If you want to further verify whether numbers and other short-run printing technologies will become the mainstay of the packaging and processing industry in the future, it is time to look at the newly released investigation report of The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF). In this report entitled "Trends and innovations in packaging, including links to JDF-compliant hardware and software applications," the research of Toronto's Reilson University The authors pointed out that various government regulations have forced packaging and printing companies to shorten their production cycles and increase the efficiency of data usage.
Ryerson University researchers believe that Canadian and U.S. governments will continue to enact food trademark laws that require suppliers to provide certain information (nutrition data and ingredient lists); federal law will continue to require packaging printers to design more versions Packaged to provide consumers with specific information in a variety of languages; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will also gradually adopt new packaging regulations in accordance with EU-developed plans. At the same time, the survey report also pointed out that the government's demand for people to meet new packaging requirements in a short time has caused great inconvenience to packaging designers and printing houses.
The government's promulgation of production requirements and the ability of digital printing to have real-time planning capabilities and automated workflows have enabled people to see the value-added and profitability potential of this emerging technology.
Inkjet printer used on corrugated paper
Sun Chemicals and Inca Digital have jointly developed an inkjet printer, FastJet, capable of printing variable data images on corrugated paper with a maximum width of 1.2x1.7m. As an inkjet printer that can compete with the speed of multi-color flexo printers, the FastJet printer can reach speeds of up to 300 feet per minute. The printer uses 20 printhead modules (fixed in a row), each module has 24 printheads, and each printhead has 128 inkjet nozzles.
Out of a desire for high productivity, the CRP printing and packaging company headquartered in the UK became the first test user of the FastJet inkjet printer. Tom Lindop, the company’s managing director, said: “We’ve been waiting hard for a few years to get a suitable digital printing device. We are very concerned about the quality and speed of this device, and its commercial value. Currently waiting for feedback from digital packaging presses and convinced that their choice is correct.â€
Lindop said: "In the past few years, many digital presses have disappeared in the market, and their suppliers have also fallen into a difficult development. The only reason that prompted us to invest in digital technology in this situation is that the FastJet is unparalleled. The quality of the printing and the speed with which it is experienced, and we believe that we can rely on this equipment to participate in the brutal competition in the market. But one thing I hope you can not forget: FastJet is a device still in the development process, if it is in our The field test has been successful and has played its due role, then it may be put into the market five years in advance.â€
Currently, CRP's test results have yet to be evaluated, but Lindop believes that the maximum speed of this test version of the FastJe inkjet printer can even be increased to 400 ft/min, thanks to its own two-week experience with this device.
Print on film
Montebello Packaging, which has factories in both Canada and the United States, has won several industry awards for its own printed aluminum tubes, aluminum cans, aluminum marker barrels, composite hoses, bronzing and plastic tubes, and these products have been Widely used in medicine, personal care products, cosmetics, home and industrial supplies, and food packaging and other fields. Montebello's success is inextricably linked to the patented digital packaging printing process developed by M-Deco, which allows the company to produce short-length hoses with photo-quality patterns as quickly as possible.
Recently, the company upgraded its digital printing equipment with an Indigo ws4500 press using HP's latest photo imaging technology. This is already the second HP Indigo press that Montebello bought. Meghann Bennett, the company’s marketing and sales coordinator, said: “We are very satisfied with the Indigo ws2000 presses we already own.â€
Last year, Montebello won the Best Food Hose of the Year Award from The Tube Council for its own aluminum tube. Digital printing equipment enables this company to have the ability to print real images on a small number of (short-run) substrates. Bennett said: “By conducting an in-depth investigation of the food market, we found that many customers wanted to print realistic tomato designs on hoses, and we could not meet their requirements with offset printing.â€
In Montebello's other major market, the pharmaceuticals market, they have used short-run digital printing technology to ensure the production cycle of their jobs earlier than their competitors. According to Bennett, the Montebello company was able to undertake so many pharmaceutical packaging operations, mainly because they can use digital technology to quickly produce packaging for stability testing. According to her experience, once the pharmaceutical company has completed the stability test with Montebello's packaging, it will surely give more business to them.
Better toolbox
With the accelerating pace of globalization, packaging and printing companies cannot place their hopes on local companies because they can choose the right packing factories around the world. Jeff O'Reilly, Hewlett-Packard's account manager, points out that for packaging companies serving the global market, digital printing is a valuable tool that allows them to capture more business. O'Reilly said: “It usually takes 5 to 6 weeks to print a long-lived project using traditional technology. Before the printing system is turned to long-run production, we can print a short-run digital job to make full use of the equipment. Downtime."
The benefits of digital packaging printing far outweigh the range of variable output, as they can produce marketable packaging at the fastest speed. Although there are equipment manufacturers claiming that the conversion of traditional packaging into digital packaging requires a lot of operating costs, packaging and processing plants can still obtain enormous economic benefits.