Essentra Packaging to scale production with Mark Andy Hybrid Label Press

POLAND – Poland-based Essentra Packaging has installed its first Mark Andy hybrid label press – the Digital Series HD in a bid to scale production and quality.

The company, which supplies the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries with printed carbon packaging using sheet-fed offset presses, manufactures approximately 270 million items of carton packaging and 1.5 billion of self-adhesive labels.

Manager Piotr Skalecki said: “Job runs are still decreasing but customers are constantly asking for more complex and difficult labels and in different versions.

“So, we needed a press that would meet their needs and expectations. Digital Series HD combines the best from digital and flexo technologies in one production line, so it seemed an ideal solution for our current needs.”

According to Essentra, increasing numbers of different versions of the same label, for a cream or shampoo, forces beauty market customers to respond quickly and implement modern designs or adapt existing ones.

Mr. Skalecki added: “The configuration of print heads results in an optimum balance between 1200 dpi resolution, press stability, and life expectancy of the components.

“We see a kind of revolution in this area, partly because of the pandemic, but most of all, because of a greater emphasis on production costs.”

Mr. Skalecki claims the hybrid offers a 50% waste reduction on short- and mid-length jobs, as well as measurable savings at the design approval stage.

He highlighted that the company could use one web of material to prepare several versions of a particular label, reducing usage by 75-80%.

Digital Series HD also needs only half the power required by a typical flexo press and generates minimal ink waste.

The new Digital Series HD has strengthened the digital production capacity of the entire Essentra Group, supporting its business units in the UK, the USA, Spain, and Ireland.

Speaking for Mark Andy, European Sales Manager Lukasz Chruslinski commented: “It’s a great pleasure to hear such complimentary comments from a customer, mentioning our technical and service support.

“Our business philosophy is that the sales contract is just the beginning of the entire process, in which we try to get as close to our customers as possible, helping them to open the new and exciting opportunities offered by Mark Andy presses.”

Last month, the company business unit was acquired by Austrian cartonboard and folding cartons giant Mayr-Melnhof Group.

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