Doors for IKEA

Borne Türelemente (door elements), located in Trierweiler an der Mosel, Germany is a family-owned company founded in 1956. With 1,100 employees worldwide, Borne produces doors and frames for DIY stores in Germany and other European countries.

Thanks to successful sales, production expansion and regular investments in the most modern production equipment, Borne is one of the most efficient producers of interior doors in Europe.

Borne also owns two furniture factories in Barlinek and Gorzw, Poland. The EFI (Booth 1501) VUTEk GS3250lx Pro was installed in Gorzów in January 2016 and because of experience and high demand, the installation of a second printer followed at the end of October. At the two Poland plants, another 500 employees produce cabinet doors, tables and pictures exclusively for IKEA and their worldwide distribution.

Demanding customers

IKEA is certainly the largest and most demanding of Borne’s customers. The Swedish furniture company has long included the “PAX” cabinet system in its offerings — and in order to make that even more attractive, the cabinet doors can now be delivered with inkjet-printed designs. “You can have the sliding doors in various colors with elegant, slim horizontal stripes” it says in typical IKEA-speak on the company website. Until now, PAX doors were available only in a limited number of smooth-coated colors. Thanks to inkjet printing, Borne can now offer any color combination. The doors can also be provided with flowery decorative patterns or printed with a wood grain, such as maple, beech, oak, cherry or walnut veneer. All the artwork is designed by IKEA in Sweden and delivered to Borne as a PDF file with exact color samples.

When Borne Türelemente needed a wider and better quality inkjet printer, the company’s CEO, Frank Borne considered the VUTEk GS3250lx Pro. Borne liked the photographic image quality, the printing width and the performance.

Over the course of more than a year and six visits, experts from Borne and IKEA, using their own samples, tested the results of the printer. Of particular importance was the high resolution and detail, the adhesion of the inks, the accuracy for the printing of special colors and the environmental impact of UV printing inks. Once all of IKEA’s demands were met, the EFI VUTEk printer was ordered, installed and put into operation.

Exacting technology

“With the evaluation of the machine, IKEA became convinced of the quality of our prints. And because more and more digitally printed doors are being purchased, we let the VUTEk print around the clock,” says Borne. After half a year of trouble-free production, he ordered a second printer to deliver larger orders quicker.

IKEA also supplies print data that have been created by the design department in Sweden. While the Swedish designer initially only viewed inkjet printing as a new, advantageous production method, they have since discovered the possibilities of variable-data printing in the decorative sector, and are now considering how much other furniture can be made more attractive by means of digital printing. So not only digital printing of doors and tables, but also new applications in the furniture market are a growth factor for Borne Türelemente.

The integration of the EFI VUTEk GS3250lx Pro into the production line at Borne shows that the “Imaging of Things” is not only of interest to “pure” print service providers. Even more industrial operations will integrate the advantages of inkjet printing into their shop floors.