Business News
Veika sells part of its business to giant Mimaki
Friday 21. April 2017 - On March 23, 2017, the Lithuanian company Veika sold part of its business to the worldwide digital ink manufacturing giant Mimaki Engineering. The Japanese company has taken over Veikas Balance Eco eco-solvent digital ink manufacture, sale, and distribution business, as well as the Decojet digital PVC wallpaper distribution business. These businesses will be run by the new company Mimaki Lithuania, a fully owned subsidiary to Mimaki Europe.
“The master agreement with Mimaki Group is a great recognition and appraisal for Veika”, says Veika Technology and R&D Director Dr. Aleksey Etin. “We have built our competence in eco-solvent ink technology over years, and today we transfer this business to Mimaki, complete with an outstanding team of specialists who proved that Lithuania produces products of great value and quality.”
The new Mimaki Lithuania will take over all 21 current employees.
“We are happy about reaching an agreement with Veika”, says Tatsuro Koseki, the Managing Director of Mimaki Lithuania. “By acquiring the production and trade of the eco-solvent digital ink, we are not only expanding our production and research abilities. The Euro Zone accounts for the largest sales of Mimaki International, and having an ink manufacturing base in Lithuania helps to protect us against exchange rate fluctuations. By manufacturing closer to our European customers, we also expect to shorten the lead time of ink supply to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reduce logistics costs and waste losses, and improve our profit margin.”
A. Etin notes that the innovative Lithuanian company caught the attention of the Japanese giant because of the innovative products it has invented and presented in recent years. It is these innovative products, Dimense and Ecodeco, which Veika will focus on after selling its eco-solvent ink and PVC digital wallpaper business: The ground-breaking Dimense technology allows printing tactile 3D effects at the same time as ink is being printed, and caught international attention when it was first unveiled in 2016. Ecodeco is Veikas brand for environmentally friendly and PVC-free wallpapers that mark a step into the future for the entire wallpaper industry.
“Preventing pollution and shifting towards ecology by developing new technologies is an essential part of our work and important to our customers. All our products are free of production residue, and no hazardous substances are emitted during production.”, says A. Etin. “Our R&D department with 27 full-time specialists is bigger than any worldwide wallpaper manufacturers have. We actively search out new ways to produce wallpapers and other printed materials, and where we found it necessary, we invented entirely new printers or materials.”