Belgium, 1 July 2019 – Established in 1988, Xeikon started the revolution in digital full colour printing out of a former Agfa production site in Mortsel, near Antwerp in Belgium. There, yet unknown to the outside world, it built the very first DCP-1 machine that was to be launched at Ipex 1993.
In 2002, it moved its headquarters – including R&D, manufacturing and innovation center – from Mortsel to a brand new building in Lier, Belgium. Since 2008, the company’s head office is based in Eede, the Netherlands, just across the northern Belgian border.
Last year, Xeikon celebrated its 30th anniversary and 25 years of digital printing. Under the motto ‘PastPrintFuture’, it also got ready for a new future with Flint Group as its new owner, and inkjet technology as an added part of its broadened digital portfolio. In 2018, it opened both an inkjet and a toner technology competence center in Lier to strengthen its R&D efforts and stay ahead at a technological level. The consolidation to Belgium is the next logical step in the consolidation process to continue growing as a leader in chosen digital production applications.
Benoit Chatelard, who took the helm in 2017, is convinced that Xeikon is in the right position to leapfrog the competition, and he is making sure the company is in the right shape – and in the right place – to do so: the transfer to Lier is a gradual process that started in January 2019. The main activities will be transferred by July 1, 2019, and at the end of the year, the Eede location will be closed. All customers, partners and suppliers will be informed in due time.
