Christophe Rizzo: Strengthening IM GROUP’s Commitment towards total safety and responsibility

Chemical Industry has been one of the pillar stones ever since mankind witnessed how industries operate. Along with steel, power, textile—the involvement of the chemical industry lead mankind towards prosperity. One such company that witnessed years of transformation is Inkmaker. Established in 1987, Inkmaker is a veteran global manufacturer of integrated dispensing systems that improve efficiency by automating the process of ink, paint, and chemical dispensing and mixing. The company was founded by Giuliano Cigna, Carlo Musso, and Luciano Longobardi in Turin, Italy. Over the years, the organization strengthened its presence on the international stage and soon expanded to Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. Today, Inkmaker is the founding member of the IM GROUP—formerly known as Inkmaker Group.

Inkmaker Group was recently rebranded to IM GROUP, which is the holding brand of Inkmaker, Rexson, Vale-tech, Swesa, Teko, and Tecnopails. It has successfully created a combination of top-notch expertise and advanced technologies, all under one brand— IM GROUP. IM GROUP is renowned in the industry for its proprietary software and systems, manufactured in three continents that guarantee highly accurate colors consistently, precisely, and instantly. Starting its journey from Italy, IM GROUP now operates in over 15 countries throughout 5 continents.

“We have invested significantly in the global evolution of our Group—from systems and processes, software and technology through to human capital and the acquisition of several companies with specific expertise,” said Christophe Rizzo, CEO EMEA / Americas, IM GROUP.

The Colour of Trust

IM GROUP’s logo is inspired by the Inkmaker logo and is made up of a symbol, a logotype, and its credo. The logo demonstrates the trust, confidence, and high technology that IM GROUP encompasses. The triangles converge the spectrum of brand and skills that the Group inhibits, which together forms a whole—a distinct ‘human identity’—depicting a technological engineering leader with a human touch.

“IM GROUP is based on the brand values of TRUST—Truthful, Responsible, Understanding, Safe, Tailor-made—which sits at the core of our brand DNA — “Reliability”. This is what we stand for,” quotes Christophe.

IM GROUP represents a dynamic, reliable, and competitive organization. It is on a mission to deliver, technologically advanced, “total-process engineering” turnkey solutions. Also, it aims to provide a trusted service to the industries it serves, while strengthening the commitment to total safety and responsibility. The team of IM GROUP is determined to maintain its leading position in the industries it serves.

Distinguisher in the Industry

IM GROUP has distinguished itself in the industry due to its implementation of advanced technology. The GROUP’s core business is in the paint, ink, coatings, and chemical industry—for which it has been recognized by the acclaimed Paint&Pintura’s “Industria de Tintas do Brasil” award for 8 consecutive years.Together, the Group now holds proficiency in offering design and manufacturing through to complete engineering studies and turnkey solutions such as,

Customized plant engineering and software design
Highly accurate automated dispensing
Process equipment from bulk handling to filling lines
POS equipment
And other related services

These solutions are backed by technology and conducted through cloud connectivity and systems. These solutions improve product quality and minimize quality checks. Likewise, it also enhances safety while decreasing the environmental impact by reducing factory waste. IM GROUP’s solutions are cost-efficient and have proven to yield better outcomes.

Investing in Futuristic Tech

IM GROUP envisions to evolve the technology, which will enable them to expand in its fields and adapt the advantages of the products to new markets. Also, the vision is to create a reliable complete supply chain—serving predominantly, but not limited to the ink, paint, and coatings industry—that will sustain the core businesses. In order to fulfil this, the team is working on acquiring businesses, with a specialty or good market share in a segment /country while also maximizing its logistics globally.

IM GROUP is continually investing in new technologies such as Industry 4.0 and IoT to further augment the design solutions. Besides, incorporate its software into the new acquisitions’ products that will elevate the brand’s offering. The Group is positioned to share R&D, skills, and knowledge, amongst its brands, to deliver more competitive offerings to its customers.

IM GROUP’S unique strategy of employing a dual-CEO leadership has equally benefitted the brand. Robert Guerra, who is CEO of Asia Pacific, explains IM GROUP is evolving on all fronts and in all its locations globally. Having recently expanded its premises in Malaysia to house its Tinting and Engineering brand, Teko—together with Inkmaker—and with a newly opened sales and service office in Thailand, the group is rapidly gaining market share across South-east Asia especially in Philippines and Vietnam. “In China 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.”

Progressing despite the Crisis

IM GROUP has recently been named one of “Europe’s top 10 chemical tech solution providers 2021” by Manufacturing Technology Insights. Despite the pandemic, the company was able to expand its operations. The Group has recently completed a double ink-mixer installation at SAMOGRAPH’S international headquarters in Sant’Anastasia, Campania, Italy. The two mixing stations, commissioned through SAMOGRAPH, were purchased specifically to automate and speed production and come complete with IM GROUP’s legendary “Polare Offset” dosing heads controlled by the group’s proprietary software, Inkpro. Powered by IoT and state-of-the-art industry 4.0 technology, fourteen pumps are dedicated specifically to food packaging while another fourteen are aimed at conventional inks.

This project was secured by Alessandro Tallone, Area Sales Manager from IM GROUP, he further explains, “We are very proud of this installation; it is a remarkably flexible and efficient system made all the more powerful due to the sophisticated technology that drives it. Thanks to the efforts of our award-winning software team, Inkpro has distinguished itself as a leader in the industry.” The outbreak of COVID-19 asked several vital questions to both leaders and their companies that motivated them to reinvent themselves for the better. It was one of the challenging situations of modern times especially with regard to how we work and the sudden changes we had to make. It was a challenge for the team to work, however, the positive outlook and motivation from the leaders ensured that the operations ran smoothly. Christophe and Roberto are proud of the dedication and expresses gratitude towards the team.

Quote: “We aim to deliver, technologically advanced, ‘total-process engineering’ turnkey solutions and provide a trusted service to the industries we serve.”