David Savastano, Editor07.18.22
The digital printing segment is growing rapidly. Much of that growth is centered on water-based inkjet printing, particularly in the textile, packaging and commercial print markets. The environmental benefits of digital printing, particularly aqueous inkjet printing, are considerable.
With that in mind, Fujifilm developed RxD pigment dispersions using a unique reactive dispersant cross-linking technology. Compared to dyes, pigments provide better fastness and similarly vibrant colors for printing, but they must be dispersed to prevent the particles sticking together.
Fujifilm’s RxD technology locks each pigment particle in a secure cage of cross-linked polymer, creating a highly stable dispersion. This means that a chemist can use a very wide range of components in their ink formulation, to achieve the functionality and performance demanded of the application and printhead.
RxD dispersions are used in inks that Fujifilm supplies to its inkjet OEM customers, and other ink formulators can also buy RxD directly from Fujifilm. They are manufactured at FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group’s Grangemouth plant in Scotland, but demand is far outpacing capacity.
In 2021, Fujifilm committed $19 million to build its first manufacturing facility to produce RxD dispersions at its New Castle, Delaware manufacturing site. In 2022, it announced a further $28 million to build a second RxD dispersions manufacturing facility at the same site.
Despite the extreme challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fujifilm’s team brought the first stage of the project in on time and on budget.
The first of the two new RxD manufacturing facilities is up and running, and initial dispersions are all meeting specifications. With the second, larger facility already under construction, Fujifilm is well set to meet increasing demand for its RxD pigment dispersions and its aqueous inkjet inks.
“This is a truly exciting day for Fujifilm, as we celebrate the opening of the first of our two new inkjet dispersion facilities,” said Ian Wilkinson, president and CEO, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group. “This shows Fujifilm’s commitment to the US and to Delaware. I have no doubt that this will create new opportunities for our customers. It’s truly unbelievable we pulled this project together on time and on budget.”
“We are proud to be a strong, growing company,” Sato added. “This site in Delaware is an important part of our global infrastructure and is key to our goals in inkjet.”
Wilkinson noted that the first New Castle plant basically doubles what Fujifilm produces in Scotland.
“We’ve seen a huge growth in aqueous inkjet,” said Wilkinson. “By 2018, we were already in need of more RxD material. We already have internal and customer demand for our additional RxD dispersions.”
Melissa Toledo, general manager – USA, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, noted that the New Castle site is now believed to be the largest aqueous inkjet manufacturing site in the world.
“This makes good sense – we are streamlining inkjet production, ensuring constant supply, and reducing our carbon footprint by reducing shipping to here from our Grangemouth, UK plant,” Toledo added.
Wilkinson said that completing the project successfully was a great team effort under difficult circumstances.
“I think we were fortunate,” Wilkinson said. “A lot of the detailed planning was underway before the pandemic. The final planning and the construction were during the pandemic. The team had to work together remotely. All the stages were completed on schedule and on budget.”
Michael Bush, marketing communications manager for FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, noted that Fujifilm is in five digital printing segments: packaging, textile, commercial print, sign and display, and industrial. Textile, packaging and commercial are primarily aqueous, and a perfect match for RxD dispersions.
“We believe that pigment inkjet has a strong future in textile printing, driven by digitalization and sustainability,” said Bush. “At present, pigmented inks are not as soft or vibrant as dye-based inks, and our R&D team is working on that.
“Packaging is an aqueous market, as it’s particularly suitable for achieving compliance in indirect food contact applications, is low odor, and has a low film-weight,” Bush added. “The commercial market is also using aqueous pigment inks in inkjet systems for high quality and speed. In the display market, we’re mainly focused on UV, and in industrial, the ink technology selection is very dependent on the application.”
Martin Schoeppler, CEO of FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, and CEO and president of FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc., spoke about the company’s ability to provide a complete solution to its customers.
“We have technology that no one else has. We have everything for inkjet components, including our RxD dispersions and inkjet inks,” Schoeppler observed. “We have our print engine business, our printheads, our software and our printer division. We have the entire portfolio, and no one has all of this.”
