iFLEX Labels, the newly trademarked trade name of Fantasia Printing Ltd., is celebrating 40 years of business success with the acquisition of a Mark Andy Performance Series P5 press. The new 13-inch 8-color, option-loaded P5, promises to deliver many more years of success for iFLEX Labels, which operates in the Saint Laurent suburb of Montréal, Québec.

Founded in 1976, the company headed by Tony Iaizzo, president, and Lino Iaizzo, VP operations, produces prime pressure-sensitive labels (paper and film) and flexible packaging for food and household products markets. Customer service is the primary driving factor for the company. “Once we establish what a customer’s needs are we make buying from us quick and easy. When warranted we offer custom e-ordering and supplier-managed inventory programs to our customers,” says Lino.

According to Lino, the company was looking to enhance its competitive position by reducing waste and make ready times, along with producing measured high-quality work. The Mark Andy Performance Series P5 was just the answer. “We compared available press offerings and concluded that the Mark Andy Performance Series best met our quality and overall performance targets,” he says.

“Coming from 40 years of printing press ownership I was impressed with the P5’s superior construction quality and performance-enhancing technologies that will help us perform faster make readies with much less material waste,” adds Tony.

Richard Tremblay (1st pressman), Sylvain Debuc (production manager), and Lino Iaizzo (co-owner and VP Operations) of iFLEX Labels with their new Mark Andy Performance Series P5 press

The new press had a very successful start-up in April. “The first day in production we printed an order using all the print stations, including foil and lamination,” reports Lino. “We saved an hour on the make ready and the job was running saleable product in less than half an hour. We ran the order in perfect register at 450 fpm as compared to 250 fpm on our existing presses.”

iFLEX Labels has highly experienced press operators so the training provided by Mark Andy focused on understanding the features of the P5 press, along with getting the operators familiar with the user interface. “Our pressmen love the new machine,” says Lino. “They can’t thank us enough for making their jobs so much easier with this acquisition.”

Along with the acquisition of the P5, iFLEX Labels is taking advantage of Mark Andy as a Total Solutions Partner. It is supporting its new press acquisition with consumables, such as tint sleeves, mounting tapes, shop cloths, and doctor blades, sourced from the Mark Andy Print Products division. “Buying consumables from Mark Andy makes perfect sense to us. We expect the same quality in these products as we expect from the press. We can’t be running a race car with bicycle tires,” says Lino.

The investment in the Mark Andy P5 press is a launching pad for iFLEX Labels’ next 40 years in business. For now, Lino says the company intends to use the P5 to enhance its combination printing on many of its labels and take advantage of the increased output. “The P5 has a good mix of automation and solid technology that we believe will allow us to produce high-quality prime labels for many years to come. As importantly, it has features that will help us develop new applications going forward. Once we master the capabilities of the P5, we will grow our business with new products. We have lots of ideas to test with this new machine.”