Plastic bottle surface screen printing and in-mold labeling each opinion (2)

In-mold label printing and processing technology

Although the printability of in-mold label materials is different from traditional paper and plastic, the printing of in-mold labels is no longer a difficult problem. Offset printing, gravure printing, letterpress printing, and flexographic printing can all be accomplished. So far no silk has been reported. Net printing in-mold labels.

For die cutting of in-mold labels, CNC automatic die-sinking machines, semi-automatic trademark die-moulding machines, and semi-automatic die-cutting machines can perform tasks. Wire-cutting and die-cutting methods are mainly applied to flexographic printing equipment. There are some post-processing steps after the in-mold labels are printed, such as hot stamping and then glazing, or first glazing and then hot stamping. Flexographic printing can even be used to print hot stamping stations online, but it has not been popularized in the country.

After in-mold labels are printed and processed, they are packaged and sent to plastic container processing plants where they are blow molded together with plastic bottles. Therefore, only qualified upstream and downstream companies can obtain qualified in-mold label plastic bottles. The special thing about labeling.

Cost and equipment investment

Surface Printing Printing Cost and Equipment Investment

The cost of surface printing for each color is related to screen life, ink, operator skill, printing speed, printing pattern complexity, and printing area. In addition, if the plastic bottles need to be sanded, the scrap rate in this process will slightly increase the cost. Table 2 shows an example of the cost of a plastic bottle surface screen print. Due to the different technical conditions of each manufacturer, the data in the table is for reference only.

Surface screen printing equipment investment is low, the threshold is low. The one-time investment of equipment is related to factors such as the type of printing material and the volume of the bottle. If printing PE, PP materials, need to be equipped with flame processing equipment. If the PET material is printed, it may not be equipped with a flame treatment device. UV inks are very popular in curved screen printing, so UV curing devices are generally required. A bottle with a printing volume of less than 300ml will invest a set of flame processing equipment, curved surface printing machines, and UV curing machines, which will generally not exceed 100,000 yuan.

In-mold Label Printing Processing Cost and Equipment Investment

The time taken for in-mold labels to enter the country is not long, the loss rate during the printing process is high, and the in-mold label materials are still dependent on imports, and the equipment investment is also relatively expensive. These factors result in the high cost of current in-mold label printing and processing. . Of course, this also shows from another angle that there is still room for reduction in the printing and processing costs of in-mold labels in the domestic market.

Huaxin (Foshan) Color Printing Co., Ltd. is an old branded packaging and label printing company and has 3 years of history in printing in-mold labels. The general manager of the company, Wu Wu, said: “The various losses of in-mold labels in the printing process add up to sometimes reach 30%. We hope to work closely with the upstream and downstream companies, if we can reduce the loss rate to less than 20%, then The overall cost is definitely lower than the sticker."

Mr. Fu Qiang of Avery (China) Co., Ltd. said: "The price of in-mold label materials is cheaper than transparent plastic adhesive materials, and slightly more expensive than paper-based adhesive materials. After the labels in molds are printed, they need to be cleaned and static-free. , manual inspection and packaging processes, but the elimination of the labeling process, no longer need a special labeling machine and labeling operators."

The price of the in-mold label of the company Praia France is about 5-6 yuan per square meter. Mr. Luo Bingye firmly believes that the cost of in-mold label printing processing still has room for decline in China. He said: “In the United States, the rate of rejecting in-mold label printing processing is very low, and the cost of in-mold labels is lower than that of self-adhesive labels. However, in China, the scrap rate during label printing is high, which is mainly due to Dust, static electricity, die cutting and improper packaging during printing, for example, in the process of die cutting, because the die cutter is dull and not sharp, the small burrs on the trimming affect the fit of the label and the plastic bottle. Standards lead to waste products. In-mold labeling is still a new technology in China, and as the technology becomes more sophisticated, the overall cost will drop when the domestic in-mold label scrap rate drops to or closes that of the United States.

Chen Biao, a leader in S&T Technologies, understands the cost of in-mold label printing and curved screen printing. He said: "The use of plastic bottles with in-mold labels has a large volume and a large printing area, and the cost of in-mold labels will be slightly higher. Specifically, for plastic bottles with a volume of less than 400 ml, the four-color printed in-mold label ratio curve network The price of India is 10% lower. For plastic bottles with a volume greater than 400ml, the cost of in-mold labels is 10% higher than screen printing."

As in-mold labeling technology matures, some companies that wait and see are also eager to try. For the investment in equipment, they also expressed their opinions.

Mr. Zhang Zhongjun believes that companies must first have stable customer resources and can maintain stable demand. Second, we need to analyze in-mold labeling's ROI in detail. What is the expected value of the investment return, how long the payback period is, and how much the profit rate can be reached? After a thorough analysis of feasibility studies, rational decisions are made to avoid blindly following the trend.

