Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • MATERIALS
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • CONTACT
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest News
  • Market Trends & Reports
  • Finishing News
  • Price Alerts
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
  • Weekly Featured Article
  • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
  • Product News
  • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
  • Additives
  • Resins/Polymers
  • Pigments
  • Equipment
  • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • Adhesives
  • Architectural Coatings
  • Finishing Articles
  • Finishing Technologies
  • Finishing Equipment
  • Industrial Coatings
  • Nanotechnology
  • Powder Coatings
  • Solventborne
  • Special Purpose Coatings
  • Sustainability
  • UV Coatings
  • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
  • Columns
  • Blogs
  • Coatings Supplier Handbook
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • PCI Store
  • Classifieds
  • eBooks
  • Sponsor Insights
  • White Papers
  • COATLE Word Game
  • Columns
  • Did you know?
  • Distribution Dive
  • Focus on Canada
  • Formulating With Mike
  • Innovation Insights
  • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
  • Powder Coating Perspectives
  • Target the Market
  • TiO2 Insider
  • Blogs
  • Editor's Viewpoint
  • Industry Insights
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • COAT-IT! Podcast
  • Videos/PCI TV
  • EVENTS
  • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
  • Paint and Coatings Academy
  • Webinars
  • Calendar of Events
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
  • Buyer's Guide
  • Equipment Directory
  • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
  • Current Issue
  • eMagazine Archive
  • China Issue Archive
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to eMagazine
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Finishing News
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • Finishing Articles
    • Finishing Technologies
    • Finishing Equipment
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!
Company News

Inkmaker Group Rebrands as IM GROUP

Inkmaker rebranding
IM Group logo
Inkmaker rebranding
IM Group logo
April 26, 2021

TURIN, Italy — Inkmaker Group announced it will officially be known as IM GROUP. The rebrand launch, filmed on location at Inkmaker’s headquarters in Turin, Italy (now also headquarters to IM GROUP), was screened for private viewing on Youtube to coincide with World Earth Day to emphasize the group’s commitment towards sustainability.

The decision to rebrand Inkmaker Group as IM GROUP aligns with the group’s vision, of evolving its technology to expand in its fields and adapt, the advantages of its products, to new markets.

“Since October 2019, Inkmaker has made significant investments, on the acquisitions of the businesses of Rexson and Valtech, in UK; Tecnopails, in Italy; and most recently Swesa, in Germany. The driving strategy behind these acquisitions was to create a reliable complete supply chain — serving predominantly, but not only, the ink, paint and coatings industry — to sustain our core businesses,” explained Christophe Rizzo, CEO EMEA/Americas, IM GROUP.

This meant restructuring the group’s brands into various specialties, yet to still function as one strong force, hence the need to rebrand the existing Inkmaker Group brand, to have an identity of its own, as an autonomous holding brand positioned as a “Total Solutions Provider.” As Rizzo highlighted, “This is the evolution of Inkmaker Group, which is essentially that of Inkmaker.”

Gianluca Incerti, Global Commercial Director, IM GROUP, explained that this was one of the key reasons for forming IM GROUP. “Our strategy is to create ‘areas of excellence’ dedicating each of our brands to a specific expertise. In this way each brand still works individually, with its existing clients in its own markets, and when required shares that expertise — offering Total Solutions — when for example, working on large turn-key plant engineering projects. This guarantees resource optimisation and high flexibility to manage projects of all sizes,” said Incerti.

Within the restructure of IM GROUP’s brands, Inkmaker will focus on ink dispensing and software design. Rexson will be predominantly for paint as well as liquid ink. Vale-Tech will focus on narrow-web and paste-ink dispensing. Swesa will mainly focus on food, pharmaceutical, corrugated packaging, cosmetics and more. Teko will remain in POS tinting and R&D training, and Tecnopails will focus on filling solutions.

