Siegwerk has expanded its Technical Center in Annemasse, France, with a new production facility for inkjet inks. The investment follows the construction of a dedicated inkjet laboratory last year that was built to extend the company’s R&D capabilities in this area. Siegwerk is committed to further drive the development of inkjet inks that meet all printing process functionality and efficiency requirements, and address the specific challenges of the labels and packaging segments.

Today, the site in Annemasse is home for 275 employees and counts as Siegwerk’s European leading plant for water-based printing inks and varnishes. The Center of Excellence produces more than 25,000 tons of printing ink per year.

Over the last three years, the company invested 3 million euros to specifically build up its development, production and testing capacities in the inkjet technology. “After opening our designated inkjet laboratory last year, we now opened our first designated inkjet production facility in Annemasse – all in line with our vision to become the leading packaging ink provider worldwide,” says Herbert Forker, CEO at Siegwerk. “Going forward, we will invest additional 2 million euros in new equipment for the inkjet ink technology over the next five years. Annemasse will be our driving force for future inkjet ink solutions.”

On October 13, 2017, the company held an official inauguration ceremony in Annemasse, to which selected local and regional authorities–as well as all local employees–were invited.

Siegwerk has already invested nearly 11 million euros over the last 12 years to build up a sustainable and successful Technical Center in France with high competitiveness in Europe. Next to the investment in the inkjet laboratory, Siegwerk has also opened a brand new Blending Center for the production of water- based inks in 2016 to further strengthen its portfolio as a full-range provider for packaging printers.

Today, the Technical Center in France, Siegwerk’s second largest market in the EU, pools profound technical know-how around water-based, UV and inkjet inks, as well as best-in-class analytical capabilities. It belongs to the state-of-the-art industrial printing facilities in Europe. “Annemasse always was our innovation hub. It’s the cradle of our ‘Global Innovation Network,’ a global in-house research network, which works on the development of eco-friendly inks with consistent performance, as well as new ink technologies and product packaging innovations for the future,” adds Forker.