The Present Situation and Prospect of Half-web Printing Press (I)

It has been 30 years since the half web press was introduced, but it finds itself in a dilemma and has not received enough attention in the industry. With the improvement of traditional full-web web presses and the development of sheet-fed presses, their original advantages and adaptability in the new situation have also been continuously improved, which has caused great impact on half-web presses. Survival crisis. At present, the economic advantages of sheet-fed presses have been extended to handle long-run print jobs. Full web presses are also better at handling economical issues than short-term print jobs. They are all working hard to expand their respective fields of application. . To better understand the market for half-width web presses, we should first determine what a half-web press will be. In terms of printing format, many web presses are smaller than the actual half-web press format, but the real half-web press is a half-page (8-page) web press. The boundaries between half web presses and narrow web presses are always vague. The printing industry defines a half-web press as a web-fed offset web press, but the web of a narrow web press is not limited to the open web, but has the flexibility to change the print web. The variable web width of a narrow web press indicates that the printing unit is replaceable, ie the print size can be changed within a few minutes. Or, the characteristic of the narrow web press is that the printing format adjustment can meet the need of printing and printing, ensuring the printing flexibility, reducing the paper loss and improving the value of the printing machine. The half-width web press was a web-opening web press with a width of 26 to 29 inches and a cut length of 17 inches. The industry experts in the half-web printing market believe that straight-web, half-width webs can be adapted to different market requirements. In general, straight-web, half-width webs are more commonly used in the high-end commercial print market, such as yearbook reports, brochures, and catalog samples. While the short-web, half-width web partially meets the same market requirements, its largest market is the proliferation of direct-mail printing, particularly in the personalized printing market. Therefore, short-web, half-web presses are becoming a popular web press in the printing industry. Currently, Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi) has produced a straight-web, half-width web press with a web size of 23 by 20 inches, which is known as a true web-fed offset web press. The advantage of using a straight-filament web is that an 11-inch double-hemorrhage print can be printed on a 23-inch drum in the direction of the paper web. When the printed sheet is folded, accurate folding position can be ensured between the next printed sheet and the printed sheet, so that a high-precision printed matter can be obtained. Komori (Komori), another manufacturer of half-width web printing presses, aimed at sheetfed printers. Komori’s target markets are those who are seeking to retain long prints and print sales. A sheet-fed printer with a value of 1.5 to 20 million U.S. dollars. Reasons for growth and recession In fact, the most important competitor for half web presses is the sheet-fed press. Half web presses have the advantage of requiring special functions such as variable web printing or on-line post-press processing. At the same time, all on-line post-press processing equipment manufacturing companies use half web as their basic design format, and can use a half-web press to directly print 8-inch-size fine prints. At present, online post-press processing has a strong momentum of development. Because with the reduction of process conversion time, the production efficiency will be greatly improved. Therefore, on-line post-press processing can save time, money, and reduce the consumption of printing value-added effects. And with the development of the printing industry, companies with flexible printing systems will get better development. Half-web presses reached the peak of development in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and subsequently they have gradually declined, although they still have a certain market. Originally, some small sheet-fed printers used half-web presses in an attempt to penetrate the web printing market. However, due to problems such as the need to meet the investment/income ratio and the need for a certain amount of printing and livelihood, as well as certain difficulties in the operation of machinery and equipment, many sheet-fed printers turned to full-web printing presses. Those printers who withdrew from the full-web press market thought that web printing still had a market, so they turned to a half-web press. There are also some printers who buy half web presses in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the regional market. Some large printers use this type of equipment to print small prints and covers. However, due to the small profit margins for half-web printing that can achieve economical printing, this is one of the important reasons why this type of printing press is not widely used at present. For example, the half-width web press was much lower than the full-web press. However, the current half-width web press has only half the production capacity of the full-web web press. Its equipment price is lower than that of the full web press. Half of the price of equipment for tube printing presses is higher. The vitality of the market for half-width web printing is twofold: printers already owning half a web, including those using full-web web, are considering expanding their production capacity; that is, ensuring high-quality prints Printing requirements, but also expect to expand the production capacity of sheet-fed printers. Printers in the sheetfed