Mark Andy Print Products named North American distributor for Sun Chemical narrow web portfolio

Mark Andy Print Products (MAPP) has entered into a strategic distribution agreement with Sun Chemical, becoming the North American distributor for the company’s inks, coatings, adhesives and color management solutions serving the narrow web tag and label market.

Under the agreement, MAPP will offer Sun Chemical’s UV, UV LED, water-based and specialty narrow web technologies, including SolarFlex Max D, SolarWave, AquaVerse, SolarLam UV laminating adhesives and SunLam solvent-free adhesives.

The partnership expands MAPP’s pressroom consumables portfolio, providing converters with a single source for inks, coatings and adhesives alongside plates, anilox rolls, doctor blades, mounting tapes and other products.

“This agreement significantly expands the level of support we can bring to the pressroom,” says Ralph Jenkins, vice president of sales and business development, Mark Andy Print Products. “By combining Mark Andy’s narrow web expertise and customer reach with Sun Chemical’s technical and formulation capabilities, we can help customers address those challenges through a more complete and coordinated approach.”

The agreement also targets the continued convergence of label and flexible packaging production. As label converters move into pouches, sachets, stick packs, shrink sleeves and other unsupported-film applications, Sun Chemical’s expertise in flexible packaging, low-migration chemistry, coatings and laminating adhesives will provide additional technical resources.

“We are excited to partner with Mark Andy, a company that shares our commitment to innovation, technical excellence and customer success,” says Dennis Sweet, vice president, narrow web tag and label, Sun Chemical. “Together, we can help customers achieve greater color consistency, productivity, streamline operational efficiency and address increasingly complex label and flexible packaging requirements.”

Color management will be another focus of the partnership. MAPP customers will gain access to Sun Chemical’s SunColorBox ecosystem, which encompasses tools and services for color communication, matching, formulation, dispensing and production control. SunColorBox will complement MAPP’s Color Smart Program, which evaluates pressroom variables including plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, doctor blades, ink and press settings.

By combining Mark Andy’s pressroom evaluation, fingerprinting, calibration, and operating standards with Sun Chemical’s color formulation, matching, dispensing, and production expertise, the companies say they can provide converters with a more comprehensive approach to achieving repeatable results across operators, shifts, presses, and multiple production facilities.

“Color does not begin or end with any single pressroom component,” Jenkins adds. “Bringing ink formulation, matching, dispensing, prepress, fingerprinting, and documented operating standards into a coordinated process gives us a much stronger foundation for helping converters achieve repeatable results.”

As the relationship develops, Mark Andy and Sun Chemical also plan to introduce ink dispensing technologies at Mark Andy facilities and selected customer locations. These systems will allow spot colors to be produced closer to the point of use, helping converters streamline color matching and ink delivery, reduce excess inventory and waste, and dispense the quantities required for individual production needs.

In addition, the companies are also collaborating on high-speed flexographic applications, including low-migration ink performance and curing at elevated press speeds. The work combines Mark Andy’s press and web-handling expertise with Sun Chemical’s ability to develop and refine ink chemistry for specific equipment, substrates, curing systems, regulatory requirements, and end-use applications.

Mark Andy and Sun Chemical will formally introduce the agreement to the broader market at LOUPE Americas 2026. The companies are planning coordinated technical content, demonstrations, customer programming, and educational activities focused on ink performance, color consistency, pressroom productivity, and the continued convergence of label and flexible packaging production.