The Ile-de-France printing group MEL5, which already includes the Melange printing plant in the 12 e arrondissement de Paris and the Bardet printing works in Val-de-Marne (94), has just bought a third company. This is the Marquet printing works located in the 20 e arrondissement and specialized in large format.
This new acquisition was completed in early June. The project, which dated from before the containment, was maintained despite the difficulties linked to the health crisis and its consequences on turnover, explains Gilles Arki, co-manager of the printing group with Patrice Meliciano.
Printing capacity up to 140 m2/ hour
Located close to the Porte des Lilas and equipped with large-format printers, the Marquet printing house is capable of printing up to 140 m2/ hour. In particular, it has a very large format HP Latex printer with a width of 3.2 m, 1 swissQprint 300x200 cm to print on supports such as dibon, aluminium, pvc, cardboard, etc., 2 milling machines for specific cutting (tarpaulin, panels, etc.), lamination table, hot folding, paint booth, or even polystyrene cutting (lettering and 3D objects).
With the takeover of the Marquet printing plant, the Paris Region printer will therefore considerably increase its large-format printing capacity. Some large orders that used to take three or four days to complete can now be done in one day," says Gilles Arki. The company therefore has more time for small jobs, while benefiting from the new clientele brought in with Marquet.
A complete offset, digital and large format offer
The Marquet printing works counts among its customers La Maison du Chocolat, Roche Bobois, Monoprix and Lacoste. The company produces exhibition stands, scenography, and film packaging (for example, the decor of the Montparnasse train station transformed into an Italian train station for the shooting of a film).
As for Melange and Bardet, they print about 80% of Parisian events: theatres, nightclubs, festivals, etc., which means a lot of posters, flyers and leaflets, particularly for the metro network. The Group, which was already equipped with a large offset workshop and a large digital workshop, now has a large large-format workshop.
With the health crisis and the cancellation of festivals, concerts, sporting events, etc., the number of people affected by the crisis is increasing. (cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival, Rolland Garros, and the Avignon Festival, etc.), the Group recorded a drop of around 30% in sales on its workshops in May and June.
At the same time, it launched a website in April dedicated to the sale of hydroalcoholic pedal gel dispensers manufactured entirely in-house (more than 1,600 units sold to date). This activity is making it possible to make up for some of the losses recorded. Pending full recovery in September.
