Consumables
For Toyo Ink, Over a Century of History, Technology, Innovation
Wednesday 04. May 2011 - Printers who walk into the Toyo Ink America booth at InfoFlex 2011 will come away with a much deeper understanding of the Toyo Ink organizations significant contributions to the advancement of graphic communications. Under the banner of "History, Technology, Innovation" Toyo Ink Americas theme for the event booth visitors will learn why the Toyo Ink brand has retained its prominence for more than 100 years in an ever-changing industry.
Industry leader
The history of the Toyo Ink Group of companies reads like a chronology of technological milestones. Though incorporated in 1907 as Toyo Ink Mfg. Co., Ltd., the ink company dates back even further. Founder Kamataro Kobayashi opened Kobayashis Ink Shop in 1896 in Tokyo. Eleven years later, Kobayashi established Toyo Ink Mfg. Co. Over the past century, the Tokyo-based business evolved into the third-largest manufacturer of ink worldwide, as well as a leading producer of pigments, polymer chemicals and graphic arts supplies.
This year, a major organizational change went into effect. On April 1, Toyo Ink Mfg. Co. officially became a holding company called Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co., Ltd. An updated corporate identity accompanied the move, as did a new slogan: “Visible Science for Life.” Toyo Ink SC Holdings two operating companies, Toyo Ink Co., Ltd. and Toyochem Co., Ltd., are targeted toward the ink and chemical businesses, respectively. Still headquartered in Tokyo, the Toyo Ink organization employs more than 7,000 people at 70 subsidiaries in 20 countries.
Serving printers in the Americas
Involvement in the North American market began in 1951, when Toyo Ink and U.S. manufacturer Interchemical Corp. formed a technical partnership for the purpose of manufacturing printing inks. Following the dissolution of the agreement, Toyo Ink in 1976 launched Toyo Ink America, Inc. (presently Toyo Ink America, LLC).
Toyo Ink America is part of a global network of locally based manufacturing and sales operations. Its corporate headquarters is strategically located in Addison, Ill., near Chicago. Satellite locations spread across the Eastern, Western and Southern regions of the United States assist in catering to printing companies in North and South America.
Expansion of product line, capabilities
Thanks to a strategic realignment last year of Toyo Inks U.S. ink manufacturing operations, the newly formed printing ink division of Toyo Ink America focuses on sales, development and production of print materials and solutions for the commercial printing, flexible packaging, paper packaging and label printing markets. To that end, the printing ink division absorbed the packaging inks and polymers businesses of Toyo Ink Technologies, LLC. The acquisition included a manufacturing facility in Bryan, Texas. This realignment followed an earlier acquisition of Moorpark, Calif.-based Fluid Ink Technologys brands and intellectual property ink formulations.
“Integrating both the fluid and paste ink operations under a single company improves our ability to bring new products and services to our customer base, promote a more coordinated market approach and reduce operational redundancies,” said John Copeland, division president of the printing ink unit at Toyo Ink America. “The consolidation will ensure our customers in North and South America a steady supply of consistently high-quality products and reliable service.”
Currently, the Toyo Ink America facility in Addison, Ill., consists of 50,000 square feet of office, laboratory and production space. Additional laboratory and manufacturing plants are located in Cypress and Moorpark, Calif.; East Rutherford and South Plainfield, N.J.; and Kennesaw, Ga. Together, these operations meet the ink needs of offset, flexographic and gravure printing companies.
Plans are under way to launch an expanded headquarters for the printing ink division. When the relocation is completed and production ramps up later in the second quarter of 2011, the division will occupy 108,000 square feet, more than double its existing size.
“We regard our fluid and paste ink products as a unique competitive advantage,” Copeland said. “This expansion of our production capacity will provide us with new growth opportunities. We are confident that our customers will be very interested in high-quality flexo and gravure inks produced in the Midwest. We can build long-term customer relationships.”
For more information about Toyo Ink and its extensive product line, visit the Toyo Ink America exhibition area (booth #1037/1039) at InfoFlex 2011, May 2-3 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.