Fujifilm Imaging Colorants has opened the first of two new facilities in Delaware dedicated to the production of aqueous ink inkjet dispersions to meet the fast-growing global demand for inkjet printing.
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| Fujifilm leadership and employees were joined at the opening by Bethany Hall-Long, Lieutenant Governor of Delaware and Mike Quaranta, Mayor of New Castle |
The New Castle, Delaware site is Fujifilm’s first dispersion manufacturing facility in the U.S and will create more than 21 new jobs. The newly added space, approximately 8,100 sq ft, includes state-of-the-art manufacturing and process control equipment, adding to the current 40,000 sq ft of occupied manufacturing space at the site, which employs 90 people.
“Fujifilm’s high purity reactive dispersant (RxD) pigment dispersion products are important to the development of aqueous inkjet inks for a variety of fast-growing inkjet markets, including packaging, textile, and commercial printing,” the company said. “They use a proprietary cross-linking technology to lock each pigment particle in a secure polymer cage, resulting in a highly stable dispersion that enables the design of ink formulations that can meet demanding performance requirements.”
Fujifilm supplies aqueous inks to digital printer Original Equipment Manufacturers and RxD pigment dispersions to ink formulators.
“It’s an exciting day for Fujifilm,” said Ian Wilkinson, president and chief operating officer, Fujifilm Imaging Colorants, Inc. “I am proud that we have been able to deliver this brand-new production facility according to our original plan, despite the challenges that the pandemic presented us with, and we’re here to celebrate that today. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who were a part of this project, from our own teams to our vendors and local and state dignitaries. I have no doubt that this expansion will continue to create significant growth opportunities for both Fujifilm and the customers we serve.”
In addition to the new facility, a $19 million investment, the construction of a second facility, which will add 11,000 sq. ft. of new operational space to the overall site, began this spring and is expected to be operational by summer 2023.
“Upon completion, the two plants will double Fujifilm’s production capacity of pigment dispersions in the U.S. to meet the fast-growing demand for inkjet printing globally,” Fujifilm said.
For the year ended March 31, 2022, Fujifilm had global revenues of about 2.5 trillion yen ($US21 billion).
