Mark Andy Europe Hosts Premier Seminar Event & Open House

BASEL-REINACH, Switzerland—Just three months after the grand opening of its new Advanced Technology Center in Switzerland, Mark Andy hosted a three-day open house and the first of its European series of Educator Seminars, “Film and Foil Printing—Market of the Future.”

The tri-lingual event, which attracted more than 200 visitors from 15 countries to the Basel facility, proved a real success for the inaugural customer focused event. The state-of-the-art technology center offered Mark Andy the opportunity to showcase its leading range of flexo converting equipment, all configured for the many levels of film and foil printing.

The presses from the innovative Mark Andy and Comco lines were demonstrated: the servo-driven Mark Andy XP5000, the legendary and best-selling 2200, and the longstanding benchmark of high speed film and foil print for packaging, Comco ProGlide MSP. In addition, Mark Andy featured its VSR300, the fully integrated rewinder and finishing unit, fitted with AVT Print Vision/Helios automated inspection system. Opening the Educator Seminar programme, Dieter Huck, managing director of Mark Andy Europe, said, “We are pleased to provide this unique opportunity for package print converters to learn about the changing market trends in film and foil, and show the innovative technology that has been developed to fulfill these latest requirements.”

The concept of Educator Seminars was pioneered in the USA by Comco in the 1990s, where the series has become highly successful delivering information on the latest trends to thousands of converters. Now, for the first time, Europeans can benefit from the accumulated knowledge and experience of Comco and Mark Andy, along with that of a leading list of the industry’s most regarded suppliers, including XSYS, Dr. Hönle, GEW, ESI, and Treofan.

Seminar topics covered many aspects of narrow and mid-web film, foil and flexible print for packaging. Delegates were given up-to-date information on growing film and foil markets and future market trends. In addition, they received detailed information on the technical aspects of the film production workflow to gain a solid understanding of every step in the process, from film types and film manufacturing, to high quality printing, to the many aspects of drying and curing.

The seminar was chaired by Wolfgang Klos-Geiger, owner of the G&K TechMedia publishing group, whose publications provide extensive coverage of the converting markets both in Europe and Asia. Addressing the delegates, Klos-Geiger said, “Mark Andy has brought together in a neutral environment all the necessary players to develop a profitable film printing business. This support will be a key benefit to converters in the growth of their individual businesses.”

Klos-Geiger moderated the seminar and introduced the keynote speaker, Thomas Reiner, managing partner of Berlin-based packaging consultants, Berndt & Partner, whose presentation, “The European Film Market—Actual Status and Perspectives,” addressed the current market situation and gave projected growth and market changes for the short, medium and long term. Reiner was followed by Norbert Hansen of Johs Rieckermann, Deutschland, who outlined the latest technology for film manufacturing and extrusion.

Wilfried Tews of Treofan Deutschland explained the many film substrates appropriate for various applications, and spoke in detail about the importance of relevant aspects such as ‘Food Industry Approval’ and the differing capabilities of films to accept different techniques such as hot/cold foiling. Christer Becker, of XSYS Schweiz, then concluded the morning session with a guide to the inking systems available for film printing.

The afternoon program was dedicated to drying and curing systems featuring presentations by Wolfgang Kiefer of Dr. Honle on UV-Curing, Wolfgang Ziebell of GEW on Inert Curing, Mike Lawrence of Mark Andy Inc. on Hot Air Drying, and Urs Läuppi of ESI on Electron Beam Curing for lamination.

The final session was introduced by Mike Lawrence, product manager at Comco, who provided an understanding of the different types of inline equipment and the specific types of applications that can be successfully produced on each, set against background market trends that show an increase in the use of pouches, bags ands wraps at the expense of more traditional, glass bottle, metal can and carton products.

Lawrence said, “Flexo can produce packaging graphics for more products on store shelves than any other print process in the world today.” With FTA data indicating a world market for flexible packaging valued at €45 billion/year, and growing at 6 percent, the time to invest in narrow and mid-web flexo technology has never been better. As run lengths shorten, the advantage of inline flexo over wider width CI and gravure processes becomes more apparent. With 15 years of experience in this market, Mark Andy, and its Comco line, has the expertise in web tension and temperature control to ensure high quality film printing at high speed. To illustrate the point, the three machines on show were then put through their paces.

Thanking the delegates for attending this inaugural European Seminar, Mark Andy’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Greg Palm, said, “I am proud to be associated with the team here at Mark Andy Europe. They are dedicated to supporting converters and the growth of their businesses throughout Europe. It has been a rewarding experience to show this facility in such a positive way, and we shall continue working closely with industry experts to bring more events to Mark Andy Europe in the future.”