Analysis of the application prospect of web offset printing in label printing
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The market share of offset labels will further increase due to various factors such as comprehensive technology and cost. With its wide range of applications, the label offset process will be more mature, and offset printing will become another leading process after flexo printing.
Analysis of the application prospect of web offset printing in label printing
In label printing, the reciprocating paper feed half-rotation and all-rotation offset printing equipment is a new type of printing method, which is mostly used in combination printing, and is also suitable for short (long) version in single printing processing. At Labelexpo Asia 2007 in Shanghai, the TR2 sticker offset press of Japan Iwasaki Co., Ltd., represented by Beijing Leopard Technology Development Co., Ltd., was the only offset reciprocating paper-feeding offset press at the show, which caused visitors. Strong concern. Some domestic machinery and equipment manufacturers have also begun to develop self-adhesive label web offset presses. For example, the ZX-320 intermittent PS version of the trademark printing machine produced by Ruian Donghai Printing Machinery Co., Ltd. has achieved good market effect, while Zhongtian Printing Machinery Co., Ltd. and Shanxi Tianze Taihang Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. also exhibited rotary offset printing equipment at the 2009 South China Printing Exhibition. Beiren Fuji Printing Machinery Co., Ltd. will exhibit the latest rotary offset printing press at CHINA PRINT 2009.
In the current printing methods used for label printing, various printing methods such as offset printing, gravure printing, flexo printing and silk screen printing are applied. Rotary offset printing is a new force entering the label printing market, providing label printing processors and their customers with a new way of printing. Unlike flexo, it offers higher quality.
Advantages of offset and flexo
Offset printing and flexographic printing can also be used for label production, but in a different way, although the use of flexographic printing is more common in narrow-format printers, offset printing has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Offset ink delivery systems are complex and consist of a plurality of ink rollers that make up a longer ink path. The offset printing plate is a positive picture, while the flexo printing is a negative picture. Offset printing is a widely used printing technique that is a printing method that first transfers an image of the inking onto a blanket and then transfers it to the surface of the printed material.
The inks used in the two printing methods are also different. Dave Pancoast, Sales Manager of LabelOneConnect, USA, explains: “Flexo inks are similar in viscosity to milk. The plates are made of nylon or plastic, and the ink on the plates is transferred directly to the substrate or paper substrate. Offset The ink is mushy, heavy, and has a strong tinting power. The ink is transferred to the printing plate and then transferred to the substrate via the blanket, and the ink transfer system is complicated."
Josep M. Soler, general manager of Rotatek, Spain, pointed out other differences. He said that the maximum printing accuracy of flexo printing is 170~180dpi, and the rotary offset printing can reach 200~300dpi, and the printing method is simpler and more economical. JesHilfling, general manager of Etipol in Denmark, stated: “Offset printing must be UV dried, while flexo printing can be dried with hot air or UV.”
The ink flow rates for offset and flexo are also different. Hilfling explained: "The ink flow of the flexo is controlled by the mesh volume of the textured enamel, while the offset is adjusted by the ink fountain key." Hilfling points out the similarities between flexo and web offset. He said: "The pre-press preparation time is the same for both. The printing speed of both is very high, about 100~200 meters per minute." Soler also believes that the printing speed of the two is not much different, can reach every About 1000 feet per minute.
The printing quality of offset printing is superior to flexo printing, which is the advantage of offset printing that is often mentioned. Soler explains that offset printing has more dots per inch and more uniform optical density than flexo printing. According to Paul Mattle, Marketing Manager of Gallus, Switzerland, “The range of dots for flexo reproduction is generally between 3% and 98%, and the offset range for offset dots can range from 0 to 100%.” Gerbenvan Wijk, Public Relations Manager, Drent Goebel, Canada Said: "One of the biggest advantages of offset printing is that the cost of the offset printing plate is much lower than the cost of the flexo printing plate and the gravure cylinder in terms of the booting cost of the new job. At the same time, the production time of the offset printing plate is shorter than that of the flexographic printing plate. It's much more than 10 minutes on average. This means you can print new jobs soon."
Easy operation is another advantage. Jakob Landberg, Marketing Manager of Nilpeter, Denmark, explained: “Even a sloppy printer can print excellent quality on offset presses, but in flexographic and UV flexo printing, care must be taken. Not only that, the stability of offset printing is high, and it is more suitable for printing jobs with large printing volume and long cycle."
Jon Guy, chairman of the Swiss company, also agrees that offset printing has good consistency in color reproduction. He said: "The biggest advantage of offset printing is that it is the only printing method in the world with a universal standard, which can achieve the same color effect according to the standard formula."
Offset challenges
No printing method is perfect, and web offset printing is no exception. As van Wijk said: “The challenge now is how to master this printing technology. Offset is different from flexo printing, and it will be difficult to learn, but after good training, there is no application problem.” Soler said: "Flexo printing can be applied to non-absorbent materials such as film or self-adhesive, which is a challenge for offset printing." At the same time, offset printing can only be discouraged in the face of wide-format substrates.
Christoph Schoenenberger, Process Director of Gallus, said: "We found that there are several shortcomings in offset printing: the technical requirements for the printing workers are higher; because the structural design of the offset printing machine is complicated, the investment in the equipment is high; waste is more; The preparation time is longer than the flexo."
Hilfling said: "The size of the printing format of the normally offset offset is fixed, although it can be solved with a variable-size web offset press, but it is more expensive."
