Overview of the hottest label printing and ink

Overview of label printing and inks

release date: Source: China paper industry

this paper introduces the market development of label printing, and makes a simple overview of the printing performance of various labels and the corresponding inks. Today, China's paper industry starts from packaging and printing, focusing on the in-depth discussion of UV inks used in self-adhesive products

key words: label printing, self-adhesive, UV ink

labels can be said to be a bright spot in the printing industry in recent years, especially self-adhesive labels, which have formed a complete industrial chain in China, and the position of label printing in the market is gradually valued by people

at present, the biggest problems of label printing are the small batch demand, multi variety trend and environmental protection of label printing. In fact, these problems not only occur in the label printing industry, but also a common topic faced by the printing industry. However, the label industry must respond accordingly. For the requirements of small batch and multiple varieties, some printing companies have put forward the following plans: introduce printing machines that are easy to change plates; Build an in plant management system from order receiving, printing to delivery; The introduction of computer-controlled equipment in the pre press and post press process is a proper way to adapt to the time

I. current situation of label printing market

based on the views of many people in the printing industry, the current domestic label market has the following characteristics: paper labels are still the mainstream of labels, but the growth of film labels is very rapid. For example, film labels are mostly used in medium and high-end daily chemical products, because film labels have excellent water and moisture resistance, high temperature resistance, wear resistance and tear resistance

relatively speaking, among various types of labels, shrinking labels have the fastest growth rate. The materials and forms used in labels are also becoming more and more diversified, and more label products are printed in reel form. The application of flexographic printing technology is gradually increasing, and many flexographic printing machines adopt combined printing methods, such as installing rotary transfer sheets, hot stamping or cold stamping sheets. Small batch orders, fast replacement of live parts and fast delivery have become the main requirements of end users. As a new product with high-tech content, RFID tags have the functions of product tracking and control, which also indicates that label printing has entered the field of digital printing

for the main label types and application scope, we can refer to the following table. The following article will give a brief overview of the experimental force limitation of the mainstream labels in the current market

1. Self adhesive label

self adhesive labels, also known as self-adhesive labels, are composite materials with paper, film or special materials as the fabric, adhesive coated on the back, and silicon coated protective paper as the backing paper. After printing, die cutting and other processing, they become finished labels. When applied, it only needs to peel off the backing paper and press it gently to stick to the surface of various substrates. It can also use the labeling machine to automatically label on the production line

in China's label market, self-adhesive labels occupy a dominant position, with an annual growth rate of about 20%, but compared with developed countries, there is still a lot of growth space and development potential. Our self-adhesive label industry has its own characteristics, that is, there are many small and medium-sized factories and few professional large-scale printing factories; The printing plant has more primary equipment and less high-end equipment; The development of self-adhesive label market is uneven, the coastal areas are developed, the central region is developing, and the remote areas are relatively backward

2. Shrink the label

the shrinking label market is growing rapidly, and its market share is expanding, far exceeding the annual growth rate of the ordinary label market. The main application field of shrink labels is the beverage industry. In addition, the growth momentum in the food, health products and personal care products industry is also very strong. Shrink labels have strong adaptability and can be used on plastic, wood, paper, metal, glass, ceramics and other packaging containers

the commonly used film materials for shrink labels mainly include PVC, PE, pet, OPP, etc. they have their own characteristics in shrinkage characteristics, environmental protection, etc. when selecting, they should be comprehensively considered for the specific application of the product. For example, PET materials are environmentally friendly and play an important role in the European market, which attaches great importance to recycling. In terms of printing technology, at present, gravure printing is still the main form of shrink labels, and flexographic printing accounts for a small market share. In addition, offset printing and digital printing also have a certain range of applications to meet the specific needs of customers

3. In mold label

the structure of the in mold label is different from that of the commonly used self-adhesive label. There is a layer of solid adhesive on the back of it. This adhesive will melt at a certain temperature and stick together with the surface of the pasted container. In mold labels were first used in injection molding containers, and later developed into blow molding containers, and are widely used in container packaging of various plastic materials, such as HDPE, PP, pet, etc

in North America, in mold labels are mainly used for blow molding containers, while in Europe, they are mostly used for injection molding containers. The proportion of in mold labels used in container labels ranges from 12% to 15%, and they are mainly used in nursing supplies, daily chemicals, food, beverages, lubricants, pharmaceuticals and other industries. In China, in mold labels have begun to enter the large-scale development in recent years, but the development speed is quite amazing. At present, they are mainly concentrated in the lubricant and daily chemical industries

