Moving not only with the evolving needs in screen printing inks, but also thinking ahead as a leader, Rutland Plastic Technologies, US has entered into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Mumbai-based Dhaval Color Chem or DCC as it is popularly known to manufacture, service, and market unique Plastisol and PVC-free waterbase textile screen printing inks. For Rutland this is the first manufacturing venture in Asia and first co-branding with any company. “Expanding our global reach has been a top priority for the company and our long-term relationship with DCC, going back more than a decade, presented an outstanding partnership opportunity,” says Hal F Crownover, CEO. Adds Narendra Dadia, Group Chairman of DCC, “A partnership with Rutland is a perfect opportunity for both companies to share the technology and market access, as we have technology for the finest quality PVC-free water-based inks and Rutland has technology for the best Plastisol and Specialty inks with sales and service network across the world.”

The new manufacturing facility, development lab and sales office, located in India, will serve India and the world – Asia, Europe, North and South America and other regions. “As a joint identity, Rutland-DCC Ink Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. has become the biggest supplier of ink in terms of product range,” says Dadia. The capacity of the new factory is 300 tonnes per month with the flexibility to be scaled up at same facility as the demand increases.

Together the new JV is geared to offer the world’s most advanced ink at affordable prices. “With the ink now being manufactured in India, there will be a 20% price advantage from the earlier price point when the inks were imported,” says Dhaval Dadia, Director DCC. But it is not only about price, but now they will be able to procure it from one source as Rutland-DCC combine has the largest and complete product range such as phthalate free plastisol, specialty inks for polyester, decorative inks for fashion, value addition, discharge and PVC free waterbase inks.

R&D is at the root of growth at Rutland and for the JV developments will continue to be generated at its R&D centres in Europe and US. Its latest offerings in specialty inks include the new textile screen print gel ink HG4229 that gives excellent print qualities and long-term stability, MA0221 that allows the printer to print a dry glitter look without all the mess and flake off normally associated with that type of printing and MH0217 for a distressed or worn print look, as the market demands have increased for the same. Among recent R&D is the effort to give value to printing technology on polyester as the fibre picks up in the fashion industry as well as the technical textile segment.

Significantly, one of the major directions for developments at Rutland is ‘sustainability’. “We turn 99.5% of purchased materials into usable, technically-advanced products. We are often cited as an example of how an innovative manufacturing operation can be aligned with outstanding environmental practices,” says John Mason, Group Director of Technology – Screen Inks.