1818

Lorilleux is founded
One of the first commercial producers of inks is founded as Lorilleux & Cie.

Lorilleux & Cie is the first specialty ink company of its kind, in a time when most printers make their own inks.

1830

The Geo. H. Morrill Company
Samuel Morrill begins manufacturing printing inks in the kitchen of his Andover, Massachusetts home.

1853

Morrill Company Obtains Patent
The Morrill Company obtains the first patent on their ink-making process.

1864

The introduction of Carbon Black
The Morrill Company begins producing carbon black from natural gas.

1877

Coates Brothers & Company is founded
Located in London, the business is capitalized at 2600 pounds.

1878

Ault & Wiborg is founded
Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ault & Wiborg is a fast growing printing inks manufacturer that quickly expands its business abroad, centering in the UK market.

1906

Four-Color Process debuts
The Eagle Printing Ink Company develops four-color wet process inks.

1907

The first Litho Press is invented
Fuchs & Lang build the first rotary tinplate lithography press.

G. Siegle begins pigment manufacture in Staten Island, NY.

1910

Rotogravure is introduced
Rotogravure, a printing process in which letters and pictures are transferred from an etched copper cylinder to a web of paper, plastic or similar material in a rotary press, is invented.

1929

Historic Mergers
A.B. Ansbacher merges with G. Siegle and the Ansbacher-Siegle Company was formed. During the same year, The Morrill Company merges with Eagle, Sigmund Ullman, Fuchs & Lang and American, to form General Printing Ink (GPI). GPI becomes the first ink manufacturer with coast-to-coast operations.

1930s

Letterpress become popular
Letterpress, the process of printing from a raised ink surface, becomes the major web printing process.

1935

Notable acquisitions
GPI Corporation acquires Sun Chemical and Colors of Harrison, NJ.

1936

Pigmented Flexo Inks
GPI Corp’s Sun Chemical division develops the first pigmented flexo inks.

1945

GPI becomes Sun Chemical
GPI changes its name and Sun Chemical is born. Printing inks remain its principal business.

1947

Web Offset Lithography is born
Web offset Lithography, the process which works by first transferring an image photographically to ink printing plates, is pioneered.

1957

Performance Pigments Division is formed
Sun Chemical acquires Ansbacher-Siegle and begins to create a new division, known today as Performance Pigments.

1958

Solvent-based flexo inks are introduced
Solvent-based flexo inks are created for use on polyethylene films.

1966

Quinacridone is manufactured
Sun Chemical begins to manufacture quinacridone out of its Newark, New Jersey office, marking the company’s entry into the High Performance Pigments market.

1968

Federal Colors Laboratories is acquired
Sun Chemical buys Federal Color Labs in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1969

The first UV inks
Sun Chemical patents the first UV inks.

1970

Water-based inks are created
The first water-based inks are introduced for use on paper and film.

1978

Pigment manufacturing begins
Sun Chemical begins to manufacture pigments out of their office in Muskegon, Michigan.

1980

EB inks go commercial
Sun Chemical commercializes EB inks. In the same year, they acquire the phthalo pigment business from American Cyanamid.

1987

Sun Chemical grows 
Sun Chemical is acquired by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC). Sun Chemical also merges with Hartmann and Kohl & Madden to form one global company.

1991

BASF is acquired
Sun Chemical buys BASF packaging and commercial inks business.

1992

UV flexo inks go commercial
The first UV flexo inks are commercialized by Sun Chemical. In the same year, Sun Chemical acquires KVK in Koge, Denmark, marking the company’s first step into European pigment manufacturing.

1993

US Ink is acquired
Sun Chemical acquires a top producer of cold-set publication inks, United States Printing Inks.

1994

Moscow Inks is bought out
Sun Chemical acquires Moscow Printing Inks.

1996

Zeneca Inks is acquired
Sun Chemical strengthens their packaging inks department in North America with the acquisition of Zeneca Specialty Inks.

1997

Sun Chemical enters joint venture
Sun Chemical and Eastman Kodak enter a $1 billion, 50/50 joint venture to form Kodak Polychrome Graphics.

1999

Sun Chemical grows globally
The company acquires Coates Lorilleux in France, SWALE Process in the UK and GB Products International Flexo Plate Division, and partners with Tintas in Latin America.

2003

Bayer Pigments is acquired
Sun Chemical buys Bayer’s high-performance organic pigment business.

2004

More acquisitions and growth
Sun Chemical acquires Rycoline Products, Inc. and buys the assets of CBS Printas, the printing ink business of CBS Holding, a publicly traded company in Turkey.

The Future

As Sun Chemical moves forward, we will continue our commitment to delivering quality, service and innovation to our customers. As we relentlessly seek the most inventive ways to satisfy our customers’ needs, we will strive to provide outstanding service and breakthrough, tailored solutions. With more than 300 locations worldwide and a broad breadth and depth of resources from which to draw, Sun Chemical is prepared to help our customers take on the global challenges of tomorrow.