After breaking ground fifteen months ago, INX International Ink Co. has begun the process of moving into its new 63,000-square-foot facility in Lebanon, Ohio. The manufacturing operation is home to nine employees who have moved from a smaller, outdated building about 21 miles southwest in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati. Currently in the process of hiring new employees and relocating existing employees, INX will employ approximately 38 people in Lebanon.
The new facility sits on eleven acres of property in the Lebanon Commerce Center business park, with easy access to Interstate 71. When completed, it will offer increased manufacturing space, a full service lab for color management and development, Quality Control and testing areas, and more space for employee training and customer meetings. For now, water and paste ink production is underway but more developments are expected to take place by the end of March.
“The inspection process by state and local officials is ongoing and we are in the process of obtaining final approvals for the solvent manufacturing area of the building. Solvent ink production was one of the capabilities and efficiencies this facility was designed to handle, and we are currently producing 37 million pounds for packaging,” remarked John Hrdlick, INX Chief Operating Officer who is overseeing the project.
“Once we have the approval to proceed, we will finish testing the equipment and have raw materials delivered. After that phase is complete, we will transfer production from our Mason Avenue facility near Midway Airport in Chicago. We also anticipate moving a portion of the solvent manufacturing now being performed in Appleton, Wisconsin, to happen mid-year, and that location will continue to be a major producer of our packaging inks.”
INX is planning to host an Open House event for customers this summer. The Schueler Group of Companies is the owner and developer of the Lebanon Commerce Center; a corporate partner, Bunnell Hill Construction Company, Inc., has served as general contractor for the building, which has future expansion capability up to 90,000 square-feet.
