Privately owned L’Etiquette Adhésive is achieving significant productivity gains with a Mark Andy Digital Series HD press, the company’s first Mark Andy at its production plant in Pau, South-West France.

 When Stéphane Clavier was looking to acquire a B2B company in 2019, he found L’Etiquette Adhésive to be the perfect vehicle for his ambition to grow a successful business outside of the retail sector.  He was not to know that the global economy would be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic the following year, but according to Mr Clavier: “It actually increased demand for labels to a level that has largely been sustained ever since.”

The move to a new and larger building in 2019 also provided the space for him to kick-off his planned programme of investment that continues to this day.  He inherited a machine itinerary that included flexo and digital toner presses as well as offline converting equipment.  But the growth in demand for more SKUs in shorter run lengths was proving a challenge to handle economically and Mr Clavier scanned the market for a solution.

“I knew of hybrid presses, but coming from a non-print background was unaware of what benefits the technology could offer us.  So, I began asking the well-known press manufacturers if they could show me one of their hybrid presses in commercial operation at a converter producing similar work to ours.  Only Mark Andy was able to do this, and the demonstration was so convincing that within a month we had placed the order for the press,” he explained.

Installed in 2024, the Mark Andy DSHD is high-spec machine.  Its 430mm web width is based on the well-proven Performance Series flexo platform where a five-colour (CMYK+W) UV-inkjet digital engine is located between flexo print stations – two before and three after the digital engine.  These allow for additional colours to be printed, a lacquer to be added or cold-foil to be applied.

The press also has turn bars, a double unwind for two-web insetting, two Gizmos (web translators for multi-layer coupon labels), and a semi-rotary die cut station.  An overhead extraction unit is fitted to handle the removal of complex waste matrix.  All of which makes the DSHD a very efficient production tool allowing single-pass operation from blank roll to finished label.

As labels become more complex and brand owners specify more expensive substrates, waste material becomes a major issue and cost centre.  Make-ready time and material waste on the flexo presses means all but longer jobs are uneconomical to produce, and the running speeds of the toner presses and offline finishing equipment all point toward the hybrid having a significant advantage in efficiency.

“Despite having flexo and digital capability already, I must admit there was a learning curve with the hybrid, purely in terms of synchronising the digital and flexo print with the converting elements.  It required a new way of thinking, but the Mark Andy, which was working double-day shifts is now on three-shift operation, and is very productive,” he added.

Because of its all-round capability as a production machine, the DSHD has allowed Mr Clavier to move work from both his flexo and digital lines to free-up capacity for the jobs to which they are better suited.

Around 90% of work at the plant in Pau is printed and converted using filmic materials.  In fact, one major customer has recently changed its requirement to all PP where the opacity of the digital white on the Mark Andy has quickly filled capacity on the press.  Most of the work produced by L’Etiquette Adhésive is supplied to customers within the local region, and turnover will grow from Euro 7.8m this year to Euro 8.4 in 2027.

Speaking for Mark Andy, newly appointed sales agent for France, Stéphane Rateau commented: “L’Etiquette Adhésive is an excellent case study of how to develop a label converting business by strategic investment and embracing the latest technology, with a delivery performance rating of more than 98%.  I can promise that Mark Andy is fully committed to ensuring the Digital Series HD press maintains this level of excellence.”