Major Products: Lithographic inks, varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 200 (Ink World estimate)

Operating Facilities: Sixteen manufacturing branches and 15 in-plant facilities.

Comments: Superior Printing Ink, Teterboro, NJ, is heading into its second century in the ink industry. A family-owned offset ink specialist, Superior has made its mark in sheetfed inks, led by its Biolocity low-VOC ink series and Evolution process inks, as well as expanding into flexo, gravure and UV inks.

Superior Printing Ink has two subsidiaries. Gotham Ink and Color is a liquid ink specialist with manufacturing facilities in Stony Point, NY and Marlborough, MA. Spinks Ink, an Addison, IL-based commercial sheetfed ink producer.

Major Products: Lithographic inks, varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 200 (Ink World estimate).

Operating Facilities: Sixteen manufacturing branches and 15 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: Superior Printing Ink, Teterboro, NJ, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A family-owned offset ink specialist, Superior Printing Ink has also moved into the flexo, gravure and UV ink segments through the years.

The company has two subsidiaries: Gotham Ink and Color, a liquid ink manufacturer with manufacturing facilities in Stony Point, NY and Marlborough, MA, and Spinks Ink, an Addison, IL-based commercial sheetfed ink producer.

Major Products: Lithographic inks, varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 200 (Ink World estimate)

Operating Facilities: Sixteen manufacturing branches and 15 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: Founded in 1918, Superior Printing Ink, Teterboro, NJ, is a specialist in offset inks, and has branched out over the years into flexo, gravure and UV inks.

The company has had success in recent years in folding carton inks as well as UV curable inks, such as its Flex-Cure and Cat-Cure UV series. As a result of these growth areas, Superior Ink had a solid year in 2016.

The company has two subsidiaries: Gotham Ink and Color, a flexo and gravure ink specialist with manufacturing facilities in Stony Point, NY, and Marlborough, MA, and Spinks Ink, a commercial sheetfed ink supplier that is headquartered in Addison, IL.

Major Products: Lithographic inks, varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; inkjet inks; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 200

Operating Facilities: Fifteen branches and 15 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: Superior Printing Ink had a solid year in 2015, with the company enjoying strong sales at the end of the year and making gains in the packaging market.

“We had a better fourth quarter than projected, which helped finish up 2015 on a positive note,” James La Rocca, Superior Printing Ink’s COO, said. “The growth of packaging and our focus on UV packaging development is helping us find new customers and grow the market.”

La Rocca said that emphasizing R&D and investing in capital projects were highlights for Superior Printing Ink during the past year. “Progress on new product development and sales and buttoning up some capital improvement projects are notable highlights,” he reported.

Ink companies are being asked to do more than just make ink. One area of importance for printers and brand owners is knowledge of regulatory issues. “We do our best to become as knowledgeable as we can with these regulatory challenges we face today and share our knowledge with our customers,” La Rocca said. “Printers expect from their ink providers more than just getting their orders filled on time.”

La Rocca said he expects this year to be more of the same as the past few years. “I am hoping for an improved economy,” La Rocca noted. “I expect some volatility as this is an election year. Most ink companies can adjust with ebbs and flow and won’t suffer long term. More so than not, it’s business as usual.”

Major Products: Lithographic inks varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; inkjet inks; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 230

Operating Facilities: Fifteen branches and 15 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: Superior Printing Ink remained stable during 2014, with some notable improvement over the previous year.

“Major highlights during 2014 included our continued investments in new manufacturing equipment for our Central Manufacturing Facility,” said COO James La Rocca. “We are currently researching additional equipment that I hope meets our needs and we can put on line late this year.”

The company’s UV litho inks are growing and becoming a significant portion of its overall product sales. Aqueous coating sales started to gain momentum late last year, and La Rocca said he is “excited about the sales potential during 2015.”

He added that Superior Printing Ink’s customers have come to rely on the company to help them understand the impact of regulations and their requirements. “The GHS project that must be complete by this June is consuming a lot of time and effort,” he said.

The outlook for 2015 and beyond remains positive. The time and investments required for development of new technologies and improvement of some old ones have been made, and the company says it is making progress.

“The changes in technology happen so rapidly now that keeping up is a challenge,” La Rocca said. “Fortunately, my co-workers have the desire to learn, and are able to switch gears much faster then this old inkmaker ever needed to!”

