Flexography is a printing technology originated in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Because it uses environmentally friendly water-based inks, it is generally known as the most environmentally friendly printing method in the industry. In addition, with the successful development and wide application of laser engraving, flexographic CTP and other new technologies as well as new varieties of flexographic ink and UV/EB ink, the environmental protection characteristics of Flexography have been further verified and are increasingly favored by the printing market.
European and American markets: in full swing
According to the data provided by the Flexography Association (FTA) of Germany and the United States, Flexography has played an important role in the printing market in the United States and Europe, especially in the field of packaging printing.
The United States was one of the earliest countries to adopt flexographic printing technology, and in terms of packaging and printing, it can be called the "Kingdom of Flexographic Printing". In 2012, packaging products printed by Flexography accounted for 58% of the total number of packaging products, exceeding the total amount of offset printing. The strong environmental awareness and high marketization of the United States have made the environmental protection and low-cost characteristics of Flexography fully play in the printing industry. It has gone deep into food, medicine, cosmetics, electronics, daily necessities, even newspapers and other fields. Its market is huge and its products are numerous. The United States is also the country with the largest number of Flexography machines in the world, with more than 7500, of which the proportion of medium and narrow Flexography machines with a width of less than 30 inches accounts for nearly 90%.
In Europe, Flexography occupies more than 65% of the flexible packaging printing market for food, medicine and other products, and more than 40% of the label printing market. The European countries with a large number of Flexography enterprises are Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. There are nearly 2500 Flexography machines.
Domestic market: in the ascendant
Flexography in the mainland of China started late. In the mid-1980s, simple laminated Flexography machines were purchased from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places, forming the initial stage of Flexography in China. In 2010, with the support of the former General Administration of Press and Publication and relevant policies, China began to use Flexography to print textbooks, and then extended to various fields. Facts have proved that Flexography can not only meet the needs of packaging in terms of quality, but also cooperate with equipment packaging to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs, with remarkable results. The Flexography market in China today has made remarkable progress compared with five years ago, and the share of Flexography in the entire domestic printing market is close to 18%.
According to the statistics of Flexography Branch of China Printing Association in 2012, at present, there are more than a dozen enterprises officially producing Flexography machines in China, including Shanghai Unisplendour, Beiren Fuji, Xi'an Heiniu, Guangdong Samsung, etc. The installation of domestic Flexography machines is that there are more than 400 stacked Flexography machines; There are more than 700 unit type and satellite type Flexography machines in total, including more than 350 medium and narrow width Flexography machines introduced. At present, the supply of low-end domestic Flexography machines exceeds the demand in the market, and there is a general phenomenon of price reduction. However, enterprises still have a great demand for high-end Flexography machines. In addition, due to the improvement of the processing and manufacturing level of domestic Flexography machines and the price advantage, companies such as Fuji Beiren have begun to export Flexography machines to countries such as Japan and Vietnam.
With the development of printing industry and the improvement of society's awareness of Flexography, Flexography will have a bright future in China, just like Europe, America and other countries.