The group’s in-house corporate communications division, THINK, designed the new identity. “The focal point of IM GROUP’s new logo is a symbol of a face created from a series of triangles, that like the many brands and skills of our Group, converge to form a strong whole — a distinct ‘human identity’ — depicting a technological engineering leader with a ‘human touch.’ The face is embellished with a crown, representing the Group’s determination to maintain its leading position in the industries it serves,” explained Silvio Cimenti, Global Director of Branding, Marketing and Communications, IM Group. “The Colour of Trust — the Group’s credo — is a result of its core values of being Truthful, Responsible, Understanding, Safe and Tailor-Made to ultimately position the group, as the leader you can T R U S T.”

The IM acronyms in the new name are derived from the name Inkmaker, which are steeped in history. Valentina Cigna, Global Director of HR and President of IM GROUP, explained, “They recall not only Inkmaker — as the founder of the group — but also those who, in 1987, founded Inkmaker; Carlo Musso, Luciano Longobardi and — especially for me — my father, Giuliano Cigna. He would have been very proud of this moment.”

How This Evolution is Affecting Operations in Asia-Pacific

The move comes at a time of great evolution, on all fronts for the group and in all of its locations globally. Having recently expanded its premises in Malaysia to house its Tinting and Engineering brand, Teko, the group is rapidly gaining market share across Southeast Asia especially in Philippines and Vietnam.

Roberto Guerra, CEO Asia-Pacific, IM GROUP, highlighted, “The big one of course is China. Suffice to say that due to our larger premises we can now double the number of standard machines we ship monthly, from an average of 5 or 6 units to 10 to 12. More importantly, the real added value for us is the capability to build more complex units, which is where IM GROUP’s R&D is investing a lot of resources. Smart factory and Industry 4.0 are driving our growth and when you build complete production lines for a paint and ink company it’s important to have enough space to work in total safety.”

Safety and a Commitment to Social Responsibility and Sustainable Practices

Safety at the workplace has always been of priority to the group, along with technology, but it is also evolving the way in which its products are impacting the environment and the carbon footprint they leave.

“This is the reason for choosing to launch IM GROUP, today on World Earth day, to make a global statement of our commitment in furthering our social responsibility and sustainable practices. To action this, IM GROUP is partnering with Deloitte to create a roadmap to reduce our eco-impact — the current resources we use and waste we create — so we too can do our part in reducing environmental pollution, and to align our ethical principles for a safe work environment with those of the United Nations' Global Compact,” added Valentina Cigna, Global Director of HR & President of IM GROUP.

Additionally, the group used the occasion of the launch to announce the setting up an IM GROUP FOUNDATION, aimed for year-end, to be followed by IM GROUP’s Goodwill Ambassador, Alice Guerra, as Foundation Chairman. The foundation will work to bring social activities to members of the local communities where IM GROUP operates and to offer career development and growth opportunities to the youth in those communities.

“On a private level, the group has always been active in this field, especially in Southeast Asia, working closely with children with special needs through workshops and activities — now we will be bringing this activity to the next level and into our IM GROUP,” said Cigna.

How the Evolution to IM GROUP is Affecting Operations in China

In Shanghai, expansion plans were brought forward, with the doubling in size of the group’s previous production area, to cope with demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Bigger premises mean we can manufacture more machines and we can now offer a greater variety. We are already offering customers the entire portfolio of our brands. So, for us the new IM GROUP brand will certainly impact business positively in China. It creates a platform for us to promote all our brands individually, or working in unison with a single focus, as a Total Solutions Provider,” said Lau Kar Seng General Manager, Inkmaker Shanghai and Board Member of IM GROUP.

Inkmaker’s Software: The Brain Behind IM Group

Significant investments have also been made in the group’s Software & Automation division to ensure a smooth transition with all the new brands and to increase their level of productivity and performance to a much higher and more energy-efficient level. “Inkmaker’s software — now known as IM GROUP’s IMAESTRO — was designed in-house by our Software team and has always defined us as a leader amongst our competitors, therefore it plays a major role in the operational execution of IM GROUP’s global strategy. We have since expanded our software line to another one, called IMPRIMO, which we recently released with our Ink-transfer/supply system, Inktrasyst, and another three are under development, planned for release by next year,” said Francesco Nesti, Global Director of Software & Automation, IM GROUP.

