Analysis: Domestic Printing and Reproduction Industry Undergoes Structural Adjustment

The printing and reproduction industry accounts for the largest share of the press and publication industry and is the "Guiding Opinions on Further Promoting the Development of the Press and Publication Industry"

hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions"

key tasks of industrial development

one of them. The requirements of the "Guiding Opinions" for the development of the printing and reproduction industry make the direction of its development clearer and its methods more explicit. Recently, Luo Baihui, head of the International Mould and Hardware and Plastic Industry Suppliers Association, interpreted the measures for promoting the structural adjustment of the printing industry.

The printing industry is an industry that relies on scientific and technological progress to achieve development and upgrading. Therefore, to adjust the industrial structure, it must rely closely on technological progress. Luo Baihui believes that the domestic printing industry should track the latest developments in international printing technology and processes and strive to make breakthroughs in key technologies such as digital printing, computer-to-plate, high-speed multi-color sheetfed printing, web offset printing, gravure printing and flexographic printing, as well as in the application of new printing standards. Major projects such as digital printing and printing digitalization should be launched as soon as possible, with key breakthroughs in inkjet digital printing, digital assets, computer-to-plate, digital proofing and digital workflows, so as to drive the technological upgrading of the entire industry through major technological innovation.

Faced with the current state of digitalization, Luo Baihui said that the government encourages and supports the development of new digital printing business formats and, on the basis of introducing, digesting, absorbing and re-innovating, is accelerating breakthroughs in the localization of equipment. Foreign large suppliers of printing equipment and raw and auxiliary materials should be guided to invest and set up factories in China, so as to reduce costs and prices through localized and automated production.

In terms of the printing quality supervision and management system, Luo Baihui believes that it is necessary to continue to formulate, revise and improve printing quality standards, gradually align them with international standards, and form a relatively complete printing quality standard system. Printing enterprises must be supervised to organize production strictly in accordance with quality standards, supervision and testing methods and procedures for printing products must be improved, procedures for the inspection and testing of incoming materials, production and outgoing products of printing enterprises must be studied and formulated, the functions of testing institutions must be improved, and the quality level of printing enterprises, especially small and medium-sized printing enterprises, must be gradually raised. It is necessary to continue to take printing quality as the starting point and strengthen the regulatory function over the printing industry.

In terms of developing environmentally friendly printing and phasing out outdated production capacity: first, formulate and issue green and environmentally friendly printing standards, and through the formulation and implementation of standards promote the entire printing industry to raise its quality level, carry out structural adjustment and achieve intensive development. Second, focus on cultivating new environmentally friendly printing products; it is necessary to build printing processes that meet environmental protection requirements, save energy and recycle resources well, use environmentally friendly raw and auxiliary materials, prohibit the use of raw materials with toxic and harmful side effects, reduce environmental pollution and protect the health of the public, especially young people. Third, phase out low-end and outdated printing production capacity; it is necessary to further improve the exit mechanism, clarify the standards for eliminating technologies and equipment, quantify elimination targets and step up elimination efforts. Strive to

within the year phase out a batch of production capacity with outdated technology and equipment, low production efficiency and high resource and energy consumption.

At present, the construction of printing bases is being advanced, and the government is also conducting research for the issuance of the "Guiding Opinions on Establishing Printing Demonstration Bases." While focusing on building the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim

printing industry belts, it will evaluate, integrate and regulate the printing parks under construction across the country, and through the five major orientations of policy, location, resources, market and technology, promote the concentration of printing industry resources, guide printing enterprises toward intensive operation and enhance their overall competitiveness.

In addition to building printing bases, the government also supports the growth and expansion of backbone enterprises with independent brand products and strong market competitiveness. It guides backbone printing enterprises with advanced printing levels, outstanding economic scale and benefits and the ability to participate in international competition, as well as technology-innovative enterprises, specialized supporting enterprises and advantageous enterprises in related industrial chains, to become printing demonstration bases, and cultivates different printing industry clusters characterized by specialization, refinement, distinctive features and novelty that are suited to market demand. Through the demonstration effect of backbone enterprises, it integrates scattered resources in the printing industry chain, achieves a rational allocation of printing production capacity and drives the overall transformation and upgrading of the printing industry.