Major Products: Lithographic inks varnishes and coatings for conventional, waterless and UV applications; flexographic inks for water-based and UV applications; inkjet inks; gravure inks.

Number of Employees: 230

Operating Facilities: Fifteen branches and 15 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: For Superior Printing Ink, 2013 was a solid year, as a strong fourth quarter paved the way for overall growth as well as a renewed optimism for 2014.

“For Superior Printing Ink, 2013 was a tough year, ending with a positive fourth quarter,” said COO James La Rocca. “Our company did experience growth, primarily with our newer product offerings. The product segments with the most growth are UV offset and flexo. We also had good results with a new conventional lithographic process ink we went to market with last year.

“The majority of our customers’ businesses remained level as far as we can tell,” La Rocca added. “Our growth, in addition to the few customers who did grow, was due to us getting a larger percentage of their business than in previous years.”

While some ink manufacturers are cutting back on capital expenditures, Superior Ink is upgrading its operations with an eye on improving efficiency.

“We added some new packaging equipment early in the year, and we began a capital improvement project at our Central Manufacturing Facility late last year,” La Rocca said. “Both of these investments will have a positive impact on productivity, quality and the consistency of our inks. Additionally, we purchased laboratory equipment that’s necessary for the development and testing of another new ink product we expect to enter the market with toward the end of 2014.”

La Rocca said that with its new products and improvements in its operations, Superior Printing Ink is optimistic as it continues into 2014.

“Greater emphasis on marketing some of our new products and changing the way we do some things that are traditionally not changed makes my outlook for 2014 and beyond a positive one,” La Rocca concluded.

Major Products: Sheetfed, UV, waterless, heatset web, flexo and gravure inks, coatings and varnishes.

Number of Employees: 250

Operating Facilities: Fifteen branches and more than 20 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: For Superior Printing Ink, 2011 mirrored its core sheetfed ink market, with plenty of challenges but also some opportunities emerging in new technologies.

“It was another challenging year for many reasons, but in the end we fared well,” said James La Rocca, chief operating officer. He added that there was not much growth in the printing industry in general, as many print venuesremain unchanged while a few fared better than others.

Superior has enjoyed success with its UV products, and has some promising new products in the pipeline for 2012.

“We had better than expected growth with our UV products,” Mr. La Rocca said. “We also made significant progress in the development of some new products we hope to add in 2012.”

In a move that strengthens its presence in Southern California, Superior Printing Ink acquired Ink Makers, Inc., a Commerce, CA-based sheetfed ink specialist. Founded in 1969, Ink Makers, Inc. is noted for its excellent quality and customer service.

Superior Printing Ink had opened its own facilities in Commerce four years ago, and Ink Makers, Inc. will be consolidated into the new facility. Rick Mills, Ink Makers, Inc.’s president, will remain with Superior Printing Ink as Western regional sales manager.

“Ink Makers, Inc. has good people and many good customers, and they will help us expand our reach in the Southern California market,” said Mr. La Rocca. “The company will be moved into our current operations in Commerce, a state-of-the-art plant we built four years ago.”

Raw materials continue to be a concern for ink manufacturers, and while prices seemed to stabilize in the latter part of 2011, supply still remains an issue.

“Raw material costs and supply remained unstable through most of 2011,” Mr. La Rocca noted. “Costs stabilized during the last quarter of 2011. However, supply of some items still remains a concern.”

Superior Printing Ink made some key capital improvements during the past year.

“We added automated flexo ink filling equipment during the last quarter of 2011,” Mr. La Rocca said. “We expect delivery of a state-of-the-art cartridge filling packagingequipment in the first quarter of 2012.”

Mr. La Rocca believes that economic stability is the key to growth in printing during the coming year.

“Stability in the economy will generate a modest increase in printsales using traditional print methods during 2012,” Mr. La Rocca said. “Digital and inkjet technologies will continue to find more applications and secure a larger piece of the print market in 2012 and beyond.”

Major Products: Sheetfed, UV, waterless, heatset web, flexo and gravure inks, coatings and varnishes.

