Mark Andy makes inroads with Digital One

Conventional presses may be the bread and butter for Missouri-based Mark Andy, but the press manufacturer is beginning to show its digital prowess.

The company launched at Labelexpo Americas 2016 its entry level digital system, the Digital One EP dry toner press. The Digital One complements the company’s Digital Series hybrid press.

Mark Andy sold nine Digital One presses at the show, and as of late February had sold more than two dozen that have been installed primarily in North and South America. Interest in the press isn’t slowing. A series of roadshows in February drew more than 100 people to look at the press, the company says.

‘This is the most successful product launch in terms of sales and marketing – ever,’ said Tim Brasher, says Mark Andy manager of business development.

Vancouver-area Glenwood Labels was one of the first label converters to adopt Digital One technology. The company attended Labelexpo Americas with the idea of buying a digital press to augment its fleet of flexo presses, but co-owners and brothers Kelly and Terry Lawrence weren’t sure which press would best suit their needs.

There were a few factors that drew the Lawrence brothers to the Mark Andy Digital One. First, the press is small, compact and inexpensive. Mark Andy set a flat rate 265,000 USD price tag, and is marketing the press to those who had previously been apprehensive to invest in digital technology.

‘For us being new to digital, we were unsure what kind of return on investment we were going to get,’ Kelly Lawrence says. ‘We felt it was a perfect price point for us to enter the digital market.’

Another draw for the Lawrence’s was the in-line finishing, rewind and unwind at the tail end of the Digital One.

‘The Digital One has a die-cutter built into the press, we felt it was a really good complement to a continuation of our flexo printing,’ Terry Lawrence says. ‘We felt it was a great next step for us.’

Since installing the press in late January, Glenwood Labels quickly got the machine up to full-scale production. The company primarily will print prime labels for food, pharmaceutical and vitamin labels. ‘You name it, we’re running it on the Digital One,’ Terry Lawrence says. ‘We’re blowing the doors off our customers with what we can do now.’

Press specs

To keep the price low, the Digital One is not customizable, so ‘what you see is what you get,’ Brasher said.

The press images at 1,200 DPI, can achieve speeds of 62ft/min and prints on a range of substrates including pressure-sensitive paper and film, unsupported paper and tag stocks.

Digital One’s 13-inch web prints 4-color CMYK digital process combined with a single servo-driven flexo station for in-line converting, decorating and spot color. The press is equipped with air-cooled UV LED curing and an onboard compressor. Digital One requires only a 220v single phase power source.

‘This press is for the companies who might not have the business to justify a million-dollar piece of equipment. We want to bring them along for the ride and help them grow in this digital world,’ Brasher says.