Toppan USA Inc. is creating a new office in Chicago in advance of the opening of the company's $100 million barrier films plant in Georgia next year.
The subsidiary of Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. of Japan expects the new site to be ready for mass production in March to provide transparent barrier films to packaging manufacturers and other businesses in North America and beyond.
Toppan USA is constructing a 127,000-square-foot location in Griffin, Ga., in what is being described as that state's first eco-friendly park. The Lakes at Green Valley is described as a mixed-use park with space for industrial, commercial and residential aspects.
“In addition to serving the U.S., the world's largest packaging market, we are aiming to further expand our business in Georgia by supplying to Europe as well,” said Shingo Kaneko, president of Toppan Printing, in a statement when the manufacturing plant was first announced.
While news of the Chicago office has just been released, Atsushi Kusano of Toppan USA said in an email interview that the Georgia plant is approximately 50 percent completed at this point and the construction project is on schedule.
“We ship to the U.S., but the Georgia facility strengthens supply capability and will better serve North American clients,” Sumio Ezaki, president of Toppan USA, has previously said in a statement.
The new office in Chicago, Toppan USA said in a statement, will “bolster sales activities in the United States' Midwest region, where many leading converters, end-users, and other major customers for transparent barrier films are located.”
Toppan Printing dates back to 1900 and has a diverse set of businesses. The company has been in the transparent films business since 1986, and this will be the first transparent barrier film facility outside of Japan for the firm.
The company sees demand for such films, which provide gas and water vapor barriers, continuing to grow.
“Due to factors such as environmental considerations, Toppan is anticipating further expansion of demand for barrier films in the global packaging market,” Toppan said. “In particular, demand for barrier films is expected to grow in the North American market, where large structural shifts are taking place in the food packaging industry.”
Toppan expects to serve the food, medical and electronic markets from the new Georgia site.