The advantages of UV technology
Packaging printers using satellite UV flexo printers have basically the same view of the benefits of this technology. Of course, some printers do not want to disclose specific information or technical details. Because the productivity of printers using solvent inks is limited, UV flexo printers may not want to increase the level and expertise of their competitors. More importantly, these companies have filled an important market gap. They are currently involved in areas where traditional flexo printing companies cannot access due to quality restrictions, and rotomolding companies are not capable of performing these less than 5,000 m2. Short print.

For these reasons, the main goal of satellite UV flexo printers is to compete with rotary printing where possible because the print quality is similar, but its price is more competitive. What is more interesting is that all solvent inks were used initially, and printers who later switched to satellite UV flexo basically gave up the use of the former because they have seen more advantages and prospects of UV technology. These advantages include:

â—† The printing quality is high because the higher dot density of 178~190 lines can be achieved, with excellent sharpness and little dot gain.
â—† high color clarity and gloss.
â—†Good resistance to mechanical, chemical, and heat resistance â—†Excellent surface tackiness â—†Can be printed on different printing surfaces with the same ink â—†Saves storage costs because less ink is used and storage space is needed less.
â—† Faster replacement of printing components.
â—† stable printing parameters.
â—† Less residual ink.
â—† Press downtime is also greatly reduced.
â—† Easy to clean and keep the printer clean.
â—†No network blockage will occur.
â—†The resin plate has a longer service life.
â—† There is no need to install special equipment to discharge the exhaust gas during the printing process.
â—† No need to arrange fire or explosion protection system.
â—†Printers need to pay lower insurance costs.

One of the most significant benefits of using UV flexo printing is the elimination of the need for solvents, which are the most serious problems caused by printing with solvent-based inks. The proportion of solvents in solvent-based inks is 60% to 70%, and these solvents are almost completely released into the air at a concentration of 1 to 10 g/m3 or higher than 100 mg/m3. According to the European Union's regulations, the organic solvent released at a concentration of 100 mg/m3 per year cannot exceed 15 to 25 million grams after paying a specific release fee.

If this limit is exceeded, additional fines will be paid, so the cost of the product will increase. All printing companies that newly installed the equipment were forced to apply for permission to release the quota to the local authorities. According to this decree, all newly installed printing equipment must be equipped with exhaust gas burners since 2005. In addition, since 2007, all existing printers must install such devices.

Comparison of UV inks and solvent inks
The following table is a comparison of UV flexo inks and solvent inks. The biggest difference is that no solvent is used in the UV ink and the UV ink layer is thinner. Compared with the dry ink weight per square meter, the UV ink is at least half as much as the solvent ink, and therefore the thickness is at least 50% thinner. This is a very important factor for the printing cost per square meter. Because the price of UV inks is much higher by weight, most people think that the price of packaging materials printed with them will be much more expensive than printing with solvent inks. If we take the above factors into consideration, we can actually conclude that the average printing cost of UV inks is basically the same as that of solvent inks. Of course, products printed with UV cationic inks are more expensive, but cationic inks have a more stringent application range, including some special occasions (such as printing on aluminum foil or PVC), in these applications it is necessary to use more expensive Special inks, primers and solvent-based varnish.

A detailed analysis of all the data shows that the printing costs of both are basically the same, but the quality of UV flexo printing is much higher than offset printing, and can also be comparable to rotary gravure. This poses a considerable threat to rotogravure, especially when it comes to short-lived printing and real-time printing.