How combining R&D, compliance and manufacturing expertise gives our partners confidence for today — and tomorrow.
Compliance shouldn’t be something that happens after ink development. It should be engineered into the ink from the beginning and beyond. This is the philosophy to which Fujifilm Ink have continually held throughout its Broadstairs, UK site, and have done so with their UV inks since they pioneered the movement to digital back in 1999.
Compliance by design: why the future of inkjet depends on more than performance
For decades, the conversation around inkjet ink has largely centred on performance: print quality, colour, adhesion, curing speed, jetting reliability and cost.
All of these remain critical.
But as the industry moves into an increasingly regulated and technically demanding future, another question is becoming just as important: Can your ink continue to perform reliably as regulations, raw materials and market requirements change?
For Fujifilm Ink, this is where compliance becomes much more than a box to tick.
It becomes part of the way we develop UV ink.
Compliance isn’t an afterthought
The digital inkjet industry is changing rapidly. Regulatory requirements are evolving, raw materials are under increasing scrutiny, and end users are asking more questions about emissions, chemical composition, food contact, environmental impact and product safety.
For an OEM or print manufacturer, this can create a significant challenge.
An ink may perform perfectly today, but what happens if a key raw material is reclassified? What happens when legislation changes in a major market? Or when a customer requires a new certification or compliance standard?
This is where having the right ink partner makes a difference.
At Fujifilm Ink, our R&D and regulatory expertise work alongside each other throughout the development process. Rather than developing an ink first and considering compliance afterwards, we consider regulatory requirements as part of the ongoing development journey.
Performance and compliance are developed together: Our superpower is collaboration
One of our biggest advantages is something that is difficult to replicate: bringing R&D, regulatory, product management, manufacturing and technical expertise together under one roof.
Our dedicated regulatory team is based alongside our ink development teams in the UK, working side by side within the same onsite facility, daily. This creates a direct connection between the people developing the chemistry and the people monitoring the regulatory landscape.
When regulations change, that information can feed directly into R&D.
When a new raw material is being considered, its regulatory implications can be understood early.
When a customer has a specific compliance requirement, our technical and regulatory teams can work together to understand what is needed and how it can be achieved without compromising the wider performance requirements of the ink.
That close collaboration gives our partners something extremely valuable: confidence in the future of their UV ink supply.
Designed for today. Developed for tomorrow.
When an OEM integrates an ink into a digital printing system, the relationship with that ink can last for many years. Changing ink later isn’t necessarily straightforward. It can mean requalification, customer testing, machine optimisation and potentially significant disruption.
That means the right question isn’t simply “does the ink work today?” but “can I rely on this ink to continue working tomorrow?”
That is why we place such importance on our long-term raw material strategy, regulatory monitoring, formulation expertise, manufacturing consistency and technical support.
Our goal is to develop UV inks that are not only optimised for the print system today but are supported by the technical and regulatory infrastructure required to keep them relevant into the future.
Regulation is changing. Your ink partner shouldn’t be chasing it.
Recent changes surrounding photo initiators such as TPO demonstrate how quickly the regulatory landscape can evolve.
For ink manufacturers, responding to these changes isn’t simply a matter of replacing one raw material with another. Any reformulation needs to consider curing, adhesion, flexibility, colour, jetting behaviour, stability, migration, substrate compatibility and the wider chemistry of the system.
It requires formulation expertise, testing, manufacturing knowledge and, critically, it requires regulatory understanding from the beginning.
This is where our heritage in UV inkjet becomes important.
Fujifilm Ink has been developing market-proven digital UV ink solutions since 1999. That means decades of experience understanding the relationship between UV ink chemistry, printheads, curing systems, substrates and applications.
That experience gives us a strong foundation for navigating the next generation of regulatory and technical challenges.
Compliance can be a competitive advantage
Compliance is sometimes viewed as a constraint: something that adds complexity, cost and time.
We see it differently.
When compliance is built into the development process, it can become an enabler. It can help OEMs access new markets, support certifications and customer requirements, reduce the risk of unexpected reformulation, provide greater confidence in long-term supply, and it can give end users reassurance that the ink they are investing in has been developed with the future in mind.
Our inks are developed with a strong focus on regulatory requirements across the markets and applications we serve, including requirements such as Swiss Ordinance, Nestlé guidance, EuPIA, CONEG, GMP and indirect food contact (IDFC) considerations where applicable.
But compliance is not simply about a list of certificates or statements, it is about having the people, processes and expertise behind the ink to continually manage change.
A partnership beyond the ink
For our customers and OEM partners, this means access to more than an ink supplier.
It means access to formulation scientists, regulatory specialists, analytical expertise, manufacturing and QA specialists and technical service teams working towards the same objective.
A change identified by the regulatory team can inform R&D, R&D development can be assessed from a regulatory perspective, manufacturing can ensure the formulation is produced consistently at scale, technical teams can validate performance in real-world applications and product teams can ensure the solution continues to meet the needs of the market.
That connected approach is one of our greatest strengths.
Long-term reliability starts with what’s inside the ink
Ultimately, the value of an ink isn’t just measured by what happens when the printhead fires. It is measured over thousands of hours of production, across different batches, throughout changing raw material availability and evolving regulations. And across the lifetime of the customer’s equipment.
That’s why we believe the future of inkjet can only belong to ink manufacturers that can combine chemistry, compliance, manufacturing and application expertise in order to support the customers effectively.
At Fujifilm Ink, we don’t just develop ink for today’s requirements, we develop with tomorrow in mind. It’s about getting it right consistently, responsibly and for the long term.
Fujifilm Ink. We know UV. Get in touch to find out more.