“We can optimize all of our elements,” added Bush. “We have so much expertise in inkjet and can leverage our system knowledge to maximize successful integration of our ink technologies in OEM systems. RxD is a very stable, high-quality dispersion, and gives ink formulators a lot of flexibility.”
Schoeppler noted that pigmented inkjet inks are gaining in the marketplace.
“Textile manufacturers who primarily used screen printing started using less expensive dye inks when they moved over to digital,” said Schoeppler. “Modern textile manufacturers use pigmented inks. We use compliant pigments that can be formulated into packaging inks that are Nestlé and Swiss compliant, and our textile inks are Oeko Tex certified.”
Both Wilkinson and Schoeppler noted that the parent Fujifilm company has been fully behind the inkjet business, with Wilkinson adding that Sato traveled from Japan for the grand opening ceremonies.
“We couldn’t have done this project without our colleagues in Japan,” Wilkinson said. “They are very supportive and involved.”
Fujifilm’s emphasis on the digital printing market began in 2005, when it acquired three key businesses in the inkjet market – ink companies Avecia and Sericol, and printhead company Dimatix – over a two-year span. Sericol was acquired by Fujifilm from its venture capitalist owner, Grangemouth and New Castle were a part of Avecia.
“Fujifilm has bought 30 companies in the last 20 years and never sold one,” Schoeppler noted. “Fujifilm is in all of its businesses for the long run.”
Wilkinson came over to Fujifilm in 2017, with the goal of bringing the different ink companies together into a closely run group. The construction project, done during difficult times, is proof that everyone is on the same page.
“The cooperation between Grangemouth and New Castle is a very tangible example of us working together,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a testament to the people in US and in Scotland. They are a great group. We’re happy with the talent we have.
RxD is new here. It is the future, and our people are embracing it.”
Wilkinson sees many opportunities ahead for the Ink Solutions Group.
With that in mind, Fujifilm developed RxD pigment dispersions using a unique reactive dispersant cross-linking technology. Compared to dyes, pigments provide better fastness and similarly vibrant colors for printing, but they must be dispersed to prevent the particles sticking together.
Fujifilm’s RxD technology locks each pigment particle in a secure cage of cross-linked polymer, creating a highly stable dispersion. This means that a chemist can use a very wide range of components in their ink formulation, to achieve the functionality and performance demanded of the application and printhead.
RxD dispersions are used in inks that Fujifilm supplies to its inkjet OEM customers, and other ink formulators can also buy RxD directly from Fujifilm. They are manufactured at FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group’s Grangemouth plant in Scotland, but demand is far outpacing capacity.
In 2021, Fujifilm committed $19 million to build its first manufacturing facility to produce RxD dispersions at its New Castle, Delaware manufacturing site. In 2022, it announced a further $28 million to build a second RxD dispersions manufacturing facility at the same site.
Despite the extreme challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fujifilm’s team brought the first stage of the project in on time and on budget.
The first of the two new RxD manufacturing facilities is up and running, and initial dispersions are all meeting specifications. With the second, larger facility already under construction, Fujifilm is well set to meet increasing demand for its RxD pigment dispersions and its aqueous inkjet inks.
Bringing RxD Manufacturing to the US
Joined by several dignitaries, including Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and Fumiaki Sato, deputy general manager of Fujifilm’s Inkjet Business Division, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group recently celebrated the grand opening of the first of the two new RxD manufacturing facilities.“This is a truly exciting day for Fujifilm, as we celebrate the opening of the first of our two new inkjet dispersion facilities,” said Ian Wilkinson, president and CEO, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group. “This shows Fujifilm’s commitment to the US and to Delaware. I have no doubt that this will create new opportunities for our customers. It’s truly unbelievable we pulled this project together on time and on budget.”
“We are proud to be a strong, growing company,” Sato added. “This site in Delaware is an important part of our global infrastructure and is key to our goals in inkjet.”
Wilkinson noted that the first New Castle plant basically doubles what Fujifilm produces in Scotland.
