Mark Andy Expands US Ink Supply Through Sun Chemical Distribution Agreement

Under the agreement, Sun Chemical's UV, UV LED, water-based and specialty technologies for the label and tag segment are included. Mark Andy will offer products such as SolarFlex Max D and SolarWave inks, AquaVerse water-based lines, SolarLam UV laminating adhesives and SunLam solventless adhesives.

Through the collaboration, converters can source inks, coatings and adhesives from Mark Andy Print Products, together with printing plates, anilox rolls, blades, mounting tape and other pressroom consumables.

Ralph Jenkins, vice president of sales and business development at Mark Andy Print Products, observed that converters are dealing with tighter color tolerances, shorter run lengths, a wider application mix and pressure to keep results consistent across jobs and facilities.

According to Jenkins, combining Mark Andy's narrow web expertise and customer reach with Sun Chemical's technology and formulation strengths can help customers tackle those challenges through a more comprehensive and coordinated approach.

Sun Chemical will bring expertise in low-migration UV LED inks, UV laminating adhesives, solventless adhesive technology, color management and compliance.

The partners will also help label converters expand into flexible packaging formats such as bags, sachets, stick packs, pouches and shrink sleeves. Their technical teams will jointly evaluate substrate, ink and coating requirements, curing performance, migration considerations and regulatory needs.

Dennis Sweet, vice president of narrow web label and tag at Sun Chemical, said the partnership can help customers achieve greater color consistency, higher productivity, streamlined operational efficiency and meet increasingly complex label and flexible packaging requirements.

Mark Andy customers will also be able to use Sun Chemical's SunColorBox color management ecosystem, which supports color communication, matching, formulation, dispensing and production control.

SunColorBox will be used with Mark Andy's Print Products Color Smart program. Via pressroom audits, fingerprinting and calibration, the program assesses how variables such as plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, blades, inks and press settings affect color consistency.

Jenkins added that color does not begin with any single pressroom component. Integrating ink formulation, matching, dispensing, prepress, fingerprinting and documented operating standards into one coordinated process gives converters a stronger foundation for repeatable results.

The two companies plan to install ink dispensing technology at Mark Andy sites and selected customer locations. These systems will allow spot colors to be produced close to the point of use, with the aim of reducing ink inventory and waste.

Mark Andy and Sun Chemical are also working together on curing technology for low-migration ink performance and high-speed flexographic printing. The project combines Mark Andy's printing and web handling knowledge with Sun Chemical's ink formulation capabilities.

The partnership will be introduced to the market at Loupe Americas 2026 through technical demonstrations, live demos and educational sessions covering ink performance, color consistency, pressroom productivity and the convergence of label and flexible packaging production.