2003 companies to watch

Ink World, April, 2003

Editor's Note: There are a growing number of companies in the printing ink industry that deserve attention. Here, in alphabetical order, are a few of the companies that deserve notice:

AKZO NOBEL INKS

1550 28TH AVENUE NORTH

PLYMOUTH, MN 55447

PHONE: (763) 559-5511

FAX: (763) 559-0243

WWW.ANINKS.COM

SALES: S37.1 MILLION.

MAJOR PRODUCTS: UV flexo, UV letterpress, UV rotary screen, UV offset, water-based flexo inks and a wide variety of specialty inks.

KEY PERSONNEL: Dave Hiserodt, president; Hank Malone, VP sales and marketing; Tom Hammer, VP, product portfolio and R&D; Mike Buystedt, director, market development; Dirk Ekkelenkamp, director of operations; Deanna Whelan, marketing manager.

NUMBER or EMPLOYEES: 150.

OPERATING FACILITIES: Santa Fe Springs, CA; Cincinnati, OH; Neenah, WI; Plymouth, MN; Dixon, CA; Garland, TX; Langhorne, PA; Charlotte, NC; Toronto, Canada; and the Center for Technical Excellence, Plymouth, MN.

COMMENTS: In 2002, Akzo Nobel Inks' management, along with Dutch venture capital company NeSBIC, acquired Akzo Nobel's ink division. In the space of a little more than one year, the company is making tremendous strides in the marketplace.

"We did very well last year," said Dave Hiserodt, president of Akzo Nobel Inks in North America. "Sales were dramatically improved from 2001 to 2002, particularly in terms of new business, which was up 7 percent. All other financial metrics were dramatically improved. In particular, UV fiexo was up 6 percent, screen inks (primarily for combination printing) were improved by 12 percent and offset inks were at triple 2001 volumes. Coatings were even up 20 percent. Water-based inks did lag behind as they only improved 2 percent."

Mr. Hiserodt said that these sizable gains are partly due to the company's renewed emphasis on quality and service. "I think there was increased confidence in the marketplace and, more importantly, we've done a much better job in positioning our products," Mr. Hiserodt said. "We are delivering a more consistent product than we have in the past and our service is much better, and the marketplace is responding.

In addition, Akzo Nobel Inks is taking strides to bring service and cost-saving opportunities to the customer through innovative support programs. The company's Outside/In process will bring customers' needs to the forefront, and programs like Uptime Solutions will provide innovative ideas to reduce overall manufacturing and operational costs.

The fact that the future of Akzo Nobel Inks is now clear also helps the company. "To some extent in 2001, there was uncertainty about us, and now that concern has gone away," Mr. Hiserodt said. "In July, we formally offered a direct buy-in for all of our employees."

In order to further position itself in the narrow web market, Akzo Nobel Inks has built a Preferred Partner Alliance (PPA) with its distributors in Latin America, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. To further promote Akzo Nobel Inks' products and services in the Western Hemisphere, distributors will more closely align with ANI North America.

The most important new development for 2003 is the opening of the company's new state-of-theart 22,000 square-foot, fully-automated UV manufacturing facility in Plymouth, MN. The move allows Akzo Nobel Inks to align the manufacture of both water-based and UV curable products more closely with R&D and the Center for Technical Excellence.

"By June we'll have our new UV facility up and running," Mr. Hiserodt said. "Additional UV automation will allow us to speed up turnaround, further add to our consistency and react to specific customer needs. Having all manufactured products close to the development group improves and speeds up the product design and batch-up process."

The new UV facility will also be critical to the company's continued quest to develop new products. In 2002, the company introduced a wide variety of unique inks, including Uvocard-L, a UV offset ink for plastic cards, and Uvoscreen II CombiScreen White, its original silicone-free white specially formulated for combination printing. Lamikett and Lamipack were introduced as new water-based laminating inks for narrow web and packaging. In addition, Akzo Nobel Inks provided the industry with Foilbond TC, a UV adhesive for cold foiling applications. According to Mr. Hiserodt, the company will roll out next generation UV flexo and water-based inks which will be focused on the wants and needs of the customer.

Akzo Nobel Inks strives to provide service innovations to the industry. One example is its Center for Technical Excellence, where technical seminars are offered throughout the year to promote education in the industry. This year, the company will host four seminars.

In addition, working with industry partners has allowed Akzo Nobel Inks to provide customers with innovative ideas. In 2002 the company participated in the creation of the FTS Flexographic Color Guide, the first comprehensive Pantone color guide for flexographic printers.

According to Mr. Hiserodt, 2003 looks good for Akzo Nobel Inks. "Early indications are looking good. We are forecasting 9 percent to 10 percent growth," Mr. Hiserodt said. "We continue to see growth in UV flexo, UV screen inks for combination printing and UV offset. We don't believe the market, overall, is growing at this rate; this is the expected growth for Akzo Nobel Inks a result, purely, of our company's performance."