Tan Junmin introduced that the label industry has entered a period of steady growth in Europe and the United States, and adhesive and film materials have grown rapidly. In North America and Europe, self-adhesive labels have accounted for about 50% of the total label market share. Wet-glue labels have gradually declined; the proportion of film materials has increased, which is in contrast to the large-scale use of labeling machines and the strong advantages of flexographic printing. relationship. In addition, the growth rate of in-mold label and shrink film sleeve wrapping labels exceeds 5%. Among them, shrink film sleeves are expected to increase by 14% in North America in 2006, becoming the biggest highlight of the label industry, and the addition of film materials in adhesive labels. Use more, these all put higher demands on printing equipment. Further, some new markets are developing, such as China's just-started transparent beer market.
From the perspective of international adoption of new technologies and trends in label printing, Tan Junyi analyzes: Radio Frequency RFID (RFID), In-Mould Label, Heat-Shrink Label, and digital label printing. Technology (DigitalLabelPrinting) has emerged as four different technologies.
Smart tag
With the higher and more complete information needs of people in terms of product production, storage, transportation, security, anti-counterfeiting, and management, traditional bar code labels are obviously incapable of handling them. With the advancement of technology and application in the field of label production, a brand-new, multi-functional, smart label with good anti-counterfeit effect has been widely used. It will bring new vitality and vitality to the label printing industry.
Smart tags are also known as radio frequency identification tags, which are high-tech products in the field of labels. Today, they have played an important role in product packaging and will gradually replace traditional product labels and bar codes. Smart Label is a rookie in the field of labels. It has the function of surpassing traditional labels and is the crystallization of high technology such as electronics and computers in label printing. Compared with traditional identification methods, smart tags (RFID radio frequency identification) are widely used in production, logistics, transportation, medical care, anti-counterfeiting, and authentication, because of their accurate, efficient, and secure methods, high anti-counterfeiting capabilities, and real-time monitoring of products. And many other industries.
In-mold label
In-mold label, also known as in-mold labeling, is a new type of label printing that is different from traditional direct screen printing, heat-shrinking labels, and self-adhesive labels. According to the method of labeling, it can be divided into blow molding and in-mold labeling and injection molding. There are two types of labels in the mold. The surface is treated with PP or synthetic paper, and the back is coated with a special label paper made of hot melt adhesive. After being printed into a label, it is sent to the inside of the mold by a robot, and the hot melt adhesive resin on the back of the label in the mold is melted by the high temperature of the plastic melt extrusion, so that the label and the container are integrated. After the finished product came out, it could be seen that the beautifully printed label was firmly embedded on the surface of the plastic product. The label and the plastic bottle were on the same surface, and there was no label on the surface. The color image was printed directly on the surface of the bottle body and was very beautiful. At the same time with anti-counterfeiting, moisture, oil, mold, acid and alkali, abrasion and other functions, safety, environmental protection, and high utilization rate.
Heat shrink film label
Heat shrink packaging is a kind of packaging method widely used in commodity packaging. It can be used to package various types of products. It has the characteristics of transparency, sealing, moisture resistance, containerization, etc., and its process and equipment are simple, the packaging cost is low, and the packaging method is Variety, favored by businesses and consumers. The heat shrinkable film label is part of the label market and is currently growing rapidly. Its market share continues to expand, and its annual growth rate is expected to be around 15%, which greatly exceeds the annual growth rate of about 5% in the general label market. The potential for development is huge. Become a major highlight of the label printing industry.
Digital label printing technology
The domestic daily chemical industry, such as Procter & Gamble, and other large suppliers in the past few years from a large number of direct screens to self-adhesive and shrink film labels, making the daily chemical industry's label multiplied, but with the business and stability, this growth The speed will not continue, and another logistics area that is not noticed by everybody is developing quietly. The thermal paper and printing paper abroad are very simple in circulation and promotion, but sometimes the requirements for product tracking involve changes. The requirements for code or anti-counterfeiting will also involve search codes, as well as the need for secondary printing of labels, or even direct, variable-personality printing, all directly related to digital technology.
Finally, Tan Junmin said that as far as China is concerned, the adoption of the above-mentioned several kinds of label printing technologies is not yet universal, especially RFID tags and digital label printing technologies. This is mainly due to the fact that the label market in China is still at a stage of development. Due to the particularity of the Chinese market, the label industry is still in a state of “two heads and light in the middleâ€. In other words, low-grade labels occupy a large number of consumer markets, such as: food Market and a part of daily market. The high-end, high-margin label market is still in its infancy, and plastic film substrates such as self-adhesive labels and in-mold labels are extremely versatile and cover daily chemicals, home appliances, toys, batteries, oils, tires, and automobiles. Industrial and other fields. It is understood that the amount of labels currently used in China is only 50 million square meters, which is lower than the 10% of the entire sticker market, which is far lower than 30% of developed countries. In addition, it also shows that it has a lot of room for development and the potential market is vast. We must seize the opportunity to meet the challenge. The application and development of new label printing technology will be promising.