Mark Andy, one of the leading narrow web press manufacturers, welcomed more than 250 international visitors to a two-day Open House at its Demo Centre and Showroom in Warsaw recently.
Organised with the theme ‘The Power of Hybrid’, the event was an opportunity to show different solutions from the company’s product portfolio. Following the press demonstrations, the day was crowned with gala dinner that included a laser show and a video message from Mark Andy CEO, Jason Desai.
The company’s flagship hybrid press, the Digital Series HD, was presented online during live daily production at Essentra Packaging, one of the latest Polish customers to install this very high-spec press. Three other presses were demonstrated live in the showroom: the toner-based Digital Pro, the new Evolution Series E3 flexo press, and, making its European debut, inkjet-based Digital Series iQ.
Developed in cooperation with Domino, which supplies the inkjet engine, the DSiQ was additionally equipped with a Kurz Distorun embellishing unit. Mark Andy also launched sMArt Link, a new label production automation software. of Mark Andy was emitted.
Tom Cavalcom, Executive Vice President, Mark Andy said, “It is a great opportunity to meet our customers, share our knowledge and receive feedback and information from the people who create and drive the market and its development, those who know it best.”
“Last year, Mark Andy celebrated its 75th anniversary and right from the start it has been focused on developing and manufacturing solutions that meet current and future requirements and expectations of the label market. This time we are presenting three of Mark Andy’s hybrid solutions, combining digital and conventional printing with numerous converting and embellishment options.”
“We’re going to demonstrate several presses, representing different market areas – from entry-level to high-end. We’ve also prepared a demo of our Evolution Series E3 flexo press. We invite you to join us on a journey with the latest Mark Andy technology and solutions that we hope will be an inspiration for you, our customers, and your business development,” added Cavalco.
Digital Series HD: A flagship hybrid in production conditions
The first station on the journey was Lublin in Poland, where Essentra Packaging is located. Recently, it has invested in a new Digital Series HD to enhance its label production. Phil Baldwin, Sales Manager Mark Andy Europe underlined that Essentra has one of the most extensive configurations of Digital Series HD in Europe.
Baldwin said, “It’s a high-end solution, devoted to highly efficient label and flexible packaging production, both for high volume and small to mid runs, including variable data and versioning. It’s extremely popular worldwide and has been one of our top selling presses for many years.”
Digital Pro 3: A start-up point for digital printing newcomers
The toner-based Digital Pro 3 press was launched during the Labelexpo Europe 2019 trade fair. As entry-level press, it is quite often a first-choice solution for printers starting their journey with digital label printing.
Baldwin added, “We offer Digital Pro 3 in several versions. Digital Pro 3 is compact, has a small footprint, and is a flexible and efficient press for short and medium runs. It offers a very fast changeover, increasing press uptime.
During the event Digital Pro 3 was used to print labels with 12 different graphics that included cold stamping in the flexo unit and semi-rotary die-cutting, and three different versions of tea labels.
Evolution Series E3: Flexibility in printing
Labelexpo Europe 2019 also saw the premiere of an important development from Mark Andy, the Evolution Series flexo press. With its totally new platform it instantly appealed to label printers worldwide.
“Independent servo drives and flexibility; high quality of printing and speeds up to 152m/min; numerous inline converting and finishing options – these features of Evolution Series have been quickly appreciated by their users,” said Baldwin.
As demand for the Evolution Series continues to grow, Mark Andy claims it delivered and installed more than 50 presses in 2021, around one per week.
The press installed in Warsaw’s Demo Room and shown during the Open House was equipped with six flexo units, including two spot colours, and a cold foil unit. It was used for printing 12 labels with different graphics (220/lpi) on white PP film. The labels were printed CMYK plus two Pantone colours, cold foiled and die-cut.
Digital Series iQ: Newest hybrid in Mark Andy’s portfolio
Last year Mark Andy launched Digital Series iQ, a new hybrid model co-developed with Domino, manufacturer of the V16610iV inkjet engine capable of printing with an extended colour gamut (CMYKOV + W).
“We call Digital Series iQ a True Hybrid as it offers a wealth of possibilities, similarly to our flagship Digital Series HD press. It combines inkjet printing and numerous embellishment and finishing options, including very sophisticated ones. Printing with high quality and speed, up to 70m/min in rapid mode, Digital Series iQ is a comprehensive solution that opens new markets and opportunities for its users,” said Baldwin.
Smart Link: Label printing automation
The ‘Power of Hybrid Forum’ also saw the official premiere of Smart Link, a new software package from Mark Andy, devoted to automate label production.
Smart Link is a real-time, on-press data collection and monitoring system. It is compatible with new and existing Mark Andy presses as well as other brands found on the production floor, and can be accessed through a cloud-based platform on a single machine, on the production floor, or at enterprise level.
Lena Chmielewska-Bontron, European Marketing Manager Mark Andy said, “We were delighted that our hybrid forum attracted numerous current and potential Mark Andy customers, who represented many countries across the world. We hope that, quoting the motto of our publication ‘Technology – Solutions – Inspiration for Business’ and the main theme of our Open House, ‘The Power of Hybrid’ will be a real help for many label and packaging printers.”