Although Oracal and Orajet products are well-known names around the sign-making and display industries in general, not that much is known about the manufacture of these materials or the back-ground to Orafol, the company which produces them. The media in this portfolio has been growing steadily, with recent inclusions being a series of self-adhesive vinyls manufactured specifi cally for solvent based inkjet printing.

The current Orajet range complements the Oracal 870 series of vehicle wrapping vinyls, also suitable for solvent inkjet printing, and there’s also an extensive family of media for water based systems marketed under the Ability brand. The six core Orajet products have varying performance characteristics, designed for different end-use applications and working conditions, and are available in a number of fi nishes. They are compatible with all current large-format solvent inkjet printers and are supplied with an extensive range of ICC colour profiles.

But who is Orafol? Its history is an interesting one and dates back to the early 19th century when a Berlin based factory, owned by the Wibelitz family, received an order to produce stamping ink for post offi ces in Prussia. This was an exclusive order for the company which continued for the best part of 100 years before it moved into the manufacture of varnishes and lacquers.

Relocating to Oranienburg in 1919, the business has remained in the area ever since and, in 1957, its plant became a semi-nationalised company trading under the name of Hannalin KG. The sixties saw the start of the production of self-adhesive refl ective fi lms and, in 1972, the business became state owned under the name VEB Spezialfarben Oranienburg.

The major change, and the “birth” of Orafol as it is known today, happened after the reunification of Germany in October 1990 which brought with it the collapse of the former East German economy and privatisation of many of the former state owned businesses. Formerly the company had been in the position where all profi ts were fed back to the GDR but, once Germany became a single nation, the state owned business was transferred first to the Treuhandgesellschaft – a trust company and privatisation agency – which negotiated its sale in 1991 to the Schmidbaur family. This was the point where the Orafol name was adopted and growth following this chain of events was rapid. In 1995, the foundation stone was laid at the company’s current site at Am Biotop 2, and a 5,000 square m plant was constructed. Within a year this was doubled, and office premises were added. Three years later a third factory covering an area of 10,000 square m was built and Orafol’s logistics’ centre was added in 2000, with a cast facility being included twelve months later. Thus, investment into growth has continued steadily, with expansion of the converting and logistics’ centre in 2002.

Growth hasn’t stopped here and, after the acquisition of the majority shareholding in its American distributor, Orafol’s manufacturing facilities were extended beyond Europe, with production due to start in Savannah, Georgia this coming May. Currently, the German production facilities now cover an area of some 135,000 square m, and expansion looks certain to continue. In terms of equipment, Orafol has 16 modern coating machines which run 24/7 and a work-force of 500. Its current product portfolio concentrates on three main business divisions which cover graphic products, adhesive tape systems and retro-reflective materials.

Orafol is now the leading export business within the state of Brandenburg and, with more than 70 percent of its products going overseas, the company’s materials are now sold in some 80 countries world-wide. The steady growth in its product portfolio has helped raise the company’s profile world-wide, with the result that an increasing number of sign-makers and users of wide-format digital printers will be able to benefit from these top quality materials.

Orafol is distributed in Australia by a network of independant distributors. For details of your nearest distributor Phone: 1300 132 677