In recent years, the packaging market has experienced a growing requirement to expand high mix, low volume production as consumer needs have diversified and product life cycles have become shorter. Additionally, as the market pushes to become more sustainable, there is a growing demand to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and optimize resource utilization. The industry is also facing an urgent need to address challenges such as rising raw material costs, faster time to market, and emerging procurement risks, as well as social issues including shortages of human resources.
In the gravure printing field, the increase in small lot jobs has led to a greater workload in areas such as machine setup, color matching, and cleaning. This is now impacting productivity and generating additional waste, and has created an industry-wide challenge.
Based on these market trends, Chiyoda Gravure has completed the setup and quality verification of SCREEN’s Truepress PAC 830F for commercial production. It has also subsequently established a system for accepting orders and producing digitally printed flexible packaging, focusing primarily on small to medium runs. Going forward, the company plans to further strengthen its ability to meet diversifying market needs by strategically using a combination of conventional gravure printing and digital printing.
Delivering New Value with theTruepress PAC 830F
The Truepress PAC 830F is a digital printing press for flexible packaging that uses water-based pigment inks. Thanks to its plateless digital process, it significantly reduces material waste and the cleaning and setup work required during job changeovers compared to conventional printing processes.
Chiyoda intends to use this new equipment to promote the delivery of the following value factors:
Improve brand value through the provision of a diverse product range
Chiyoda will provide a wide variety of design options while using standardized package sizes and support the planning and proposal of limited time and region-specific products as well as test market items. Additionally, it will offer production runs to flexibly accommodate small lot orders and the need for a diverse product line, thereby helping its clients to build their brand value.
Optimise SKUs* and reduce inventory
Their team will establish a production system capable of supplying the necessary quantities at the required times, enabling its clients to optimize their packaging material inventory and reduce the number of stock keeping units (SKUs), the smallest units used for managing products.
Improve productivity and create a more worker-friendly production environment
Chiyoda will reduce operator workloads by minimizing plate changeovers and cleaning tasks while maintaining the same high quality as with conventional printing methods. These changes will also cut setup times by around 70% compared to conventional methods, helping to establish a sustainable production system at a work site where retaining personnel and passing on skills are highly important.
Strengthen efforts to reduce environmental impact
They will seek to drive a comprehensive reduction in environmental impact by leveraging the benefits of water-based inks and plateless printing. This will, for example, help to reduce solvent use during cleaning operations and minimize inventory waste by ensuring only the required quantities are produced.
Future Outlook with Eco Smaart
Chiyoda positions its printed products and related services that utilize digital technology as a solution named Eco Smaart. This is an initiative to deliver new value through digital printing and it is designed to meet market needs such as those for high mix, low volume production, shorter lead times, optimized inventory, and reduced environmental impact. The start of full-scale production of flexible packaging using the Truepress PAC 830F is part of the Eco Smaart initiative.
Through their efforts to expand the use of digital printing, SCREEN GA and Chiyoda hope to drive the ability of the flexible packaging market to handle high mix, low volume production, reduce environmental impact, and improve productivity. Going forward, they plan to establish an optimal production model that effectively combines digital and traditional gravure printing, with a goal of achieving a digital printing ratio of around 10% by 2030. The two companies will work to build a production system that is capable of meeting diverse client needs while contributing to the sustainable development of the flexible packaging industry.
Comments by Hiroyoshi Sato, President of Chiyoda Gravure Corporation
"We are working to upgrade our production capabilities in response to the trend toward high mix, low volume production and the growing demand for environmental sustainability. Our introduction of the Truepress PAC 830F has enabled us to establish a flexible production system complementing our existing gravure printing operations. Going forward, we aim to leverage the unique advantages of digital printing to offer new value. We believe this will make a significant contribution to the growth of our clients’ businesses."
Comments by Hiromi Sakurai, President of SCREEN Graphic Solutions Co., Ltd.
"We are delighted that Chiyoda has begun full-scale operation using our Truepress PAC 830F. We specifically developed this press as a solution to support digitalization and environmental sustainability in the flexible packaging market. Moving forward, we will continue to collaborate with our clients to create new market value and contribute to the realization of a more sustainable printing industry."
To find your local supplier of SCREEN technology and detailed information on all SCREEN products visit www.screeneurope.com