(L-R) Daniel Prevot, owner of Dasyl Provot with Jean-Louis Pecarelo, president of Atypic France

 

French narrow web converter, Dasyl Prevot has installed a second Mark Andy Performance Series P5 flexo press to produce multi-layer labels at the company’s facility in Marmande.

The new P5 is a bespoke version of the eight-colour full UV flexo line that has been specified to supply multi-layer labels, which Dasyl Prevot sees as a growing market. 

‘With EU legislation demanding more information be printed on labels, there is a limit to how much one can reduce point size and keep type legible,’ said owner Daniel Provot. ‘The answer is to add extra layers to the label, and this requires a two-web operation.’

The new 330 mm P5 has eight UV flexo print stations positioned to allow for a two-web operation. Beginning with a double unwind section, the upper web is delaminated and printed on the adhesive side before being relaminated and passed through turnbars for printing on the front. The lower web, which has been fed but held in ‘waiting’ mode, is then printed and assembled with the upper web which has been delaminated for a second time.  The twin web is then passed through Mark Andy’s QCDC (Quick Change Die Cut) unit, and the waste is fed onto the new Advanced Waste Wind Up that is designed to avoid web breaks. The resulting label has two layers that can be peeled and resealed to offer twice as much area for information.

Each print unit has optical register control, and there are two cameras fitted, one to monitor print and the other for die cut accuracy, and these allow the combined web to be inset with an additional web for three layer labels.  

According to Jean-Louis Pecarelo of Atypic France, who is responsible for Mark Andy sales, the key is the control provided by the P5’s servo drive: ‘This high level of tension control allows webs of different substrates like PP and paper to be run with great accuracy.  It makes the P5 both productive and flexible in terms of the type of work it can produce, which is essential if you are looking to tap into the more lucrative niche markets.’

Currently, labels produced on the new P5 are being sold to the cosmetic and industrial sectors, but Daniel Prevot sees future growth in demand coming from the food industry and from the electronics market.