SUNFLOWER forever!

In June 20, 2007, we had a lapse of 1 year from a date when SUN Co established the Ink factory. During this time we have had a long track from chemical laboratory to a powerful research - and -production center, the only one in CIS region.

10/06 2010

One year is the very beginning but it's enough to be sure if the perspectives will take place. We see the results! More than 200 Russian and foreign companies have changed to SUNFLOWER inks*(* In April 2008 figures showed more then 500 companies). We carry on negotiations about dealership with companies from Spain, France, Dominican Republic, Moldova, and Belarus. Partners rely on us because we care about quality, competitive price and ecological compatibility. SunFlower inks refer to 8+ points (which are the top according to the international scale). It means that you can expose printed images outdoor for more than 3000 hours. SunFlower inks are designed for use in different climate conditions. It's possible to keep them in the temperature range from -10 to +35 degrees. Because of special additions shelf life for solvent-based and UV-inks is 1 year and for White ink it is 3 months. And what is more, we give guarantee for our inks during all this time. Nevertheless, the product is not keeping unsold in stock- our clients always receive newly-manufactured inks.

We have achieved considerable results:

• We have designed 5 Solvent-based Series of Inks for different print head types
• We have launched solvent inks for print heads with the little drop size like Konica-Minolta (14pl). Now we are testing eco-solvent and textile inks.
• We put into operation cascading testing which is required by ISO 9000:9001in order to improve quality.
• We have developed budgetary Sunflower Inks Silver Series (inks do not damage the printheads; do not clog nozzles and mesh. Using these inks the lifetime of print heads increases up to 50 %!!!).
• We have developed effective system to change inks and have added new fluid for ink channel refinement.
• We have created WHITE SOLVENT ink!
• We have developed a few additional colors: Orange, Green, White (UV) and Varnish for covering the image.
• We have created the unique type of inks for UV LED printing.
• Inks were successfully tested with printers: HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark.

UV-Ink is the Ink of Tomorrow

Now we have serious prospects. As UV-printing becomes more popular keeping up to date we respond to market challenges on-the-fly. Ecological aspect plays an important part. In Europe the use of solvent ink is already restricted and we see other countries emerging to this trend. First, the market moved from solvent inks in favour of mild-solvent. Now we are seeing the stirring towards the development of environmentally friendly UV-inks. Increasingly people are influenced by non-commercial factors such as do the product harms the environment. So we can be sure about good perspectives of UV-printing and UV-inks in particular.

We are going to wide our product range. At the moment the factory is able to make such colors as:

• Or (Orange), Gr (Green) - these colors are used for gamut improvements,
• Lc (Light Cyan), Lm (Light Magenta) - are used for soft colors printing, gradients and shadows;
• White and Varnish are important for UV-printing. White color makes it possible to print on colored materials.

Also white ink contains high % of titanium dioxide pigment (up to 30%). As a consequence it's impossible to keep the ink for a long time and in big bottles - titanium dioxide pigment may settle. That's why white ink has a shelf life of 3 months only and available in 1 litter bottles.

At the moment we develop the sputtered colors such as Gold and Silver with the use of nanotechnologies. We can produce any colors according to Pantone and Rall color tables including rare and fluorescent colors. Technological minimum is 50 litters.

Applications. SunFlower UV-curable Ink is compatible with a wide range of substrates both flexible and rigid: PVC, plastic, polycarbonate, wood, glass, stained glass, mirror, ceramic tile, textile, metal, banner (fabrics front-lit, backlit, blackout, self-adhesive vinyl, backlit and blue back paper), and many more.

Quality is above

We ensure the quality of our inks with ES certificates and the Russian State Standard Quality Certificate about safety of the air ambience in worker zone (Number 12.1.005-88), besides we have certificate of fire security, certificate of quality. Also, our ink has passed a test on hygienic standards Number GN 2.1.6.696-98 (standards on condition of the air in workers closed rooms).

Complex testing system including own pressroom and chemistry laboratory guarantees the results. Our chemistry laboratory is equipped with unique testing facilities: viscosimeter Brookfield DV3+ (is used for measuring of rheology and shear viscosity) and thermostat Brookfield with thermostabilisation within -0, 02 for temperature stabilization of extra- accurate takings in the temperature span -20+130.

In the Quality Control Department we keep an arbitrage samples on every batch. We do it to guard for quality during the full shelf life. Also we eye all chemical reactions. Now we have multilevel quality control system and it always takes a turn for the better. We aim at the better quality in the industry and create unique formulas.

For the ink production we acquire European equipment such as Dispermat RS-5 (WMA Getzman). This equipment ensures fine pigment milling (0,2 mkm), so we get intension and color purity.

Size of pigment in our ink is about 0.2 micron, and in inks manufactured by other companies ordinary size of pigment is 1micron. In the inks with little drop size it is equal to 0.5 micron.

We assume overall responsibility for our ink. We have service center with mobile teams. The experts answer all your questions and do help when changeover to SunFlower inks.

Manufacturing. SunFlower UV-curable Inks are very reliable and always produce high quality prints. SunFlower UV-curable Inks are made with European and American components: photoinitiators - BASF (Germany), pigment - Clariant, Cronos, Degussa (Gemany), monomers and oligomers - CYTEC, additives - Dow (USA), Ciba (Switzerland), LUBRIZOL (UK)

How far do we want to go?

Many companies all over the world are interested in Sunflower ink very much. We go on to invest money in the product, and even not excepting that some foreign companies will bottle at our factory (we are carrying on negotiations about it). So it's possible some European brands will have label "Made in Russia". In Europe people have realized a bitter truth: China means low price and poor quality, Europe means quality product at steep prices. Russian Sunflower ink combines European quality and Asian reasonable prices. Russia is the happy medium which many people have been looking for during a long time.

We plan to go far! We develop new ink and improve existing formulas. And of course our aim is the excellent quality of our product and stable delivery.

Best regards,
Evgeniya Ovchinnikova
advertising and PR manager
SUN Company