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Production
Production of banknote paper
The current Swiss banknotes are printed on special paper supplied by the firm landQart® (www.landqart.ch). This paper is made of linters and combings (short cotton fibres) which are by-products of the processing of cotton. Cotton products are used because their special fibre structure gives banknotes their resistance and durability. The cotton fibres are divided into small sections, shortened and crushed before they are mixed with filling material, glue and colouring matter. The paper machine forms the watermark, integrates the security thread and frees the paper fleece from water. After the drying process, printability and surface sizing is enhanced by applying a coat of starch, and the paper is smoothed and rolled up. In the finishing area, the paper rolls are cut to size and piled up sheet by sheet on pallets ready for delivery to the printer.
Security colour
In addition to special paper, the production of banknotes also requires special security colour which must meet the strictest requirements: it must be resistant to 18 different chemicals as well as to light, and it must even be (more or less) machine-washable at high temperatures without being damaged! The supplier for security colours for the printing of Swiss banknotes and many foreign ones is Sicpa SA (www.sicpa.ch) in Prilly-Lausanne.
Printing of the banknotes
Orell Füssli Security Printing Ltd (www.ofs.ch) prints the latest banknotes series, as it did the previous ones. The company uses printing machines manufactured by KBA-Giori S.A. (www.kba-giori.com) in Lausanne. The Swiss banknotes are manufactured in a process comprising a total of four different printing procedures, two application procedures and a perforation procedure.
The printing process begins with the processing of the electronic data delivered by the artist. The original printing plates (clichés) are generated via CAD (Computer Aided Design). With a Supersimultan offset printer, the sheets of paper are then printed on both sides with different multicoloured lines. The printing is so precise that, because the lines match up, there is a transparent register. The application machine applies the moving number (Kinegram®) and the glittering number (metal-coated number). The chameleon number (optically variable ink) and the magic number (iriodin® digits) are two additional security features that are subsequently applied to the sheets of paper. Intaglio or siderographic printing creates a relief, which is recognisable by touch and presents itself to the eye in a different way depending on the angle. Unlike many foreign banknotes, Swiss banknotes are printed by intaglio printing both on the front and on the back. What's more, by applying a perforation procedure, banknotes are then equipped with the perforated number (a feature known as microperf®). They are the first notes in the world to have this feature. In the next production step, by means of a numbering machine and in letterpress printing, the banknotes are turned into sole originals and coated with a varnish. A guillotine-cutting machine divides the finished sheets into single banknotes. A computer-guided device then checks the printing quality of the banknotes and eliminates faulty ones. In a final step, packages of a thousand notes are packed, loaded into crates and prepared for transport to the SNB in Berne.
Quality control
A quality control takes places in the Cash Division in Berne by means of a spot check of the banknotes that come off the press. Once the banknotes have successfully passed the quality control, they are stored in the SNB vaults. The remaining banknotes delivered fresh from the press are weighed for control purposes and also stored.
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