SENFA Decoprint is probably one of the biggest companies one would have never heard of. However, all that is about to change as the France-based manufacturer ? part of the Chargeurs Group ? sets its sights on further expanding its operations throughout Europe, the Americas and beyond.
Most people involved in large format digital printing know that the area around the Lake Como in Northern Italy is a historical centre of textile activity. It is less well known that just a three-hour drive north, across the Alps, there is another textile centre of excellence in the picturesque valleys of Alsace, Eastern France.
Since the industrial revolution, knitting, weaving, dying and sewing have been the cornerstone of countless communities. From the mid-19th century, mills were being powered by hydro-electrical turbines which were well ahead of their time (many of which are now being dusted down and revamped for a second life more than a century later). In Alsace ? like other regions ? benevolent businessmen built housing estates for their workers, and schools for their children, and generally the industrial climate was one where both workers and management appreciated hard work and just rewards.