Siegwerk opens Europe’s largest fully automated production facility for printing inks

Siegwerk, one of the world’s leading providers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, has opened a new fully automated facility for the production of customer inks at its headquarters in Siegburg today. With this commissioning, the new Blending Center is now the largest fully automated production facility for printing inks in Europe.

“The opening of this facility is an unparalleled milestone for us. It is a key component in our global production network a big step forward,” says Herbert Forker, CEO at Siegwerk, in his opening speech. The new blending facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, serving as an example for the networked Industry 4.0. “The topics of digitization and automation play a key role. We must also consider, at different levels, which opportunities we take, the direction in which we want to develop and where exactly we want to invest. The new system is one of the responses to this,” continues Forker. A trial operation of the new Blending Center is already successfully underway and it will soon be running at full capacity.

The new Blending Center complies with all current legal requirements and offers the advantage of consistent product quality through highly reliable, standardized processes, in addition to solid delivery performance with expanded capacities. Compared to the previous production setup, the new processs is even more efficient and transparent, clearly increasing the site's productivity. Additionally, the new facility will enable safer and cleaner production and support Siegwerk's endeavors for increased sustainability.

The company has built an extensive, global production and service network over the years to optimally provide its customers with inks and varnishes in Siegwerk's proven quality. This now consists of 16 base ink production facilities, the Centers of Excellence, where basic products are manufactured worldwide according to a uniform standard, as well as 50 blending and dosing facilities, or Blending Centers, where ink solutions are finished and adapted to individual customer requirements. “With the new blending facility we are automating our production of customer inks, in order to be able to meet the growing demand for consistent and high quality more easily,” concludes Forker. The Siegburg location will have a crucial role in the company's continued profitable growth.