Development of flexographic printing (on)

Development status of flexo printing in China Currently, there are nearly 240 production lines (including import line 170) for flexographic printing machines (including narrow width and wide width) imported from abroad and domestically developed and produced narrow flexographic printing machines applied by domestic packaging and printing companies. Article 70, domestic line 70). These production lines are distributed throughout the country, with more production lines in Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Yunnan.
There are 10, 13, 16.5, 18, 21.5, 25 inches and 420 millimeters, and 510 millimeters of specifications for domestically-used unit-type flexographic presses, of which about 80% are 16.5 inches wide. Most of the color groups are six colors, with a maximum of eleven colors and a minimum of three colors. The width of the imported satellite flexographic printers is generally 800 to 1200 millimeters, generally six color groups.
Earlier this year, Shandong Quanlin Paper Co., Ltd. imported a high-speed 8-color high-speed satellite-type flexo production line using a shaftless transmission technology with a width of 1,300 mm from German F&K Co., Ltd., a three-layer co-extrusion laminating machine, and a die-cutting machine. equipment. The speed of the flexo printing machine can reach 350 meters per minute, which is three or four times faster than the unit type flexographic printing press. The speed of the three-layer coextrusion compounding machine can reach 300 meters per minute.
Zhejiang Tianwai Green Packing Co., Ltd. introduced the combined multi-functional production line of offset printing, flexo printing, and silk screen printing from the Swiss GALLUS EMO 410 and 253, becoming the first user of this type of production line in Asia. The production line uses UV ink printing and has the following features:
(1) It has double-sided cleaning paper, electronic correction, corona treatment and pretreatment functions;
(2) roller screen printing, four-color flexo printing, four-color offset printing and bronzing, laminating, etc. are completed on one machine;
(3) After printing, there are functions such as flat die-cutting, indentation, slitting, circular press die cutting and computer paper punching;
(4) There are various forms of paper collection, such as single sheet delivery and web delivery. In addition, the production line also has functions such as secondary register, peel-off compound printing, and reverse printing, and is mainly used for high-end exquisite packaging and printing (such as cigarette cases, medicine boxes, cosmetics boxes, etc.) and anti-counterfeit printing.
At present, flexo printing can fully meet the requirements of cigarette packs, pharmaceutical packaging, food packaging, labels, adhesive printing and other packaging prints, and can be completed online printing, die-cutting, hot stamping and other processing, can improve work efficiency, reduce Cost, increase production efficiency. According to statistics, at present, China's flexo printers account for 30% of cigarette packs, 15% for label printers, 35% for sticker printers, and 22% for other printers.
Some domestic companies have installed peeling devices on flexographic presses, which can be self-adhesive anti-counterfeiting labels; and some have increased waxing devices to provide new processing methods for candy paper packaging printing and label printing. Flexo printers have the best effect when printed on labels, and use UV inks to print better. In addition, 80% of the tableware, paper cups, and beverage packaging currently produced in China are printed by flexo. The printing of packaging paper and packaging boxes in the food industry has also gradually adopted flexographic printing. For example, hamburger wrapping paper, McDonald's food packaging box, Yili ice cream box, etc. are all flexographic. Flexo printing has shown more and more advantages in the packaging printing industry, and it has broad application prospects.
The main progress of domestic flexo printing The major progress of flexo printing in China in recent years is mainly the following aspects.
1. Flexo printing can basically meet the needs of packaging and printing. From the flexo presses that have been put into use in recent years, whether it is narrow or wide, whether it is imported or domestic, basically can meet the requirements of packaging printed matter.
After many years of production practice, Flexo has positioned itself in China's packaging and printing market, and its market share is gradually increasing. At present, packaging products using flexo printing include middle and low-end cigarette packs, medicine boxes, and milk cartons. In the case of medium- or large-volume self-adhesive labels, logos, and beer labels, flexo printing is used very well. Paper cups, paper lunch boxes, etc. At present, most of them use flexo printing, and the proportion of plastic flexible packaging flexo printing by using a satellite flexographic printing machine is still not large.
At present, the best and most popular application of flexo printing in China is the printing of corrugated cartons. About 70% of the sales volume of flexographic media is in the carton industry each year. In addition, Shanghai, Beijing, some international multinational companies in the domestic companies, have recognized the use of flexo printing ink printing, printing products without pollution, conducive to health and environmental protection, product quality will win the customer's identity, so, like Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, Lee Chinese, Omo, KFC and other brand-name companies use flexo printing. Some procurement managers of foreign companies, for the consideration of flexo printing as green printing, must submit the orders to companies that have flexographic equipment. Facts have proved that the flexo process not only meets the needs of packaging in terms of quality, but also cooperates with mechanized packaging to increase production efficiency and reduce production costs.
2. In recent years, the quality of flexographic products has improved significantly. Peter Dums, Vice Chairman of the German Flexographic Association, once said that today, with the application of CTP technology, the quality of flexo has been comparable to offset and gravure. The quality evaluation results of China's second national flexographic printing product in 2000 also fully confirmed this point. Among the nearly 100 flexographic printing products sent from all provinces and cities in China, 9 fine prizes and 22 outstanding prizes were awarded. 24 masterpiece awards.
3. Most companies have been able to master flexo process technology and their operating proficiency is gradually increasing. Flexo printing process and operation technology are totally different from offset printing and gravure printing. Most of the domestic manufacturers that introduced flexographic printing equipment used offset printing and gravure printing equipment. Therefore, at the initial stage of production, each factory had difficulty in mastering the characteristics of flexo printing. There have been some quality problems and caused a lot of scrap.
To obtain high-quality prints, keep the ink smooth, rich in layers, and bright colors, and have strict requirements for the flexo press embossing structure, plate cylinders, plates, anilox rollers, double-sided adhesives, and inks. With so many variable factors, how to adjust the equipment to the best point, printing qualified products is very important for operators. (To be continued)