Mark Andy meets label industry in Sri Lanka

Flexo Image Graphics (FIG), the exclusive distributor of Mark Andy presses and Rotoflex machines in the Indian sub-continent, has organized a meeting of local printers and suppliers in Colombo, Sri Lanka to outline the capabilities of existing press equipment to be used more efficiently and for a larger number of applications.

More than 40 printers and suppliers attended the meeting organized by Mark Andy and FIG in Colombo

At the gathering, Gourav Roy, managing director at Flexo Image Graphics, emphasized the installation base of 332 Mark Andy and Rotoflex machines in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Gulf and Africa. ‘Of these, 28 Mark Andy presses and two Rotoflex machines are installed in Sri Lanka with some of the most prominent names in the label industry. It is important that converters use these presses for applications other than printing tea tags too.’

In his presentation, Roy pointed out some of the challenges faced by the Sri Lankan label printing community, including tight margins, high material costs, need of skilled operators, and need to diversify to be able to grow profitably. Addressing the concerns, he said that Mark Andy presses can be used for diversifying label printing businesses and being more profitable by using existing hardware for many applications, such as health and beauty labels, food and beverage labels, product marking tags, printed electronics, flexible packaging and cartons.

The event also presented new machines from Mark Andy and Rotoflex, with Mark Andy to ship its first UV press into the country later this year. Currently, the market in Sri Lanka has a large presence of presses that use water-based inks more suitable for the tea industry. There are very few UV label printing presses.

Labels & Labeling also observed that many prominent label printers in the tea industry are a one-stop shop. They not only participate in tea auctions but also blend tea to enhance quality for exports and then pack it in sachets and pouches that are made in-house, put a label or tag on packs, after which they are put in carton boxes for export under their brand name.

A dinner followed the meeting and was attended by more than 40 local printers and suppliers, including Advance Business Automation Systems, Avery Dennison, GEW, Impressions Labels, Print Care, Sanmik Printing and Packaging, Solara Print Impressions, T-Print, Univacco Foils, Veepee Graphics, Western Paper Industries, amongst others. 

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