Toray Industries Inc. is to meet higher
global demand for its pioneering waterless plates with a new printing plate
factory in the Czech Republic. The Japanese specialist expects the facility to
be operational in early 2014.
Encompassing both coating and converting
capabilities, the new Czech production facility will meet the needs of printers
across Europe, the Middle East and North America.
“The project to establish European
manufacturing capacity for waterless plates is proceeding on schedule and the
engineering phase is now substantially completed. Site preparation in Prostejov
is in the final stages and the erection of the building that will house the new
production line for Toray waterless CTP plates will begin this summer“states
Mr. Matsumoto, General Manager, Graphics Division, Toray Industries Inc.,
Japan.
“Toray is investing more than 50 million USD
to respond to the growing demand for waterless plates. We think our commitment
will send a clear signal to the newspaper industry and encourage further
investment in the best available technology for newspaper and semi commercial
production.”
The move will improve technical support to
customers as well as reduce costs
through simplified process flow and logistics. Matsumoto adds: “The
European manufacturing site will also enable us to offer an attractive price
level for waterless plates in the future.“
Field testing of the products from the new
plant is expected to begin in late 2013 and commercial sales to the local
market will commence in January 2014.
This latest major capital investment follows
the 2003 development of a modern coating facility in Toray’s industrial complex
in Okazaki, Japan, where both letterpress and waterless offset plates are
currently produced.
Toray Industries Inc., the leading
manufacturer of waterless printing plates world wide, was founded in 1926 and
has a global presence with factories and sales offices in Asia, Europe and
North America. The main businesses of Toray are synthetic fibers, carbon
fibers, plastics, films and chemicals. Many of the products are developed from
its proprietary polymer technology base and are commonly used by the electronics,
packaging, textile, automotive and aviation industries. Recent annual sales
approached € 10 billion. Toray International Europe GmbH, Neu-Isenburg, Germany
is the trading arm of Toray Industries Inc serving an independent network of
distributors in the European market.
