Mark Andy Named North American Distributor for Sun Chemical

Mark Andy has formed a strategic partnership with Sun Chemical, appointing Mark Andy Print Products as its North American distributor of inks, coatings, adhesives and colour-management solutions for narrow-web tag and label applications.

Through the agreement, Mark Andy Print Products will distribute Sun Chemical’s UV, UV LED, water-based and speciality narrow-web technologies, including SolarFlex Max D, SolarWave, AquaVerse™, SolarLam UV laminating adhesives and SunLam solvent-free adhesives.

The partnership gives converters a single source for inks, coatings, adhesives, plates, anilox rolls, doctor blades, mounting tapes and other essential pressroom supplies, backed by the technical expertise of both companies.

“This agreement significantly expands the level of support we can bring to the pressroom,” said Ralph Jenkins, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Mark Andy Print Products. “Converters are managing tighter color tolerances, shorter runs, a broader mix of applications, and increasing pressure to maintain consistency across jobs and facilities. By combining Mark Andy’s narrow web expertise and customer reach with Sun Chemical’s technical and formulation capabilities, we can help customers address those challenges through a more complete and coordinated approach.”

Sun Chemical, the world’s leading supplier of printing inks and coatings, supports packaging applications across flexographic, gravure, offset and digital printing through its extensive R&D capabilities. Its expertise includes low-migration UV LED inks, UV laminating and solvent-free adhesives, colour management, regulatory compliance, and specialised formulations for demanding label and flexible-packaging applications.

“We are excited to partner with Mark Andy, a company that shares our commitment to innovation, technical excellence and customer success,” said Dennis Sweet, Vice President, Narrow Web Tag and Label, Sun Chemical. “Together, we can help customers achieve greater color consistency, productivity, streamline operational efficiency and address increasingly complex label and flexible packaging requirements. This partnership creates a stronger, more comprehensive support platform for the narrow web market.”

The agreement reflects the growing convergence of label and flexible-packaging production. Label converters are moving into pouches, sachets, stick packs, bags, shrink sleeves, and other unsupported-film applications, while flexible-packaging manufacturers are looking at narrower inline platforms to handle shorter production runs more efficiently.

Sun Chemical’s expertise in wide-web flexible packaging, low-migration formulations, coatings and laminating adhesives will strengthen Mark Andy Print Products’ support for converters entering these markets. Together, the companies will assess substrates, ink and coating specifications, curing performance, migration risks, regulatory compliance, and other technical requirements for moving beyond traditional pressure-sensitive labels.

The partnership will also help improve colour consistency across jobs, production runs, presses and facilities. Mark Andy customers will have access to Sun Chemical’s SunColorBox® ecosystem, which provides integrated tools and services for colour communication, matching, formulation, dispensing and production control.

SunColourBox will enhance the Mark Andy Print Products Colour Smart Program, which assesses the interconnected pressroom factors affecting consistency. Through audits, fingerprinting and calibration, MAPP specialists examine how plates, mounting tapes, anilox rolls, doctor blades, inks and press settings collectively influence colour performance.

By combining Mark Andy’s pressroom assessments, calibration methods and operating standards with Sun Chemical’s expertise in colour formulation, matching, dispensing and production, converters will achieve more consistent results across operators, shifts, presses and manufacturing sites.

“Color does not begin or end with any single pressroom component,” Jenkins said. “Bringing ink formulation, matching, dispensing, prepress, fingerprinting, and documented operating standards into a coordinated process gives us a much stronger foundation for helping converters achieve repeatable results.”

As the partnership progresses, Mark Andy and Sun Chemical plan to install ink-dispensing systems at Mark Andy facilities and selected customer sites. Producing spot colours closer to the point of use will help converters simplify colour matching and ink supply, reduce inventory and waste, and dispense quantities that are suited to specific production requirements.

Mark Andy and Sun Chemical will officially present the partnership at LOUPE Americas 2026, with coordinated technical materials, demonstrations, customer programmes, and educational activities covering ink performance, colour consistency, pressroom efficiency, and the increasing convergence of label and flexible-packaging production.

Source: SunChemical