Chen, general manager of the new technology, said that the plastic container company must apply the in-mold labeling production line. First, there must be a hollow blow molding machine, and secondly, the in-mold labeling equipment (in-mold labeling robot) should be configured. At present, the price of in-mold labeling robots is approximately 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. A typical configuration of medium-sized plastic container processing enterprises requires at least six robots. Therefore, a one-time investment in equipment for an in-mold labeling line requires about one million yuan.

Voice from the end user

As an end user of packaged prints, how do you see these two solutions? What factors will they consider when choosing plastic bottles? Let us listen to their voices.

Yan Yuexi - Manager of Purchasing Department of Coty Cosmetics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

In the European market, some of our product packaging uses in-mold labels. However, currently in the Chinese market, our cosmetics packaging adopts screen printing or self-adhesive labels, and no in-mold labels are used. The reason why curved surface screen printing is favored is that many cosmetic bottles are made of PET, and the surface of the transparent PET bottle is screen printed. The ink is thick, the color saturation is large, and the description text of the product is readable. The current in-mold labeling bottle materials are limited to PE and PP materials, and in-mold labeling bottles are mainly blow-molded, and injection molding is rare.

In determining the solution, we will also weigh several other factors, such as spending habits, product packaging costs and product sales situation. Personally, I believe that in-mold labeling does not help the promotion of cosmetics. Anti-counterfeiting is its greatest advantage. For now, the volume of the cosmetic plastic bottle is relatively small, so the mold is small, and it is difficult for the robot to control the labeling position in the in-mold labeling process. Therefore, in the domestic cosmetics market, in-mold labeling bottles are rarely used, and curved screen printing is used more often.

Miao Miao, Business Department of Guangdong Huizhou Zhaoting Cosmetics Co., Ltd.

Zhao Ting is a Hong Kong-owned company that produces shower gels, shampoos and skin care products. In May 2003, the company launched the new "Australian" shower gel products with specifications of 200ml, 400ml and 750ml. After repeated consideration, the company decided to use PE in-mold labeling bottles. In addition, Zhao Ting also has 4 shampoo products also use in-mold labeling bottles.

From the appearance, our shower gel product packaging uses in-mold labels, the color is beautiful, the picture layer is rich, delicate, and the sticker effect is comparable. If curved screen printing is used, the registration is difficult to control due to the large number of colors, and if the operation is not careful, the bottle will be scratched, which will increase the loss rate. The price of each color of plastic bottle surface screen printing is about 0.1 yuan, and the cost of four-color online printing is higher. The in-mold labeling reduces the number of operations and the factors that affect the loss rate are relatively reduced.

Nowadays, the packaging and printing solution of “Ausop” daily chemical products is the coexistence of two technologies: plastic bottle surface screen printing and in-mold labeling. For our old products, such as refreshing and healthy shampoos, we have branded the “European” brand image in consumers’ minds, so the packaging of these products still follows the previous curved surface screen printing. In general, in-mold labeling is used much more in daily chemical product packaging.

Guangdong Zhaoqing Shangjin Cosmetics Co., Ltd. Purchasing Department Mr. Peng

Guangdong Zhaoqing Shangjin is an end user who used in-mold labeling bottles earlier in the country. In 2002, the company decided to use in-mold labeling bottles for its 9 shampoos and body wash products. One of these is the "brilliant" shampoo. At that time, the main consideration was the anti-counterfeiting of products. Secondly, according to the characteristics of product packaging design, we believe that in-mold labels are the preferred solution for reproducing detailed and rich design drafts. Of course, curiosity and the pursuit of new trends are also one of the reasons why we chose in-mold labeling bottles.

Shangjin's other cosmetics, such as gel water, gel cream and other products of plastic bottles using curved screen printing. From the package's appearance, PET bottles directly print text descriptions and designs that appeal to consumers.

As for the solutions adopted in the future for new products, we must decide according to the characteristics of market planning and packaging design. In general, the pattern is simple, less than the three-color printed design draft, the use of curved screen printing is more appropriate. If there are more than four colors and the picture hierarchy is rich, in-mold labels are considered.

postscript

One flower alone is not spring, colorful spring garden. With the continuous emergence of new technologies, various technologies have their foothold and market applications. The increasingly refined market provides a free display space for various technologies. For example, some of P&G's products use plastic labels on the front of the bottles to display rich and detailed images, while the back surface is directly screen printed, making the text more conspicuous, and the advantages of the two technologies in the bottle body show out.

We advocate solutions that are in full bloom, and in many technologies, the best technology for you should be the best.





Source: "Printing Technology - Packaging and Printing"