“We’ve seen a huge growth in aqueous inkjet,” said Wilkinson. “By 2018, we were already in need of more RxD material. We already have internal and customer demand for our additional RxD dispersions.”
Melissa Toledo, general manager – USA, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, noted that the New Castle site is now believed to be the largest aqueous inkjet manufacturing site in the world.
“This makes good sense – we are streamlining inkjet production, ensuring constant supply, and reducing our carbon footprint by reducing shipping to here from our Grangemouth, UK plant,” Toledo added.
Wilkinson said that completing the project successfully was a great team effort under difficult circumstances.
“I think we were fortunate,” Wilkinson said. “A lot of the detailed planning was underway before the pandemic. The final planning and the construction were during the pandemic. The team had to work together remotely. All the stages were completed on schedule and on budget.”
Moving Forward in the Inkjet Market
Now that the new plant is up and running, the construction focus turns to the second facility, a $28 million, 11,000 square foot manufacturing hub for more RxD pigment dispersions. The second new plant is expected to be operational by the middle of next year and will put Fujifilm in an excellent position to grow its inkjet business.Michael Bush, marketing communications manager for FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, noted that Fujifilm is in five digital printing segments: packaging, textile, commercial print, sign and display, and industrial. Textile, packaging and commercial are primarily aqueous, and a perfect match for RxD dispersions.
“We believe that pigment inkjet has a strong future in textile printing, driven by digitalization and sustainability,” said Bush. “At present, pigmented inks are not as soft or vibrant as dye-based inks, and our R&D team is working on that.
“Packaging is an aqueous market, as it’s particularly suitable for achieving compliance in indirect food contact applications, is low odor, and has a low film-weight,” Bush added. “The commercial market is also using aqueous pigment inks in inkjet systems for high quality and speed. In the display market, we’re mainly focused on UV, and in industrial, the ink technology selection is very dependent on the application.”
Martin Schoeppler, CEO of FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, and CEO and president of FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc., spoke about the company’s ability to provide a complete solution to its customers.
“We have technology that no one else has. We have everything for inkjet components, including our RxD dispersions and inkjet inks,” Schoeppler observed. “We have our print engine business, our printheads, our software and our printer division. We have the entire portfolio, and no one has all of this.”
“We can optimize all of our elements,” added Bush. “We have so much expertise in inkjet and can leverage our system knowledge to maximize successful integration of our ink technologies in OEM systems. RxD is a very stable, high-quality dispersion, and gives ink formulators a lot of flexibility.”
Schoeppler noted that pigmented inkjet inks are gaining in the marketplace.
“Textile manufacturers who primarily used screen printing started using less expensive dye inks when they moved over to digital,” said Schoeppler. “Modern textile manufacturers use pigmented inks. We use compliant pigments that can be formulated into packaging inks that are Nestlé and Swiss compliant, and our textile inks are Oeko Tex certified.”
Both Wilkinson and Schoeppler noted that the parent Fujifilm company has been fully behind the inkjet business, with Wilkinson adding that Sato traveled from Japan for the grand opening ceremonies.
“We couldn’t have done this project without our colleagues in Japan,” Wilkinson said. “They are very supportive and involved.”
Fujifilm’s emphasis on the digital printing market began in 2005, when it acquired three key businesses in the inkjet market – ink companies Avecia and Sericol, and printhead company Dimatix – over a two-year span. Sericol was acquired by Fujifilm from its venture capitalist owner, Grangemouth and New Castle were a part of Avecia.
“Fujifilm has bought 30 companies in the last 20 years and never sold one,” Schoeppler noted. “Fujifilm is in all of its businesses for the long run.”
Wilkinson came over to Fujifilm in 2017, with the goal of bringing the different ink companies together into a closely run group. The construction project, done during difficult times, is proof that everyone is on the same page.
“The cooperation between Grangemouth and New Castle is a very tangible example of us working together,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a testament to the people in US and in Scotland. They are a great group. We’re happy with the talent we have.
RxD is new here. It is the future, and our people are embracing it.”
Wilkinson sees many opportunities ahead for the Ink Solutions Group.