“This expansion marks the dawn of what we believe will be a new era in instant ticket services,” said IGT COO, Lottery, Jay Gendron, at the opening on Feb. 20 of a $15-milion, 45,000 sq. ft. addition to the company’s Lakeland, Fl., instant ticket printing facility. The expanded facility houses a new, state-of-the art TRESU printing press to serve the worldwide lottery instant game market.
“As our customer base continues to grow, so must we,” said IGT CEO Marco Sala. The TRESU press is the most advanced in the industry, and will increase IGT’s printing capacity by approximately 30 percent to 14 billion tickets annually.
The expansion will help IGT’s 55+ instant product customers around the world meet the rising demand for new and innovative instant games. In addition to the new press, the facility now houses an additional production area, a new shipping and receiving area, and secure office and storage space for finished goods. “At IGT, our mantra is ‘Customer First,’” said Gendron. “This printing facility helps cement that promise. It means being able to provide even greater services to our existing customer base.” In 2017, Lakeland produced more than 730 games for lottery customers. The new TRESU press, which incorporates the latest advancements in the flexography technology used by the current Gallus press, will increase the production capacity of the overall industry for the first time in more than 13 years.
The Lakeland facility was inaugurated in 2009 with 120 full-time employees and 65 temporary staff. Since then, employment has grown by 112 percent. The expansion is expected to increase full-time employment by an additional 24 percent by the end of 2021, making it a triple-win: for the community, for IGT customers, and for the industry.