Prospect of the hottest flexographic printing

Prospect of flexography

on the way to Phoenix to participate in the first FFTA forum this year, I found a very interesting ancient book store. Because of my professional relationship, I was certainly attracted by a "history of packaging". The book says that flexible packaging can be traced back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, when the Chinese used processed mulberry bark to wrap food. Today, in 2004, the main problem for flexographers is the growing competition from China. Isn't it ironic

I also learned from the book that the earliest application of trademarks was around 1550. At that time, German paper makers wrapped paper trademarks on their better paper products; In 1866, the Schmidt brothers launched the official trademark, that is, the trademark was marked on the package of their cough lozenges to facilitate consumer identification. Nowadays, almost everything you buy has a certain packaging, and more are printed in Flexo than ever before. According to the latest estimate, flexographic printing represents 75% of the packaging and printing industry in the United States. They are respectively connected with the lubricating oil system and ammonia system of the machine body, in other words, about $90billion. The Canadian Packaging Association estimates that the total market share of packaging accounts for 2.5% of its GDP, that is, about 20billion

therefore, how do you see the future of flexography? Most articles talk about the growth rate of flexo printing will be greater than that of gravure printing and offset printing. Flexographic printing is obviously the beneficiary of the development trend from hard packaging to flexible packaging. About 20000 new foods are added every year, which is enough to fuel the flexographic printing industry. Relevant equipment and consumables suppliers, such as the president of Wah, the vice president of Fischer krecke, DuPont image technology, etc., have released reports of substantial performance growth in 2003

in that case, why do we still see so many news of factory closures or mergers and acquisitions in the weekly report of electrical packaging? Why is there a middleman who provides the introduction of measurement and control technology of packaging testing machine in China for profit? Moreover, due to the small profit competition, the increase of energy and environmental protection costs, and the addition of new digital printers in the industry, what will be the long-term impact on the flexographic printing industry

not all enterprises will have growth and development

one of the most important changes in the flexo printing industry is obviously that not all enterprises will be associated with attractive growth. In this issue of flexo magazine and the 2004 forum to be held in Dallas, we will focus more sharply on evaluating and introducing the key technologies and market trends that will form the future of our flexo industry, favorable trends, and what strategies should be taken to ensure your growth? What's the threat? What guiding actions need to be taken to ensure success against them? These answers will be found in the 2004ffa forum

impact of consumption lifestyle

when I read the history of packaging in that ancient bookstore, my thoughts flew to the future of flexo printing, and I felt that the key trends and the driving force of future growth seemed to be the same as that in the early history of packaging. Just as the ancient Chinese developed new food packaging, today's consumers are also attracted by convenient and functional packaging. Fortunately, one of the greatest advantages of flexographic printing is that flexographic printing technology can effectively adapt to the diversity of substrate development technology required in convenient food packaging and printing. Flexographers are in a leading position in this regard. Whether it is printed on plastic film to make small food packaging bags that can be enjoyed after heating, or vegetable packaging bags that can be reopened to maintain a longer freshness, or more beautiful retail packaging boxes printed on corrugated paper. In short, where consumer goods dominate the flexible packaging market, the market share of flexo printing in 2004 is expected to rise from 75% two years ago to 80%

integration of packaging and products

the second key trend, just as German paper makers used packaging paper with trademarks to pack their paper patterns in 1550, today's packaging has increasingly become the driving force of commodity sales. Vertical packaging bag is one of the best examples. According to the report from the Freedonia group, this kind of packaging will grow at an annual growth rate of 16.6% in 2006

according to the planning of the packaging industry, there will be 200million US dollars for shrinkable envelopes and roll shrinkable film labels. The concept and use of the experimental machine is the market for precision testing instruments that measure the mechanical properties, process properties, internal defects of metal materials, non-metallic materials, mechanical parts, engineering structures, etc. under various conditions and environments, and verify the dynamic imbalance of rotating parts, with an annual growth rate of 20%. Compared with the pressure-sensitive label market, the annual growth rate is only 5%. Unfortunately, the printing of shrink envelopes is dominated by gravure printing. I think we need to use the multifaceted advantages of flexo printing to meet the needs of the target market; As well as the cost reduction after the adoption of CTP technology progress to improve our degree of involvement, and even become a leader in promoting greater business growth

finally, just as the Schmidt brothers recognized the benefits of brands packaging their cough lozenges in 1886, at the summit of consumer goods manufacturing enterprises (representing hundreds of famous brands), we discussed the opportunities for us to give better play to our flexographic printing strengths through cooperation and innovation in accordance with the "voice of customers"

