Labelexpo Americas 2024 reset the clock for Mark Andy, according to President & CEO Duane Pekar, with new digital and flexo technology that raises the bar for productivity by combining high quality and high speed.

Speaking at the three-day event in Chicago, Pekar said there was no doubt that the Mark Andy booth was the star of the show, which thrilled him to see. Hundreds of visitors flocked to see the hourly demonstrations of what the leading US manufacturer offers in the narrow and mid web market sectors.

Addressing an invited audience of industry influencers, he welcomed the opportunity to meet the industry face-to-face and share the exciting news of what is happening at Mark Andy that will both shape the future of the company and bring success and growth to its large global customer base. Admitting that the past few years had been tough for the company, he said his first mission after taking over was to launch in-depth customer research to understand where Mark Andy technology met its requirements and, more importantly, where it did not.

Pekar stated that he is committed to driving the company forward and that close analysis of the research highlighted three key improvements: More full-service support, especially in digital transformations; increased productivity to improve the customer’s bottom line; and the need to future-proof the company’s digital technology to ensure that customers investing today would not have obsolete equipment tomorrow.

With these three initiatives as the company’s primary focus, Mark Andy announced the launch of its first end-to-end support program called Mark Andy 360 Support. From pre-press to finishing, Mark Andy created a cross-functional team of experts led by newly appointed industry veteran Steve Luedke. Intended to address the challenges felt by customers when optimizing their operations, the new team will use software, process optimization, advanced training, and sales and marketing support to maximize the utilization of Mark Andy presses and finishing equipment to improve the overall ROI.

He said that all label converters constantly strive to increase their productivity and highlighted the launch of the new Digital Series HD HighSpeed 1200 inkjet/flexo hybrid line at the show. Now the fastest digital press in the world and available in R2R format as well, this press is capable of 480 ft/min (146 m/min) with hi-res 1200 dpi and full variable data printing, the new press not only raises the benchmark for productivity but also lifts it beyond the reach of any competitor. Describing it as a ‘game changer,’ he said it increases the crossover point from digital to flexo by up to 60%.

On the third point, obsolescence, he acknowledged the genuine concern across the industry that the advance of digital technology continues at pace. To allay fears, he pledged a commitment to design all future digital platforms with reverse compatibility in mind – so a press installed today will be capable of being upgraded in the future as technology and market demand changes. Identifying the recently launched Pro Series product line as an example, he explained that there are multiple ways to upgrade from R2R KM 230 (the D-Pro PLUS) to the KM 400 (D-Pro MAX) all the way up to a full hybrid line with flexo print and finishing capabilities for single-pass label production across a range of substrates. Additionally, to help fund customers’ future investments, he announced the launch of the first-ever Mark Andy Finance program.

Admitting that all the challenges faced are not behind Mark Andy, he promised to listen and, most importantly, hear what customer feedback had to say and take action to rectify issues as soon as they arise. Innovation, he said, needs to be smart to be commercially valuable, and he foresees closer working partnerships with Domino, Konica Minolta, and Dupont to drive productivity and increase profits.

A summary of the equipment on working display at Labelexpo Americas ‘24:

Digital Series HD HighSpeed 1200 – a closely guarded secret until the show opened, the new model, which is a development of the existing and highly successful Digital Series HD inkjet/flexo hybrid press, now offers production speeds of 146m/min (480 ft/min) at 1200 dpi resolution and is also available in R2R format.

Digital Pro MAX– the latest and most sophisticated version of Mark Andy’s collaboration with Konica Minolta, this toner-based digital press is completely modular in design to allow R2R or full hybrid operation with a variety of Mark Andy flexo and finishing units both before and after the digital engine.

DSiQ-R – a retrofit unit that brings inkjet/flexo hybrid capability as a fraction of the cost of a new press. The Domino engine offers CMYK (optionally CMYK+WW) and is capable of 600 dpi at speeds up to 50 m/min (164 ft/min) in high-quality mode or 70m/min (230 ft/min) in high-speed mode.

Performance Series S9 – based on the well-proven P9 all-servo platform, the ‘sleeve’ version S9 is aimed at the flexible packaging sector where run lengths are declining, and wide web production is proving unprofitable. Available in 22” and 26” web widths (558 and 660mm), and with a maximum production speed of 1000 ft/min (305 m/min) on substrates from 0.5 – 18pt (12 – 450 micron)

Pro Series – fully servo-driven flexo press fitted with Domino inkjet engine capable of 600 dpi or 1200 dpi.

Rotoflex VLI-700 – inspection rewinder optimized for unsupported film at up to 2,000 ft/min (610 m/min) and Rotoflex VSI-330 – the industry benchmark for performance with a compact footprint.