Century Printing & Packaging (CP&P), a family-owned label converting company located in Greer SC, USA, has invested in one of the newly launched Mark Andy Digital Series iQ digital hybrid presses. The Digital Series iQ combines the servo platform and technology from Mark Andy’s popular Evolution Series with the Domino N610i UV inkjet engine.

The press is targeted at the middle section of the label market, where it offers a blend of speed, print quality, and cost-effectiveness.

Established by Neil, Ben, and Don Waldrop in 1997, CP&P started with a Comco Cadet producing two and three-color flexo work. Don and Ben were originally
in a textile related business together, and Neil joined after working at the PrintCon Center at Clemson University.  From these humble beginnings, CP&P has grown into a leading converter of quality labels for a range of markets, including newspapers, nutraceutical, chemical, and the food and beverage sectors.

From a staff of eight in 2001 the company has grown to employ 26 and now has five Mark Andy flexo presses: three 10” 2200 models and a 13” Performance Series P5, in addition to the new Digital Series IQ. All the flexo presses are 8-color and use water-based technology with UV on the last station for lacquer. “We prefer to work with water-based inks because of the labels we produce for the food industry – and our products are now supplied to 34 states in the US, as well as exported to Canada and Australia,” Neil explains.

The new Digital Series iQ is CP&P’s second Mark Andy digital press, the company having installed a Digital One toner-based line back in 2019. The Digital Series iQ can be configured with up to seven UV inkjet colors (CMYKOV +WW) and converting components integrated to meet each customer’s specific requirements. Print stations, semi-rotary vertical diecutting, cold foil, and inline slitting are common options.

The CP&P press has a four-color digital capability with three flexo units and Mark Andy’s award-winning QCDC diecutting unit. It has a production speed up to 230 fpm (70 m/m) in high-speed mode and 164 fpm (50 m/m) in high-quality mode, while print resolution is 600 x 600 dpi across its 13” (330mm) web.

According to Neil Waldrop, one of the company’s assets has always been an open-minded approach. “We had no previous print industry experience to draw on so had no pre-conceived ideas. We just kept investing in the latest and best technology we could afford, and the Digital One and Digital Series iQ are the latest examples of that.”

Speaking for Mark Andy, John Baer, sales manager, explains, the logic behind CP&P’s investment in the Digital Series iQ. “Basically, we focused their attention on the cost to print/job estimation data that we had on file and made available to them. In simple terms, we took their book of business from the previous year and compared all the jobs they ran on their flexo presses with the same jobs costed on a Digital Series iQ. Long story short, running most of the jobs on the Digital Series iQ proved to be more profitable than traditional flexo – even on a Mark Andy flexo press.”

The decision to consider digital capability was based on CP&P’s assessment of a market that was showing clear signs of a shift in demand. Shorter run lengths, JIT delivery, faster turnarounds, consistent quality, and more added value were among the pressures the company was feeling from its customer base, which is diverse in both size and number. “We invested in the Mark Andy Digital Series iQ press to give us a more competitive space where digital printing is becoming a requirement. It allows us to combine our flexo knowledge with the new technology of inkjet to get vibrant colors with UV inks that provide a high level of consistency and durability,” says Neil.

While the Digital One offered a single-pass inline process, the Digital Series iQ takes that a few stages further, and CP&P views the hybrid concept as the most cost-effective way forward in a market where a mix of flexo and digital print will continue to be in high demand. The new press offers a wider range of substrate capabilities and the possibility of grouping jobs together, whether short or long, to give more scheduling flexibility. This has been a key part of CP&P’s strategy to deal with the supply chain challenges facing converters.

“We have made a significant investment in this press to position ourselves for growth and to meet customer expectations with the highest technology available
in the industry. After four weeks of setup and tremendous support from Mark Andy’s technical team, our press operators were very comfortable with the new technology. In addition, our production and prepress departments have made it a seamless effort to deliver consistent quality and results for our customers,” Neil adds.