UK tape and label converter Prima has installed a 340mm Mark Andy Evolution E5 flexo press at its headquarters in Orpington, SE London. The new six-color UV flexo line will provide extra print capacity to coincide with Prima’s newly attained BRCGS Grade A rating, achieved at the first attempt, said the company.
Established in Beckenham by Sam Lee in 1966 as a supplier of various types of adhesive tapes principally to the London and Kent market, the company saw moves to Crystal Palace and then Clapham, South London, before settling in its current location in 1996. Now under third generation family ownership and management, with David Lee and Mark Lee succeeding their respective fathers Julian and Martin Lee, the company began to expand its business in the early 1980s.
The move into label production came with the installation of a Mark Andy 2200 press in 1994. This 254mm six-color machine sits alongside two other 2200 flexo lines, of which one has both water-based and UV ink capability.
The new servo driven E5 at Prima is a full UV press, capable of 230 m/min on substrates from 12 to 300-micron. It has a print repeat of 140 – 610mm and a standard unwind and rewind capacity of 1016mm. In addition, it has an overhead rail system to accommodate pressure sensitive lamination and foil wind-up for cold foil application. The E5 is fitted with a vertical die station, a sheeting die station, and a dual rewind.
