STS Refill Technology offers an array of customized services including:

STS Chemical Division’s manufacturing principles are based on continuous improvement and efficiency. We take pride in strong relationships with our OEM customers, ensuring a thorough understanding of their requirements, while delivering personal customer support from concept through the product lifecycle.

STS Chemical Division offers its clients unique industry-specific solutions that can lead to scale-up manufacturing. Clients have the ability to proof small batches, which allows them to economically test concepts to determine a go, or no-go strategy. STS’s manufacturing assets can support simple to highly complex processes within a wide range of batch size, with three fully equipped labs and 50,000 sq. ft of production capacity.

We conduct carbon treatment for organic impurity removal and have facilities for reverse osmosis and multiple options for sub-micron filtration. We have bacterial control measures in place for inks, dyes, and conduct extensive unit operations for dye processing and purification. We maintain extremely strict biological controls on all products to ensure absolute purity.

Our highly experienced team of chemists and engineers work intimately with our OEM customers during the technical transfer of all toll products. The technical transfer team manages all critical activities with internal and external groups to ensure a smooth and rapid transfer and scale-up.

From the preliminary discussion of the formulation, we usually can provide an initial scale-up version within two weeks. From an analytical perspective, critical tests are performed at every stage to ensure absolute downstream control, and this is aligned with all the customer test sites, as necessary. In addition, our QA team ensure all regulatory requirements are fully met. This process follows a well-defined method honed by over two decades of experience with large OEM companies with high-quality requirements.

Quality Assurance

As a supplier of inkjet products to over 160 countries, quality is an early consideration built into our design parameters. Raw materials are specially selected to develop the highest quality products with superior operability and reliability for excellent image quality, extended printhead life, and the highest product lot to lot consistency

Process Controls

Detailed instructions and precise component weighing to ensure correct loading coupled with the staging and verification of materials for all ink formulations are reviewed to highlight deviations and perform corrective actions as required.

QC Lab Testing

Final analysis with internally developed and documented methods along with the careful verification of data, methodology, calibration, and equipment maintenance are performed regularly by the QC team for each batch analyzed.

QA Review

Review of manufacturing and QC data versus customer specifications allows for consistent evaluation of calculated control limits. Comparisons of final analysis data to specifications are used to confirm key parameters are within specified limits.

Records Retention

All batch record data, final analytics, process logs, formulation verification and specification analysis batch are held on-site for minimum of three years. Data for raw materials, purified dyes and ink data are held indefinitely.

Toll manufacturing is an agreement, where a company with specialized equipment processes raw materials or unfinished goods for another company. It’s also important to note that although contract manufacturing has some similarities to toll manufacturing, they are different things. In contract manufacturing, the manufacturing company also provides the materials, whereas in toll manufacturing it’s the customers responsibility to provide them.

Toll manufacturing can be cost-effective for customers as it allows them to keep costs focused on purely  manufacturing, without having to factor in equipment costs, facility costs and employee salaries.

Toll manufacturing agreements can also save time. Getting your product to the market can be a lengthy process, especially if you’re trying to acquire equipment and add extra trained employees. Toll manufacturing can shorten this process which may be especially helpful if products are in high demand or out of stock.

STS Chemical Division can provide a range of services to support custom toll manufacturing projects

The expansion of our Toll Manufacturing capacity supports a key strategy for STS as we continue to increase our Contract Manufacturing and Toll Manufacturing services.

STS can provide comprehensive tailor-made services to our clients, ensuring process development, optimization and the commercial scale-up of processes are carried out in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

STS is an ideal partner, especially for companies who either don’t have spare capacity or do not have suitable development/toll manufacturing facilities for a particular project. STS can assist during each project stage and produce products in ranges from kilos to tons.

Our track record is based on delivering a service that provides:

  • An experienced, multi-functional team to support the project at every stage
  • Quick response from initial feasibility through to process study.
  • Open and transparent exchange of information with our customers
  • Focus on quality products and reliable supply
  • Adherence to confidentiality throughout, including intellectual property
  • Commitment to upholding health, safety and environmental standards
  • Integrity throughout, and become an extension of customers own production facilities

Capabilities

Utilizing our multi-purpose facilities, we can offer a range of capabilities, and carry out site modifications tailored to particular process requirements. STS has a wide range of experience and a history of developing new chemical products and challenging processes. This is reflected in the range of hazardous materials we handle.

Processing colorant materials in today’s competitive business environment presents many challenges as equipment, labor, and energy costs have increased with a demand for finer and finer particle sizes.  STS offers a wide range of custom and toll manufacturing for wet-milled applications primarily in inks, coatings, and specialty chemicals. Our fully integrated toll processing operations include a wide range of grinding, dispersing, and milling and is well-suited to high resolution inks and additives, inkjet dispersions and specialized inks for food grade applications.

Toll manufacturing, also known as toll milling, toll processing, or tolling, allows your business to outsource milling, mixing, blending, and other processing/manufacturing processes to reduce manufacturing costs. Toll processors like STS offer multiple mills, mixers and high-speed dispersion units that can be customized and fine-tuned to fit your ink manufacturing needs, thus increasing your capacity while minimizing your investment in equipment. This can deflect risks by running small batches of a new formulation to evaluate the results or test-market a product before putting it into full-scale production.

Other benefits of toll manufacturing:

  • No floor space, facility expansion or skilled manpower required
  • Wide variety of equipment available for different applications
  • Milling, mixing, particle reduction and delivery of products on short notice
  • Greater uniformity and consistency of production
  • Exacting filtration standards
  • State-of-the-art analytical capabilities
  • Well-equipped quality control laboratory
  • Ink dispensing in ounce, gallon, drum, or tote
  • Logistics in place for product distribution and private branding
  • Production meets all regulatory requirements

In addition to being a US based market leader and manufacturer, STS has more than 20 years of experience in digital inkjet technology. Consider STS for toll processing inks as a viable, cost-effective, and reliable alternative to the challenges of in-house ink production. In addition to custom and toll manufacturing, we can provide inventory management, packaging, labeling, storage of finished products, and a wide range of other services. STS will put our experience to work to meet your unique milling requirements and provide a turnkey solution for the manufacture of your proprietary products all at competitive prices.