The security printing inks of all new Swiss banknotes are dispersed on three-roll mills supplied by Bühler Grinding & Dispersing.

This is also true of the new earthy brown 200-franc bill, with which the Swiss National Bank SNB is displaying the scientific side of Switzerland.

“By using our technologies and equipment in their production processes, our customers can meet top security, quality, and reliability standards in making their banknotes,” said Cornel Mendler, managing director of the Grinding & Dispersing unit, which develops ink production solutions.

The machinery supplied out of Uzwil dominates the banknote ink dispersing market. Over the past three years, Bühler has been awarded the contract for every single tender that it submitted.

Bühler is currently starting up production equipment in India and on the American continent. This means that the machinery must undergo rigorous testing at the production site before it starts mixing and dispersing the inks for printing new banknotes and securities. Bühler was awarded both contracts after winning public tenders.

The customers are primarily manufacturers of security inks or national banks. Bühler is the dominant manufacturer of such equipment, holding a global market share far above 75%. 

“Bühler has been supplying mixing equipment for national banks for over 40 years. In handling orders of such serious consequences, our customers define the most stringent security levels,” Mendler said.

Some 55 million 200-franc bills are currently in circulation in Switzerland will now start being replaced by perfectly printed, crisp and brilliant new ones. 

“The roll technology we use in our machines produces uniformly high-quality inks. Reproducibility is one of the most important criteria for our customers,” said Norbert Kern, who is in charge of process technology at Bühler Grinding & Dispersing. 

Bühler applies the centrifugal casting process in manufacturing its VIVA rolls, additionally strengthening them by a selection of ceramic materials. VIVA rolls are not cambered and – unlike conventional rolls – are therefore not thicker in the middle than at their ends. This enables a uniform ink quality to be produced across the entire width of the rolls, regardless of the roll pressure applied.

The new ninth Swiss banknote series was designed by the SNB and printed by Orell Füssli Sicherheitsdruck AG on banknote paper supplied by Landqart AG. 

Also, the last banknotes of the new series – the 1000-franc bill and the 100-franc bill – will be able to show their bright violet and blue colors thanks to production equipment supplied by Bühler.

Bühler also provides solutions for producing security features. The Bühler Leybold Optics business unit contributes to forgery-proof banknotes with holograms. The Leybold Optics SEC vacuum coating system provides coatings to the holograms which are embedded in the banknotes. A prominent example is those on euro banknotes. The Leybold Optics SEC uses zinc-sulfide and aluminum coatings to enhance the optical appearance reflection of the banknote’s security feature.