Packaging printing cost balance point (below)

In addition to ink, we must also consider the cost of the ink. The cost of ink in flexo printing is higher because of the more concentrated use.
However, the superbase gravure ink significantly reduces the amount of ink required. The initial results showed a 25% reduction in the use of inks and solvents.
The design of the ink system has been improved. Some gravure ink systems require only 7 liters of ink for circulation, while flexographic printers require 15-20 liters of ink. Therefore, the management of ink costs is greatly reduced, especially in the case of short-lived.
Flexographic Plate Costs and Reuse Some European printers and print buyers analyzed the cost of flexographic printing plates in accordance with international practice, indicating that the cost of printing for each color is at USD 198, the total cost (including printing plates) The cost is USD 340 per color, that is, the cost per printing plate is USD 145.
But what is the reuse of printing plates? Cleaning and removing the flexographic plates is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process with high labor intensity. Stored plates may be deformed, hardened, and embrittled and have a limited lifetime. Plates that contain a large number of continuous lines in their design cannot be preserved because the connections of the lines are easily damaged when the plates are being transported.
In terms of experience, 50% of printing plates can be reused, so the reprintable printing plate cost can reduce the cost from USD 145 to USD 70 per color.
Thin-walled flexo sleeves For companies with a large number of short-lived prints, thin-walled sleeves mounted on the shaft back allow the plates to be reused. The plate is placed on the sleeve for reuse. The average cost of a thin-walled sleeve is USD 125, and in each design a sleeve is required for each color, which extends the lead time by at least two weeks.
Installation of a flexographic plate mounting plate requires a lot of skill. Experienced operators typically take 20 minutes to prepare the platen and install the plates. The eight-color process takes a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete. In comparison, the eight-color gravure printing machine only takes 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the prepress preparation. Some image carriers in flexographic printing can be imaged directly on the cylinder, shortening the time difference from gravure. Therefore, the advantages of gravure printing costs are not included in the analysis report.
It should also be noted that the cost of each flexographic mounting tape is USD 11.50 per color, which is an important consumable; the cost of each anilox roller is above USD 4050. The replacement time of the anilox roller includes the time when the flexo machine is changed and cleaned, and it can be assumed that the replacement cost is equal to the main cost of the gravure.
The cost of the gravure cylinder and the average cost of the gravure cylinder (in Europe) is USD 567 per color, and flexo is USD 198 per color. Therefore, the cost of preparation and engraving of the drum is approximately USD 369 per color.
However, a gravure cylinder can reach 5 million rotations. According to the short-lived experience, eight rollers need to be remanufactured after printing, which means that the cost of remanufacturing the roller per print is USD 46 per color.
The true cost per color compares the true cost per color

Flexographic printing cost photogravure printing per color printing 220 per color printing 220
Plate 160 Plating or Engraving Roller 410
Color plate 380 per color roller 630
Re-use plate costs (50%) 80 Remake (1/8 or more) 52
Installation 13
Additional time cost 125
Printing costs (average) 218 ​​Printing costs (average) 52

The true cost per color for flexo and gravure shown in Table 1 is different, ignoring machine hourly charges (though they are high in flexo).
Table 2 Comparison of the cost of a print six-print

Print Times Flexographic Cumulative Cost / Cumulative Cost per Color Gravure / Difference Per Color / 1 518 518 630 630 (-112) per Color
2 218 736 52 682 54
3 218 954 52 734 220
4 218 1172 52 786 386
5 218 1390 52 838 552
6 218 1608 52 890 718

A comparison of the average cost of prints for an eight-color print using different methods and six prints is given in Table 2. We see the disadvantages of gravure in the use of average cost, but we also see that it does not need to remanufacture the roller. However, despite this, we still see gravities scoring first.
In the first printing competition, we saw a total of 518 flexographic printing costs per color, and a gravure of 630, with a difference of 112 in each color, and flexo printing dominated.
In the second printing competition, gravure printing dominated, with a cost difference of 54 per color. After six printings, the gravure is in a favorable situation. The cost per color is 718, which is roughly equal to 6000 for each print job.
As a result, more and more prints are printed by economic gravure printing, the choice of printing process.