Taiwanese converter installs Domino press

Established in 1982 in Taichung City, Fengpeng employs around 30 people at its 400 sqm facility. Its revenue in 2016 was RMB 30 million (4.5m USD). 

According to general manager Zhang Jiahao, label production represents 70 percent of the company’s business. ‘Our labels are mainly used in the industrial, chemical, and food and beverage sectors,’ he says. ‘Industrial labels account for 50 percent of label production, with food and chemical labels taking 25 percent each.’ 

During its 35 years in business, Fengpeng has experienced dramatic shifts in printing technology, from manual platemaking to automatic CTF and CTP, to plateless digital printing. ‘At Fengpeng we closely follow technology trends and are quick to adapt to new developments,’ says Zhang Jiahao. The company operates five conventional printing presses, six digital presses, and a raft of finishing equipment including die-cutting and hot stamping machines. 

With smaller and more personalized orders increasing in the local Taiwanese market, Fengpeng is shifting more and more work to its digital presses. In 2015, the company installed two Epson L-4033 inkjet presses, and today 40 percent of production is carried out on digital machines. 

Productivity 

Its latest foray into digital technology is the installation of a Domino N610i digital UV inkjet press. ‘We chose the machine after carrying out a great deal of research,’ says Zhang Jiahao. ‘The Domino N610i allows us to provide a better variable data printing and short-run service to our customers and brings tremendous improvement to our productivity. 

‘We are especially happy with the machine’s printing speed of up to 75m/min, which helps us to deliver jobs to deadline. The print width reaches 333mm and the press can achieve high quality on transparent lms. It allows us to develop our lm label business.’ 

Alongside the Domino press, Fengpeng installed a laser die-cutting machine from Hans-Gronhi for the finishing of digitally printed labels. Esko software handles the processing of variable data and imaging. 

‘Compared to the pre-press requirements of conventional printing, digital printing has simplified our processes and laser die-cutting has increased the accuracy and efficiency of our finishing,’ says Zhang Jiahao. 

The digital technology brings advantages and cost bene ts to short and medium run work, but for longer runs its loses its cost-effectiveness. 

‘We believe that digital printing technology will become more and more advanced in the future, both with regard to efficiency and price, which will better meet customer demands,’ says Zhang Jiahao. ‘Currently, 40 percent of our production is handled by digital presses, but our target is 70 percent or even 80 percent in the future. Future investments will continue in digital rather than conventional printing.’