Offset printing should not be neglected from the analysis of packaging offset printing market

In the large-scale packaging printing market, various printing methods can be said to show their strength. Gravure printing has taken a pivotal position with the advantages of high efficiency, high stability, and high quality. Flexo printing has emerged as a new printing method in recent years. It has grown at a faster rate and has been called by some in the industry as the most promising printing method. While people cast too much attention on gravure printing and flexo printing, offset printing seems to have been neglected. Is it because it is too mature and there is no new technology to attract people's attention, or is it losing the brilliance under the competition of the above two printing methods? In order to let everyone have a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the application of offset printing in the field of domestic packaging printing, we interviewed several famous domestic and overseas suppliers of offset printing presses, asking them to talk about the packaging printing market, offset printing in the packaging The application situation in the printing field and the future development trend.

The following interviews include: Mr. Wang Guohua, general manager of Beiren Printing Machinery Co., Ltd., Mr. Kong Fude, general manager of sheet-fed offset press equipment of Heidelberg, Mr. Zhang Jianfa, manager of flat sheet division of Manroland, and manager of Zhang Pingfa of Gao Bao Company. Mr. Wang Lianqi and Mr. Guo Jun, Deputy General Manager of Komori China Printing Machinery Co., Ltd.

First, the Chinese packaging market in the eyes of suppliers

Talking about China's packaging and printing market, all interviewees agreed that the Chinese packaging market has great potential, and expressed its confidence in the application of offset printing technology in the field of packaging and printing. The following is an analysis of the current situation and development prospects of the Chinese packaging printing market from different perspectives.

Mr. Wang Beihua of Beiren Corporation has proved the enormous potential of the packaging and printing market by the annual growth rate of the packaging industry. He said: “According to statistics from related departments, from 2001 to 2005, China’s packaging industry will increase at an annual rate of 8%. The output value of the packaging industry will reach 320 billion yuan in 2005. At present, the output value of the packaging and printing industry accounts for 1/3 of the total output value of China's printing industry, with nearly 1 million employees and 1/3 of the entire printing industry. It is understood that the annual growth rate of the packaging industry in China is 10% more accurate. In short, the packaging and printing industry will have great development in the future."

Heidelberg company Mr. Kong Fude said from the perspective of the development of packaging products: "China's packaging printing market is growing very fast. First of all, with the rapid development of China's economy, more and more export products, which makes the packaging needs of export products have As the printing industry serves the light industry, the development of the light industry has led to the development of the printing industry.Comparatively, packaging and printing has developed faster than the printing of books and periodicals.Secondly, the quality requirements of packaging products are getting higher and higher. The previously acceptable product quality has not met the needs of customers, so many companies are now starting to buy new machines. Finally, there is also very Chinese characteristics, that is, China needs many high value-added packaging printing products, such as many packaging printing All products need to be glazed and hot stamped. High-speed development, high quality requirements, and high value-added products are the development of the Chinese packaging industry, which also promotes the development of offset printing."

Man Roland’s Mr. Zhang Jianfa said from the perspective of the geographical development of China's packaging and printing market: “China's packaging and printing market as a whole appears to be developing rapidly, while the south is more developed, especially in East and South China. For example, there are many in Guangdong. The large-scale Hong Kong-funded companies have relatively slow development in the north and few large-scale packaging and printing factories, but the situation is changing in recent years. According to the statistics of Manroland, from the global perspective, two markets will grow in the future. Packaging printing, the other is newspaper printing."

Mr. Wang Lianjun of Gao Bao Company analyzed the development of the packaging printing market through the comparison of commercial printing, publishing printing and packaging printing. He said: “The development of the three markets of commercial printing, publishing and printing, packaging and printing depends on the overall Economic development In recent years, China’s economic development has been rapid, and both packaging and export products have taken a big step forward, but packaging must be further improved by changing the packaging of first-class products. This has determined that the printing plant will undergo technological transformation to adapt to the market.The business model of books and periodicals is also slowly changing, and since the beginning of last year, the concept of original fixed-point printing has gradually faded.However, the printing of books and publications is still under strict domestic control. It is difficult for companies to participate in competition. In contrast, packaging printing is less restrictive and development is much more liberal. Therefore, packaging printing has more room for development than book printing."

Zhao Di’s company Mr. Guo Min discussed the development of the Chinese packaging and printing industry from the perspective of the domestic regional packaging market. He said: “Packaging is a parasitic industry and it depends on the manufacturing industry. Whether it is refrigerators, color TVs, or computers, vacuum cleaners, The advances in the microwave oven, electric iron and other industries have all contributed to the development of the packaging industry. At present, China has three very well-developed packaging industries. First, in the Pearl River Delta where foreign investment is most developed, there are tens of thousands of processing companies. Such as clothing, electrical processing plants, etc., so there are also thousands of packaging and printing companies.Second, Suzhou, there are two very beautiful industrial parks, one is an industrial park invested by Singapore, and the other is Suzhou's own industry The scale of the park is very large, and these industrial parks have promoted the rapid development of the local packaging and printing industry.For example, a Jiangyin company (Jiangyin Meiyinda?) started its business with one of our four factories five years ago. Has developed into a company with more than 100 million assets, with a Heidelberg five-color online polishing sheetfed offset press and a Komori offset plastic The machine, not long ago, purchased a Komori six-color plus light device, and through it you can imagine how fast the packaging and printing business has developed. The third developed packaging industry should be the Bohai Bay region. For example, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao and Yantai, etc., because of the unique geographical environment in these regions, overseas investment is very active, currently Sail, LG have settled in Yantai, and Qingdao also attracts many Korean companies.Packaging and printing is a processing industry, It serves the manufacturing industry, where there is manufacturing, where there is packaging printing, in other words, where can attract foreign companies, and where the packaging and printing industry is developed. For now, publishing and commercial printing are still in China. With a dominant position, the proportion of packaging and printing is relatively small, but as China gradually becomes a base for the world's manufacturing and processing industries, the packaging and printing industry will also achieve tremendous development."

