Subtle Impressions upgrades to Mark Andy Digital Pro engine

Subtle Impressions, a North Carolina-based label manufacturer has upgraded its Digital Pro engine to increase speeds and lower costs.

Subtle Impressions installs Mark Andy Digital Pro engine

Subtle Impressions installed a Mark Andy Digital One in January 2019 to fulfill its digital printing needs. The press provided the company with alternative for the longer lead times typical with flexographic production.

Chris Brown, co-owner of Subtle Impressions said: ‘Prior to 2019, the company's production mix lacked an asset that kept us profitable on low volume orders. These types of orders in the Subtle Impressions shop average 1,000 to 2,500 labels per run and vary across end use segments.

‘All of the existing business that prompted us to buy the Digital One initially, we have absorbed and done business above and beyond that. It’s been a great stop gap for us when our flexo press has been too busy.’

At a regional Mark Andy event in Atlanta, Brown found out that the new Digital Pro product line offered more than standalone press solutions. In addition to the two press models, Digital Pro 1 and Digital Pro 3, an engine upgrade was launched to enhance existing Digital One customer’s machines. 

The engine upgrade enables speeds of 77 fpm, a 70 percent increase over its predecessor as well as a 30 percent lower cost to print, which stems from toner consumption efficiencies of the new engine, as well as higher yield on certain consumables native to the new platform. 

‘We looked at a few other digital machines that were just way too slow,’ added Brown. ‘The new digital print engine is great from a quality standpoint, does not take up additional space on our floor, and has increased our capacity tremendously.’ 

Melanie Hunt, press operator at Subtle Impressions, said: ‘We have a customer who typically runs 14,000 labels that are three across, and with the old engine I’d have to run in three batches because of the recalibration and diameter of the roll. Now I can get that produced in two batches. Not only does that have double the speed because it runs twice as fast, but it probably saves 20 minutes of changeover time between stopping and changing out material and laminate between batches.’

‘What’s nice about Mark Andy digital is that it is all inline. Faster throughput, less setup and clean-up times and a bridge transferable skillset and training of the existing workforce are all benefits we see in digital hybrid technology,’ concluded Brown.