahead of global regulations. We wanted to give our customers and the industry a competitive advantage without being required to do so.”

The development of the new inks reflects Kao Collins’ ongoing commitment to a safer environment and the company’s My Kirei Lifestyle embodied in three core principles:

• Make every day more beautiful
• Make thoughtful choices for society
• Make the world healthier and cleaner

The new SIGMA inks are formulated and manufactured in accordance with the "EUPIA" Guideline on Printing Inks applied to the non-contact surface of consumer packaging such as pet foods, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, beverages and more.

Beyond Black - SIGMA Colors

Beyond Swiss Ordinance compliance and the 12-hour decap, the new SIGMA inks, packaged in factory-new HP cartridges, are available now in several colors.

Customers, satisfied with the original SIGMA in black, frequently asked for color versions of the high-performance ink. Kao Collins now offers SIGMA in five colors: red, yellow, blue, green, and violet.

Unique Benefits of SIGMA

SIGMA prints on non-porous substrates used for flexible packaging, rigid plastics, and metals, including nylon BOPP, PE, PET and PP, foils, aluminum, laminated papers, and more.

• 24-month shelf life
• Reduced nozzle failure
• Fast, heatless drying
• Superior trajectory, volume, and velocity

As a part of the Kao Corporation, the company embraces the mission of delivering wholehearted satisfaction, enrichment of the lives of people globally, and contributing to the world's sustainability.

“Our formulators took what made SIGMA great and made it even better,” Adams said. “That’s what our customers expect.”