James Walker Airedale, ICI Edward Marsden's, IST Metz and Varn International have created an informal alliance to promote the benefits of UV printing.
The four pressroom suppliers have agreed to collaborate in the hope of dispelling a numbers of myths about the perceived complexity of the process.
This will be done by providing detailed, independent information on how UV inks perform on press, the relationship between inks and press chemistry, and the systems required for curing.
"The UV Alliance is an important effort by four individual suppliers representing best practice in a combination of specialist fields to cut through the clutter of a vast array of technical information and sometimes confusing considerations," said a spokesman for the Alliance.
"It will provide the market with best advice while the printer is secure in the knowledge that his or her company retains total freedom of choice."
The four alliance partners have already combining forces at Heidelberg's UV demonstration site at Tamworth and are looking to develop other best-practice installations in the UK.
The Alliance will target the growing market for UV, especially label printers, direct mail houses, and carton converters.
Story by Anthony Clark