Flexo presses all the right buttons

6 July 2010



Mark Andy recently staged an Open Day at its plant in Switzerland to demonstrate its new Performance Series flexo press, along with finishing lines from Rotoflex, which was acquired in 2008. Maureen Byrne went along to see them in action.


Shorter runs, cost considerations and the need for flexibility and speed are putting pressure on the flexo sector for technology that cuts change-over times and streamlines the operation from start to finish.

At Mark Andy’s Open Day in Reinach, Switzerland, recently, Converting Today got the chance to witness first hand the great strides that have been achieved in the technology involved in the company’s Performance Series flexo presses.

The P7 model, the top of the range, was introduced at Labelexpo last year, and since then 35 presses have been sold, the latest of which was to UK-based company Chesapeake for its pharmaceuticals packaging plant in Kunshan, China. Next in the range is the P5 model, which was introduced earlier this year, and later this year the more affordable, lower priced model P3 will be introduced.

Rémy Höhener, Managing Director, Europe, of Mark Andy, explained during the open day how the company had listened to its customers’ requirements before designing the new Performance Series. “Converters are demanding shorter runs, less waste, and simplicity of operation,” he said. “There is a shortage of skilled operators, so we have made the presses very easy and straightforward to operate, and change-over from one job to another is extremely simple.”

Several steps have been taken out of the set-up process, which makes shorter runs more cost effective, without losing out on flexo quality. “Set-up time per print station is only 35 seconds,” said Mr Höhener. “In addition, the print unit can operate with as little as one coffee cup of ink. This means special colours need smaller mixes and less wastage at the end of the job, which is good for the environment and the bottom line.”

One of the most striking features of the machine is the short web length, which comes across from one station to the next directly, and is not looped underneath, as with other flexo presses. It is the shortest web path length in the industry.

Flexibility is also an important consideration these days: “Pressure sensitive, film, shrink sleeve and light cartons can all be handled,” said Mr Höhener. To this end, there is a rail fitted above the press, where kit can be added for lamination, cold foiling, variable data barcodes, and more. “We have done a lot of development work in response to customers’ needs,” said Paul Briggs, Sales Director, Europe. “In the USA, water based inks are common. The Performance Series has been specifically designed for UV, water based and even solvent inks.”

The plates are quick and easy to set up, and fine adjustments can be made to the registration with very simple manoeuvres. Larger plates can be slotted in, with no adjustments needed. “Change-over from one job to the next can be effected in 17min, so wastage is kept to a minimum,” explained Mr Briggs. “Stations can be exchanged, taken out and cleaned very quickly. Change-over times have been cut by at least 60-70%, and waste by about 50%.”

Can it compete with digital? Mr Briggs explained that, because of all the leaps forward in technology with this series, the break-even point compared to digital is lowered. “We would consider a short run to be 2,000 repeats (240m), and this can be cost effective,” said Mr Briggs. “Plate costs have also come down, which are one of the most expensive aspects of flexo. Digital presses need to run full width and the consumable costs along with special operator training are high.

“Digital finishing lines are also expensive and require as much space as the press itself,“ he added.

To complete the package offered, the SPI and DPI advanced inspection security solutions and VSI Series inspection slitting rewinding equipment, along with the Vericut 2 advanced digital web finishing systems, all under the Rotoflex brand, are also now available from Mark Andy.


The open architecture on the Performance series makes for fast and easy job changes. Performance

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