The event included a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour of DIC’s Auburn plant, followed by a Chinese banquet at a nearby sports club.

Printers and their apprentices were allowed to see the full production chain, from lab development to distribution. Mark Price, director of Coffy Print & Copy, labeled the tour as “ink-credible”.

Guests told ProPrint they were surprised at the size of DIC’s exporting business. Some 600 tonnes of inks are exported to Asia Pacific every month.

DIC Australia managing director Ian Johns said: “We have been growing in the South East Asian newspaper market for quite some time now. The growth of the free dailies in the cities has really boomed over there.”

At the open forum, Southern Colour NSW managing director Scott Telfer asked the question: “Why can’t we buy digital inks directly from the manufacturer?”

Johns explained that DIC sold its inks directly to vendors, but some printers were still not convinced by this response.

LIA NSW president David Wells said the strong turnout was an encouraging sign for the association.

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