4. RFID tag

rfid tag is developed on the basis of electronic technology. It has a huge amount of information stored, flexible and fast non-contact reading and writing, and strong environmental adaptability. According to the analysis and prediction of professionals on the global RFID tag application market, by 2009, the global RFID market will soar from $2billion in 2003 to $10billion

at the same time, the application field of RFID tags continues to expand and quickly infiltrates into various fields. The experiments and practical applications of RFID tags in logistics storage, manufacturing, commercial retail, commodity anti-counterfeiting, transportation, national defense and military and other fields are gradually unfolding. If RFID technology can be closely linked with electronic supply chain, it is likely to replace bar code scanning technology. In the long run, outside the logistics field, for example, the product level R is excluded from the following three aspects. FID tags can be used in the anti-counterfeiting of medical supplies, aviation luggage and library management, and there is a lot of room for development

China's RFID tag market started late, and there is a considerable gap between China and foreign countries in application. The most direct problem of RFID tag frequency has been basically determined in many foreign regions, but it has not been approved in China. Moreover, there are many problems in the domestic market, such as weak basic R & D strength, insufficient participation of enterprises in standardization, and most domestic enterprises take a wait-and-see attitude

at present, as far as the whole RFID technology is concerned, it faces three major obstacles: Standard obstacles, cost obstacles and technical obstacles. Standard barrier refers to the need to develop a unified and open technical standard for the application of RFID. However, at present, there are multiple standards in the market at the same time, and many countries and regions are developing their own corresponding standards; Cost barrier refers to that the application field has been very sensitive to the increase of cost. How to promote the application, cost can also be said to be the leading factor; Technical barriers, such as RFID tag readability, model matching, and data processing, are thorny issues that need to be addressed

4. Digital labels

in the past few years, the label market has undergone significant changes. The market and consumers need smaller batches of products, shorter delivery times, and stronger personalization. Traditional printing is difficult to meet this demand in terms of time and cost. As a supplement to the traditional printing method, digital printing has higher flexibility and better cost-effectiveness, and can also realize variable data printing. The situation that printed labels are overstocked in batches in the warehouse will no longer occur. Moreover, with the gradual improvement of the performance of digital printing machines, the range of printing materials used is becoming wider and wider, and digital printing has also been more and more applied in the field of packaging printing. Digital printing technology first entered the field of packaging printing, which is used for variable data printing and short label printing

the digital label solution with variable data printing function enables label printing enterprises to quickly provide short version labels at low cost, achieve both long and short versions, and provide printing customers with a low-cost solution for printing, such as the San Francisco St. Matt bridge solution, which was built in 1929. It meets the multi-dimensional needs of customers, personalized printing meets the needs of users for product segmentation in the market, and the anti-counterfeiting printing function provides customers with a safer whole process service, further enhancing the market competitiveness of enterprises$ Page break $

II. Selection of label inks

there are many kinds of label printing inks, which can be divided into three categories according to the different solvents used: water-based label printing inks, solvent based label printing inks and UV label printing inks

water based ink is safe, hygienic, pollution-free, meets environmental protection requirements, and is conducive to human health; However, there are also shortcomings, such as slow drying speed, low color saturation, poor stability, etc., which are not suitable for printing large areas of the field, and long-term storage is prone to precipitation and stratification

solvent based label printing ink has strong adaptability to label materials, stable performance and high printing quality; However, there are environmental pollution problems, and some volatile solvents are harmful to human body

uv label printing ink has excellent performance, reliable quality and wide application range; However, the price is on the high side, and special drying equipment is required, and there are also certain requirements for supporting materials

the visible hand of the government plays a decisive role. When selecting label printing ink, we should comprehensively consider the types of printing materials, printing methods and conditions, special requirements of customers, post press processing technology, uses and conditions of labels, costs and other factors

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