Hot Spots for Investment in New Technologies in the Packaging and Printing Industry

According to Luo Baihui, head of the International Mould and Hardware and Plastic Industry Suppliers Association,

year the total output value of the global printing market will exceed

billion US dollars, and the total output value of China's printing market will reach

659.34

billion US dollars, accounting for the total output value of the global printing market

the global printing market will show a clear

the Asian printing market, driven by China and India as engines, will grow strongly. As early as

year, China had already replaced Germany and the United Kingdom to become the world's third largest printing market.

Over the past decade, along with rapid economic development, China's packaging and printing industry has consistently grown at over

a rate of growth.

year the total output value of China's packaging and printing industry reached

10.71%

, accounting for the total output value of the national printing industry

32.73%

day, there were printing enterprises of various types nationwide

101,857

of which those engaged in the printing of packaging and decorative printed materials

With the continuous progress of the social economy and the growth and expansion of China's printing and packaging industry, the market environment we now face has also undergone earth-shaking changes, which can be summarized in five points:

Food packaging safety

has become a focus of attention

, the formal implementation of a number of related standards

, increasing cost pressure

, requirements from large end users

In such a market environment, moving toward

model development, greater attention to cost control and greater emphasis on the hygiene and safety of packaging have become the three major directions of technological development in the packaging and printing industry. Against the backdrop of

this backdrop, low-carbon and environmentally friendly products will prevail and are expected to become the mainstream of the market. Luo Baihui believes that the packaging and printing industry should likewise shoulder its social responsibility in developing a low-carbon economy. In addition, technologies that can help packaging and printing enterprises reduce losses, cut waste and raise yield rates will be sought after and become hot spots for investment in the coming years.

In Luo Baihui's view, in-line cold foil stamping technology for offset printing

web hot foil stamping technology

fixed-length stretch lamination printing technology for laser seam avoidance

laser pattern embossing transfer technology and combination printing technology are the five technologies most worthy of attention in the field of paper packaging printing.

, in-line cold foil stamping technology for offset printing

Traditional foil stamping requires a dedicated metal stamping plate, transferring the required stamping material to the surface of the substrate by means of heat and pressure; the speed is relatively slow and it is difficult to combine with offset printing for in-line hot stamping. In-line cold foil stamping technology for offset printing involves adhering the required graphics and text to the surface of the substrate with an adhesive at room temperature. It is implemented by directly using two units of the original offset press, one printing the adhesive layer and the other transferring the metallic stamping foil.

Advantages: fast stamping speed and high efficiency

printing and metallic foil transfer are completed in a single pass of the sheet, with high registration accuracy

the resolution of the cold foil stamping plate can reach that of an offset printing plate, allowing fine graphics and text to be stamped

it is carried out at room temperature without heating, so stamping can be done on the surface of temperature-sensitive materials

, web hot foil stamping technology

Web hot foil stamping machines have already achieved mature application in China's cigarette carton market ahead of others, and will achieve even greater development as the market's demand for high-efficiency, high-quality stamping jobs increases. At present, enterprises with relatively mature applications include: Changde Jinpeng Printing Co., Ltd., Yunnan Qiaotong Packaging & Printing Co., Ltd., Yunnan Yuxi Printing Co., Ltd., Chongqing Hongsheng Printing Co., Ltd., Yunnan Jiujiu Color Printing Co., Ltd. and Dongguan Zhiyuan Color Printing Co., Ltd. Enterprises that frequently encounter jobs with large volumes, high hot foil stamping process requirements and short customer delivery times should pay close attention to web hot foil stamping technology.

Fixed-length stretch lamination printing technology for laser seam avoidance

Laser holographic transfer paper is a new type of packaging material increasingly widely used in the packaging and printing industry at home and abroad, but a major problem is that laser plate seams are easily produced when printing on a web gravure press

, causing great waste. At present there are mainly two solutions for the fixed-length stretch lamination printing technology for laser seam avoidance: inline and offline.

Packaging and printing enterprises can make a reasonable choice according to their own funds and actual production conditions. If an enterprise has web gravure equipment, it can adopt the offline solution; by purchasing laser aluminized transfer paper that can avoid plate seams from a laminated paper manufacturer, it only needs to modify the paper feed mechanism of the existing web printing equipment, so the enterprise's investment risk and technical risk are relatively small.

Laser pattern embossing transfer technology

Laser pattern embossing transfer technology is a high technology integrating decoration, anti-counterfeiting and environmental protection, with outstanding advantages including: meeting environmental protection requirements, good anti-counterfeiting effects and lower production costs.

Combination printing technology

In a sense, a combination printing press is no longer simply a piece of printing equipment, but an assembly-line production line integrating multiple printing and post-press finishing processes.

