At Cartamundi, luck is quite literally in the cards. The producer of playing cards, poker cards, Pokémon cards, UNO and Magic: The Gathering cards made some 25 billion cards in 2020. In addition, it produced 60 million board games, including Monopoly and Risk. The family business is investing several million euros in a research center in Flanders to renew and optimize its current production methods. Robots, sensors and artificial intelligence will play crucial roles in the company’s digital transformation.

The new facility will be the group’s spearhead R&D center and coordinate the Cartamundi Group’s worldwide R&D projects. It will also consolidate Cartamundi’s position in the region. “I am particularly proud of how we combine a global and local approach,” says Steven Nietvelt. “Cartamundi was born in Flanders, so it’s here that we want to invest and create jobs.”

In time, about ten people will be employed in the new center. They will work closely together with the team in Drongen (East Flanders), where Cartamundi is working to digitize the production of personalized products. The center also boasts a direct line to Seattle in the US, thanks to the development of new products for toy companies there.