In times of widespread uncertainty, it’s safe to say flexographic printing isn’t going anywhere. According to technology research consultancy Smithers, the global value of flexographic printing is expected to rise from $167.7 billion in 2020 to $181.1 billion in 2025. This should come as no surprise; for as long as people buy things at scale, there will be constant demand for packages, labels, and other brand expressions made possible by the tireless roll of a flexographic printing press.
While printing professionals needn’t worry about the survival of their industry as a whole, technology and innovation is having a significant impact on the competitive landscape. What’s more, consumer and legislative demand for sustainable packaging places growing pressure on print businesses to re-examine and update their processes – often in ways that drive up costs or inefficiencies.
Thankfully, with some flexographic tinkering and optimisation, it is possible to stay one step ahead of the competition while meeting your sustainability targets. In this article, we’ll explore a few ways you can optimise your flexographic printing process.
What parts of the flexographic printing process can be optimised?
As with any complex process, flexography comprises many moving parts and smaller processes. As such, it’s important to identify those areas that can be adjusted without jeopardising the broader output. But just because you can change something doesn’t mean you should. That’s why, of this set of procedural components, we must identify those with the highest potential positive impact on the printing process as a whole.
In Process Optimisation for Success, a 2020 article from FlexoTech Magazine, two areas of the flexographic printing processes are highlighted as ideal candidates for optimisation: waste reduction and shortening of the set-up time.
The flexographic printing process creates waste both during set-up and printing. While a certain amount of waste is inevitable, the more accurately a system is set up first-time around, the fewer resources are wasted through printing errors and corrections. Better resource planning also means a more accurate prediction of just how much ink will be needed for any given job, so there’s a lower risk of wasteful excess or running out before completion.
Automation is another tactic to reduce waste and optimise your flexographic printing process. The more processes that can be automated, the lower the risk of human error and discrepancies between similar jobs. According to Printing Business Manager Danilo Gatti, automation can reduce the amount of time it takes to change a 4-colour flexographic printing press from 168 minutes, when done manually, to an astounding 18 minutes. That’s an efficiency increase of nearly 1000%, resulting in lower waste, greater operator output, and tangible cost savings.
Shortening flexographic set-up times
If your flexographic printing machines aren’t running, they aren’t making you money. With this in mind, optimising your process to reduce downtime can have a massive impact on your bottom line. The most straightforward way to reduce downtime is to shorten the amount of time it takes to set up the press between and during jobs.
There are a few ways to achieve this, such as investing in better hardware and software, and then training staff to ensure everyone’s following best practice. Dedicated flexographic project management software, for instance, can help you ensure the right people are on hand to change printing plates at the exact moment they’re needed.
Innovative sleeve technology can also save time and boost efficiency. Our reusable plate mounting solution, tesa® Twinlock, is quick and easy to set up – saving time and money without sacrificing print quality. You can learn more about tesa® Twinlock here.
At tesa, we’re committed to helping print businesses future-proof their operations with more sustainable, efficient processes. That’s why we’ve written a detailed guide to help you do just that. Click here to get your copy of Future Proof Your Print Business.
