How to achieve technological innovation? Finding these angles is crucial!
In recent years, China's adhesive label printing technology has made rapid progress, and market competition has become increasingly fierce. The traditional adhesive label printing process has become increasingly mature, but it has also led to intensified homogenization competition among many label printing enterprises, resulting in a gradual decline in profit margins. The profit growth point of enterprises often comes from innovation. Currently, many enterprises have realized this and are trying to improve and innovate their products in terms of technology, materials, or other aspects, in order to form their own technological advantages. In this article, the author takes a look at some of the technological innovations in the field of label printing in recent years.
01
Pre press process innovation
Pre press design is the foundation of label technology innovation, and without a good design concept, it is impossible to print a good label. At present, label printing companies have put in a lot of effort in this regard, designing labels from the source and maximizing the coordination of printing processes to achieve the desired design effect. In recent years, the main design innovations have been reflected in the following aspects:
Pattern innovation
The so-called pattern innovation refers to designers boldly designing patterns on the premise that existing printing equipment can achieve the desired effect, making the patterns more novel, creative, highlighting product features, and attracting consumers' attention. In recent years, common pattern innovations include creative hot stamping, using high contrast color patterns to give people a strong visual impact, or using special techniques such as concave convex, embroidery, laser fruit, flocking effect, etc. to highlight product features.
function innovation
The so-called functional innovation is to enable labels to achieve certain design functions, such as anti-counterfeiting, sun protection, anti-static, warning, etc., so that labels can enhance the added value and grade of products. For example, some alcohol labels may incorporate multiple anti-counterfeiting processes during design to make the labels more difficult to replicate, in order to achieve the goal of product anti-counterfeiting; There are also some logistics labels that require soaking in concentrated sulfuric acid for more than 7 days without losing the printed content on the label; Some electronic tags require anti-static measures; Some special application labels require particularly prominent reminders or warnings. These functions can be implemented through various means in the early stages of design, ultimately forming a mature production process.
Practical innovation
Practical innovation refers to increasing the practicality of labels through design, such as multi-layer labels, which can be used as both labels and product manuals, improving the efficiency of label use and saving production costs. For example, the partial adhesive removal labels on wet wipes are designed to provide customers with a better user experience, while the labels with printed text on the back are intended to enhance the product's quality or serve as instructions for use. Additionally, some labels with partial adhesive removal and QR code printing on the back of the label are designed to prevent the risk of product cross selling in different sales areas. These are classic cases where the concept of enhancing label practicality was incorporated at the beginning of the design.
From the above points, it is not difficult to see that the role of labels is not only in packaging, but also in a wider range of applications. As a professional label printing enterprise, we need to proactively understand the specific needs of our customers, and then design the patterns and functions of the labels based on their needs, so that the labels can truly create value for customers. Only in this way can we establish a positive cooperative relationship with our clients. Therefore, the current market is not about doing whatever customers need, but about gaining a deeper understanding of their products and helping them think of what kind of labels can create greater value for them and implement them. This is what the market needs most at present.
02
Innovation in Printing Technology
The above mentioned design innovation, and even the best design requires printing technology to achieve. Therefore, innovation in printing technology must also keep up. In recent years, common innovations in printing technology include the following aspects:
Combination printing innovation
Combination printing is a common innovative mode of printing technology in recent years, characterized by diversified processes. Due to the powerful functions of current printing equipment, various printing processes such as hot stamping, reverse polishing, coding, screen printing, offset printing, etc. can be added on the basis of traditional printing technology. Therefore, it can adapt to more complex label printing processes. Almost all printing techniques that designers can think of can be achieved. What we need to do is how to arrange these processes more reasonably, so that they can meet the design requirements while improving production efficiency and minimizing production losses, achieving a reasonable balance. This is a problem faced by production technicians in every Indian company, and there is no standard answer to this problem. Because each customer has different requirements, the equipment of each label printing enterprise is also different. The specific production process should be tailored to local conditions and adapted to the situation.
