The Status and Challenge of Domestic Offset Press

What do you think of when it comes to offset presses? Fine print or blue in Heidelberg? What do you think of when you mention domestic offset presses? The rotating gear inside the printer's wallboard is still the operator's brow?

For domestically produced offset presses, like other products made in China, people are either defamation or devaluation. However, domestic offset presses have not stopped their exploration under the pressure of foreign brands.

Recently, industry reporters interviewed well-known experts in the industry and representatives of printing manufacturers to discuss the development of domestic offset presses.

Part Development and Achievements

Due to the limitations of the national conditions, the starting points of various industries in China are very low. Whether it is a few decades behind or a few hundred years, in short, we set out as chasers. China's printing industry is no exception. Under this premise, in the face of today's achievements, we should first give a positive impression to the domestic offset press.

In order to realize the goal of “multi-color, high-efficiency” in the 28-character policy formulated by the state's printing machinery industry under the current rapid development of printing technology, domestic printer manufacturing companies have applied their skills to achieve development and continuously break new ground. People's Group, Shanghai Printing and Packaging, Zhongjing Group, Yingkou Guanhua and other offset printing press manufacturers have invested a lot of manpower and material resources to develop or introduce technologies on their own and develop and produce multi-color offset presses.

Beiren Group spent nearly 10 years, and after continuous improvement and innovation, it has formed N300 and N200 split and four-color multi-color offset presses with independent intellectual property rights and a speed of up to 15,000. The move of Shanghai Printing and Packaging Group to acquire Akiyama International has greatly promoted the improvement of the technical level of domestic offset printing presses.

In the ChinaPrint2005 exhibition, Beiren Group, Jiangsu Changchang and Henan Xinji exhibited their full-width offset presses respectively. Although there is still a gap between the width and foreign products, it is yet another big leap forward for domestic offset presses. At this point, in terms of specifications, domestic offset printing presses can already be involved in various formats. Fully-opening, facing-off, and four-opening offset presses have related products, and they basically realize multi-colorization.

In the field of newspaper offset presses, several major domestic manufacturers such as Beiren Group, Shanghai Goss, and Wuxi Baonan have all launched medium-sized newspapers with a speed of over 70,000. In particular, it is worth mentioning that as a private enterprise, Wuxi Baonan quickly launched the domestic market with a scale of more than 200 people in just a few years. In particular, Wuxi Baonan has a high starting point and directly applies new technologies such as shaftless transmission to large-scale production and is welcomed by newspaper printing companies.

In recent years, several large newspaper printing plants in China have imported domestic offset printing rotary machines, greatly supporting the domestic rotary offset printing manufacturing industry, and also reflecting the steady improvement in the quality of domestic offset printing presses.

Middle chapter Problems and gaps

It can be said that domestic offset printing presses have made great achievements in the development of decades. The development of China's printing industry also records the progress of domestic offset presses. At the same time, we also realized that domestic offset presses are still on the road.

For domestic offset presses, many in the industry, including first-line printers as users, offset printer makers and industry experts as producers and designers, have something to say. Therefore, the author used more ink to gather the opinions of the interviewees here, hoping to restore the development status of the domestic offset press and give readers inspiration.

1. Some non-negligible minor issues When talking about the problems of domestic offset printing presses, most people mention that the stability of the equipment is not high, and minor problems occur frequently. In addition, the oil leakage of the machine, the vehicle speed reaching the rated standard, the easy failure of the electrical system, and the poor tension control of the web offset press are all typical problems of the domestic offset press.

Some experts pointed out that China's offset press manufacturing can not stay at the current level, because there is still a big gap between the actual development needs of China's printing industry and the international advanced level. To improve the level, we must first start from a small place. "The embankment of a thousand miles, collapsed in the ant colony," small problems must not be ignored.

2. Technological innovation and "taking in"

An industry source wrote in an article in his article that in Japan, talking about the development of new products means revolutionary experiments, completely new ideas and technologies, so in Japan, the development of new products is often Call it the development of new models.

The development of domestic offset printing presses can basically be summed up in the three stages of mapping imitation, technology introduction and independent development, and our independent development basically belongs to the continuation and development of old products, and is mainly based on the development of new models.

In addition, R&D investment from domestic printers is generally low, mostly below 4%, while input from international vendors is generally above 10%, and the base is large.

In dealing with new technologies, there are generally two such views. One view advocates independent research and development, and one advocates direct introduction. Luchang An, general manager of Beiren Group, once said, “The core technology of printer technology is actually in the field of offset printing machines. Northers cannot relax at any time on the improvement of offset press manufacturing technology.”

In fact, not only Beiren, but each domestic offset printing equipment manufacturing company can clearly realize this, but the mastery of technology is not a matter of overnight. On this issue, Chinese enterprises generally adopt the method of introducing technology and intelligence, that is, the first method mentioned above, and are recognized by many people in the printing industry. They believe that under the existing conditions, China’s own R&D level cannot really reach the international advanced level. It is better to introduce technology first to catch up with the development of the international market. If we blindly emphasize our own technology, we can only stay at a very low level, let alone compete with foreign brands. Just as an old printing industry says, "Developing faster is always better than slowing down." Development Always instinct.

