David Savastano, Editor03.24.16
1225 N. Michael Drive
Wood Dale, IL 60191
Tel: (866) 969-8696
Fax: (630) 628-1769
www.toyoink.com
Sales: $125 million.
Major Products: Sheetfed inks; UV, LED and EB inks and coatings; conventional and UV waterless offset inks; solvent- and water-based gravure inks; solvent- and water-based flexo inks; inkjet inks; pressure sensitive adhesives; special function coatings; pigments; and plastic colorants.
Key Personnel: Toyo Ink America, LLC: Hideki Okaichi, chairman/CEO; Michael Ball, CFO; Masa Nagatsubo, GM, Liquid Ink Division; Joseph Sentendrey, GM, PSA Division; Michael Keegan, VP of sales, Paste Ink Division; Vipul Shah, VP of sales, Liquid Ink Division; Kevin Garland, sales manager, Advanced Materials Division. LioChem: Naoto Sumiya, president; Hudson Moody, GM, Plastic Colorant Division; Terry Hall, GM, Gravure Division; Ronnie Robertson, GM, administration division.
Comments: Toyo Ink America, the U.S. division of Toyo Ink, the world’s third largest ink manufacturer, had an excellent year in 2015, led by gains in the energy-curable ink market.
Toyo Ink America realized tremendous growth in 2015,” said Hideki “Jeff” Okaichi, chairman and CEO of Toyo Ink America, LLC. “While the business environment in the commercial print market remained challenging, we made steady headway in expanding our energy-curable product lineup such as high sensitivity UV inks and LED inks. We will continue to press forward with production capacity reinforcements in the US to address this increase in demand.”
Okaichi noted that Toyo Ink America is also making headway in packaging and inkjet, adding new inks to its packaging ink portfolio and new manufacturing capabilities in inkjet inks.
“We introduced a new line of high performance inks into the package printing market, an area where we anticipate growth, and are pushing sales of this strategic product line,” Okaichi added. “In 2015, we also started up local production of inkjet inks at our new production base in Carlstadt, NJ. The new facility is expected to cover demand from the booming digital printing market.”
The 70,000 square foot Carlstadt facility was among the highlights for Toyo Ink America in 2015. Toyo Ink America merged operating bases along the US East Coast and opened a new production and sales base in Carlstadt, NJ. The company also consolidated the production of liquid inks in California to its manufacturing facility in Bryan, TX, and implemented improvements to production efficiency. The addition of a new manufacturing subsidiary in Mexico will allow the company to grow in North and Central America.
Okaichi said he sees opportunities for growth in the packaging market.
“The United States is the only country among developed nations with a rising population, so we expect demand in the US package print market to further increase in the future,” he noted. “While we see this as a big opportunity to expand our business, we are also seeing intensifying levels of competition among printing converters and ink manufacturers. As such, improving printing efficiency is a key challenge for our customers.
“Bearing this in mind, we have been focusing on increasing even further the quality level of our products and tech support,” added Okaichi. “Among the improvements we’ve incorporated into the US operations are sustainable practices and cost-saving tactics that have been fostered at our sister subsidiaries in other regions of the world. We intend to take further advantage of such group synergy to help differentiate our products and services from the competition.”
Digital printing is another area that Toyo Ink America is emphasizing.
“We are also looking to the expanding digital print market for future growth,” Okaichi reported. “Digital print is expected to experience rapid growth, especially in the US and Asia. As the conventional commercial printing market continues to shrink, we have been working to expand our business into new growth fields, adapting our focus with the times. Viewing the current business environment as a chance to tap into new business areas, we took steps to invest in an inkjet ink business in the US and establish a local production base. Now we are able to offer speedy development of products and technical support to our customers in North America.”
Toyo Ink America is closely monitoring the current environmental and safety standards, and is preparing for further regulatory additions in the future.
“The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of the United States was enacted in 2011 and will come into full compliance from 2016 or beyond,” Okaichi said. “This act does not specify guidelines on materials used in a package structure. However, in line with the precautionary approach, Toyo Ink America believes that the demand for even greater safety regulation and improvements in the base materials (films, adhesives, inks) used in the packaging structure will increase in the future. Thus, we are constantly monitoring the latest laws, ordinances, regulations and related trends to ensure that the Toyo Ink Group as a whole continues to develop and deliver products that comply with the highest environmental and safety standards.”
Okaichi said that currency fluctuations are an area of interest for Toyo Ink.
“With the end of the Fed’s easy money policy, we have been keeping a watchful eye on currency rate fluctuations in the dollar and yen,” he said. “We realize the importance of taking appropriate measures to mitigate foreign currency risk. In the last several years, Toyo Ink America has been pursuing a ‘local production for local consumption’ strategy, by which we have built a strong, self-sufficient structure here in the US. Thus, we do not rely on Japanese imports as much as we did in the past.”
Okaichi is optimistic that Toyo Ink America will enjoy more growth in 2016 and beyond.
“Toyo Ink America expects sales of its energy curable product series, which were brisk in 2015, to continue to grow in 2016,” he said. “For the packaging and digital print markets, we will push forward with plans to expand sales with the launch of new products.
“drupa will take place this year,” Okaichi added. “There, we expect to see the latest advances in offset press technology for the packaging field that exhibitors have developed and accumulated since the last drupa four years ago. The Toyo Ink Group plans to offer an expanded lineup of electron beam (EB) curable offset products, which is favored over UV print for food packaging due to its lower level of residual stress, and continue to strengthen our focus on the packaging field.”