printing market are always looking for better and more economical printing methods. If printers really want to move from sheetfed printing to the web printing market, they should first look at our company’s growth forecast for printing turnover. Offset web printing presses require sales of at least $6 to $8 million a year. With a full web press, the annual revenue should be at least $12 to $16 million, depending on the configuration of the press system. If you are a sheet-fed printer with annual sales of $10 million, the open-web press will provide you with a smooth financial transition to a full-web press. This will not only guarantee the same print quality as the sheet-fed printing for the customer, but it will also be an intermediate step to solve the shortage of financial resources for the printers. It can transfer part of the sheet-fed paperwork, especially the long-run prints, to the folio. Web presses are printed on web presses and other revenue-generating machines are made on the original sheet-fed presses. From the current business situation of the printers, we can see that half web printing is still a viable printing market, and the traditional sheet-fed printers consider that whether or not to use a half-width web printing method is now a reasonable number of 10,000 prints. , And a few years ago still 20,000 printed. Among commercial printers who are looking to expand their printing capabilities and seek commercial opportunities in direct mailing, promotional prints, labels, flexible packaging and folding carton printing, half web printing is growing. Some half-web presses also offer variable length printing to handle a variety of grammage papers from film to paperboard, ideal for practical applications. At the same time, the operating costs required for half-web printing are lower than those for full-web printing. For the narrow web press market, experts believe its outlook is optimistic and growing. However, due to the lack of published statistical data on narrow-web printing, it is difficult to assess specifically. Heidelberg claims that it has a market share of 40% to 50% in the narrow-web commercial web printer market in North America. The company's mainstream printer, Printstream, has three models: the split-half web press (width 20 inches), and Short silk web printer (width 26.5 inches) and 12-page straight silk web printer (width 26.5 inches). In September 1999, Heidelberg purchased a 30% stake in Sweden's Gallus, which is a professional manufacturer of flexographic narrow-web rotary web presses. Many printers have begun to adopt new models of half-web presses, such as replacing the old half-width web printer Printstream, which has greatly improved its print quality, reduced consumption, and conversion time. Advantages include digital pre-press processing, advanced ink system, printing control and automation, closed-loop color and register control, and other good compatibility. Printers have to do comprehensive considerations in various aspects. From the sales statistics for half webs, about 75% of sales are for web printers and only 25% are for paper sheet printers. If a printer has both a web press and a sheet-fed press, it can obviously be used in conjunction with a financial situation that may be much better than a web-only press or just a sheet-fed press. From the point of view of the printing market, printers must expand their business and engage in the printing of various types of printed materials. In the face of the printing market with a variety of printing services, it can be seen that these two printing methods complement each other. If you look at the parameters of the sheet-fed printing and then examine whether the web-printing press can print the same print job, you will find that the answer to the quality of the printed image is the same for the same format. However, if the print volume is only a thousand sheets, using a web press is not appropriate. Taking a half web printer specialized in book reprint printing as an example, the typical number of prints is 5,000 to 10,000. The use of a half web press enables efficient prepress preparation, reduces other costs, and a suitable printing process maximizes productivity. However, in general, the average number of impressions on a half web press is not the same, and most printers consider the best number of web presses to be 25,000 to 30,000 impressions. A large commercial printer with an annual turnover of 67 million believes that the key to the successful application of half web printing is the combination with other various printing equipment. The company recently purchased a Mitsubishi new wire web half-width web press and is under full load. The addition of this equipment enabled a combination of two short-web, half-width web presses, two sheet-fed presses and two full-web presses in a 220,000-square-foot facility. In assessing whether it is still necessary to replenish a full web press, the company believes that as long as there is enough business to make a half web press at full capacity, why do we have to spend 25% more to purchase full web? Paper printing machine? The company's business in printing markets such as brochures, direct mailings, catalogues and speech materials is ideal for half-web printing. With the decrease in the number of pages and the number of prints in the printing market, it will be even more helpful to expand the half web printing market. Another advantage of the use of a half web press is the increase in the number of printed copies. The biggest obstacle to the expansion of the half-web printing market is that a large number of sheet-fed printers still believe that web presses are inferior in terms of print quality. Experts believe that this may have been the case 10 years ago, and today's press manufacturers can provide web presses that can meet or exceed the print quality of a sheet-fed press.