Flexible packaging suitable for packaging

The advantages of flexographic printing

The difference between flexographic printing and other printing methods lies in its unique features. First, the use of soft polymer resin plates, such as the Cyrel plate produced by DuPont, has reduced the cost of platemaking and shortened the platemaking cycle compared to gravure printing. , And due to the improvement of the level of plate manufacturing and plate making technology, the cable version can now reach the level of 175 lines, which can meet the needs of general packaging and printing; second, the use of anilox roller transfer ink, because the anilox roller is the transfer roller of the ink It is also an ink metering roller that realizes the same short ink path as the gravure printing, and can accurately supply ink according to the process requirements. At present, the use of laser-engraved metal ceramic anilox roller has reached the level of 1600 lines for precise control of ink color and The thickness of the ink layer provides an advantageous means; Third, zero-pressure printing, which reduces the vibration and wear on the machine, reduces the wear on the plate, and also expands the range of the printing media, in particular, is conducive to the printing of flexible materials. Fourth, the narrow-format flexographic printing press has also expanded the function of the printing press. In addition to printing, a large number of post-printing processes can be completed, making the flexographic printing press a production line following printing and post-press processing.

Comparing flexo printing with gravure printing, all products that can be printed by gravure printing can be flexographically printed and can be at or near the quality level of gravure printing, and flexible materials that can be printed with flexographic printing presses However, it cannot be replaced by gravure; in addition, in terms of equipment investment and use cost, the flexographic printing method is much lower than the gravure printing method. Undoubtedly, the use of flexo printing and packaging printing production is a wise choice for low investment and high output.

Flexographic product positioning

At present, flexographic printing has been widely used in various types of packaging and printing products. In the United States, self-adhesive labels have become the main products of flexographic printing presses due to the use of automatic labeling machines and the large number of applications of stickers, as well as the characteristics of flexographic printing presses, rotary printing methods, and printing and post-press processing. Flexographic printing presses can perform almost all label printing processes such as die cutting, embossing, ejection, glazing, laminating, unwinding, and then flipping and re-tiling. In addition, the printing of packaging cartons is another major source of business for flexographic printing presses, but that is a wide-format special-purpose device, which differs from label printing equipment from platemaking to printing. At the same time, products suitable for narrow-format flexographic printing presses include paper packaging for various types of goods, folding cartons (for cigarettes, alcohol, medical supplies, cosmetics, health products), and stationery (letters, forms, books). Paper bags, paper cups, paper food utensils, wallpapers, etc., suitable for wide format flexographic printing press products, as well as various types of plastic film, vacuum aluminized film, pure aluminum foil packaging products, such as liquid packaging, baby paper diapers, women's sanitary napkins, daily Cleaning supplies and medical packaging.

The second problem is the live source problem. Flexo is relatively versatile in terms of business volume that is compatible with gravure. However, due to its high printing efficiency, normal startup requires a large source of jobs. Take cigarette packs as an example, a 16-inch flexographic press needs at least 100,000 cartons of business a year to feed. Once again, flexographic printing has its own unique process features. From the pattern design to the color selection, the characteristics of flexo printing should be highlighted. At present, there is still a lack of packaging designers who understand the flexographic process. Many products are directly transferred from offset printing to flexo printing. They cannot avoid weaknesses and reduce the degree of satisfaction of end customers for flexo printing products, thus affecting people's understanding and understanding of flexographic printing. In addition, the concept issue is also a problem that restricts the development of flexo. In the past few years, there were two very extreme views, all of which were biased. The correct positioning of the flexographic printing should be said to be a low-input, high-output use technology in the field of packaging and printing. Only by identifying the positioning of the flexographic version, can we find the market positioning.

Source: Shenzhen Printing Network