Installations News
Allegra Shop in BC Installs Canadian EFI First

Allegra South Burnaby, an Allegra Network franchise location in British Columbia, has installed an EFI Jetrion 4950LX LED inkjet label press to expand into the digital label market. The installation also includes the integration of an EFI Fiery digital front end.

Allegra’s new 13-inch-wide label production line is the first of its kind installed in Canada and the first in the Allegra Network. The franchise location’s owners, Binny and Harpreet Mroke, are  say they will take advantage of the opportunity offered by the growing market for short-run digital label printing.
 
“We were getting calls from clients in various businesses including food manufacturers asking for labels, which we had no option but to outsource,” said Binny Mroke, who owns the Allegra South Burnaby location with Harpreet Mroke. “Not satisfied with the quality, we began to research how these companies were sourcing their labels and recognized that there was a huge opportunity to provide high quality labels in shorter runs to the local market,”
 
The Jetrion press at Allegra South Burnaby, which was installed in April, is a fully loaded four-colour plus white model with inline laser die cutting, varnish and lamination, configurable slitting with up to 16 blades, back-scoring and dual-spindle, semiautomatic turret rewinding. Its integrated finishing features can take jobs from file to finished roll without interruptions, explains EFI. The press’s LED inkjet technology makes it compatible with a range of substrates, including paper, films, foil, tag, specialty, and heat-sensitive films.

The company has used Fiery DFEs to drive its Xerox cut-sheet presses for several years, providing the Mrokes with confidence to integrate more Fiery technology for their complete label system. Harpreet Mroke explains another factor to install the press was based on EFI having local technicians.
 
EFI also explains Y5 Creative, a local branding and Web design agency, is in the process of developing a software program that will enable all Allegra locations to use the press. “The Allegra Network will market and promote the service to all the franchise locations, and we’re already getting some very positive feedback from several locations,” said Jonathan Colley, Director of Business Development at Y5 Creative.

The software, to be marketed as Allegra AllLabels, will have the added functionality of a digital asset management component that will enable print-shop clients to manage all image files for labels and packaging. Allegra franchises will be able to link directly to the Jetrion press, giving them the ability to market it and the label products it produces to their clients as their own virtual machine without the hardware investment.
 
The Allegra Network, founded 40 years ago, comprises more than 300 independent locations in North America. Allegra South Burnaby offers offset and digital printing, 1:1 variable data printing, specialty printing (UV varnish, die cutting, embossing, gloss spot, fancy folds), thermography printing, sign and display production, design and marketing, one-stop direct mail services, and promotional products. The 7-employee location has been serving the greater Burnaby area since 1997, but was acquired by current owners Binny Mroke and Harpreet Mroke in 2008.