Itasa begins production in Mexico

Itasa, a producer of release liners, has successfully initiated production at its new plant located in Querétaro, Mexico.

Itasa begins production in Mexico

The 7,000sqm building that hosts the plant was completed in less than eight months, and the site allows a possible future expansion with an option to double the building capacity. 

After a successful on-site acceptance test in Italy in July 2018, the coating machine was shipped to Mexico. It was commissioned during the month of March 2019 and is now in full production mode.

The new plant will serve the entire American continent and produce the range of products that make up the Itasa catalogue in market segments such as labels, tapes, medical, hygiene, automotive and composites. 

The plant is equipped with advanced technology, including a Bobst coating machine fitted with in-line flexo printing, three Euromac slitter rewinders, and a stand-alone Uteco printer.

The Bobst coater is 1,700mm (67in) wide. The machine was fitted with a 5-roll coater using solvent-less thermally cured silicone. Due to increasing customer needs to personalize their products, an online flexographic printing system was added.

The new slitting machines provide versatility and the ability to slit from 1,700mm down to 12mm.

‘The construction of a new plant in Mexico will allow us to be closer to our customers in the Americas. The choice of the most advanced technology is clear proof of our commitment to invest in order to convert Itasa into a truly global player,’ said Olivier Lavaud, CEO of Itasa.

With the opening of the new facility, which required an investment of over €10 million, Itasa has expanded its installed capacity, in excess of 1.2 billion sqm.  

Itasa, headquartered in Andoain, Spain, has been manufacturing siliconized papers since 1974 for a variety of end-uses such as self-adhesive tapes, labels, composites, medical, graphic arts, hygiene, etc.