DIGI Labels, formerly MLS Labels, and part of the DIGI Group, has installed a Mark Andy Evolution Series E3 flexographic printing press at our production facility in Mullingar, County Westmeath.
This investment will help us continue to stay ahead of the curve when manufacturing specialist self-adhesive labels for our customers in pharmacy, food and beverage.
The Mullingar facility is one of two locations in the DIGI Group in the Republic of Ireland, and there are another two in Northern Ireland. DIGI Group was established in 1986 and remains a family-owned business providing a range of innovative labelling solutions to retail and industrial companies across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
“We have traditionally been a business based on short-run work, which we have managed well and made profitable, but we knew we needed to expand our long-run business too to grow. The E3 offers this performance capability.”
The facility already uses Mark Andy 830 and 2200 presses. The new Evolution Series is a 13” (330mm) eight-colour flexo press fitted with turn bars, cold foil capability, a crossover unit and an adjustable anvil on the vertical die station. It also has full UV capability and has been specified to cater for the special pharmacy, food and beverage work that DIGI Labels undertakes at Mullingar.
The press offers precise inking and impression settings with robust die cutting options and has advanced web handling and Oldham drive for extremely accurate register control. The short web path gives tangibly low waste levels that save money, and it can produce a wide variety of products.
Meanwhile, DIGI Labels is actively looking to acquire more label companies in the UK and Ireland, and has just recently completed its acquisition of another production facility in RoI, specialising in long-run work for industry.
“We want to grow yet stay independent and maintain the high level of personal service that our customers have come to expect. Most of our work is still on paper-based substrates, around 80%, and while this might change more towards film work, we will allow demand and environmental concerns to drive it. What we are looking to change is a move from single to double-shift operation – and we now have the production capability with the new Mark Andy E3 to do that.”
DIGI Labels has seen sales grow by 20% in the past two years at Mullingar, so building on this should be straightforward with the added print capacity. As Declan concluded: “DIGI Group prioritises the environment in its decision-making and its sustainability commitment allows customers to choose more eco-friendly options that are also cost-effective. Our cooperation with Mark Andy is an intrinsic part of this.”
Learn more about DIGI’s self-adhesive labels here.