Number of Employees: 250

Operating Facilities: Fifteen branches and more than 20 in-plant facilities. The company operates facilities through Gotham Ink and Color operations (New York and Massachusetts) and Spinks Ink (Chicago) subsidiaries.

Comments: For Superior Printing Ink, 2011 mirrored its core sheetfed ink market, with plenty of challenges but also some opportunities emerging in new technologies.

“It was another challenging year for many reasons, but in the end we fared well,” said James La Rocca, chief operating officer. He added that there was not much growth in the printing industry in general, as many print venuesremain unchanged while a few fared better than others.

Superior has enjoyed success with its UV products, and has some promising new products in the pipeline for 2012.

“We had better than expected growth with our UV products,” Mr. La Rocca said. “We also made significant progress in the development of some new products we hope to add in 2012.”

In a move that strengthens its presence in Southern California, Superior Printing Ink acquired Ink Makers, Inc., a Commerce, CA-based sheetfed ink specialist. Founded in 1969, Ink Makers, Inc. is noted for its excellent quality and customer service.

Superior Printing Ink had opened its own facilities in Commerce four years ago, and Ink Makers, Inc. will be consolidated into the new facility. Rick Mills, Ink Makers, Inc.’s president, will remain with Superior Printing Ink as Western regional sales manager.

“Ink Makers, Inc. has good people and many good customers, and they will help us expand our reach in the Southern California market,” said Mr. La Rocca. “The company will be moved into our current operations in Commerce, a state-of-the-art plant we built four years ago.”

Raw materials continue to be a concern for ink manufacturers, and while prices seemed to stabilize in the latter part of 2011, supply still remains an issue.

“Raw material costs and supply remained unstable through most of 2011,” Mr. La Rocca noted. “Costs stabilized during the last quarter of 2011. However, supply of some items still remains a concern.”

Superior Printing Ink made some key capital improvements during the past year.

“We added automated flexo ink filling equipment during the last quarter of 2011,” Mr. La Rocca said. “We expect delivery of a state-of-the-art cartridge filling packagingequipment in the first quarter of 2012.”

Mr. La Rocca believes that economic stability is the key to growth in printing during the coming year.

“Stability in the economy will generate a modest increase in printsales using traditional print methods during 2012,” Mr. La Rocca said. “Digital and inkjet technologies will continue to find more applications and secure a larger piece of the print market in 2012 and beyond.”

Major Products: Sheetfed, UV, waterless, heatset web, flexo and gravure inks, coatings and varnishes.

Number of Employees: 300

Operating Facilities: 17 branches and more than two dozen in-plant facilities nationally. The company operates two facilities through its Gotham Ink operations (NY and MA). Spinks Ink Co. is also a subsidiary located in Chicago, IL.

Comments: The North American commercial sheetfed market has struggled during recent years, as printers faced the dual threats of the recession and new technologies, and sheetfed ink manufacturers are doing what they can to navigate these challenges.

“The commercial market was clearly hit harder than other print markets as the recession lingered in 2010,” said Richard Czarnecki, senior VP, chief technical officer for Superior Printing Ink. “While some of our customers are thriving and finding ways to stabilize and even grow their business, there are many others who are simply struggling to survive. We are aligning ourselves wherever possible with customers who are going to be successful as the economy continues to improve in 2011.”

While the commercial side of the sheetfed business has faced more than its share of difficulties, the folding carton and UV sectors have enjoyed growth.

“There is no question that the ongoing success of our business will rely on a strong presence in the packaging market,” Mr. Czarnecki said. “While the commercial sheetfed market is not going away any time soon, it is clear that packaging is a significantly more robust and ‘recession-proof’ segment of the industry. In addition, we will continue to build on our success in the UV curable product arena, where sales in 2010 grew significantly. Our sales and technical teams are working to exploit our expertise with energy curable technology into other segments of the print market. Our success in UV will more than compensate for the sluggish growth with conventional sheetfed technology, and we will continue to invest in equipment and staff to support this growth.”

Even though the commercial market is struggling, Mr. Czarnecki noted that Superior Printing Ink remains dedicated to the segment, developing new products and continuing its tradition of providing excellent service.

“Superior still provides the best overall combination of service, quality, performance and value to the commercial sheetfed market and, although this segment is flat to declining, we will continue to be a major supplier to North American commercial printers,” Mr. Czarnecki concluded.