Xaar and Metco join forces to deliver to Lappato tile market

IndPrint

Xaar has announced a new partnership with Italian ink manufacturer Metco Srl to deliver Xaar approved Solvent Soluble Inks (SSI) for use in GS12C and GS40C variants of the Xaar 1003 printhead and the Xaar 2001 GS12C.

Established in 1990 in Bologna, Italy, Metco was the first company in the world able to develop a set of completely soluble inks without using gold for magenta. These inks are used in the production of highly polished Lappato tiles found in commercial ‘high traffic’ locations such as shopping malls and public buildings.

Xaar approved inks offer the tile manufacturers a range of benefits such as improved print performance, print reliability and improved throughput. All the inks go through the XaarDot fluid optimisation process which includes determining complex rheological characteristics of a fluid to identify and fix reasons for poor performance; materials compatibility and lifetime testing to evaluate the effect of the fluid on the printhead and to establish fluid robustness; waveform optimisation to ensure greater drop placement accuracy as well as optimised operating voltage; and verification of the consistency and reliability of the fluid over a period of one year of heavy use. In addition, the inks are warranted against long term damage to the printhead. This provides the reassurance that the fluid has been validated, approved and optimised to give unrivalled print performance and trouble free operation.

Metco inks which are approved for use in the Xaar 1003 GS12C and GS40C, and the 2001 GS12C, are available now.