Water offset VS waterless offset
At present, there are two printing methods for offset printing, one is water offset printing and the other is waterless offset printing. In the water offset process, water is transferred to the printing plate via the dampening roller, and the ink cannot adhere to the blank portion of the printing plate due to the presence of water. Waterless offset printing means that there is no need for water in the printing process. It uses a special plate material. After the plate material is finished, the blank portion does not absorb the ink. Waterless offset printing does not have the problem of ink balance, so it is easier to control the hue and dot gain than the water offset press.
Hilfling said: “When printing a new job, water offset printing often requires a lot of material waste to solve the problem of ink balance, and waterless offset and flexo printing need not be so complicated.” Kyle Knight, CCLLabel Operations Manager, believes that Water offset printing is similar to letterpress printing, and the temperature and humidity requirements of the working environment are very demanding.
Cost comparison between offset and flexo
In general, offset presses are more expensive than flexo presses. Mattle said: "The investment cost of offset printing equipment is 30% to 40% higher than that of the equivalent configuration of flexographic printing equipment, mainly because of the complicated design of the ink and dampening unit structure."
Although offset presses are more expensive than flexo presses, offset supplies are much cheaper than flexographic printing. Federicod'Annunzio, general manager of Kidu, said: "The cost of making a flexo is 10 times that of the same offset. In addition, with the improvement of the quality of flexographic printing, the printing cost is also The price is rising, but the cost of offset printing is basically the same."
According to van Wijk of the company, the amount of offset ink is greatly reduced compared to flexo printing. He explained: “We have measured for our users that using offset printing on purchased inks can save a million dollars. Although offset printing is expensive, the production cost per square meter is very low. In Europe, solvent inks are used. There are not many flexo manufacturers, so if you switch to offset printing, it will bring considerable economic benefits."
Landberg said: "The price of an offset printing plate is about $6, while the flexo printing version is $60." He believes that the cost of printing varies from job to job. “Although the cost of flexo printing is higher, the total investment in flexographic printing is lower, and the running cost of offset printing is lower than that of flexographic printing, but the waste is higher. For short-running, it is more cost-effective to use flexographic printing. For jobs above 2000 meters, offset printing costs less than flexo printing."
It is necessary to remind printers that training operators to learn to use offset presses is also a cost. In this process, offset operators need to constantly adapt to new technologies and new processes, which is a big challenge compared to flexographic printing. Why use offset printing?
Rotary offset printing has attracted the interest of equipment suppliers. D'Annunzio said: "With the development of digital information, digital printing and offset printing share the same workflow, the same data can be used for both digital printing and offset printing. These two technologies share the same prepress file management environment. So that they can get the same print quality and share the same printing standards."
Van Wijk believes that market pressures are an important reason why people tend to apply web offset printing. Today's customers demand higher quality and flexibility from their presses. In order to achieve the required quality, a better printing method is needed. Offset printing has an unparalleled advantage in print quality.
Landberg said: "The label market is a typical end-customer-driven market driven by world-renowned brands. In addition to more suppliers looking to the high-end sector, Nilpeter also introduced offset printing into the label industry in 1994."
In addition, the high cost of flexo printing is one of the reasons why people tend to offset.
Status and prospects of offset printing applications
Because of the quality advantage of offset printing, most of the self-adhesive labels are produced by offset printing, especially for well-known brands such as health care, beauty and wine, which have high requirements for product packaging. They value the opportunity to distinguish other products on the shelves. In the design of its product label pattern, there are generally higher number of lines and smaller dots. In combination with various requirements, labels printed with offset printing are most suitable. In addition, the quality of the packaging text of pharmaceuticals with a large amount of labels is more prominent and more important than attracting consumers' eyes, because these words must be easily identifiable.
Flexographic printing dominates the self-adhesive label market, especially in North America, while the market share of offset printing is growing at a rapid rate, and many label printers today have begun to use offset printing. “At present, 20% to 25% of our users use offset printing, and as offset printing is increasingly recognized by the market, we believe this number will increase,” said vanWijk.
Soler said: "Now many label printers use offset printing to print self-adhesive labels. At least 30% to 40% of the business each year uses the combination of offset printing and flexographic printing, gravure printing, and the number will increase. ."
Landberg believes that offset printing will become more and more common. He said: "Customers' demands for quality and value-added continue to increase, which has led to further subdivision of the printing process. Offset labels have begun to grow rapidly in the field of wine labels, and many other beautiful labels will follow. ”
D’Annunzio talked about their company's views on the future of offset printing. He said: "We have found that the application of web offset printing has been further increased among global label printers. Based on its friendliness and economical features, it is also feasible to apply web offset printing in medium-sized enterprises. We believe in the market share of offset printing. It will be further expanded because it can meet the growing market demand and can handle almost all the jobs, including difficult jobs."
Pancoast is not optimistic about the prospect of label offset printing. According to his estimates, label printers using offset printing in the US are less than 20%. “I am not convinced that the offset printing market will grow in the future, even though it has been in the past few years.” He said, “The Flexo industry is a more loyal team, and they have been working hard to improve the quality of flexo printing. For them Said that offset printing is too slow, so at the end, they will continue to choose to use flexo instead of going to offset."
Knight believes that only a small number of label printers use web offset printing. Regarding future prospects, he pointed out: "Offset applications will increase in certain areas, but because offset printing equipment is expensive, this will keep small businesses out."
Jon Guy believes that flexo and offset will coexist for a long time, and there will be no tendency to replace each other for a long time to come.
The market share of offset labels will further increase due to various factors such as comprehensive technology and cost. With its wide range of applications, the label offset process will be more mature, and offset printing will become another leading process after flexo printing.