Eidco Labels runs fastest narrow web press in Lebanon

Lebanon-based Eidco Labels is working with an 8-color, all-servo Mark Andy P7 Performance Series, one of the first and the only uprated P7 models installed in the Middle East.

Eidco Labels’ Mark Andy P7 is claimed as the fastest narrow web press in Lebanon

It is also claimed as the only 17in (430mm) narrow web press in Lebanon, and ‘by some measure the fastest’, according to Mark Andy, being rated at 300m/min.

The press has eight UV flexo print stations and IR drying capability. Fitted with a rail system that supports a screen print head and cold foil capability, the P7 has a corona treated web cleaner, chambered doctor blades and a single die station.
 
Housed in a purpose-built facility in Zouk Mikael, on the outskirts of Beirut, Eidco Labels typically handles 1100 jobs/year. It employs 25 staff and is self-sufficient from pre-press to despatch.
 
Eidco Labels managing director Eid Zgheib commented: ‘I’d had 12 years of experience in pre-press with an international group before starting the business in 2009, so was familiar with the demands of high quality print. We are in fact the only label supplier in Lebanon to have its own in-house pre-press department, and believe it is fundamental to our success.’

A close working relationship with the Beirut office of Dynagraph Group led Eidco Labels to start off by installing a Mark Andy 2200 press. This was a 10in, 6-color with UV and hot air capability, corona and web cleaning, delam/relam, two die stations, a laminator and a sheeter.

Current unrest in the region is posing problems with traditional supply routes, with many land borders with neighbouring Syria, Iraq, and Jordan closed for freight, so the company has refocused its product portfolio and markets and invested in new technology to diversify the business. This includes the Mark Andy P7.

Continued Zgheib: ‘Despite the ongoing conflict in the region, Lebanese products, especially cosmetics, detergents and food are well known for their quality and in high demand, and it was to tap into the printed packaging for these markets with shrink sleeves and in-mould labels that we chose the Mark Andy P7.’

The new press has more than doubled capacity at Eidco Labels, which now has three flexo lines and is currently responsible for around 90 percent of local cosmetic labels, 65 percent of local detergent product labels and a growing 30 percent of local food labels. ‘We first saw the P7 at Labelexpo Americas 2016 and within two months we had ordered it, and six months later it was installed. It is the best narrow web press on the market for shrink sleeves and in-mould work because it runs at high speed without loss of quality – nothing else competes.’

Speaking for Mark Andy, European area sales manager Timo Donati, who is responsible for Lebanon, added: ‘The working relationship between Dynagraph and Eidco Labels has been beneficial to both parties. Like all good partnerships, it’s based on trust and mutual support.  Mark Andy is delighted to have such a professional company as its distributor in the region and I congratulate Eidco Labels on its continued success with our technology.’

Zgheib concluded: ‘I can foresee another two years of conflict in Syria, and even longer before normality returns to trade in the region, so it’s important that we consolidate our existing capability as well as search for new opportunities. The new P7 is more productive on a wider range of substrates than we could have predicted, so offers us plenty of scope for expansion.’

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