Expand new areas for flexo printing applications

First, the development trend of international flexo technology

In the early 1980s, the world paid more and more attention to environmental protection and green security for long-term sustainable development. The water-based ink used in flexographic printing has neither the solvent of benzene, ester or ketone which is highly toxic in the gravure ink, nor the toxic metal in the offset ink. In order to protect the environment and human health, flexographic printing is expressly prescribed for food, medicine, household cosmetics, and packaging materials directly contacted by the human body. These measures are highly valued in developed countries such as the United States and Western Europe, and are known as flexo printing for green security. As a result, flexo printing has been making rapid progress over the years. The original three-dimensional printing process from flat, concave, convex and lead printing, flexo printing increased from 4% in the early 1950s to 28% in the late 1990s, offset printing decreased from 55% to 45%, and gravure printing decreased from 30%. To 20%, Letterpress fell from 10% to 2%.

Changes in various printing methods in European and American printing markets

　　 During the printing method Offset Gravure Printing Embossing Flexo Screen Printing Other Proportional Growth Rate Proportional Growth Rate Proportional Growth Rate Proportional Growth Rate Proportional Growth Rate Proportional Growth Rate 50% at the beginning of the 50s 2% 30% 4% 10% 2% 4% 1 % 1% 2% 0% 0%
The end of the 1970s 52% 2% 28% 2% 8% 0% 10% 4% 1% 1% 1% 1%
Early 1990s 46% 2% 26% 2% 6% 0% 18% 6% 2% 2% 2% 5%
The end of the 1990s 45% 0% 20% 0% 2% 0% 28% 4% 2% 2% 3% 4%
2005 35% 0% 15% 0% 1% 0% 32% 2% 2% 0% 15% 6%

The trend of packaging printing in China

1999 2000 2005 Offset Printing 42% 40% 36%
Gravure printing 19% 18% 15%
Flexo Printing 30% 32% 39%
Other printing 9% 10% 10%

Flexo Printing's share in major packaging printing Years Bags Soft pack Labels Cartons United States 1997 75% 95% 75% 30% 20%
2000 80% 95% 85% 40% 40%
Japan 1999 90% 90% Below 10% Below 10% 40%
Europe 1999 Unlisted 85% 60% 35% 30%

According to the latest statistics from the Chairman of the First Forum of the Flexographic Technology Foundation (FFTA) 2004 in the United States, Flexo represents 75% of the US packaging and printing industry, with approximately US$90 billion; the Canadian Packaging Association’s total market share of packaging is estimated to account for 2.5% of GDP, about 20 billion US dollars. One of the greatest advantages of flexo printing is that the flexo printing process can effectively adapt to the substrates needed for convenient food packaging and printing, and develop a variety of technologies. Whether it is printed on plastic film made of food can be used to enjoy the small package bags, or can be re-closed vegetable bags to maintain a longer freshness, etc., in short, in the flexo packaging market, consumer goods manufacturers In most cases, flexo's market share in 2004 rose from 75% two years ago to 80%.

Mr. Billdowndell, former chairman of the U.S. FTA, is looking forward to the 21st century and is confident in the development of flexo printing. Looking back on the 1990s, with the improvement of science and technology, flexo printing technology, processes, and equipment have made new breakthroughs, and the quality of products has become comparable to that of plastic and gravure printing. At the end of the 20th century, the sales volume of flexo printing in the United States had exceeded 72.8 billion U.S. dollars, with an annual growth rate of 7%, accounting for 75% of the packaging and printing share. Here, Mr. Bill gave a detailed analysis of flexible packaging.

In 2000 flexo printing increased by 9% compared to 1999, flexible packaging increased by 5%, sales reached 25.8 billion US dollars, accounting for 70% of total flexible packaging. According to statistics, 24% to 26% of all commodities today are packaged in flexible packaging materials. In the food field, flexible packaging is also replacing containers such as metal and glass. Flexo's advanced technology solves the difficult problem of film structure that is not conducive to printing, and promotes its own development.

U.S. consumers will use flexo-packed products as a priority. Although flexographic and gravure prints are more prone to wear, print quality is more difficult to maintain for larger print runs. However, in the medium and short-run batch printing industry, the overall cost of flexo printing is lower than that of gravure printing, which is why flexo printing can quickly occupy the market.
Flexo has become the dominant printing technology for flexible packaging and it will be further developed in the following markets:
Aluminized films for food, medicine, and cosmetics packaging have become an important packaging material;
Growing market for packaging of pharmaceuticals and disposable medical devices;
The market for home-speed products is convenient and convenient for storage.

In addition, packaging users have long noticed that flexible packaging is more conducive to promotion. Not only does it make it easier for manufacturers to implement promotion strategies, it can even lead conservative consumers to purchase the same product in different packages. The promotion strategy requires the use of small batch production and compressed inventory production methods, and flexo printing is easier than gravure to achieve this goal.