Actually, on this issue, "taking in" (or rather, "buying" seems to be more precise) is not just a question of "taking its essence", but how to truly "digest" it into its own "nutrition". "And to promote the improvement of their own technology is the key."

3. Application of new technologies

The generally powerful printing companies always look to the most advanced printing technology, and the application of advanced technology in domestic offset printing presses is limited. The low degree of automation and low production efficiency are the true portrayal of domestic offset presses.

The advanced technologies such as automatic version, cable-stayed version and non-shaft transmission are not widely used in domestic offset presses. The main reason is that we do not have these technologies, and more because the application of these technologies by domestic enterprises is still immature, and it is not Dare to apply it easily. Only in the high-end products, customers will request specific configuration.

Technical instability has also been plaguing domestic offset presses. Especially in some large-scale field printing, the difference between domestic and imported machines is immediately apparent. The technical defects limit the domestic offset press in the high-end print field. To this end, while introducing and developing new technologies, we should also be perfect and dare to apply them.

4. Some import and export data When reviewing materials, the author also reviewed the import and export of offset presses in 2004. Although the import data and export data sources are inconsistent, they can also explain some problems.

In 2004, the import volume of offset presses in China (including sheet-fed offset presses, offset presses, unlisted offset presses, and web offset presses) was 1,384 units, a total of 8,1745.4 million US dollars. Moreover, imported offset presses were used in imported printing equipment. Take up a larger share. Export offset presses (including sheet-fed offset presses, offset presses, unlisted offset presses, web offset presses) totaled 45.825 million U.S. dollars, and the amount of imports and exports was very different, with almost no comparability. This reflects the major equipment of China's printing industry—the technical level of offset presses is still far behind that of foreign countries.

From the above data, it is not difficult for us to conclude that although the manufacturing level of domestic medium and large format offset presses is continuously increasing, the domestic market is still occupied by imported equipment.

5. Formulation of product production standards According to an industry expert, the standard currently applied in the manufacture of printing machinery in China was formulated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Not only is it far below the corporate standards of each printing press manufacturer, it is also far from the development level of the modern printing press manufacturing industry, losing the incentive role of national standards.

6. Manufacturing level and manufacturing process The quality of the domestic offset press is closely related to the domestic manufacturing level and the manufacturing process. In foreign countries, many large manufacturers have realized assembly line operations in parts manufacturing and mechanical assembly, achieving the greatest degree of "specialization." Smart robots have also been handy to assist in the work, ensuring manufacturing accuracy.

At the same time, we must realize that with the current domestic production scale and output requirements of offset presses, there is no condition to achieve the above goals. However, it is still for everyone to process different parts. Four or five people are still assembling a machine. This is also the direct reason for the inconsistency and instability of the domestic offset press.

Next Challenges and Opportunities

With the continuous integration of domestic and international economies, the trend of localized production of foreign equipment will intensify, and once localized production of international brand offset presses will bring tremendous pressure and challenges to domestic offset presses. Perhaps this is not a bad thing. There is pressure but more impetus. In this situation, domestic offset presses should always be ready to seize the opportunity to catch up with advanced steps.

1. Give play to advantages and promote development Some people say that there are only a few chips for Chinese companies to compete with international companies. There are only two cards that can be used in the hands: the cost advantage and the position in the Chinese market. Many printing companies are optimistic about the low cost of domestic offset printing machines and the advantages of quick and convenient service.

An industry source pointed out that the speeding up of the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and the increase in private enterprises also provide domestic printing machines with opportunities for development. After the restructuring, the state-owned enterprises no longer have the "funds" to purchase equipment. They first consider the investment costs and their own economic strength. Private enterprises, especially private enterprises at the beginning of development, are not well funded. When these enterprises purchase equipment, Will be more inclined to low-cost domestic equipment.

In addition, domestic equipment has a short delivery cycle, and domestic manufacturers are the first choice for printing companies that urgently need to increase their production capacity in a short period of time. Many large newspaper printing factories in China have introduced home-made web offset presses, many of which are based on such reasons.
Because it occupies a geographical position, domestic offset printing machines have formed many advantages, such as fast service response, low cost of manual services and parts, and many domestic offset printing press manufacturers have added service outlets on this basis to improve service efficiency.

2. The large-scale equipment market expects domestic offset presses to enter since 2004. The import tariff rate for offset presses has dropped from 12.4% to 10%, and for sheetfed offset presses with a printing speed of 15,000 sheets/hour or above, the printing speed is 60,000. Web offset presses above 1/hour are exempt from customs duties and VAT. This is not entirely an unfavorable policy for domestic offset presses. The reason is that this kind of domestically-produced equipment is not very competitive in itself. Whether it is a commercial semi-commercial rotary press or a large newspaper press, it can even be said that it cannot meet the market demand. In front of the domestic offset press, there are only two words “grasping”, pay close attention to the development of large-scale offset presses, improve the level of manufacturing, increase the degree of automation, and seize the time to enter this vast market.

3. Cultivate core technology of its own intellectual property rights Cultivate its own core technology of intellectual property rights. For domestic offset presses, it is an arduous and long-term