Colorado Etiquettes, a Rouen, France-based family business, has installed the first Mark Andy Evolution flexo press in Europe. 

At a ceremony to commemorate the occasion, Tom Cavalco, executive vice president of sales for the American manufacturer, said, “I am delighted to see that our latest flexo technology is applicable to and affordable by the smaller label converters who are looking to improve their productivity and extend their market opportunities. I congratulate Colorado on being the first label converter in France to benefit from what the Evolution has to offer.”

The new Evolution line, which was launched at Labelexpo Europe in Brussels, Belgium in 2019, complements Mark Andy’s award-winning Performance Series. Built around the all-servo P7 platform, the Evolution is a build-up press that can be tailored to any configuration to suit current work and modified at a later date as demand changes. 

The Evolution installed at Colorado is a 6-color full UV press with a 13” (330mm) web width. It is fitted with turnbars, a double die station, closed-loop tension control, auto and pre-register features, and servo unwind and rewind. The new press joins existing Mark Andy 830 and 2200 lines at the Rouen facility.

Speaking for Colorado, Laurent Fenot, grandson of the founder, says, “We chose the Evolution because we believed it was the ideal press to allow us to fulfil our existing demand and offer the flexibility to explore new markets. We have a reputation for solving difficult problems here, so it is vital that the equipment complements our technical skills and knowhow. The Evolution will help us to develop products for niche markets, and as it’s our first 330mm press, it offers added capacity too.”

Prototyping and short test runs are all part of daily life at the company, which is neither set up nor interested in competing in the volume label markets.  Christelle Fenot believes the Mark Andy technology gives the company a distinct edge over its competitors, and explains, “We are seen as a craft business and our customers appreciate the fact that our size makes us approachable – they like dealing directly with the people who have the skills and know-how. There is no such thing as a typical job here – each day and each shift is different, and that’s our strength.”