Packaging printing cost balance point (on)

In recent years, many people have said that the advantages of flexographic printing have led to a rapid increase in packaging and printing production. In people's minds, flexo printing is cheaper than gravure printing, such as cheaper flexo presses, less labor requirements and quick job changes, and the ability to quickly and efficiently shorten the delivery time for customers. Ask for a response.
The actual cost of flexo printing need not be questioned. Flexo printing is known for its high quality and high speed in the flexible packaging field. However, there is still a lot of debate about whether to use flexo or gravure printing. We cannot use the phrase flexo printing to provide the latest technology at the lowest price. In fact, the quality of flexographic printing is at best the same as that of gravure (and the cost is higher). Therefore, it is very important to analyze the cost-effectiveness of flexo printing.
Let us use a fair point of view to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of these two printing processes. In fact, some machines are designed with a flexographic printing unit and a gravure printing unit so as to have the advantages of two printing modes. But the best quality of flexographic printing cannot be compared with the quality provided by the best intaglio printing. This basic fact cannot be changed within a foreseeable time. Achieving consistent quality is the main difference between flexo and gravure.
Printing Process Cost Analysis The cost structure of any package printing consists of the following three factors in addition to the cost of the packaging material itself:
The hourly cost of machine operation;
The cost of live copying;
Image carrier cost (flexo plate or sleeve / gravure cylinder).
The operating cost per hour of the machine includes many elements. The factors involved in the flexo and gravure printing are similar, such as energy supply, floor space needed, pre-press preparation, machine maintenance, and administrative expenses. These elements are This is an uncertainty. The other major cost of the hourly machine cost is depreciation, which is based on the cost of the machine and the labor cost. Depreciation is a great cost element.
Flexographic equipment is cheaper than gravure equipment is a common assumption error. An analysis of prices by a company that produces both types of presses and hybrid presses shows that the gravure press is 30% cheaper than comparable flexo presses. And it's true whether it's standard or advanced.
Flexo and gravure printing machines are generally the same in the operator's equipment and requirements, requiring two operators to open a machine.
Since it is known that the cost of a flexographic printing press is higher than that of a gravure printing press, and the staffing and requirements are the same, it can be seen that the flexographic printing press has a high cost per hour for the machine. To take a step back, first assume that the cost per unit of time for both devices is the same, and we will also be surprised by the conclusions reached.
The copying cost includes the output of continuous sun-imposing and proofing (flexo printing compensates for dot gain), and the cost for flexo and gravure per color is approximately the same.
In most cases, an eight-color flexo job can be obtained by seven-color gravure printing because the latter has the ability to print high quality screens and hues with a common cylinder. To take a step back, let us once again ignore the benefits of gravure, assuming that both printing methods use the same number of ink colors for printing.
Based on this many assumptions, we conclude that the cost difference between the flexographic plate and the gravure cylinder determines the monochromatic cost of the two printing methods. Before discussing the details of the cost of the image carrier, let's take a look at the performance of the printing press.
Printing Performance Every packaging and printing plant has its own operating procedures and organizational structure, so the cost of each process is discussed. But we can see:
Any center-printing flexographic printing press, even if fully automated or equipped with powerful components, requires more time and effort than a gravure printing press when changing jobs. A ten-color flexo press usually requires two and a half to three hours for a job, while a ten-color gravure press takes only one and a half hours.
The gravure printer is a simple mechanical printer consisting of four basic printing units:
Engraving cylinder ink fountain squeegee impression cylinder These simple structures bring a high level of copyability and greatly reduce the time for replacement operations, faster to enter the printing state, even when printing short editions, can also be achieved High efficiency. Now, on-line processing operations, such as cold-press sealing, have become a routine need. When printing with a flexographic printing press, it usually requires careful control, so the running speed is very low.
Experience in some printing plants in Europe and the United States is that a typical eight-color gravure printing can be completed in eight hours, while a flexo printing machine needs ten hours for printing because of the long replacement time and the slow printing speed.
Therefore, even if the poor quality of the flexo product, quality instability, and high waste are not taken into consideration, the cost of the machine per hour is USD 450, and the additional two hours of work in the eight-color print job requires an additional USD 112 per color. (To be continued)