Hamont, Belgium—Engineered Floors has become the first manufacturer in the U.S. to purchase a Hymmen Jupiter digital printing line. Engineered Floors has also signed a license agreement with i4F for digital printing technologies. Hymmen and i4F’s patent partnership gives i4F exclusive licensing rights for all Hymmen’s digital printing patents and technologies for flooring production.
“The latest innovation and technology has always been important to us,” said Robert Shaw, chairman and CEO of Engineered Floors. “Whether it is carpet or LVT, our customers can expect high-quality, stylish products made with disruptive technology like solution-dyed PET or digital print LVT. We will continue to innovate.”
The new line from Hymmen will be located in North Georgia where Engineered Floors already operates multiple manufacturing facilities. The decision to start with the Jupiter line highlights Engineered Floors’ strategy to digitally print all LVT flooring produced in North America using new materials, the company said.
Designed to enable 24/7 industrial production, Hymmen’s Jupiter JPT-C print-to-board lines are said to deliver intelligent and highly precise register accuracy. This ensures the highest levels of color stability and print quality output while maintaining printing speeds of 25-50 meters per minute.
i4F licenses advanced digital printing technologies and offers exclusive access to all Hymmen digital printing technologies. This includes Hymmen’s award-winning Digital Lacquer Embossing + (DLE+) technology offering superior optics and haptics.
“Engineered Floors continues to be a front runner especially when it comes to leading change within the global flooring industry through innovation,” said John Rietveldt, i4F’s CEO. “High-quality digitally printed flooring is the future and now Engineered Floors is pioneering that shift by producing all multi-layer modular flooring with digital printing. Hymmen digital printing technologies produce the world’s most advanced flooring and are exclusively available via an i4F license.”
René Pankoke, Managing Partner of Hymmen, added, “We are delighted to welcome Engineered Floors to Hymmen’s world of superior digital printing. This has only been made possible thanks to our partnership with i4F. As our exclusive licensing partner, i4F ensures freedom to operate under the patents in its digital printing cluster in the United States and beyond.”