key trends such as the adoption of color flexo printing machines will continue to expand. In addition, the winding will be widened, with faster and more sensitive shaftless transmission, and the degree of automation will be improved, so that flexo printing can provide consumer goods production companies with high productivity, faster production cycle, and a wider range of substrate products suitable for printing

further, in North America, the application of digital prepress workflow and CTP has significantly expanded in the field of flexographic printing, improving and stabilizing the productivity and printing quality of flexographic printing, while reducing environmental concerns. These are helpful for the production companies and retailers of consumer goods to achieve the purpose of promotion through the improvement of packaging and printing quality, and packaging and internal goods will play an increasingly integrated role

in general: it is more important than ever to carefully plan how to share the expected growth of packaging products. As the chairman of the forum in 2004, I am very grateful to the Organizing Committee of the forum for their willingness to provide space in the flexographic magazine to publish their views on the future development of flexographic printing, as well as their unremitting efforts to arrange the best topics for the forum. We know that managers who are good at business need real information for them to make decisions for future business. For this purpose, please don't miss the opportunity to attend this forum and attend info*flex Exhibition (flexo information exhibition). The latest products and technologies will be displayed there, and more than 80 speakers will give their best suggestions and advice on future planning

our theme in Dallas is "if you want to be big, you want flexo printing". Let's work together to continue to develop flexo printing, serve our customers well, and create a new chapter in the history of packaging

attachment:

fta (American Flexo Printing Association) outlook for flexo printing business in 2004

1 Corrugated containers (including cartons)

increased by 2% every year, reaching 36.7 billion US dollars by the end of 2005

in terms of durable goods packaging, due to the emergence of new materials, the growth opportunity will remain above the average; The reduction of electronic components, computers and other information processing equipment and the demand for related packaging containers will also be affected. In addition to food and beverage, the packaging growth of other durable commodity markets is slow, mainly due to the competition of alternative packaging media, the production of corrugated containers may be reduced. However, with the improvement of image printing quality, the amount of fine corrugated or thin corrugated will increase

2. Paper bags and paper bags

the business of paper bags and multi-layer paper bags has a share of about US $3billion. The current growth has also shifted to plastic film packaging, offsetting each other and maintaining a delicate balance. Several major consumer goods production companies have the ability of image design and production, and pay more attention to creative design in developing the market. Most of the printing and processing of paper bags or multi-layer paper bags have been undertaken by a few factories affiliated to some paper enterprises

3. Label printing is still the main market of flexographic printing

although the profit and growth of the label market have been quite reduced compared with the historical level in the past few years, there is still a turnover of $12billion, and it is estimated that there will still be an increase of 5% - 7% in 2004. Flexographic printing will still be the main printing method in the U.S. label market, and the profitability is still above the average level, especially with UV

label printers must maintain their competitive advantage through value-added methods, such as for special products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, high-end ID and IP cards such as chips, shrink wrap labels, in mold labels, vertical bags, etc

4. Napkin and toilet paper

in the future, the tensile strength rm of American napkin paper market is 15% lower than that of T6 material, which may increase by more than 4% in two years. This is related to the growth of population and per capita consumption, so it will not affect prices and profits. It is predicted that the consumption of toilet paper in the bathroom will increase by 3% every year, toilet paper will increase by 1.6% every year, face paper will increase by 2.5% every year, but napkins will decrease slightly

5. The flexible packaging market will grow

the flexible packaging market accounts for about 17% of the total packaging market in the United States, exceeding US $21billion. The industry report of flexible packaging Association in 2003 is very optimistic about the future, with an annual growth rate of 5% to 6%, while the supplier's estimate is 8% to 9%, which is more optimistic

6. The envelope market is picking up

the number of envelopes is expected to pick up in 2004 (probably in the spring). With the stabilization of the price, the compensation for the rise in the price of raw materials will be implemented in the first half of the year. The utilization rate of equipment remains basically unchanged, and there will be no new impact of mergers and acquisitions. Therefore, relevant printing enterprises will focus on improving efficiency

7. Flexographic printing newspaper

the business of flexographic printing newspaper has basically remained unchanged, with a total turnover of about US $2billion, and there are about 45 flexographic printers worldwide. The development aorta of the industry has two points: ① the second plate supplier has announced to join the flexographic newspaper market; ② The first manufacturer to provide plates for flexographic newspapers has claimed to provide flexographic plates for CTP, and the quality can compete with offset CTP plates