DIC Building, 7-20
Nihonbashi 3-chome, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 103-8233
Japan
Phone: +81-3-3272-4511
Fax: +81-3-3278-8558
Internet: www.dic.co.jp
E-mail: webmaster@dic.co.jp

Sales: $3.85 billion U.S. (512.036 billion yen) in graphic arts, including Sun Chemical, which has $3.2 billion in printing ink sales. Total sales: $7.37 billion (979.779 billion yen).

Major Products: Offset, gravure, flexo, news, letterpress, digital inks and metal decorating inks for cans.

Key Personnel: Kozo Okumura, president; Kazuhiko Yoshida, senior managing director; Koji Oe, managing director, president of graphic arts materials business operation; Toshiro Sugai, division president, printing inks and supplies division; Yougi Togo, division president, liquid inks division; Yasuhiro Horikoshi, division president, news ink division; Yoskikazu Aoyagi, general manager, graphic arts materials business planning department.

Number of Employees: 28,399.

Comments: Dainippon Ink & Chemicals (DIC) felt the impact of the economic downturn, as total sales in the graphic arts segment fell 3.9 percent in 2001. In Japan, domestic sales fell 4.5 percent, as offset inks and organic pigments were particularly hard hit, while gravure and news inks sales increased. In the U.S. and Europe, Sun Chemical’s sales declined 4.4 percent as economic difficulties and weakened demand led to reduced sales for printing inks and pigments.

One area that has great potential is the company’s plans for the Asia Pacific region. The DIC group continued to invest heavily in the People’s Republic of China, establishing DIC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., a holding company in Singapore to oversee its 27 graphic arts companies in Asia and Oceania (excluding Japan). This reorganization aims to boost regional sales to $750 million (100 billion yen) by 2010.

In addition, the company’s Nantong DIC Color organic pigment and ink intermediate production and sales subsidiary is expected to go on-stream by the end of 2002.

In another move, DIC agreed to purchase the performance organic pigments business of Bayer Corporation in the U.S., which includes its Bushy Park, SC organic pigment plant, R&D and testing facilities and pilot plant.

DIC and its subsidiary, Sun Chemical, also had an active year in R&D, particularly in response to increasingly stringent environmental standards initiated by government organizations and leading corporations. DIC is focusing on the development of low-volatile organic compound (VOC) offset inks and no-toluene, non-MEK gravure inks.

Flint Ink Corporation

4600 Arrowhead Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2773
U.S.A.
Phone: (734) 622-6000
Fax: (734) 622-6131
Internet: www.flintink.com
E-mail: webmaster@flintink.com

Sales: $1.6 billion

Major Products: Cold and heatset web offset, sheetfed offset, flexographic, gravure, UV and ink jet inks and coatings for publication, news, package, commercial and digital printing applications. Dry, flushed and presscake pigments and aqueous dispersions.

Key Personnel: H. Howard Flint II, chairman and CEO; Leonard D. (Dave) Frescoln, president and COO; David B. Flint, executive VP; Paul Schroeder, president, Flint Ink North America; Damian Johnson, president, Flint Ink Asia/Pacific; Jerko E. Rendic, president, Flint Ink Latin America; James J. Mahony, CEO, Flint-Schmidt; Dr. Helmut Schmidt, COO, Flint-Schmidt; Dr. Kenneth Stack, VP, digital division; W. Rucker Wickline, president, CDR Pigments & Dispersions; Dr. Joseph W. Raksis, senior VP, research and new product development; Michael J. Gannon, senior VP and CFO; Dr. Graham C. Battersby, VP, research and development; Glenn T. Autry, VP, human resources; Craig J. Foster, VP, materials management; Lawrence E. King, VP, general counsel and secretary; Kathryn P. Marx, VP, marketing and strategic planning; Donald G. Barnowski, VP and CIO; James A. Steel, VP and treasurer.

Number of Employees: 5,000 worldwide.

Comments: 2002 was a landmark year for Flint Ink, as the company made important moves in Europe and China that will strengthen the company’s international operations.

First, Flint Ink announced its merger and acquisition agreement with Gebr. Schmidt Druckfarben GmbH, which was the 11th largest printing ink manufacturer worldwide, forming Flint-Schmidt GmbH & Co. KG. The new company, which is the second-largest European ink company, gives Flint Ink much greater access to the sizable German marketplace.

Headquartered in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the new Flint-Schmidt organization has a significant market share in Germany, a combined workforce of approximately 1,400 employees and revenues of approximately 450 million euros ($440 million). Gebr. Schmidt’s operations in Canada were acquired as part of the agreement, and became part of Flint Ink North America.

Jim Mahony, president of Flint Ink Europe, now serves as CEO of Flint-Schmidt and is responsible for driving the integration of the company. Dr. Helmut Schmidt, who was managing director and a principal shareholder of Gebr. Schmidt GmbH, is now COO.

“We are extremely pleased that Flint Ink and Gebr. Schmidt have come together as a single company in Europe. The combined business gives us a strong number two position in Europe and gives Flint Ink a solid presence in Germany,” said H. Howard Flint II, chairman and CEO of Flint Ink.

In China, Flint Ink signed a joint venture agreement in June to manufacture printing ink in Beijing. The first part of the agreement creates a joint venture between Flint Ink and Graphic-Tech, Flint Ink’s long-time product distributor in Hong Kong and China. In the second level of the agreement, Flint Ink – Graphic Tech Holding Company Limited becomes a majority partner with four major Beijing newspapers to establish Flint Ink (Beijing) Printing Ink Company Ltd., and build an ink manufacturing and heatset blending plant there. Participating newspapers are the Beijing Youth Daily, Economic Daily, Workers Daily and Army Daily.

Pending regulatory approvals, construction on the plant is expected to begin in the fourth quarter 2002 in the Daxing Industrial Development Area, Beijing, and is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter 2003.

“The combination news ink/heatset ink manufacturing joint venture outside of Beijing is an excellent beginning to our ink business in China,” Mr. Flint said. “A joint venture that involves both customers and our agent minimizes our risk in such an undertaking.”

Adding its new Chinese operations to its March 2001 acquisition of Incowax, a liquid ink manufacturer in India, gives Flint Ink a much greater international presence.

Flint Ink has been putting tremendous resources into the digital market, and appointed Dr. Kenneth Stack vice president/general manager of the company’s digital division. Dr. Stack will direct global market and product development in this rapidly growing market segment.

On the R&D front, Flint Ink has introduced its line of MatrixCure UV-curable inks with new proprietary chemistry. The inks offer excellent performance, printability and handling characteristics, with easier clean up than many formulations. The most recent addition to the line is MatrixCure-NP inks, formulated especially for use on non-porous substrates. Flint Ink’s Gemini hybrid UV inks allow printers to achieve many of the performance benefits of UV printing with only minimal investment in additional equipment.

Sakata Inx Corp.