Mark Andy introduces Polish students to narrow web technology

This followed the recent Open House that attracted converters from Europe and beyond, allowing students could see the samerange of Mark Andy machines in action. By way of introduction to labels and label printing technology, the students were given a short history lesson that traced the important stages from the simple hand printed beginnings in the 1700s to the sophisticated labels seen today. This included the role of Mark Andy founder, Mark Andrews, as one of the industry’s key pioneers, and briefly charted the development of the company from the 1950s.

The party was then given a guided tour of the showroom and shown each of the three Mark Andy presses and Rotoflex inspection rewinder in action. Each press – a second-generation Performance Series P7 flexo platform, a Digital Series inkjet/flexo hybrid and a toner-based Digital One hybrid option – were shown printing the same label so that a comparison could be made between the different print processes.

In preparation for the visit, the students had created a variety of their own labels so they could see the full process of production from initial design to the final printed label. The job included 4-color printing and die-cutting. On the P7, two types of DuPont flexo plates were demonstrated, a Cyrel DPR, and a Cyrel Easy ESX, both with 175lpi resolution, and supplied by Flexmar Repro House. The substrate was the same self-adhesive paper material for all three presses. The inks used on the P7 were Flint’s EkoCure Ancora, while Mark Andy’s own Digital Series CMYK UV inkjet and Digital One CMYK toner inks were used for the digitally printed jobs.

Lena Chmielewska, Mark Andy sales and marketing senior assistant, commented: ‘Education is fundamental to our industry and especially now with the speed of change and innovation. As the market leader in narrow web technology, Mark Andy has a responsibility to inform and instruct the next generation who will work in printing.  We were delighted to have the opportunity of meeting these young people, and encouraging them to consider a career in labels.  Students are always welcome at Mark Andy.’

The press manufacturer’s area sales manager, Lukasz Chruslinski, added: ‘We are delighted to have the opportunity of opening the doors of Mark Andy to Polish graphic arts students, some of whom have the potential to be our future employees.’