ADOX FACTORIES

In 2006, the ADOX factory started on the premises of an abandoned 1980s military laundry. Many of the research, production and confectioning machines were saved from bankrupt photo factories such as Agfa, Forte, Konica and others. Those machines quickly occupied the entire original building, which got expanded in 2019, gaining space for new labs, storage spaces, chemical production and a coating machine.

In 2015, ADOX took over the coating machine from Ilford Imaging Switzerland, which was used for research of many products, including inkjet materials and the legendary Cibachrome. The machine is located in Marly, Switzerland, and occupies three floors. The factory was built around the coating machine, with many labs and research spaces.

Now turned into ADOX Switzerland, the company is actively researching and developing products. The Snap-On filters and the Captura dust-free powder technology are one of the many Swiss projects.

EMULSION PRODUCTION

Agfa precipitation machine, saved from the Agfa research departement in Leverkusen. It has a 35-liter kettle, designed to make both paper and film emulsions on a small scale.

COATING

The ADOX Switzerland coating machine is of a research size, allowing relatively small coatings compared to the big players on the analog market. One single coating, with all the preparations and subsequent cleaning, can take up to four work days.

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The kettles are filled with emulsions (in the dark, with just mild red light)
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Pumps are getting the emulsions from the first floor to the third, where the coating head is
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At the head, kettle lines are connected to the coating head
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Paper and base are rolled, so they can be pulled through
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...sometimes the paper tears!
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The coating is happening in the dark, but this is how it looks: the coating head is tilted towards the paper, and the emulsion flows out of the "cuts"
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The machine has many sophisticated controls and parameters
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At the end, the machine is pumping water for cleaning
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This is a blue-colored coating to check the quality. Afterwards the real emulsion can go in
Coating Machine
The machine scheme

FILM CONFECTIONING

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In the foreground is the large master roll slitter, where roll films are cut. Behind is the sheet film cutter. Below the ceiling the complex purification and conditioning system is attached, to keep the air cleanliness levels always perfect
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The machine in the center is the sheet film cutter. Behind the rotating darkroom door, an LCD panel is located. The machine operator programs the machine inside the room, and then operates it according to acoustic signals in complete darkness. The room is equipped with IR light and the workers wear IR goggles.
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This big master roll slitter was bought in a questionable state, producing inconsistent results. In order to upgrade it to modern standards, all rollers were replaced, a web cleaning unit was installed, and two anti-static systems were built in.
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One of the two roll film spooling machines with fully automated built-in quality control. Seven arm-thick cable strands go from the machine to the switchboard cabinet, run through the circuit board and go back into the machine. We are currently looking for engineers to set up this beast with open-source controllers.
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The vintage 35mm spooling machines have less electronics and are more reliable. However, since not much is automatized, spooling 35mm films into cassettes is a labor-intensive process with high costs per piece. In one day ADOX can finish about 2.000 films.

CHEMICAL PRODUCTION

Bottling
Bottling
Powder Mixing
Powder Mixing
300 Liter kettle
300 Liter kettle
The process of setting up a big mixer
The process of setting up a big mixer
Powder purification unit
Powder purification unit

The latest factory progress updates are published in the NEWS section