Wood Dale, IL 60191
Tel: (866) 969-8696
Fax: (630) 628-1769
www.toyoink.com
Sales: $125 million.
Major Products: Sheetfed inks; UV, LED and EB inks and coatings; conventional and UV waterless offset inks; solvent- and water-based gravure inks; solvent- and water-based flexo inks; inkjet inks; pressure sensitive adhesives; special function coatings; pigments; and plastic colorants.
Key Personnel: Toyo Ink America, LLC: Hideki Okaichi, chairman/CEO; Michael Ball, CFO; Masa Nagatsubo, GM, Liquid Ink Division; Joseph Sentendrey, GM, PSA Division; Michael Keegan, VP of sales, Paste Ink Division; Vipul Shah, VP of sales, Liquid Ink Division; Kevin Garland, sales manager, Advanced Materials Division. LioChem: Naoto Sumiya, president; Hudson Moody, GM, Plastic Colorant Division; Terry Hall, GM, Gravure Division; Ronnie Robertson, GM, administration division.
Comments: Toyo Ink America, the U.S. division of Toyo Ink, the world’s third largest ink manufacturer, had an excellent year in 2015, led by gains in the energy-curable ink market.
Toyo Ink America realized tremendous growth in 2015,” said Hideki “Jeff” Okaichi, chairman and CEO of Toyo Ink America, LLC. “While the business environment in the commercial print market remained challenging, we made steady headway in expanding our energy-curable product lineup such as high sensitivity UV inks and LED inks. We will continue to press forward with production capacity reinforcements in the US to address this increase in demand.”
Okaichi noted that Toyo Ink America is also making headway in packaging and inkjet, adding new inks to its packaging ink portfolio and new manufacturing capabilities in inkjet inks.
“We introduced a new line of high performance inks into the package printing market, an area where we anticipate growth, and are pushing sales of this strategic product line,” Okaichi added. “In 2015, we also started up local production of inkjet inks at our new production base in Carlstadt, NJ. The new facility is expected to cover demand from the booming digital printing market.”
The 70,000 square foot Carlstadt facility was among the highlights for Toyo Ink America in 2015. Toyo Ink America merged operating bases along the US East Coast and opened a new production and sales base in Carlstadt, NJ. The company also consolidated the production of liquid inks in California to its manufacturing facility in Bryan, TX, and implemented improvements to production efficiency. The addition of a new manufacturing subsidiary in Mexico will allow the company to grow in North and Central America.
Okaichi said he sees opportunities for growth in the packaging market.
“The United States is the only country among developed nations with a rising population, so we expect demand in the US package print market to further increase in the future,” he noted. “While we see this as a big opportunity to expand our business, we are also seeing intensifying levels of competition among printing converters and ink manufacturers. As such, improving printing efficiency is a key challenge for our customers.
“Bearing this in mind, we have been focusing on increasing even further the quality level of our products and tech support,” added Okaichi. “Among the improvements we’ve incorporated into the US operations are sustainable practices and cost-saving tactics that have been fostered at our sister subsidiaries in other regions of the world. We intend to take further advantage of such group synergy to help differentiate our products and services from the competition.”
Digital printing is another area that Toyo Ink America is emphasizing.
“We are also looking to the expanding digital print market for future growth,” Okaichi reported. “Digital print is expected to experience rapid growth, especially in the US and Asia. As the conventional commercial printing market continues to shrink, we have been working to expand our business into new growth fields, adapting our focus with the times. Viewing the current business environment as a chance to tap into new business areas, we took steps to invest in an inkjet ink business in the US and establish a local production base. Now we are able to offer speedy development of products and technical support to our customers in North America.”
Toyo Ink America is closely monitoring the current environmental and safety standards, and is preparing for further regulatory additions in the future.
“The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of the United States was enacted in 2011 and will come into full compliance from 2016 or beyond,” Okaichi said. “This act does not specify guidelines on materials used in a package structure. However, in line with the precautionary approach, Toyo Ink America believes that the demand for even greater safety regulation and improvements in the base materials (films, adhesives, inks) used in the packaging structure will increase in the future. Thus, we are constantly monitoring the latest laws, ordinances, regulations and related trends to ensure that the Toyo Ink Group as a whole continues to develop and deliver products that comply with the highest environmental and safety standards.”
Okaichi said that currency fluctuations are an area of interest for Toyo Ink.
“With the end of the Fed’s easy money policy, we have been keeping a watchful eye on currency rate fluctuations in the dollar and yen,” he said. “We realize the importance of taking appropriate measures to mitigate foreign currency risk. In the last several years, Toyo Ink America has been pursuing a ‘local production for local consumption’ strategy, by which we have built a strong, self-sufficient structure here in the US. Thus, we do not rely on Japanese imports as much as we did in the past.”
Okaichi is optimistic that Toyo Ink America will enjoy more growth in 2016 and beyond.
“Toyo Ink America expects sales of its energy curable product series, which were brisk in 2015, to continue to grow in 2016,” he said. “For the packaging and digital print markets, we will push forward with plans to expand sales with the launch of new products.
“drupa will take place this year,” Okaichi added. “There, we expect to see the latest advances in offset press technology for the packaging field that exhibitors have developed and accumulated since the last drupa four years ago. The Toyo Ink Group plans to offer an expanded lineup of electron beam (EB) curable offset products, which is favored over UV print for food packaging due to its lower level of residual stress, and continue to strengthen our focus on the packaging field.”