North American Flexographic Trends (I)

Despite the slow economic development last year, flexographic printing is still a major highlight in the packaging and printing industry. It is expected that the growth rate will reach 4-5% last year. According to the statistics of the Flexographic Technical Association, the printing production value of more than 6,000 flexographic printing companies in North America will exceed US$85 billion in 2002. The covered market segments include soft film packaging, paper bags, multi-layer bags, labels, and corrugated paper/ Preprinting, folding cartons, envelopes, and newspaper printing.
According to a report recently published by the Flexo Technology Association, the growth rate of the flexo printing industry will exceed the growth rate of GDP by 4-5%, and the high flexo growth rate will be close to 7%, accounting for North American packaging printing. 74% of the market accounts for 24% of the world's printing and publishing market.
According to the current business scale of the flexo printing industry, Mr. Mark Sistelny, President of the Flexo Printing Technology Association, pointed out: “The market forecast for food packaging and pharmaceutical packaging continues to show strong growth momentum. Flexible packaging substrates and paper products processing technology Progress has driven the market forward steadily over the past few years and it has played the same role in 2002."
Surviving with dedication to business management Mr. Sistenino pointed out that because consumer goods companies are constantly trying to exert pressure on printers to maintain or reduce prices in order to survive, reducing costs has become an important issue in current flexo production. Digital imaging technology is also a hot topic. He said: "Through digital imaging in the prepress area and digital imaging of thin plates and sleeves in the production process, printers have been able to achieve higher and more stable print quality."
Technological advances in substrates are also a favorable factor for promoting the development of flexo printing. Mr. Sistenino said: “This technological advancement has also prompted some printing jobs to shift from offset, letterpress and silkscreen to flexo. Whether it is a vertical packaging paper bag, fine corrugated high-quality corrugated paper, or a replacement for traditional envelopes. Fiber products are very suitable for flexographic production technology."
Corrugated printing remains high In the flexo printing market surveyed by the Flexo Printing Technology Association, corrugated/preprinted production will rank first in the flexographic industry with a gross product value of US$29 billion, accounting for 34% of the total output value of the flexo industry. %. About 1,400 flexo companies in North America produce flexo-printed corrugated cartons and preprinted cardboard.
According to the members of the Flexo Technology Association, in order to satisfy customers, they have to provide additional services to meet the needs of fast delivery and high-end graphic printing. At the same time, these companies, like all paper product manufacturers, must maintain a competitive cost structure.
The Flexographic Technology Association believes that in terms of all flexographic areas in 2002, soft film packaging and printing will top the list in percentage growth, and total revenue will reach US$20.4 billion, an increase of 3.5%-4% compared to 2001. Soft film packaging will account for 24% of the flexographic market.
About 950 printer/paper product manufacturers in North America are engaged in soft-film flexo printing. They believe that as films continue to replace hard packaging materials and are seen as the best packaging options for new products. Soft packaging will further occupy more market share.
Food production promotes the development of flexible packaging Food production will continue to increase the amount of flexible packaging orders: followed by health beauty devices and pharmaceutical products. Hard packaging is increasingly being replaced by vertical bags, and this will continue to be a catalyst for the development of the industry for some time to come. In another soft packaging survey report, Flexo Technology Association pointed out that today's flexible packaging printers face various challenges. Many problems are related to cost pressures and retention of high-level employees. The mantra of flexible packaging printers is "to reduce costs; meet and exceed customer needs; maintain competitive advantage; increase economic efficiency."
One printer surveyed said: "A major challenge for each printer is to hire experienced operators." Another flexo printer member added: "Fast delivery is a top priority for printers." We need to find ways to adapt paper product manufacturers to the objective needs of the retail sector's constantly replenishing supply.Each customer requires on-demand production and keeps reducing inventory.No one wants to take full responsibility for the generation of ink and raw material inventory. The key is to reduce downtime, breakage, and inventory."
Online Folding Carton Solutions The folding carton production department faces an excellent opportunity for flexo printing. At present, only less than 1/4 of the products use flexo technology. There are 125 manufacturers of flexo folding cartons. Flexographic folding cartons accounted for 19.3% of the total revenue of the flexo printing industry and reached 16.5 billion US dollars in 2002. The use of UV inks and flexo on-line processing equipment continued to use flexo and offset printing to continue flexo printing. The computer-to-plate technology has expanded the scope of coordination and improved the reproduction of details, which is in line with the needs of short-run production. (To be continued)