Mark Andy Offering Supplier Support
- Published: August 29, 2003, By Edward Boyle, Contributing Editor
Mark Andy Inc. was one of the first suppliers to be approved for membership in TLMI after the association created the “associate member” category in 1966, initiating what to this day continues to be a mutually beneficial “partnership.”
For example, two former Mark Andy executives, president John Eulich and VP Dale Bunnell, both served on the TLMI board of directors. Bunnell also chaired the TLMI Annual Awards Competition for more than a dozen years, and he was instrumental in the establishment of the World Label Association Awards competition — which honors the “best” labels created by converters in North America, Europe, and Japan — in 1989. Mark Andy itself has been a generous contributor to the TLMI Scholarship Fund, and a number of other key Mark Andy personnel have worked on various TLMI committees and generously shared their time and expertise in support of the organization.
Paul Brauss, who succeeded Eulich as president of Mark Andy in early 2003, says that's no coincidence. He believes participation in associations like TLMI, the Flexographic Technical Association, and the Flexible Packaging Association, to name just a few, is crucial to the company's own continued growth and success.
“In any relationship, it's give and take,” notes Brauss. “You have to take the time to be a learning organization. We have a good set of ears, because we need to listen to what the [converter] members of TLMI are telling us about what they're up against competitively each and every day. What do they see as the trends in the industry, and what's being asked of them by their customers? Being so active in TLMI is one of the best ways for us to find the right solutions for the supply chain.”
Mark Andy's early involvement with TLMI was hardly the company's first “first.” Founder Mark Andrews Sr., whom Brauss rightly describes as “a true pioneer,” essentially created the narrow web press in 1946 when he developed a machine to print on 3M's then-revolutionary new product, “Scotch Tape.” In 1956 p-s label stock was developed, and by the mid-1960s Mark Andy produced 30 different models of presses to satisfy the needs of both large and small printing companies. Over the years, the company also developed “Quick Change” technology and a host of other innovations to improve customer productivity and print quality.
Today, Mark Andy reports it is the world's largest producer of narrow web printing equipment with two popular product lines, Mark Andy and Comco. These product lines enable Mark Andy to offer a full spectrum of web flexographic printing press capabilities for both the folding carton and flexible packaging markets and the tag and label industry.
In addition to working with TLMI and other trade associations, Mark Andy gains valuable customer insight through efforts such as its highly successful series of Comco seminars, where industry experts share ideas and solutions on issues of interest to the converting community, and its “Voice of the Customer” series in which the company interviews and profiles individual converters who offer additional insight into the state of the industry.
“We have to be thinking far enough ahead about items that help our converters become more productive,” explains Brauss. “What value can we help bring to the customer? How can we help them run their operations more efficiently? That's our drive and our focus.”
And, Brauss adds, so is Mark Andy's involvement in organizations like TLMI.
