Having spent more than 22 years at Mark Andy, David Medlar has been instrumental in supporting Mark Andy’s digital business. Medlar, vice president of Mark Andy’s Digital Business Unit, recently talked to L&NW about how the versatile manufacturer has continued to innovate through the pandemic and assorted supply chain challenges.

L&NW: During the challenges of the last several years, how has Mark Andy prioritized its R&D/technology to help deliver the best product to the industry? 
DM: For the past 75 years, Mark Andy has continued to keep in mind our customers’ production efficiencies and profitability while developing new technologies for printing, converting and embellishments. We strive to offer flexibility and future upgradability into all our digital and flexo presses as the customers’ production needs change.

At Labelexpo Americas this year, Mark Andy will be showing a next-generation platform that will allow for upgradability of digital print technology, as well as decorating and converting capabilities. Also at the event, Mark Andy will show the first version of a highly productive and cost-effective flexographic press that has the productivity, low waste, and simplicity of operations with today’s advanced servo presses at a price point that enables a customer to achieve a payback in less than a year when compared to legacy flexographic presses.

L&NW: What can you say about the partnerships with Konica Minolta and Domino? How will these partnerships be highlighted at the event?
DM: Both partnerships have been great and have helped us work hand and glove with Konica Minolta and Domino to launch new digital hybrid products while being expanded into different market segments. We are excited about future projects and collaborations to come.

At Labelexpo, Mark Andy will be showcasing a new 5-color, digital production class label press using the Konica Minolta AL400 print engine. The Digital Series iQ is on the Evolution Series Platform and uses the Domino inkjet 5- or 7-color digital print engine. Both presses use the “pay as you use” model that we have found to be much more cost effective for customers.

L&NW: What is the advantage of serving both the flexo and digital markets, and how has that helped long-time customers transition to hybrid/digital? 
DM: By serving both the digital and flexo markets, Mark Andy is not biased and truly has the best solution regardless of technology (digital or flexo). Our sales, engineering, and service people are the most knowledgeable and experienced in the industry.

The sales process is a very consultative approach that includes all the crossover reports, ROI tools and consultation, and provides as much technical information as requested. Mark Andy has the largest service team with the highest tenure in the industry. Long-term customers have learned to trust our teams and expect fast and reliable service.       

At Mark Andy, we believe that the future of label production will be primarily driven by hybrid technology, which delivers consistent operation, high-quality labels with multiple different types of embellishments, flexibility, and reliability at the lowest possible cost per label.    

L&NW: How has Mark Andy prioritized communication and collaboration with its customers when developing new products?
DM: When it comes to developing new products, we can’t develop the best solution, or the “what,” if we don’t first fully understand the “why.” This comes from interaction with our customers from various regions and markets. While we already have regular dialogue with our customers, we rely on adherence to our product development process to ensure we understand the “why” or “what” our customers need to grow and be successful. 

Some of the earliest steps in our formal product development process emphasize the process of obtaining the Voice of the Customer, or VOC. We then use a series of tools to integrate this information to extract relationships, ranking of needs, and functional requirements.  The amazing part of this process is when we have gathered enough information regarding what customers are telling us they need, that a vision develops that not only addresses these needs, but also delivers on opportunities that hadn’t been directly expressed during the VOC process.

At this point, we know we can dive into the design details of how to transform this vision into a product. I have discovered that any successful development can be traced back to success within this early portion of the process.

L&NW: What are Mark Andy’s plans for production reporting and automation across its digital and flexo product lines?
DM: We are introducing sMArt link, Mark Andy’s real-time, on-press monitoring system that will help label and packaging converters improve press utilization for their flexo and digital presses. sMArt link gives operation managers a real-time look at what is happening on the press floor, allowing them to make immediate adjustments that will reduce waste and errors and generate time and cost savings. sMArt link ties all equipment together into a single robust analytical tool that is accessed from anywhere with internet access.