Konica Minolta has announced the installation of its AccurioLabel 230 digital label press at LandmarkPrint in Stamford, CT, USA. LandmarkPrint is a provider of integrated digital print production services, promotional signage and displays to customers in the tri-state area. The company’s specialties include offset and digital production printing, large-format graphics and event signage, as well as personalized direct mail and fulfillment services, all available through online ordering with national distribution.

A new client to Konica Minolta and to roll-fed labels, LandmarkPrint had experience printing labels on cut sheets and its own wide-format device. As Carmine Iannacchino, founding principal, began investigating label converting as a more significant revenue stream, he gained insight on the industry’s considerable projected growth rate. After reviewing recommendations from its many contacts in the industry, LandmarkPrint reached out to Konica Minolta.

Iannacchino visited Konica Minolta’s Client Engagement Center at its US Headquarters in Ramsey, NJ. He quickly saw investment in label production as an opportunity to enhance current customer relationships, add to LandmarkPrint’s portfolio of services and increase revenue, a sentiment backed by industry projections. A recent Keypoint Intelligence report confirms the growth of this market, projecting a CAGR of 11.7% for digital label press volume worldwide from 2021-2026.

Konica Minolta label presses are highly productive and operator-friendly. LandmarkPrint’s new equipment was installed late in 2023 and operators were trained on-site over three days. The press’ touchscreen enables intuitive operation and is easy to use, eliminating the need for extensive user training. In addition to the AccurioLabel 230, LandmarkPrint purchased Konica Minolta’s AccurioPro Flux front-end software to impose jobs accurately, as well as the GM Nano Diecut/Finisher to convert the labels.

Konica Minolta’s sales and service teams were instrumental in bolstering LandmarkPrint’s label business development and sales training. LandmarkPrint was able to benefit from Konica Minolta’s size and scope, its access to local service and the convenience of using one vendor for the entire transaction.

“Konica Minolta’s application experts have so much industry experience, assisting us with everything from the right questions to ask customers to creating an estimating software tool where we can enter specs based on the press to calculate an estimate – no pen and paper anymore,” says Iannacchino. “Another great decision was going with a toner-based machine. While we did consider inkjet technology, we concluded it was more complex to run and required special treated materials.”

LandmarkPrint reports the quality and turnaround from the AccurioLabel 230 is ‘fantastic.’ Some customers had been waiting several weeks to receive orders, but with its new press, jobs are produced in a matter of days. LandmarkPrint easily converted a small room to house the reasonably-sized equipment, and has one operator running two machines.

“We are well-known for our fast turnaround time in our traditional business, and partnering with Konica Minolta on label printing technology has allowed us to provide that same fast-turn time for labels,” adds Iannacchino.

“As we continue to invest in this growth area by delivering technology that is faster, easier to run and more automated than ever to create efficiencies for our clients, we are thrilled to have another printer join us in embracing labeling,” states Jason Dizzine, vice president, Portfolio Management and Planning, Konica Minolta. “We welcome LandmarkPrint to the Konica Minolta family and into the label business, where we foresee them achieving remarkable success.”

Konica Minolta’s AccurioLabel presses offer affordable entry to high-quality digital printing. The AccurioLabel 230 prints 1200 x 1200 DPI at 77 fpm, on standard flexo material. The highly flexible systems were developed to manage and deliver an increasing number of small-to-medium print jobs in ever-shorter processing times. Tasks that were time-consuming on analog machines can be performed quickly and accurately to deliver consistent print quality across the run.