September 2002 -- Designed with the supermarket giants in mind, Xaar plc, a leader in ink jet innovation, has launched the Black+ 'blacker than black' solvent ink. This ink will be used extensively by coding and marking specialists seeking the 'holy grail' of their trade - bar codes which will not fade when printed. Supermarkets and other point of sale companies will benefit from this breakthrough with the reward of rapid and reliable automatic warehousing. A combination of the best carbon black pigment and resin available for ink jet ensures that the ink remains a true black, easily readable by bar-code scanners, facilitating the speedy organisation of in-store inventory. The Black+ ink has been developed in partnership with key ink vendor, Sericol Imaging, for exclusive use with the XJ128 and XJ500 printhead series. It is geared for use on absorbent surfaces such as paper and card and the use of a low-volatility solvent allows the ink to dry rapidly once printed, speeding up the production process and reducing factory-to-shelf time for the end-user. The Black+ ink series will not be restricted to the coding and marking sector but will be available for use in other areas of packaging. While ink jet inks continue to develop in terms of quality and challenge traditional printing inks, the real value is added where ink jet allows variable just-in-time printing, thereby reducing stock and related costs for the man in the factory. About Xaar Xaar plc is a rapidly expanding ink jet technology development company. It targets the world's office, commercial and industrial printing markets. The office printing market is approached through Xaar's licensees; the industrial printing market is targeted by XaarJet, the manufacturing arm of Xaar; and a combination of partners and key players work with Xaar to serve the commercial printing market. About Sericol Sericol Imaging is the global inkjet division of Sericol, the leader in the supply and support of products for the screen printing market, and is entirely focused on the rapidly developing digital print industry. With distribution networks to over 80 countries world-wide and manufacturing on four continents, Sericol Imaging provides inkjet products evolved from over 50 years of technical innovation combined with a deep understanding of market requirements in both the graphics and industrial segments.