Innovation in Digital Printing
In recent years, the emergence of digital printing equipment has brought new choices for innovative printing processes. Some traditional printing processes that are difficult or costly to implement have been well addressed in digital printing equipment. For example, when we print a batch of labels, we require that each label has a different pattern and a different die-cutting start. This requirement is difficult to achieve on traditional printing equipment, but it is easy to achieve on a combination of digital printing machines and laser die-cutting machines. For example, in recent years, digital cold stamping has emerged. In addition to replacing traditional embossing techniques with thick stamping patterns, it can also make the stamping pattern of each label different, achieving personalized and small-scale label process innovation.
Innovation in raw and auxiliary materials
Raw materials and printing technology are inseparable and complementary, and in recent years, innovation in raw materials has been constantly emerging. For example, various anti-counterfeiting inks, temperature change inks, light change inks, etc., as well as high-temperature resistant materials, low-temperature resistant materials, etc. It is precisely because of the continuous innovation of these raw and auxiliary materials that some label design concepts can be successfully implemented. For example, a certain brand's wine label uses light to ink, and the light to ink printing pattern is designed as a seal pattern and achieved through screen printing. The pattern printed in this way is raised and has a good texture. At the same time, the seal can change color under changing light, which not only achieves anti-counterfeiting effect but also enhances the packaging grade of the product. This is a successful case of combining raw materials with printing technology.
03
Post press process innovation
Post press process innovation is also an important component of self-adhesive process innovation, after all, a good label is indispensable from pre press design to printing processing and finally to post press processing and molding. Common post press process innovations in recent years include:
Innovation in die-cutting technology
No die-cutting, no molding. Die cutting can be said to be one of the most important post printing processes for labels. Especially in recent years, with the increasing demand for self-adhesive labels from customers, traditional die-cutting shapes can no longer meet their needs. More and more alien labels are emerging, and some labels even require two to three die-cutting and waste removal processes to form. The complex die-cutting process has put pressure and challenges on traditional die-cutting equipment, and now more and more combination die-cutting equipment are emerging. While increasing the complexity of die-cutting, it also significantly improves the die-cutting speed. This combined die-cutting equipment can be produced online with printing machines or separately offline, providing sufficient flexibility for label printing enterprises. For example, if a label is designed as a concentric circle, it is impossible to complete the die-cutting and waste removal process in one go. It must be done twice and a special waste removal device is required to remove the waste in the middle. For example, some labels require small holes to be punched and the waste in the middle of the holes to be discharged, which requires a special ejector pin device. In recent years, the continuous innovation and improvement of die-cutting equipment have fully met the production needs of label printing enterprises.
Innovation in glazing and hot stamping processes
Polishing and hot stamping processes were originally traditional label printing processes, but in recent years, these two traditional processes have also made new developments, such as the common reverse polishing and digital cold stamping processes in the past two years. The innovation of glazing and hot stamping processes lies not only in the application of new equipment and materials, but also in the rational design of existing processes and materials. For example, some labels combine anti-counterfeiting lines with hot stamping processes, making the labels have anti-counterfeiting functions while also being aesthetically pleasing. Some labels combine cold hot stamping and hot stamping, combining the advantages of both stamping techniques on a single label. This not only greatly enhances the visual appeal of the label, but also increases the difficulty of the production process, making it less likely for other manufacturers to replicate.
Innovation in Combined Post press Process
In recent years, combination post press equipment has also become popular, which combines multiple post press processes such as glazing, cold stamping, printing variable QR codes, and die-cutting. Many combination post press equipment have multiple die-cutting units, which can die cut particularly complex patterns and complete waste disposal. This combined post press processing equipment can adapt to complex label designs, creating the possibility of combining multiple post press processes on the same label.
In summary, all recent innovations in adhesive label technology have focused on how to serve customers and how to innovate value for their products. Almost all customers have needs, and some customers may not even notice them themselves. This requires us label printing companies to tailor our products for customers, and how to innovate is a common issue for all companies. I hope this article can provide some useful ideas for everyone.