Direct printing of corrugated board with Roland 900 offset press

Previously, direct printing of corrugated cardboard was the domain of flexographic printing. Today, offset printing presents a good market opportunity due to the excellent quality of its four-color printing.

Change in packaging and printing

The development of direct offset printing of corrugated board is based on the premise that the design of corrugated boxes is shifted to four-color printing.

If a few years ago, storage and transportation packaging was still based on monochrome or two-color field or line printing, people today have demanded that the original appearance of the goods be genuinely printed on their packaging, through this high-quality packaging appearance. Printed to show the excellent quality of the packaged product.

The successful development of a new type of corrugated board has made important contributions to the direct offset printing of corrugated board. As the market demands less and lighter packaging, new types of fine corrugated cardboard have attracted attention, but the corrugated cartons produced by it are required to have a certain degree of stability.

In recent years, there have been many innovations and developments in this field. This development is mainly to meet the needs of offset printing. Fine corrugated cardboard is particularly suitable for printing with an offset press. The stability of G-type and F-type corrugated cardboard is very good, and there is no problem in conducting on-site printing.

This development, as well as external influences (relevant regulations for the packaging of goods), have brought about tremendous changes in the entire corrugated box printing market. In this way, years of disputes between offset printing and flexo printing have subsided. Because what kind of printing method is not important, improving the quality and economic efficiency of printed products is the most important.

People have already abandoned the way of dividing the printing market with newspaper printing, part printing, flexo printing, gravure printing and screen printing. Instead, the market is divided into publishing, printing, packaging and printing. This division is based on the product rather than the printing method. Offset presses are also equipped with flexo coating units, which are no longer used for printing but rather fulfill their mission in terms of quality and economy. This also contributes to the development of direct offset printing of corrugated board.

continue to develop

Manroland has a long history of developing direct offset printing technology for corrugated board. In 1970 and 1971, Manroland introduced the direct offset printing technology of corrugated board to the public. However, the technology was not yet mature at the time. Therefore, no one seriously considered using offset presses to directly print corrugated cardboard. Later Flexo began its pioneering work in this area.

Now, many offset printer manufacturers recalled the trial of direct printing of corrugated cardboard with offset presses at the time and felt that it was also feasible. Mainly because of the light pressure of offset printing, suitable for printing corrugated cardboard. Surprisingly, a few years ago it was retested to directly print corrugated cardboard with an offset press and immediately succeeded.

In fact, the production of corrugated board requires a huge amount of money for technical development to really match the process, equipment and materials in the printing of corrugated board. If it was originally intended to reduce the effect of the washboard and to use a thicker cover for greater compression, then from an economic point of view, the focus of direct offset printing on corrugated board should be aimed at fine corrugated cardboard.

For a printing expert, to produce any packaged print, one should purposefully use the advantages of all printing methods in order to achieve the best quality and effectiveness.

Cardboard and corrugated board manufacturers have been able to meet the high demands of the market and have been able to provide a variety of different specifications of cardboard, such as: noodle board for folding carton, heavy-duty cardboard with a thickness of 1.4-1.7mm, and N-type and G-type corrugated cardboard Now there is F-type corrugated cardboard.

Corrugated board direct printing market growth

At present, people's enthusiasm for direct printing of corrugated board using offset presses is not a temporary one, nor is it an innovative experiment that develops new technologies at all costs, but global packaging and printing companies are accepting this technology. In 1999 and 2000 alone, 25 projects were completed using a Roland 900 offset press.

40% of companies installing Roland 900 offset press are related to the following production:

1. Production of corrugated cardboard, previously used to print corrugated cartons directly by flexo printing.

2. Printed corrugated cardboard, self-produced corrugated cardboard for direct offset printing.

60% of the companies installing Roland 900 offset press are related to the following production:

1. Printing production folding cartons (boxes) and decorations, and die-cutting paste boxes (paste).

2. Corrugated box printing production for a packaging plant that is a middleman.

In these investments, the arguments and wishes of customers are of concern because it determines how the market in this area should develop:

1. Considering the transportation problem, the packaging material should be highly flexible (from wrapping paper to corrugated cardboard).