On a customer service level, a new training program, called ASIST—Advanced Software Intelligence Systems Training, was launched earlier this month. It combines IoT automation and artificial intelligence, with the skills of IM GROUP’s experts, to boost the training level of our systems.

Machinery Developments in the Advent of IM GROUP

The goal of offering total process engineering to clients worldwide involves reorganizing and broadening the group’s product range. This will ensure the group’s growth sustainability for the next 10 to 15 years. “In order to meet this — market-segment distribution — several machines were removed, and others were re-designed to meet higher standards of mass customisation, reliability and performance to give wider and broader solutions to our customer’s needs,” explained Enrico Mattiazzi, Global Director of Engineering, Production and Supply Chain, IM GROUP.

“Due to its acquisitions, Inkmaker grew by 25% globally. Taking into account the current challenges the pandemic has caused, this is still on track with our vision. Now having the holding brand, IM GROUP, to steer all our speciality brands, we foresee all our brands to grow exponentially,” concluded Rizzo.

For those of who missed the launch, it can be viewed at https://im-group.com/our-business.html. Learn more about IM GROUP at www.im-group.com.

 

KEYWORDS: Inks

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • pci1022-Kinaltek-Lead-1170.jpg

    A Novel Pigment Production Technology

    Following an extensive R&D program that demonstrated...
    Paint and Coating Pigments
    By: Jawad Haidar and Nitin Soni
  • pci global top 10

    2025 Global Top 10: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    The following is PCI’s annual ranking of the top 10...
    Global Top 10 and PCI 25
    By: Courtney Bassett
  • 2025 pci 25

    2025 PCI 25: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    PCI's annual ranking of the top 25 North American paint...
    Global Top 10 and PCI 25
    By: Courtney Bassett
You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Joanna
December 7, 2021
Thanks to the author for coming up with this topic. This is excellent!

Report Abusive Comment

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

CTT Registration Now Open

CTT Registration Now Open

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the PCI audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of PCI or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Modern arapartment complex painted in bright colors.
    Sponsored byEPS - Engineered Polymer Solutions

    Architectural Polymers Leading the Way in Coatings Innovation

  • paint sprayer in a workshop
    Sponsored byallnex

    Enabling Performance and Compliance: allnex Introduces a New Line of VOC Exempt Solvent-Borne Resins

Popular Stories

No. 3 AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel’s $1.4B Divestment Signals Strategy Shift

PCI voices from the top

eBook | PCI Voices from the Top

No. 20 H-I-S Paint Manufacturing

H-I-S Paint Names Industry Veteran as CEO



PCI Buyers Guide

Submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) to suppliers of your choice with details on what you need with a click of a button

Start your RFP

Browse our Buyers Guide for manufacturers and distributors of all types of coatings products and much more!

Find Suppliers

Events

September 3, 2025

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit

The Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT) Summit is an annual conference for both liquid and powder coatings formulators and manufacturers to discuss innovations in coatings technology. This event combines high-quality technical presentations, a resource-rich exhibit hall, and dedicated networking opportunities to connect scientific minds, foster innovation, and cultivate game-changing new ideas!

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Longest-running laboratory experiment

What is the longest-running laboratory experiment?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

CTT Summit Short Courses (Live 9/3/25)

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit is expanding its offerings with four short courses. These short courses will offer an extensive day of interactive learning.

See More Products
pci voices from the top ebook

PCI CASE EBOOK

Related Articles

  • Photo of Eduard Galperin

    IM GROUP Names New Distributor in Russia

    See More
  • IM Group award

    IM GROUP Recognized Among Top Chemical Tech Solution Providers in Europe

    See More
  • A speaker at IM Group NA's grand opening.

    IM GROUP Launches U.S. Headquarters

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • pci may 2020

    PCI May 2020 Issue

See More Products
×

Keep the info flowing with our eNewsletters!

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletters
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey & Sample
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Finishing News
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • Finishing Articles
    • Finishing Technologies
    • Finishing Equipment
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!