Mark Andy introduced the Mark Andy Print Products Color Smart Program at LOUPE Americas. The company designed this pressroom initiative to help label and printed packaging converters achieve more consistent color across jobs, presses, shifts, and operators.
Available immediately, the Color Smart Program made its formal public debut planned at the event, which took place from September 15-17. The Color Smart Program turns MAPP’s technical expertise into a defined, repeatable process. Through on-site evaluation, press fingerprinting, calibration, product recommendations, and documented standard operating procedures, the program helps converters establish the right combination of materials, settings, and operating practices for their production environment.
“Color consistency is rarely determined by one component,” said Dave Telken, senior vice president, Mark Andy Print Products. “It depends on how the plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, doctor blades, ink, and press settings work together. Color Smart brings those variables into one coordinated process so converters have a clearly defined production standard that they can repeat from one job to the next.”
As experienced press operators and technical personnel continue to leave the workforce, many companies are being asked to produce more work with fewer internal resources. At the same time, printed packaging buyers expect tighter color tolerances, faster turnarounds, and consistent results across repeat orders, multiple presses, and, in some cases, multiple facilities.
Mark Andy designed Color Smart to help converters close that gap by creating a documented production standard that reduces dependence on tribal knowledge and makes repeatable results easier to achieve.
The program’s process
Listen: MAPP specialists begin by understanding the converter’s production goals, color challenges, and current operating environment.
Evaluate: The team reviews relevant areas of the prepress, plate room, and pressroom workflow, including current materials, equipment, color management practices, and opportunities to reduce variability and waste.
Recommend: Based on the findings, the team identifies the combination of plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, doctor blades, ink, and other critical pressroom components best suited to the converter’s applications and equipment.
Calibrate: The press is fingerprinted and calibrated under controlled production conditions to establish a performance baseline and confirm the curves, settings, and operating parameters required to achieve the desired result.
Document: MAPP develops a standardized color specification and operating procedure that the converter can use to reproduce the job consistently over time.
Bringing the process together
“Fingerprinting is the point where the entire process comes together,” said Telken. “We establish how the press is performing, optimize the variables that influence color, and document what works. The goal is to give the company’s team a practical process that makes the job easier to repeat.”
Color Smart can be applied to Mark Andy equipment as well as presses from other manufacturers, making it relevant for converters operating mixed fleets or managing production across multiple facilities. The program can also help production managers identify training opportunities and give less-experienced operators a clearer framework for achieving established color targets.
Color Smart is offered through the Mark Andy Print Products technical and supply partnership model. MAPP specialists work directly with participating converters to recommend, implement, and support the pressroom products incorporated into the documented production process.
