Flexographic Printing Dominates
North America is a typical example of self-adhesive label printing dominated by flexographic printing technology. The main equipment consists of small to medium-sized unit printing presses, primarily using water-based inks, employing roll-to-roll printing and rotary die-cutting. This method is characterized by high production efficiency, advanced technology, and compliance with environmental requirements.
Equal Split Between Letterpress and Flexographic Printing
This processing method is prevalent in Europe. The application of flexographic printing is similar to that in the United States, while letterpress printing accounts for about 50% of the market. Letterpress printing uses UV inks exclusively, and the equipment is mostly stacked or satellite type. Material processing is also roll-to-roll printing.
Letterpress Printing Dominates
This method is predominant in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region has many developing countries, and label printing is relatively underdeveloped. Even when letterpress printing is used, only a minority of equipment uses UV inks. Most label printing still uses resin-based inks, and roll-to-roll and sheet-fed printing coexist. Due to the high proportion of manual labeling, sheet-fed offset self-adhesive labels are widely used. Die-cutting is mainly flatbed die-cutting.
Offset Printing
Offset printing is the primary method for printing paper-based self-adhesive labels in my country. It is characterized by fine details, rich tonal range, and suitability for mass production. The equipment can be multi-functional, making it suitable for the Chinese label market. However, sheet-fed offset printing is unsuitable for non-absorbent films, as film labels are often rolled-to-roll and require volatile drying inks. Offset printing can print on thicker plastic materials, such as in-mold labels and hang tags, but requires the installation of a UV curing unit, which incurs a significant cost.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is the most adaptable printing method. Currently, many screen printing plants utilize inexpensive equipment to undertake self-adhesive and film label printing. Screen-printed labels are characterized by rich ink color and strong three-dimensional effect, and can utilize UV inks to print film products. Apart from a handful of rotary screen printing machines capable of roll-to-roll label printing, most screen printing equipment is semi-automatic flatbed screen printing, which can only print single sheets with low registration accuracy, making it unsuitable for film label production equipment integrated with production lines. Post-press processing should also adapt to changes in label post-press processing during business transformation. For example, when printing self-adhesive labels, post-press processing can be divided into sheet-fed processing and roll-fed processing based on the label's application.
