Fujifilm acquires Unigraphica

Fujifilm has acquired a European system integrator, Unigraphica, which is based in Liechtenstein and develops customised inkjet systems. 

Fujifilm won’t disclose how much it has paid, or exactly when, but there don’t appear to be any further regulatory hurdles. Fujifilm Europe has acquired all of the issued shares of Unigraphica and the deal should be complete later this month. From 1 July the company will be renamed Fujifilm Unigrafiphica AG. 

This in turn will allow Fujifilm to expand its Fujifilm Integrated Inkjet Solutions, or FIIS, offering into the wider European market. FIIS already operates in Japan, the US and UK and has already worked on projects in Europe. FIIS’ remit is to take a number of established technologies, including the Dimatix printheads, 42K Printbar, Mini 4300 Series industrial printbar, and Fujifilm’s ink portfolio and work with customers to develop bespoke projects that integrate one or more of these elements, typically into a customer’s production line for an industrial printing application. 

This sort of integration is typically handled by small specialist companies, such as Unigraphica, but the FIIS pitch is that it has the whole weight of Fujifilm behind it. FIIS will handle the entire project from initial proposal through to final verification. The group generally likes to fly below the radar but has been doing this quite successfully for around 15 years now. It’s likely that we will start to hear more about this group as it looks to expand into more complex and less obvious applications.

Unigraphica should be a good fit for this sort of work. Unigraphica was founded in 1985 and has a strong customer base, with customized inkjet systems in more than 50 companies in 20 countries, mainly in Europe. The company’s products include the Jetstar inkjet print modules, which run at 200mpm and offer 600 x 600 dpi resolution in widths from 108mm to 1080mm. These are used in security printing, statements and bills and on-demand book printing. There’s also a 300mpm TransJet transport system that allows high speed digital printing to be integrated with other processes such as folding, perforating and varnishing, as well as with a camera system.

Joseph Schweiger, CEO of Unigraphica, commented: “We are excited about the additional resources and the access to new inkjet printing solutions that Unigraphica can provide to customers by joining the Fujifilm group.”

Of course, Fujifilm could have simply added individual engineers to its existing team, who are already able to cover the European market. But Unigraphica gives FIIS a much bigger footprint with Fujifilm and allows the group to provide mounting, technical verification, and after-sales service in Europe.

Greg Balch, vice president and general manager for FIIS in the US, stated: “We are thrilled to have the knowledge, expertise, and strong reputation of Joseph Schweiger and the entire Unigraphica team joining us.” He added: “I am confident that this addition will support and accelerate our business expansion.”

You can find further details on FIIS from inkjet-integration.fujifilm.com, as well as information from unigraphica.com and fujifilm.com.