Staff07.21.09
International Companies to Watch
Zeller+Gmelin GmbH
Schlossstrausse 20
D-73054 Eislingen/Fils, Germany
Phone: +49-7161-8020
Fax: +49-7161-802-355
Internet: www.zeller-gmelin.de
E-mail: info@zeller-gmelin.de
Sales: $80 million (Ink World estimate)
Major Products: UV web, sheetfed, narrow web label and waterless offset inks; UV flexo and letterpress narrow web inks; UV rotary screen inks; UV inks for pre-formed plastic containers; UV inks for primographic printing of narrow web in-line cartons and labels; oil-based intaglio inks for printing currency; and a range of security inks for document authentication.
Key Personnel: Andreas Mahlich, managing director, sales and R&D; Marcus Ruckstaedter, sales director, printing inks; Damon Geer, vice president of sales, U.S.; Steven Lazure, vice president of operations, U.S.
Number of Employees: Approximately 300 in printing inks.
Chimigraf Ibérica, S.L.
Polígono Ind.
Can Jardí. Carcassí, 6-8.
08191 RUBÍ, Barcelona
Spain
Phone: +34 93 586 2334
Fax: +34 93 699 2152
Internet: www.chimigraf.com
E-mail: export@chimigraf.com
Sales: $50 million (Ink World estimate).
Major Products: Water- and solvent-based flexo and gravure inks; screen inks; UV flexo, offset, inkjet and screen inks; pigment dispersions (water) and solids (chips).
Key Personnel: José Miravete, managing director; Ugo La Valle, assistant manager; Antonio López, national sales manager; Rafael Doblas, export manager; Emilio Fernández, technical director.
Number of Employees: 156.
Comments: Chimigraf Ibérica, S.L. is a specialist in water-, solvent- and UV-based inks for flexography, rotogravure, for digital systems and in addition for inkjet, UV offset and screen printing. In addition, the company also offers pigmentary dispersions (chips), and auxiliary coating products.
Chimigraf Ibérica continues to increase its presence in the digital printing market, developing drop on demand (DOD) inkjet inks as well as single pass inkjet inks. In early 2009, Xaar extended its ink partner relationship with Chimigraf Iberica, with the approval of four new inks for use with the Xaar 1001 printhead. These inks were developed in partnership with Chimigraf and Fritta SL, who specialize in designing frits, glazes and ceramic colors to produce high-quality inks. These inks meet stringent quality control standards to ensure optimum performance and consistency.
“We are delighted to have achieved the approved ink status for our inks,” said Daniel Miravete, inkjet product manager, Chimigraf. “This partnership with Xaar underpins our promise to develop high standard inkjet inks for the ceramic tile industry. We have been hugely committed to producing these inks and are now looking forward to meeting the demands of this growing market.”
RUCO Druckfarben/A.M. Ramp & Co. GmbH
Lorsbacher Strasse 28
D-65817 Eppstein
Germany
Phone: +49-61-98-3040
Fax: +49-61-98-32288
Internet: www.ruco.de
E-mail: info@rucoinks.com
Sales: $45 million (Ink World estimate)
Major Products: Full line of screen and pad printing inks, UV waterless offset inks, publication gravure, full line of packaging gravure and flexo inks including UV flexo.
Key Personnel: Heinz Walter Menke, managing director. Publication gravure, flexographic printing, special gravure division: Ronald Säckl, business unit director; Dr. Anastase Anagonou, laboratory manager; Stefan Schwindt, business development manager; Ramon Christmann, export sales coordinator; Michael Kokott and Andreas Grafenstein, domestic sales coordinators; Seyna Guyenot, sales office manager. Screen printing, pad printing, offset printing division: Jürgen Schmidkunz, business unit director; Kerstin Ottstadt, assistant business unit director; Birgit Kainz, Karina Schneider and Rolf Tuma, sales coordinators Germany; Volker Michel, export director; Gabriele Strack, assistant export director; Dr. Christel Müller, laboratory manager; Ulrike Schneider, manager technical application department; Alfred Beckers, regional director, Asia Pacific.
Number of Employees: 200 (Ink World estimate).
