Sakata INX, the Japan-based ink manufacturer with several plants in the Indian subcontinent, is generally considered to be ahead of the industry in terms of its advanced formulations for producing consumer-friendly, high-specification packaging designed with environmental considerations. Its liquid inks manufactured in India are widely used for printing flexible packaging due to their high quality, sustainability, versatility, and compatibility with various substrates.
Advanced liquid inks are used on film, laminate, and substrates such as PET, BOPP, PE, MDOPE, CPP, and Nylon, mainly for rotogravure and flexographic printing. While Sakata has been manufacturing Toluene and Ketone-free inks in India for the past two decades, its PVC and NC-free inks have been available for the past five years, to meet the stringent quality and environmental regulations for the food packaging industry.
With high focus on food safety and sustainability, innovative, environmentally friendly products such as odorless high-performance inks, plant-derived inks, and functional coatings have been made available to the Indian and overseas markets from India. As a key player with a large global network and a strong market position, the company also drives industry trends by working closely with major brands to develop customized solutions and promoting brand color management, ensuring consistency across various platforms and substrates.
Liquid ink properties
Liquid inks for packaging typically consist of pigments dispersed in a liquid vehicle, with the formulation including binders, solvents (water or oil-based), surfactants, and specialized additives. Water-based inks are increasingly being favoured for being environmentally friendly, reducing volatile organic compounds (VOC), and improving safety during handling and printing. Manufacturers select pigments and binders based on desired properties such as gloss, transparency, color strength, adhesion, and light fastness, which are critical for meeting packaging application needs.
Innovation & technology
Sakata INX develops and supplies a range of innovative specialty inks, including Botanical Inks, Thermochromic Inks, Glow in the Dark, UV Visible Inks, Feather feel coating, and others. It provides functional coating materials for the paper industry, plastic films, and a variety of specialized coatings for commercial print and both rigid and flexible packaging.
For instance, Sakata INX’s original brand, Botanical Ink, uses plant-derived ingredients, and the company continues to expand this line with products such as EcoPlata (water-based flexo ink for paper bags) and EcoPino (water-based gravure ink for paper cartons).
Sustainability & environmental responsibility
Sakata INX prioritizes the development of environmentally friendly products, including water-based inks. The company adheres to international environmental and food safety standards, such as ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 & ISO 45001:2018. As a critical supplier to all major global brands, influencing industry standards and trends through direct collaboration, Sakata Inx’s innovations and collaborations become benchmarks and trends for the industry’s technical evolution and environmental compliance.
Brand color management
The company’s expertise in brand color management ensures that the major packaging converters receive precise color consistency across all media and substrates, establishing them as a reliable partner for brand owners. The IMS system was introduced to the Indian market by Sakata INX as far back as the year 2000, and since then with its precise and repeatable color dispersion across products, helped to transform various converter plants into highly profitable business units.
The company support its international customers and contributes to the growth of various markets using local bases available across its extensive global network by way of having cross functional formulations available across regions. This not only helps customers to replicate solutions of one country to others but also to have consistency in graphic reproduction – a product produced in India can have the same color reproduction as products produced anywhere else.
Quality ink manufacturing
Sakata INX focuses on its core competency of being a high-quality ink manufacturer and a pioneer. It was one of the first companies in India to launch its Lamiall PU Ink when the market was still dominated by vinyl and other Inks, and this became a trend. After 27 years of its Lamiall launch, PU inks remain a growing business for Sakata INX in the country, although the non-toluene solvents have replaced Toluene.
Continued innovation in formulations, such as surface-modifying chemistries and eco-friendly vehicles, help developments for the new and demanding requirements of the packaging industry as substrates become more diverse and printing speeds increase. In addition, recent market demands of water-based, UV & UV-LED inks support the industry’s sustainability goals by lowering VOCs, energy consumption, and the carbon footprint of brand owners and packaging converters.
Sanjay Kaul is the head of Marketing and Sales for Liquid Inks at Sakata INX (India) PL
