AGFA: Behind the Menagerie

Dating back to 1867, Agfa’s roots stem to a colour dye factory in the Rummelsburger neighbourhood of Berlin, Germany. In 1873 the production facility was registered as the ‘Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation’, AGFA.

In 1890 Lieven Gevaert established a workshop for manufacturing calcium paper for photography in Antwerp in Belgium. The company eventually became L. Gevaert & Cie and soon began to acquire paper companies like Blue Star Papers in Paris.

In 1904 the business expanded into a new factory in Mortsel, a facility still used today after being substantially expanded and modernised. At the time employees of the company were allowed to participate in company profits, marking Lieven Gevaert as a pioneer of employee participation.

Jump forward to 1964 and following numerous successes with 35mm cameras Agfa, a 100% subsidiary of Bayer merged with Gevaert Photo Production (named so in 1920 ahead of the company’s success with scientific and technical films).

From there two new operating companies were established and the two partners each held a 50% stake in Gevaert-Agfa in Mortsel (Belgium) and Agfa-Gevaert in Leverkusen (Germany).

Fast forward to 2024 and Agfa-Gevaert Group develops, produces, and distributes imaging systems and IT solutions around the world with three divisions: Digital Print & Chemicals, Radiology Solutions, and HealthCare IT.

A Specialist in Print

When it comes to the Agfa-Gevaert Group, the company says it strives to be the partner of choice for imaging and information systems in all the markets it operates.

The organisation is headquartered in Morstel, Belgium, which is also a major production plant as well as plants and facilities located in Heultje (Belgium), China, Germany, the US, Canada, Italy, and the UK.

When it comes to the company’s digital printing division, Agfa says: “Agfa’s Digital Printing Solutions division aims to drive the adoption of inkjet printing across various industries. It empowers graphic printing and goods-producing industries to become more versatile and efficient through the innovative use of inkjet printing technology. It does so by analysing their experiences, needs, and challenges, and actively partnering with them and industry experts.”

Agfa supplies print, sign, and display companies with a range of wide-format inkjet printers and dedicated inks along with workflow software, cutting machines, and inkjet media.

Speaking about the company’s range of sign and display printers, Paul Fitch, head of Inkjet, at Agfa UK & Ireland, says: “We have the Anapurna Ciervo, Jeti Bronco, Jeti Condor, Jeti Tauro, Onset Grizzly and Oberon wide-format UV printers. Agfa has also ventured into soft signage applications with the Avinci printer, utilising dye-sublimation water-based inks. Recently, Agfa introduced the Avinci 110 inkset, offering great colour vibrancy.”

All of Agfa’s printing systems are driven by its in-house developed Asanti workflow and colour management software. Fitch adds: “All printers run on Agfa inks, which are renowned for their low consumption, wide colour gamut, and consistent print quality.

“With the high-speed SpeedSet Orca inkjet press running on water-based inks, Agfa offers packaging converters a way to make their business more efficient.”

Agfa also caters to various industrial markets where printing is a large part of the production process. An example pointed out by the company is Alussa, a solution for printing on real leather which is particularly used for the personalisation of productions in the luxury goods sector.

Another example according to Fitch is the Agfa InterioJet, a water-based multi-pass print solution for printing on décor paper for laminate production.

Agfa strives to be the partner of choice for imaging and information systems in all the markets it operates

Fitch says: “This water-based pigment inkset meets the specific image quality and gamut requirements of this market – such as wood grain designs – so that prints seamlessly integrate with existing laminate manufacturing processes.”

Agfa also collaborates with numerous engineering companies to develop inks for inkjet print systems, leveraging experience in chemical ink productions.

“These partnerships enable companies to use either UV- or water-based inks for a wide range of applications,” says Fitch, who adds: “Usages include product printing, security printing, and printed interior decoration (for example, furniture edge band and printing on décor paper for laminate production).”

150 Years of Experience

Over its 150-year history, Agfa has experienced many of the changes and innovations in the imaging industry, delivering consumables for photography before diversifying products and technologies for various applications in the graphic arts sector.

Speaking of its history, Fitch comments: “Throughout our history, we have remained at the forefront of colour technology. As well as being a trusted supplier of inkjet consumables, we also offer printing systems, software, and service solutions.

“We have been active in inkjet printing for nearly three decades, having built up a lot of expertise. The introduction of the Sherpa inkjet proofing system in 1995 complemented our digital printing plates and used our in-house developed coated media.”

Eventually Agfa moved into supplying wide-format printing systems after the success of its digital printing plates and inkjet systems.

In 2004 the company launched its high-end Dotrix inkjet label printing system, which was then followed by the M Press, an inkjet system which replaced screen printing processes for the production of large-size posters. Fitch says: “these milestones marked Agfa's emergence as a key player in the inkjet industry.”

With so many different departments across the group, from research and development and manufacturing to applications and marketing, Fitch says there is no one typical day within Afga. However, one thing that is core to the entire company is that ‘customer centricity’ is the highest value shared by everyone at Afga.

Fitch adds: “When looking at the company, it is the fact that we are constantly innovating. The entire ‘Agfa family’ has a lot of drive and passion to develop, manufacture, and market new products, in addition to the commitment to go the extra mile for our customers. Agfa is a full solutions provider, offering printers, inks, software, and service. That combination warrants optimal performance and the best value for our customers.”

When asked what he was most proud of, Fitch answered: “Personally, I’m proud of leading the UK & Ireland sales teams into the future, with a lot of exciting new printing solutions on our roadmap to offer to potential customers.”

With its historic legacy behind it, Agfa says it will continue to transform itself and anticipate and adapt to changes in the industry and the world.

Fitch says: “The continuous shift to digital printing is an exciting opportunity for our company, and we are firm believers in the power and added value of inkjet printing and its growth potential. Our Digital Printing division is one of the growth motors of the Agfa Group.”

Regarding the future of the company, Agfa is focused on innovating its inkjet and software portfolio for sign and display companies as well as packaging printers.

The SpeedSet Orca represents the company’s first step in its direction to support these businesses as it looks to further develop the solution’s technology, which is based on Agfa’s expertise in ink and inkjet printing.

“As companies are getting bigger and machines are getting faster, automation and connectivity will certainly play an ever-bigger part in our stories both for packaging and for sign and display printing,” says Fitch.

“We already offer robots on the Onset Grizzly, and we are working on a similar offering for our Tauro engine. Our Asanti software also plays a role in making print production workflows as efficient as possible.”

After a year filled with announcements and releases, Agfa has stressed the importance of bringing its technologies to local trade shows to speak to printers and signage experts about how the company can help with new solutions.

Fitch concludes: “We will be showing our rebranded inkjet printer portfolio at trade shows, of which The Print Show (September 17th to 19th at the NEC, Birmingham) is just one example. We will ramp up the strategic partnership regarding inkjet printers with EFI, and we expect to be installing additional SpeedSet Orca packaging presses at customer sites in diverse regions very soon.”

Statistics

150+ years of history in the imaging sector
1867 – The company was founded as a colour dye factory in Berlin, Germany
5,026 – employees as of 2023
€1,150m – (£980,500) annual turnover in 2023
2023 – The Agfa-Gevaert Group completed the sale of its Offset Solutions division to AURELIUS Group