On 12th June, Mark Andy co-hosted a special event
with Esko at its European headquarters in Warsaw. The event, which attracted 50 representatives
from printing companies around Eastern Europe, included live demos of Mark Andy
presses and Esko prepress solutions, the most important of which highlighted
label printing using Esko Equinox software.
Lena Chmielewska, responsible for marketing at Mark
Andy in Poland, stated: “Our goal is to be not only a supplier of
state-of-the-art, innovative presses, but to observe the market and utilize our
partners’ technology to meet our customers’ needs and expectations. By delivering added value solutions to our
customers, we enable them to become more successful.”
Events like this, the first of its kind with Esko,
are a key part of the OEM’s strategy and commitment to complete workflow
solutions. The primary focus of the
meeting was to present Mark Andy & Esko’s response to market trends, such
as smaller runs and shorter delivery times.
Chmielewska continued “Mark Andy has co-operated closely with Esko for
many years – in fact we distribute its technology in the U.S. through our Mark
Andy Print Products division. In Europe
we act as partners with a common goal of offering solutions that bring benefits
to our common customers. This way, we
increase the number of possible users of our presses, especially the newest
machines in our portfolio, the Digital Series HD and Digital One. I’m sure that by presenting the whole
process, printers gain more value than by showing only a part of it.”
Esko tools are used in the prepress area, where the
entire production process begins. When
implemented, the software system is known shorten job delivery times and bring
crucial savings. This is important for
every printer, and was highlighted by one of Esko’s solutions, its Equinox
software. Participants were shown how to
prepare jobs using Equinox, which were then printed ‘live’ on a Performance
Series P7 high-tech flexo press, offering a wide color gamut.
“Customers demand shorter run lengths,” said
Mariusz Geras, Sales Manager Eastern Europe at Esko. “By contrast, the number of job variations
increase. So, the printing presses must
meet ever more demanding needs, while simultaneously offering time and money
savings. By converting special, or spot
colors, to process colors, we can shorten downtime and increase productivity on
every press, which clearly meets market expectations.”
Equinox enables this kind of conversion as well as
offering a wider gamut option. Depending
on application and the brand owner’s needs, the CMYK process ink set can
replace several or even all special colors, which results in shorter press
set-ups and downtime. Using the same ink
set for all jobs, wider gamut technology eliminates the need to clean the press
between printing different jobs.
Additionally, it shortens make ready time, and reduces cost.
The demonstrations were warmly appreciated by those
who attended the event. Esko’s
representatives gave several presentations that offered specific information on
the Equinox software and other products from the company’s portfolio. Afterwards, the participants were each given
their own special name-label, as well as other labels containing pictures taken
during the event and printed on-demand.
Lukasz Chruslinski, Sales Manager at Mark Andy
Poland presented an outline history of the company and its current
situation. He explained: “Mark Andy
employs more than 600 people worldwide and offers the most comprehensive
portfolio of narrow-web presses on the market.
We now successfully combine digital and conventional technologies, which
enables us to achieve higher levels of press sales and a dominant position in
the market.” He went on to present three
of the company’s flagship presses: the Performance Series flexo line, the
Digital One toner-based hybrid, and the latest development, the Digital Series
– a UV inkjet solution that offers even more productivity and profitability for
label producers.
Chmielewska concluded “It was great to see how the
event’s participants were equally interested in the Mark Andy presses and
Esko’s prepress solutions, and we hope that many of our guests will consider
them in their future investment plans.
The information we presented and demonstrations we gave showed the
benefits available and what can be achieved.”
