Customers, employees, local officials, and the media attended an Open House event celebrating the spectacular new INX International Ink Co. manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Ohio on July 29.
The 63,000-square-foot facility is expected to produce 37 million pounds of solvent ink for packaging annually and employs 38 people. It occupies 11 acres in the Lebanon Commerce Center Business Park northeast of Cincinnati.
Open House visitors were treated to tours of the building, which offers manufacturing space, a full-service lab for color management and development, and Quality Control and testing areas. Designed to also manufacture some other company product lines as well, the new building is expandable to 90,000 square feet for future growth.
“Our business has been growing in the liquid ink division over the past several years, so we are extremely excited about this new facility. It will help us support our loyal existing customers while we continue our growth trend this year and in the future,” said Rick Clendenning, President & CEO of INX International Ink Co., when he addressed the Open House guests.
“One of the considerations for this new facility was having, at the time, a smaller blending site in the Cincinnati area, so we already had a group of dedicated and experienced employees that were able to move a few miles to Lebanon. We felt this location was ideal to help support our long term customers and growing customer base in the Southern U.S. and Mexico.”
John Hrdlick, INX Chief Operating Officer who was responsible for managing the project, acknowledged what was important right from the start.
“We went to great lengths to design and build a solvent manufacturing plant with the very best safeguards for a safe working environment. Safety is a global top priority for Sakata INX. There is always the human factor that requires constant vigilance and safety training, however, we are very proud with the high level of safety built into this facility.”
Hrdlick explained how planning to expand solvent ink capability initially began in 2011, and the decision to build a new complex was made in 2012. He also credited the many people involved.
“From day one with our decision to build, we received outstanding support from officials with the city of Lebanon, the state of Ohio, the Henkle Schueler Group of Companies (owner and developer of the Lebanon Commerce Center) and Bunnell Hill Construction Company, the general contractor for this building. I also need to mention Spectrum Engineering in Wisconsin, which has been a tremendous partner in this extremely challenging project.
“Many of our employees have provided their support from the beginning and during the start-up of this facility. Sakata INX, our corporate staff in the U.S., and several individuals have made this project possible. So many of our people have devoted long hours and time away from family and I want to recognize them. However, none have sacrificed more than Jim Bailen, our Vice President of Engineering. His heart and soul have gone into this facility and we would not be standing here today without his efforts.”