2. In order to reduce packaging costs, online printing production methods are adopted.

3. Expect higher color and appearance (becoming a favorable purchase condition).

4. As the law requires the reduction of secondary packaging, the requirements for packaging (including storage and transportation packaging) have been increased in terms of providing product information and modeling.

5. Solid paperboard can't be ignored because of the rising price of paper raw materials.

Replace flexo

With the development of offset printing direct corrugated board technology, it seems to be no doubt that it has replaced flexo printing in certain areas of corrugated box printing. However, offset offset direct corrugated cardboard also needs to be supplemented with new technologies. The direct printing on corrugated board has the following advantages compared to flexo printing:

1. The printing quality is high.

2. The printing cost is low.

3. The time for installing the platen machine is short.

Compared with the processing method of printing offset paper with an offset printing press and then aligning with corrugated cardboard, direct offset printing of corrugated cardboard has the following advantages:

1. Save on the cost of confrontation.

2. The shortest print processing time - no additional work process.

3. The amount of paper added is small.

Printing press is the key

Without the development of modern offset press technology, the discussion about direct offset printing of corrugated board will not cause such a sensation.

The direct printing of corrugated cardboard with the Roland 900 offset press makes it possible to produce VI-sized corrugated boxes, which are typical dimensions for corrugated box printing.

Roland 900 offset press can print smoothly on substrates up to 12mm in thickness. However, this does not mean that the machine is designed for printing corrugated board, because in a short time, the Roland 900 offset press can be changed to a standard configuration for printing plain paper.

Whether it is printing corrugated cardboard or printing other substrates, the machine's printing speed can reach 13,000 per hour. In the printing of 1mm thick cardboard, Roland 900 offset press with a non-stop automatic paper changer can reach speeds of up to 9,000 sheets/hour. Due to the bulkiness of cardboard, the replacement of paper piles during printing is frequent, and the automatic paper changer device reduces the downtime and paper change time without stopping the machine, increases work efficiency, and provides economic advantages.

For the economical consideration of the production of corrugated board printing, it is recommended to install the printer at 556 mm above the ground. Through the foundation above the ground, the non-stop replacement mechanism can be more efficiently used.

In the direct offset printing of corrugated board, in order to reduce the troubles such as the effect of the washboard, special patented blankets should be used. Such blankets are particularly suitable for direct offset printing on corrugated board.

Roland 900 features

1. The transfer roller on the transfer board can convey the paper without traces.

2. Adjustable paper guides are used to reliably feed paper to the paper feeding device and also serve as a holder for the paper suction belt table.

3. The improved platen roller and the front gauge prevent the back from picking up.

4. The side gauge is an excise to ensure that the cardboard side is precisely aligned.

5. The feed rollers with reduced diameter have guide rollers that reduce the paper's bend radius.

6. Use a patented blanket.

Can be glazing

The glazing is not a luxury, because on the one hand, functional glazing is necessary; on the other hand, it is also necessary as a means to protect the printing ink layer, to increase the printing speed, or as a decoration means for upscale packaging. The Roland 900 offset press can be equipped with one or two coating units. Its advantages are:

1. Not only can the full version be glazing, but also partial glazing can be performed.

2. The use of pearlescent polish can be used for special glazing, which acts as an anti-counterfeiting effect. Because pearlescent or pearlescent inks (such as Iriodin/Afflair effect pigments) are not easily imitated, the packaged prints have a unique appearance that is difficult to counterfeit.

summary

The successful application of direct printing of corrugated board technology by offset press has made corrugated box packaging and printing enter a new stage of development. Due to the high quality and low cost of direct offset printing on corrugated board, the printing and packaging industry is no longer ignoring this technology.

The design concept and market demand for displaying products and promoting products through storage and transportation packaging also promoted the rise of direct printing of corrugated board technology by offset presses, and also established new printing quality standards for corrugated box packaging. Of course, this does not mean that only offset printing will have the future of direct printing on corrugated cardboard. Thick cardboard boxes are still printed mainly by flexo printing. Many long-lasting cardboard boxes will still use flexo printing because of their relatively simple shapes and design patterns. Similarly, top quality corrugated cartons will also use offset offset printing paper, followed by processing.

Despite all the restrictions, Offset Direct Printing Corrugated Paperboard has occupied a certain market share and will continue to grow.