Paper Packaging

In the disposable paper cup industry, large manufacturers use offset printing presses to print customized patterns on paper cups, such as Germany's Heidelberg, KBA, Roland, Komori, etc. However, with the development and transformation of the paper cup industry, more and more paper cup, paper bowls, paper bucket and other liquid paper container manufacturers are starting to choose to use flexographic printing presses instead of offset printing presses. Flexographic printing press has many advantages, such as small footprint, low printing plate making cost, and convenient replacement of printing plates.

Mengji’s CI Type, Stacking Type and Inline Type Flexo Printing Machine

Central impression flexo printing machine, stack type flexo printing press and horizontal type flexo printer machine both can be used in paper cups, paper bags, sandwich paper manufacturing, such as coffee paper cup, milk tea paper cup, coke paper cup, popcorn paper cup, ice cream paper bowl, yogurt paper bowl, fast food paper bag, fries wax wrapping paper and so on. Which type machine will be better for the paper food packaging industry? These types of flexographic printing presses have their own advantages, and it is difficult to say which one is better. When choosing a new flexographic printing press for a paper cup production line, we need to consider the following 5 points.

Cake Paper Cup Printed by Vertical Flexo Printing Machine

Types of Printed Patterns and Printing Quality Requirements

If you are mainly printing various advertising paper cups, and the patterns are just some simple logos and texts that do not need to be overprinted, then a stacked-unit type flexo printing press is more suitable for you. This machine is simple and easy to operate, very suitable for printing small-scale paper cup, such as juicy paper cup, soda paper cup, sprite paper cup, hot chocolate paper cup, cola paper cup, pudding paper cup and so on. If the printed pattern is complex, the color registration accuracy of the machine must be high, so as to facilitate the subsequent paper cup die-cutting accuracy and reduce the probability of scrap. Central drum flexo graphic printing machine has higher color registration system.

Milkshake Paper Cup Printed by Linear Flexo Printing Equipment

Production Capacity

Central cylinder flexographic printing equipment and in-line type flexographic press are fastest types printing machine for paper cups fan printing. If you have more than 50 sets high speed paper cups forming machines (more 150 cups/minute), these types printing machine can match your production capacity. Shanghai Mengji industry newest CI drum type flexographic printer stable running speed can be up to 250 meters/min. But central impression flexible printing machine is not suitable more than 6 colors printing at same type. Line type flexographic printing press will be better. And inline type flexo printer adopt petal type printing cylinder structure which is more convenient to change jobs.

Mengji’s CI Drum Type Flexographic Printer for Chicken Soup Paper Cup

Cold Foil Stamping and Varnishing

Do you need foiling and varnishing your printing patter of your paper cups? These two units can be attached in the flexo printing machine. That will help you save time to process foil stamping and varnishing. Vertical type flexographic printing and straight line type flexographic printing machine can add these units in the machine.

Mengji’s Tower Type Flexo Press Machine for Cold Beverage Paper Cup

Your Budget

An accurate budget range can greatly reduce your decision-making time and quickly find the right printer model. Even the cheapest cascade printer has a lot of configurations and the prices vary greatly. For example, printing plate cylinder installation type is an options. Normal type need more time to change printing plate cylinders. But sleeve type printing plate cylinders are very easy to load & unload from printing machine.

Printing Plate Cylinder of Inline Flexo Press Machine for Cappuccino Paper Cup

Paper Cup Materials and Printing Inks

Paper cups such as black tea paper cup, apple cider paper cup, ice water paper cup, carbonated drink paper cup, ice cream paper cup and smoothies paper cup, usually adopt single PE and double PE coated paper as raw material. But PLA coated paper has more environmentally friendly which is more poplar now. Different papers have different adsorption capacity to ink, so you must consider the drying system of different flexographic printing presses. At present, common drying methods include infrared drying system and UV drying system. UV drying system is only suitable for UV ink. This drying system has low power consumption, strong ink adhesion and high printing quality, but the cost ratio of ink and drying system is high. In-line type flexographic printing press can use UV dryer system.

PLA Coated Paper Cup Printed by Horizontal In-Line Type Flexo Press

In addition to the above 5 factors, you also need to consider your factory layout, local energy prices, customer order stability, etc. If you want to know more about flexo printing presses, please contact our sales team. As a professional flexo printing press manufacturer, our sales team will provide you with thoughtful consulting services.