Is it real? Image Specialists is sold

Medical grade Glycol
http://www.dow.com/propyleneglycol/products/pg_uspep.htm

Industrial Grade Glycol
http://www.dow.com/propyleneglycol/products/industrial_grade.htm

Now Dow Chemical recommends industrial grade glycol for printing inks. When STS bumps up the spec to medical grade for a better product what is the fuss about? and we're worried. Does this make sense? If medical grade was initially used and then STS bumps the grade down, then we should be. But that is not the case folks...they are offering a superior product now...possibly matching or exceeding OEM specs in quality which is their motto...
I am frankly surprised that the opposite reaction seems to have occurred here.

If you are producing something that relies on the accuracy of the individual components it's good engineering practise to check what happens if the incoming components are just marginally within the limits in the actual specification. It's not uncommon to just take the first samples from a supplier and then base your own product specifications on the properties of your first prototypes. Then you get deliveries that are a bit off from the nominal value but still within the spec and there is nothing you can do about if it affects your own customers. Sometimes very expensive to fix a design at that stage.

If the specifications of inks remain the same I don't care what has happened during the production process. A second source of key components just makes the supply more robust. Only if properties change significantly and you have to get new profiles would I request/require that I get information that changes have been made.

The last time I bought ink from Mikling I "hoarded" so I'm not worried about the changes. Tightening the specs is a good sign to old engineers like me!

This is a sample label from STS. It clearly does not say Mexico.
Hat heard a rumour.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgqPpdluoes

mikling said:

Medical grade Glycol
http://www.dow.com/propyleneglycol/products/pg_uspep.htm

Industrial Grade Glycol
http://www.dow.com/propyleneglycol/products/industrial_grade.htm

Now Dow Chemical recommends industrial grade glycol for printing inks. When STS bumps up the spec to medical grade for a better product what is the fuss about? and we're worried. Does this make sense? If medical grade was initially used and then STS bumps the grade down, then we should be. But that is not the case folks...they are offering a superior product now...possibly matching or exceeding OEM specs in quality which is their motto...
I am frankly surprised that the opposite reaction seems to have occurred here.

Click to expand...

Is this done to reduce the chance of microorganism growth in the product?

stratman said:

The sale of IS to STS is big news to me as it most likely heralds changes to the ink I use. What these changes are, good or bad, remain to be seen. According to Mikling, better constituents are being used. While some may think that exposure of changes may spook customers and lose business, I believe honest disclosure as you have done, webby, enhances my trust and respect. Either way, with or without the behind the scene knowledge, i would be purchasing IS inks. The difference is that when the shite hits the fan I won't feel betrayed by my supplier for keeping mum on the significant changes that occurred that caused my printed images to begin to look different.

Click to expand...

Those statements are totally unfounded. Just to list one example. One of the constituents of my gray ink was modified. Reason....the raw dye was no longer available. Did STS just make something simple to replace it and cause changes in output. No way. I was intimately involved in a teleconference call meeting about the situation. They understood the situation and the requirements for consistency....not even OcP understands that. The first iteration had a delta E of less than 1. I tested it and we decided to make a closer match with the assistance of their best lab techs and equipment. Samples ran back and forth until we were happy with the final result. Does that sound like a company that does not understand the need for high quality digital printing? I invite you to list another ink dealer or company that would ensure consistent output of that level.

Did I need to disclose what I had been doing? No not at all. Does every factory disclose where they get their ingredients? No. ..One thing is that I insisted for the best possible outcome within the landscape of what was possible and they delivered over many tries. I wanted to protect both my own and my customer investments in their workflow . How many ink companies will do that? they just change whatever they see fit.

How can the statements about the company STS been drawn without some facts that are materially correct and real. How can we prejudge when we don't know?

Finally little is known about the fact that the prior owner of IS did not take a vacation for over seven years. He certainly cared for his customers and I know we wanted the best outcome for his customers. I am certain that his choice to sell to STS was carried out after great thought. He continues to work in STS. I can tell you he tried the best he could and the market was simply not allowing him to take a holiday for whatever reason or continue to provide the diversity of products we all want at the prices we want to pay. I also lost contact with some of his previous staff who were a pleasure to deal with. Life goes on.

I have to jump in this because this discussion took on a tone that somehow prior customers were being exploited, hoodwinked and left hanging and that certainly was not the case. They still get their ink and it is now superior. That some colors will have to disappear because of low volume and non viable economically is understandable.

fotofreek said:

Is this done to reduce the chance of microorganism growth in the product?

Click to expand...

Bactericide does that. Medical grade from what I gleam based on what I have read is all about purity and stability. This will assist in more consistent ink and less problems during print. When chemicals are made, there are always variations and some impurities. Medical grade cuts that down. When you ship a lot of product to warmer climates, stability is of concern. If you've looked at how hospitals are outfitted a similar situation exists in electrical devices. Plugs and outlets that are medical grade are higher quality than that used at home. The last thing you want is equipment malfunctioning in a hospital due to a bad outlet or plug. Use that analogy in understanding grades.
I have always stated on my labels to store in a cool dark place. In South America, cool can be hard to accomplish when much of the population does not have climate change causing air conditioning you need to do something to mitigate that effect. That is engineering. That is the new company. That is STS.

While I order my inks at octoinkjet but also from other shops in germany I am used to search for different sources (no big amount, about 2 litres a year)... and I am always looking for news regarding good quality ink (e.g. the new pigment ink from inktech)

Mostly I do not know where or how these inks are manufactured ... what counts it the final result ..

For now I am satisfied with the statements of websnail that pricing will (or already has) get a little higher - regarding that ink costs for us refillers are still very low compared to OEM - and while mikling seems to be confident that quality will remain or even could get higher, I have no reason to mourn yet. I agree this is how economy works...

And the homepage of STS is not looking less or more "inspiring confidence" to me as the one from IS, first seems to be mainly for commercial users of large format printers, the latter for retailers of 3rd party ink - both are not for a end users with a small amount like me..

BTW I have just received and tested an ink set from a german online shop which is new to me ("arici") ... they have a VERY confusing homepage, could not even find a search button ... but the ink for my old ip4000 (canon BCI carts) matches canon colors very well ... so beware of prejudice...

Hi Martin,

The quality of Arici is the complete opposite to Inktec Powerchrome K3. I don't need to say more.

As I said I only have tried canon dye for BCI from arici ... and only first impression... don't wanted to draw wrong conclusions for all of their inks. In this test the results for canon compatible are reasonably good:
http://www.druckerchannel.de/artike...rnativen_zu_den_canon_patronen_pgi_550cli_551

I had a similar experience with coralgraph: after your good results of cheap claria compatible ink I tried canon compatible from them - in my old ip4000 the colors came out like "over vivid"...

Anyway thank you for the info regarding epson K3 compatible...