Wellprint provides a proven range of best-in-class web offset inks

Since its inception in the year 1993, Bombay Wellprint Inks, or commonly known as ‘Wellprint’ in short, has been supplying web offset inks to more than 1000 news publishers in India. The company’s range of inks has set new yardsticks in quality and service. “We garner trust, worthiness, virtues and mutual respect of a host of valued customers,” says Dr Ravindra Gandhi, Managing Director, Bombay Wellprint Inks Pvt Ltd.

“We came into the industry with a vision to be the best quality newspaper ink supplier. The vision is visible in our ink today. We have been growing unprecedentedly over the last 15 years and today we stand as one of the largest manufacturers of newspaper printing inks in India. What sets us apart is our deep understanding of what our customers want,” shares Dr Ravindra, adding that every customer of Wellprint knows the company for being a foremost innovator of products and provider of efficient service.

Dr Ravindra mentions that automation and advancement in technology of pigments, varnishes and additives have led to a technology shift, robust high speed mixers and grinding mills which have been extremely crucial to achieve the desired quality of newspaper inks like Stallion. Technical features of Stallion inks include quick ink-water balance and wide water window; high density, with better quality printing; good link transfers with minimum set-up waste, excellent dot reproduction, ink mileage and rub resistance; and stability during high-speed printing.

Range of Stallion inks

Designed suitably for presses of all speeds, Wellprint offers three variants of web-offset Stallion inks—Stallion Classic, Stallion Plus and Stallion Speed. High pigmentations of Stallion Classic lead to good colour presentation and mileage along with good transfer properties, suitable for slow-speed presses of speed up to 25,000 iph. With its high strength, low penetration, Stallion Plus is specially designed for newspaper printing on variable substrates, assuring quality printing under all types of conditions maintaining good ink-water balance during long runs of presses with speeds up to 45,000 iph.

Optimally designed and carefully formulated to cater to the latest high-speed presses with technological advancements, Stallion Speed features higher pigment concentration and low ink release results in very stable print throughout. This ink is suitable for presses of more than 65,000 iph. In addition to inks, Wellprint deals in high-quality pressroom chemicals imported from the UK, Germany and Malaysia as well as blankets designed and engineered by utilising hybrid polymer technology based on original rubberised fabric production techniques.

Advanced production process

Wellprint boasts of a state-of-the-art centralised production facility, equipped with advanced machinery and latest software to control unique ink production, striving to maintain consistency in quality at highest global standards to the need of their valued customers. “Constant research and innovation in the framework of machines and manufacturing process have always been our way of life and strength. Our ink production line, which is designed and developed in-house, provides us with a competitive edge,” says Dr Ravindra, adding that the company’s separate quality assurance lab is where raw materials and finished products are tested before shipment.

Enabled with sophisticated PCL and SCADA, Wellprint’s production plant is equipped with Twin Shaft and High Speed Mixer, which is specially designed for achieving uniform blending of key ingredients in ink production —pigment, oil, intermediaries and other additives. “Everything is well controlled in every step of production process in our plant. We control temperature, use dust-free grinding and operation area with proper ‘no dust zone’ in a controlled manner,” tells Dr Ravindra. A built in five-step filtration system in the plant is designed for the process ranging from mixing to packaging to ensure the inks are free from foreign particles. The plant is also equipped with automatic packaging machinery for fast and accurate weighing.

Wide logistic network

“We maintain a wide network of accredited supply chain management in which we deploy more than 15 GPS-enabled trucks capable of delivering 8 metric tonnes of inks across the country. We cover 100 plus cities in 29 states in India,” mentions Dr Ravindra. He adds that they maintain an Emergency Support Team with 48-hour delivery guarantee across the country. Now, Wellprint is gearing up to expand its footprints in the overseas markets as well, with an extensive focus on exports to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam and Kenya.

Valued customers

Wellprint inks are comprehensively used by some of the leading national dailies and regional newspapers across India. The national dailies are Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Telegraph, Anandabazar Patrika, DNA, Dainik Bhaskar, Prabhat Khabar, among others. Those regional newspapers which are printed with Wellprint inks are Lomkat, Sakal, Bartaman, Sandesh, Rajasthan Patrika, The Hitavada, Navbharat, Divya Himachal, Daily Trust, etc. The list also consists of some leading newspapers and publishing houses in south India, such as Udayavani, Vijayavani, Madhyamam as well as Aamoda Publications and Deshabhimani Publication. Dr Ravindra mentions that Lokmat has been their mentor for years.