Combination printing is a combination of multiple printing process technologies, that is, integrating multiple printing methods on the same production line

such as flexographic printing, offset printing, gravure printing, screen printing and inkjet printing, and even digital printing

and post-press finishing processes

such as varnishing, laminating, die-cutting, creasing, foil stamping and embossing

, combining the advantages of various printing and post-press processing methods and making up for one another's shortcomings, so as to achieve the best printing results.

The solvent-free lamination technology worth attention in the flexible packaging field first emerged in the

decade in Germany and is now the mainstream lamination method in Europe and the Americas. The adhesive used in solvent-free lamination technology contains no solvent, so there is no problem of exhaust gas emissions or solvent residues, nor is a bulky and complex drying device needed; the process is simple, and it has outstanding advantages such as low production cost, energy saving and consumption reduction, and safety and environmental protection, and is recognized as one of the main development directions of lamination processes in the future.

In addition, organic waste gas is an important cause of environmental pollution in the flexible packaging industry. In the future, national legislation on environmental protection will certainly become stricter, and flexible packaging enterprises must plan ahead; the urgent task is to take effective measures to reduce the emission of organic waste gas and energy consumption, so as to meet the national goals of energy saving and emission reduction. By adsorbing, reducing, purifying and recovering the organic waste gas generated in the flexible packaging production process and reusing it in a cycle, the problem of environmental pollution caused by organic waste gas emissions is not only solved, but waste is also turned into treasure, with the recovered organic solvent being recycled.

Multi-layer co-extrusion lamination, meanwhile, uses two or more extruders to separately extrude the same or different types of resin, which are combined in the same die head to make a composite film. Its advantages are that multiple layers of film can be obtained in a single production run, greatly reducing production labor and production time

no adhesives or solvents are needed, and no corresponding drying device is required, which is conducive to environmental protection

the film can be designed with diverse structures and properties, with low cost and good barrier performance.

The five technologies worth attention in the label printing field are web offset printing, digital printing, label flexographic printing, quality inspection systems and

As is well known, offset printing is one of the most commonly used traditional processes in the printing industry; in self-adhesive label printing, sheetfed printing was mostly used until recent years, when web offset printing began to be tried. With the spread of automatic labeling equipment for self-adhesive labels, web offset printing technology will develop relatively rapidly in the next few years, but looking at the entire self-adhesive label printing market, web offset printing is still only a supplement and cannot change the pattern dominated by letterpress printing.

It is understood that European and American countries began applying it in the label printing field several years ago. The vast majority of domestic label printing enterprises still hold a skeptical and wait-and-see attitude toward digital printing technology. At present

version, only label printing enterprises such as Shanghai Yilishi, Zhuhai Qicai, Guangdong Zhengdi, Beijing Deji and Zibo Taixin use it.

It is expected that more and more traditional label printing enterprises will introduce digital printing technology in the future and use it as a new profit growth point.

In addition, globally, the market share of flexographic printing in the label industry has reached

. However, China still mainly uses letterpress printing, and the share of flexographic printing is very small. In the past two years, flexographic printing has also achieved gratifying results in China's label industry. From a long-term perspective, with the development of China's economy and the strengthening of public environmental awareness, the advantages of flexographic printing will become prominent, and its market share will certainly rise gradually.

There are many uncertain factors in the label printing process, and quality inspection is an important part of production. Moving from traditional manual quality inspection to inspection by testing equipment can improve efficiency and reduce costs. Pressure from the external environment also makes label printing enterprises pay more attention to the application of quality inspection systems. As the domestic label printing industry's demand for quality inspection systems grows day by day and the performance of such systems continues to improve, they will win greater room for development in the label printing industry and help label printing enterprises create more value.

The holding of the Shanghai World Expo

technology showed its brilliance. In the label field,

technology is also quite favored, bringing enterprises much convenience. Taking liquor labels as an example, baijiu enterprises such as Wuliangye, Moutai and Shuanggou Zhenbaofang have all launched

, label and management systems

in the red wine field, Dongfang Electronic, Hanshuo Technology and Chengdu Push have researched and overcome

the problem of this technology being easily interfered with in liquid and metal packaging environments.

As times change, the investment hot spots in the printing and packaging market will also differ, but one thing remains constant: as long as packaging and printing enterprises dare to innovate and develop, they will certainly achieve the goal of creating greater value and winning greater room for development.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-370003.html