Arcolor
Arcolor, a Swiss company and global market leader in decorative printing inks, decided in 2023 to establish local production in China. For the planning and execution of the entire project, the company turned to Bühler. The results were remarkable: Within just 388 days, production was up and running in Quzhou at a site covering 2,400 square meters.
Bianca Richle, November 2025
Arcolor has been developing innovative, customized water-based printing inks since 1996. The company’s portfolio spans packaging, digital, and decorative printing, with decorative printing as the company’s core business. Patterns such as woodgrain effects are printed on paper and film for use in furniture and flooring. Innovation is central to Arcolor’s success: about 20 percent of its workforce is dedicated to research and development, a focus that has propelled the company to global market leadership in decorative printing.
With nearly half of the world’s decorative printing companies based in China, Arcolor decided in 2023 to establish local production and get closer to its customers. “With this expansion, we wanted not only to be close to our customers in terms of production and logistics, but also to give them the benefit of direct support in China through our own R&D and application technology,” says Simon Ruprecht, Chief Operating Officer at Arcolor AG. Bühler has been Arcolor’s technology partner since the company was founded nearly 30 years ago at the foot of the Alpstein mountains in Waldstatt, Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Bühler was also on board from the start of the China project. “Bühler was responsible for the entire plant – from concept, planning, automation, installation, commissioning, and process optimization to training,” says Thomas Winiger, Director Global Engineering Grinding & Dispersing at Bühler.
The Arcolor team already had a wealth of experience from its Swiss site – and many ideas about what could be done even better. This led to an intense and highly productive exchange throughout the Quzhou project. “We greatly appreciated that Bühler listened closely to us and contributed valuable ideas to our plans,” says Ruprecht. “Bühler managed to integrate all ideas from both sides into the design. Sometimes we met with our Chinese colleagues and Bühler China in the morning – and by the next day Bühler already had a new layout ready. That happened day after day, and the design kept improving. All this resulted in the highly robust and efficient production plant we have today.”
Bühler’s global presence and deep understanding of the Chinese market played a central role in the project. “Thanks to our global footprint, we have a thorough understanding of local requirements,” explains Winiger, Director Global Engineering Grinding & Dispersing at Bühler. What really made the difference was the combination of Bühler China’s flexibility and engineering speed with the experience and expertise of Bühler Uzwil’s international project team. “Bühler was able to integrate both European and local technologies into a single plant that met our specific needs,” Ruprecht says. “Our collaboration with Bühler China in particular was very close, with extremely efficient communication channels. The core project team even visited us in Switzerland to see how we work and what matters most to us. We really operated as one project team – and that was key to the success.”
Thanks to our global footprint, we have a thorough understanding of local requirements.
Thomas Winiger,
Director Global Engineering Grinding & Dispersing at Bühler
Working closely with Arcolor, Bühler defined the production process and raw material handling, created process flow diagrams and layouts, and designed the plant’s control system. Bühler then delivered the complete facility, including Cenomic Optima bead mills, high-speed and inline dispersers, tanks and agitators, steel platforms, energy distribution, and the automation system. Delivery, installation, commissioning, process optimization, and training were all part of the package.
“The plant’s performance has fully met our expectations – and so has the after-sales service,” Ruprecht explains. “Of course, commissioning always brings ups and downs, but thanks to the strong commitment and solution-oriented mindset of everyone involved, every challenge was resolved quickly. After just one week, commissioning was complete. And that wasn’t just luck. In a project of this scale, you need the right people, the right technology, and the right communication. With Bühler and Arcolor teams in both China and Switzerland, we were able to combine the best of everything.”
Arcolor is already looking ahead. Space for future growth was deliberately built into the plant layout, allowing capacity to be expanded to 15,000 tonnes of ink per year. The first follow-up order – two MicroMedia X3 bead mills – has already been placed with Bühler. “We have many plans to develop new water-based inks in China, for China,” Ruprecht explains. “With the best materials and the best engineering, we are ready to create the best solutions for our customers.”
Bühler was able to integrate both European and local technologies into a single plant that met our specific needs. We really operated as one project team – and that was key to the success.
Simon Ruprecht,
Chief Operating Officer at Arcolor AG
Who: Arcolor
When: Founded in 1996.
Where: Waldstatt, Switzerland
What: Arcolor is one of the world’s largest producers of water-based printing inks and employs 80 people in Switzerland and 30 in China.
Customers: The company supplies around 250 customers worldwide in decorative, packaging, and digital printing.
Bühler: Arcolor’s new 20,000 m² production and distribution facility in Quzhou, China was engineered entirely by Bühler from concept and planning to installation, commissioning, and automation. At the heart of the plant is Bühler’s Cenomic Optima bead mill. The plant has been producing on a CO₂-neutral basis since 2016.
Gupfenstrasse 5
Uzwil
9240
Switzerland
