Toray Textiles Central Europe s.r.o., announced that Günter Schmid has been appointed Technical Person Responsible (R&D – Technical Sales) with effect from January 1st, 2024. He has more than 30 years of experience in waterless offset printing, which he now brings to Toray's European arm.

Waterless offset printing is a variation of traditional offset printing that eliminates the need for dampening water in the printing process. It relies on the principle of repulsion between ink and silicone-layer of printing plates IMPRIMA™. This results in improved print and color quality because the risk of dampening water and ink mixing and emulsifying does not exist. The process also minimizes the environmental impact since it doesn’t need any dampening water and minimizes the release of volatile organic components.

Günter Schmid now joins Toray to help further develop this highly beneficial printing process. For the last 30 years, Günter Schmid has been working as Plate Application Specialist in the waterless offset printing segment and his in-depth knowledge, built up through his experience, has earned him great trust from printers.

Toray is committed to the European market as a reliable manufacturer of advanced materials with roots in Japan, but also a production facility and research and development of IMPRIMA™ plates in the Czech Republic. Junichi Ishii, Sales Director at TTCE commented: "I warmly welcome this strong new member who has earned the trust of waterless offset users. We will work closely with Mrs. Itsue Yanagida, Sales Manager of Toray International Europe GmbH in Germany, to improve prompt and reliable service to customers".

Günter Schmid said: "I am pleased to join Toray, a pioneer in environmentally friendly printing with 50 years of research and development in environmentally friendly waterless offset printing systems, to support European customers in the future. As the quality and range of Toray's IMPRIIMA™ printing plates are very stable, it will be my responsibility as Technical Sales Person Responsible to further improve quality and ensure we keep meeting the needs of our customers.”