Second, the supplier's eyes in the package offset

Although the packaging printing market size and development potential are considerable, but in many people's inertial thinking, it seems that only gravure and flexo printing is the mainstream technology of packaging and printing, offset printing is more reflected in the field of books and commercial printing. However, several offset printing equipment suppliers do not seem to agree with this view. In their opinion, in the field of packaging and printing, offset printing and gravure printing and flexo printing have their advantages and disadvantages. It is difficult to say whether they are superior or inferior.

Mr. Kong Fude Heidelberger company focused on the nature of the work on the flexo and offset printing. He said that the flexographic equipment investment is low and the processing capability of the line is strong, but this is more suitable for medium-to-long-term activities, and is not suitable for short-run package printing. Moreover, with more configuration, its boot preparation time will increase. In addition, flexo printing consumables are not cheap, such as flexo printing plates are much more expensive than offset printing PS plates. Also, flexographic printing is a relatively new technology, and it is difficult to operate the equipment, and the technical level of operators is generally not high. Therefore, for long-term, stable jobs, flexo printing is more suitable; for short-run, high value-added jobs, offset is more advantageous.

Mr. Zhang Jianfa of Manroland Company compared the quality of printed matter with flexo and offset printing. He said that offset printing is better for the reproduction of dots, and the color is also bright; and flexo printing is suitable for printing the field and lines because the ink layer is thicker, and the configuration of the flexo printer is flexible, and offset printing can be added according to the needs of trademark printing, etc. India, screen printing and other units. But flexo will not seize the offset market because the strength of offset printing is too strong. From the supplier's point of view, flexographic printer suppliers are far behind their offset press suppliers. After all, offset printing has developed for more than 100 years.

KBA's Mr. Wang Lianxi compared the offset printing with the gravure printing. He said that the gravure printing ink is full and suitable for products with large coverage of printing ink, but its printing is not fine enough, and it is inferior to offset printing in the fine dot reproduction. In addition, the investment in the gravure printing machine is very large, so it is necessary to ensure sufficient business volume, otherwise it is difficult to guarantee the return on investment of the equipment. The history of offset printing applications is longer and the product's adaptability is also better. Many of the previous gravure cigarette packs have now begun to use offset printing.

Third, identify new products in an endless stream

How great is the temptation of business opportunities. Faced with the huge potential of the packaging printing market, well-known offset printing press manufacturers at home and abroad have increased investment to develop offset printing equipment and technologies suitable for packaging and printing. Each of them has commendable products, and each one has distinctive features.

Heidelberg: tailored to market segments

Heidelberg, as the world's largest offset printing equipment supplier, has sold more than half of its sheetfed offset presses for packaging and printing. According to Mr. Kong Fude, since the launch of the Speedmaster CD102 in the 1980s, Heidelberg has strengthened its promotion in the packaging and printing market, and has developed Speedmaster CD74 and SM52 for different business needs.

CD102 is a general-purpose off-set offset printing machine, which can be used for printing thick paper, gold, silver cardboard and PVC. One of the outstanding advantages of this device is its flexibility. It is easy to upgrade from a simple four-color machine to a fully-configured online coating machine. At present, CD102 has more than 1,000 units in China.

CD74 is a four-opening offset printing press. Its target area is the short-range packaging market. The most representative packaging and printing product is the pill box. In China, where drug packaging has developed rapidly, it has found a vast area of ​​use. According to Mr. Kong, small-format presses are very suitable for small-size, frequently-changed packaging products. In addition, in the Chinese brand cigarette packaging market with more brands, the CD74 has also found a space that can play a role.

The Speedmaster SM52, which is known for its flexibility, speed, and efficiency, sets a new standard for printing quality in the field of 35cm×50cm format printing. It is the ideal model for trademark printing.

In the packaging printing market, the forward Heidelberger wheel will sway a few beautiful waves from time to time. In April 2002, Heidelberg sold the world’s first device equipped with a flexographic printing unit in front of the offset press—CD102 DUO (DUO is a word originated in Italian and originally meant “duet”, which is described as flexo printing. The harmonious coexistence with the offset printing method adds another highlight to the packaging and printing industry. The machine consists of a coating unit, a drying unit, 6 offset printing units, plus 2 coating units and 2 drying units. It is an ideal equipment for packaging printing and commercial printing. The CD102 DUO is fast, especially suitable for high-quality connection printing production, such as printing opaque white ink on metal foil, or printing high-quality gold ink, silver ink, or printing pearl ink and coating on offset ink layer. The ideal effect can be obtained by one time of paper feeding, not only obtaining the required ink layer thickness, but also shortening the time and reducing the cost.

Manroland: Thick Paper Printing Expert

“After manroland was introduced, the printing factories in the country that had been around for a long time could not help but say that printed thick paper was good.” Mr. Zhang Jianfa said proudly, “This means that Manroland’s equipment is suitable for printing and packaging products because the packaging materials are mostly thick paper. Of course, the current manroland offset press thickness