Amorim Cork Flooring is a market leader in the production of versatile, high-quality cork flooring and wall decorations. The company’s products offer undeniable sustainability credentials and are suitable for any residential, commercial or business project. With the aim of economically optimising the production of sustainable, high-quality cork flooring, Amorim commissioned a new production line at its site in Porto, Portugal in 2023. Amorim’s long-standing partner, Hymmen GmbH Maschinen und Anlagenbau – located in Bielefeld, Germany – provided the production line’s entire system technology. At the heart of the production is the JUPITER Digital Printing line for decorative digital printing and the Digital Lacquer Embossing (DLEplus) for digital-structure printing.
AMORIM COUNTS ON HYMMEN TECHNOLOGY FOR DIGITAL PRINTING FLOORING PRODUCTION
Digital printing continues to play a crucial role in the future of flooring, as it enables unlimited design flexibility and can be applied to a wide range of materials. This facilitates faster response times to market demands and trends, while reducing material waste. The combination of reduced process costs and market differentiation is driving the significance of digital printing technology within flooring production.
Hymmen has invented and patented innovative technologies for digital printing flooring production and digital printing decoration. To ensure that customers have access to innovative, digital printing technologies, Hymmen and i4F have entered an exclusive patent partnership to promote and develop this strong, digital printing intellectual property (IP) portfolio. This includes Hymmen’s award-winning DLE technology which offers unprecedented levels of highly realistic optics and haptics. i4F sells licenses to companies that wish to use patented technology.
“At the heart of the production is the JUPITER Digital Printing line and the Digital Lacquer Embossing (DLEplus) technology”
Amorim has installed Hymmen’s Jupiter JPT-C digital, single-pass machine – a print-to-board line that delivers outstanding advanced features. The machine is designed for constant industrial production and includes a high-precision continuous substrate conveyor of maximum register accuracy. It can achieve printing speeds of 25–50m/min and an optical resolution of >1,000dpi, while maintaining optimum colour stability and print quality.
The Jupiter line features the DLE technology, creating structures that are embossed-in-register (EIR) to the decor of the surface. This technology grants all the commercial and technical benefits of digital, single-pass printing, including flexibility, fast set-up times and individualisation. The digital structuring supports the surface performance. In addition, all features such as hardness, bonding, scratch resistance and chemical reliability of the core lacquer remain.
“The team at Amorim are delighted with the co-operation and commitment of both companies”
In autumn 2023, the Hymmen JUPITER Digital Printing and DLEplus systems were successfully commissioned at Amorim. Within the highly ambitious timeline, the first digitally printed cork flooring was introduced to the market in January 2024. The team at Amorim are delighted with the co-operation and commitment of both companies who have made this ambitious project a success.
“The digital structuring supports the surface performance”
“We are very happy to have chosen Hymmen as technology partner for our cork flooring production. The professional project management from both teams allowed us to implement this new line within an ambitious timeframe,” Fernando Melo, CEO of Amorim Cork Flooring, comments. He goes on to say, “We are sure that this state-of-the-art-technology will keep us a step ahead in the market.”
Dr René Pankoke, partner and CEO of Hymmen adds, “Thanks to the positive co-operation with our customers’ team, we are very pleased to once again have a showcase project that sets a good example for future plant projects”.