Family-owned Ellco Etikett, the largest independent specialist label converter in Norway is to install a Mark Andy Digital Series HD press at its production facility in Gjelleråsen in Nittedal, near Oslo.  The new inkjet/flexo hybrid will replace an existing toner-based press and offer the company more flexibility and higher productivity, according to Managing Director, Christian Egedius.

“We have been a Mark Andy user since 2010 when we installed a Performance Series P7 flexo press for our longer run work, and it was the ability to swap tooling with the Digital Series HD along with its combined inkjet/flexo capability that attracted us to the hybrid.  The P7 has been a very reliable and profitable machine and we expect the same from the new Digital Series HD once it’s in full commercial production,” he commented, adding that he anticipates a significant improvement in up-time over that of his existing digital presses.  “Time is money and margins can be tight, but the impressive demo we had in Mark Andy’s Warsaw showroom and visits to existing users to see the press in everyday production, convinced us that this was the way to go.”

The new press, which is due for installation in September, has a 330mm web width and is fitted with five UV/inkjet colours (CMYK + W) and two flexo stations, one located before and one after the digital engine.  Capable of 1200dpi print resolution, the press also has semi- and full rotary die cutting and an operational production speed of 73m/min, with no drop off in speed for the high opacity digital white.  Being of modular design and construction, the digital engine can be upgraded to 8 colours (adding OG&V) and the press platform, which is based on the all-servo Performance Series can be configured to provide a wide variety finishing and converting techniques.

Founded in 1985 and currently employing 27 people, Ellco Etikett consistently manufactures millions of high-quality labels per year for markets including electro, chemical, logistics, pharma/healthcare, cosmetics, and safety, and on a variety of substrates from paper and board to film, metal, and textiles.  It was the first label converter in Norway to be ISO accredited in 2018 for both quality and the environment, and as the company has always prided itself on the scope of its capability, it has built up a varied machine park to fulfil these diverse requirements.

Speaking for Convertec, Mark Andy’s agent in Scandinavia, Sales Manager Joakim Marcusson commented: “Ellco Etikett has always prided itself on its flexible production capability and the new Mark Andy Digital Series HD hybrid is well suited to this way of working – I anticipate that it will add significant capacity too.”