Comments: Founded in 1857, Ruco Druckfarben/A.M. Ramp & Co. GmbH is a market leader in screen,
RUCO also has representatives in more than 70 countries worldwide, with expert sales partners ensuring that printing ink sales are appropriate to the market. As a result, the company's export share is now greater than 58 percent, and the close collaboration is leading to further product developments.
RUCO showcased a number of new products in the past year, beginning with its 935UV ink series for the decoration of glass and ceramics. Besides the environmental benefits, these organic UV inks offer higher gloss levels and lead-free formulations as well as high chemical resistance and improved dishwasher resistance. RUCO's 935UV screen printing ink series does not require any thermal post treatment and offers high chemical and abrasion resistance.
In addition to cost reductions, these UV-curable inks also enable innovative special effects to be achieved. In the flat glass industry, which undertakes the decoration of gaming machines, furniture, shower doors and mirrors, there is a high demand for opacity, brilliance of special colors, matt and frosted finishes as well as metallic effects. When it comes to mirror manufacturing, the UV printing inks also need to withstand silvering applications.
In addition to UV-curable inks, RUCO offers two types of conventional printing inks for glass decoration: The 110GE series of one-component oven-curing inks for screen and pad printing offers, which offers good chemical and mechanical resistance, as well as two-component screen printing inks of series 10KK, which satisfy the demand for excellent mechanical and chemical resistance.
Encres Dubuit
ZI Mitry Compans
1 Rue Issac Newton
77292 Mitry Cedex, France
Phone: +33 1-6467-4167
Fax: +33 1-6467-1177
Internet: www.encresdubuit.com
E-mail: export@encresdubuit.com
Sales: $35 million (€24.9 million)
Major Products: Screen printing, offset, flexo, UV and specialty inks.
Key Personnel: Jean-Louis Dubuit, general manager; Jean-Pierre Vives, R&D general manager; Arnaud Maquinghen, sales and marketing general manager; Chystelle Ferrari, CFO; Olivier Cocagne, Europe sales director; Liliana Golan, area sales manager, East of Europe; Allaoua Aiouaz, area sales manager, Asia/Middle East/North Africa; Alexandra Biais, area sales manager, North America/Europe; Monique Paris, sales manager, Dubuit Canada; Frederic Blancher, general manager, Dubuit Shanghai; Jose Meyer, sales director, Tintas Dubuit; Phillippe Ayala, general manager, Dubuit Color.
Number of Employees: 180 (Ink World estimate).
Comments: Encres Dubuit, a Mitry Cedex, France –based UV screen and digital ink specialist, had a
However, its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008, meaning that the economic downturn was not reflected in those numbers. Still, the results were solid. As one might expect due to the economy, Encres Dubuit has seen some decline in sales in the first half of 2009, as sales dipped 7.8 percent.Sales in South America were the bright spot, increasing by €500 million to nearly one-third of the company’s overall sales. Sales in France and the rest of Europe were significantly off, by more than €1.2 million.
The company maintains its emphasis on R&D for markets such as cell phones, smart cards and optical discs, as well as digital inks. The company most recently introduced its Evolution series of digital inks and UV Uviglass inks for glass applications.
Brancher Company
Parc d’activite du Saule
28170 Tremblay les villages, France
Phone: +33 2 37 38 91 00
Fax: +33 2 37 38 91 21
Internet: www.brancher.com
E-mail: brancher@brancher.com
Sales: $14 million (€10 million).
Major Products: Sheetfed offset, water-based flexo, and UV flexo and offset inks.
Key Personnel: Sebastien Brancher, president and CEO; Jean Marie Planchon, purchasing director; Magali Richard, R&D director; Patrick Pailla, industrial director; Stephane Atoumo, international development director.
Number of Employees: 140.
Brancher Company traces its roots back to 1840, and the company maintains its family heritage. In keeping with that, president Olivier Brancher retired, and his son, Sébastien Brancher, took over on Dec. 1, 2008
The company puts extensive efforts into R&D, and launched some new products in 2008, most notably Fusion UV, a universal and versatile UV offset ink ideal for synthetic and absorbent substrates, and Krypto, a conventional offset ink suitable for a wide variety of substrates. The company also launched its revamped website in September 2008.