Vetaphone to double in size!
As part of its ambitious expansion programme, the Danish inventor of corona and pioneer of surface treatment is well on course to meet its 2020 target
With a narrow web market share in excess of 75% and a growing stake in the wide web sector too, Vetaphone owners Frank and Jan Eisby launched an ambitious programme of growth for the company back in 2012 that would see the business double in size by 2020. Sales figures over the past four years have shown the target to be achievable with the addition of extra staff, but left an obvious need for expanded facilities.
Now, the company has embarked on a building programme that will effectively double the size of the current headquarters in Kolding, Denmark, and allow production to be increased to meet the demand that those sales targets require. The new facility will add 1,500sqm of floorspace, divided between sales and administration offices, and a canteen facility, with 350sqm devoted to a dedicated showroom and test facility for customers. The existing 1,100sqm building is being refurbished and commissioned exclusively for LEAN manufacturing and production.
Speaking for Vetaphone, CSO Jan Eisby said: “We are very excited about the whole programme as it represents a major investment and commitment from what is still a family business, albeit one that is now a major international player. And it’s to serve that global market that we have taken steps to grow our Sales Team, with extra people in the USA and Asia, and add to our capability in Denmark to meet the new higher levels of demand.”
Sales growth at Vetaphone is rapid, and is coming not only from traditional areas like narrow web, but also from the capability the company now has to offer corona and plasma treatment to a wider sector of business, in both senses of the word. From the pioneering days of Verner Eisby back in 1951, who developed a technique that allowed his friends to print on the new plastic materials that were becoming available at the time, to a leading global supplier of surface treatment technology, Vetaphone has always pursued a policy of quality products based on R&D. The new facilities at Kolding, which are due for completion in August 2017, are designed to take the company through its next phase of growth.
The pioneers solve a problem!
The difficulty with Corona treatment is that most converters know they need it, but don’t know whether they are using it correctly – it is not a ‘set and forget’ technology!
Now Vetaphone has come up with a solution that will make every converter’s life easier – a testing machine. The iCorona Film Tester 1000/600, for which a patent application has been made, is designed to analyse the amount of surface treatment required for any given substrate before the job is started, to ensure perfect print quality.
Every film has specific surface characteristics, so it is essential to determine the correct Corona dosage (Watt/sqm/min) to create the right adhesion level (dyn/cm). The first test is a simple RED 38 dyn pen, but there are two more advanced tests that produce data for every substrate and ink to ensure top performance.
Test 2 creates exact material curves for polymer based films to ensure the correct treatment level is applied, while Test 3 creates wetting characteristics for a specific film surface to verify that the chosen ink will match the job, film type, and desired quality. There is also an optional surface analysis tool that can create reports based on the wetting angle.
Summing up for Vetaphone, Jan Eisby said: “The new iCorona Film Tester takes all the guesswork out of Corona treatment and allows converters to get it right first time, every time. We believe it will be a big seller for us.”