In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson talks to Gary Barnes, Head of Marketing at Fujifilm Ink Solutions, who’s celebrating 40 years of working in the print and coatings industry. 

A changing industry

Gary first joined the world of coatings in a lab developing inks for metal decorating, then working with industrial coatings and coated UV films. In 1991 he moved to France to work with Encres DUBUIT, before moving back to the UK in 1997 to work with inks and consumables manufacturer Sericol. Sericol was acquired by Fujifilm in 2005 and Gary has been with them ever since, working specifically in inkjet for the last 16 years.

Over the years, Gary has seen the industry continue to develop and innovate from more traditional screen printing through to UV flexo and now more than ever as inkjet’s dominance grows. Today, FujifIlm Ink Solutions Group’s key technologies are water-based and UV inkjet inks, but a hybrid blend of the two is now being researched showing the industry is still in an iterative phase. 

The rise of inkjet technology and partnerships

Gary saw Sericol first partner with Inca, which later became the Fujifilm and Inca partnership. Fujifilm invested not only in new equipment, but also new team members with different experiences who were able to upskill an existing workforce, making sure the whole company was relevant and remained a key player in the industry.

The late ‘90s were an exciting time for the rise of inkjet, with Fujifilm supplying the first Zund UV print system in 1998, and the first Inca machine following in 2001. At the time, Gary remembers inkjet was either aqueous or solvent roll-to-roll units and there was a desire to speed up the digitisation of the screen ink market and develop new printing systems like flatbed. Partnering with other companies like Inca allowed large companies to “spearhead the development of inks, but also manufacturing methods”. 

How will the need for sustainability challenge Fujifilm?

Marcus explores the challenge faced in more complex manufacturing sectors and wonders if Gary has seen new disruptions or opportunities in more recent years. 

In the key segments Fujifilm focuses on; wide format graphics, textiles, industrial and packaging, Gary notes how sustainability has become a prominent focus in all of these areas. The most striking changes are the demand moving away from traditional materials such as PVC, and in the textile market a huge shift to pigment ink as it uses less water. 

In order to meet its targets, Fujifilm has appointed a Group Sustainability Director and are now looking in depth at the sourcing and manufacturing of products. Gary explains how they are also challenging customers and the markets to become more sustainable, for example, through ink formulation and the way it’s supplied. 

The future of FujifIlm

Fujifilm seems to have a clear strategy of where it’s heading. Gary takes Marcus through some of the main locations such as the UV inkjet plant in Broadstairs, deemed their ‘Centre of Excellence’, and the aqueous ink manufacturing plant in Delaware. 

Marcus and Gary discuss the importance of allowing your business to embrace a new “disruptive” technology rather than trying to stave it off. Just as he saw the industry changing back in the ‘90s, Gary notes the way in which it’s changing again. He’s seeing huge demand for pigment inks for textiles; he believes the bright future for inkjet lies within packaging and once again Fujifilm have been busy recruiting commercially and technically to keep the skills of the workforce up to date for when this projection is realised. 

You can listen to this podcast now and find all previous episodes here. 

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