DIC Colortron has experienced a healthy flow of visitors to its recently launched website designed to enable customers to purchase ink online. In what is a first for the country, the new website at www.dic-colortron.com.au allows the customer to easily place an order online from the entire standard product range. Timothy Milroy, DIC-Colortron Australia general manager, says customers benefit by spending less time on order handling, waiting less time for delivery, and having easy access to prices and product information.
Anyone can buy online securely using the online payment facility, which is available 24 hours a day seven days a week. New customers can apply for credit terms by submitting an online credit application form. Approved customers receive a username and password, which grants them access to their own area and further services.
This area also provides historical usage per product, plus prices. To facilitate a rapid and efficient re-ordering process, consignment customers can view a computer-generated suggestion for stock replenishment, which also takes into consideration any positive or negative volume trends.
Speaking of ink supply, DIC Colortron’s plan to pack ink in cardboard boxes rather than steel cans continues to be on track. The new concept in environmentally friendly packaging for inks was developed recently at the company’s headquarters in Melbourne. The plan relates to the supply of DIC Colortron’s two kilograms of sheetfed inks.
The idea was spearheaded by Milroy, who says he was inspired by the common practice of printers folding a container from cardboard to store remaining inks from one job in preparation for use in the next job. The idea has been adapted for distributing and storing ink on a much grander scale.
The absence of plastic lids and metal or foil lining also means the packaging is 100 per cent recyclable, underlining its credentials as an environmentally-friendly alternative to steel cans.
The board material used has also been carefully engineered to ensure no skinning problems or leaching of solvents or vegetable oils to the external walls of the box. The ink is delivered with five 2kg boxes inside a strong outer cardboard box. The box is made from 55 per cent recycled board which comes from the AMCOR plant in Brisbane and is designed in conjunction with Carton House.
Milroy says, "For example, as far as landfill waste disposal is concerned, 242 two kilogram slip lid cans and lids take up one cubic metre. On the other hand 4082 two kilogram boxes and lids (flattened out) will fit into the same space (one cubic metre) . Basically flattened out two kg ink boxes take up almost 17 times less space than 2kg slip lid cans."
Please visit www.dic-colortron.com.au for further information on both these innovations.
