Taiwanese Makers Supply Various Green Models

Environmental friendliness and efficiency have recently become major selling points for Taiwan-made printing equipment. The island's manufacturers have discovered new methods to apply non-toxic ink to biodegradable materials while simultaneously reducing production costs.

Many Taiwan equipment suppliers have worked with printing-material suppliers and their buyers to develop more environmentally friendly machines. Creating printing equipment that can use non-toxic inks on biodegradable materials is their most prominent accomplishment in raising the local printing industry's environmental standards. But all of this new technology doesn't come at a high price, however, as smart electronic components, like programmable logic controllers (PLC) installed with human-machine interfaces, also allow the new equipment to print efficiently.

Most of the island's printing-equipment suppliers specialize in machines for non-publication printing. Their machines are mostly used to print products for the food-container, footwear and electronics industries. These industries use the equipment to print patterns and logos on cups, bowls, clothing, footwear, cosmetics, and food packages. Accordingly, many of them say they have not felt an impact from the recent surges in raw-material prices.

The market for publication-printing machines is still dominated by western suppliers, particularly those from Europe, because these suppliers are viewed as delivering equipment with the highest level of precision and technology. However, Taiwanese equipment suppliers have recently been making inroads into the upper echelons of the publication market by touting quality products with less-expensive production costs.

Tsung Sheng Dominates Cup Printing

Tsung Sheng Machinery Co., Ltd. Is promoting its TS-206P automatic printer, an ideal machine for printing patterns on instant noodle bowls and cups, drinking cups, yogurt cups, ice cream cups, conical containers and cylindrical tubes.


This machine is laden with features accentuating its "green" capabilities. The printer, according to company sales manager Kinpaleon Tsai, uses water-soluble, non-toxic ink. "Environmental protection has become a very serious issue in this industry, as most of the machines used non-soluble, toxic printing inks in the past, " he notes.

Tsung Sheng's TS-206P can print six basic and 12 mixed colors. The machine's maximum speed for printing 150cc cups tops 300 per minute. Production is controlled by a programmable logic controller-based (PLC-based) computer equipped with an LCD interface, which boosts the machine's output precision and efficiency. "The control system enables the machine to feed, print, dry, count and stake printed matter automatically, " Tsai reports.

The TS-206P's gearless design allows rapid adjustment of production speed, while an operator-friendly design make changing printing plates, changing ink, and cleaning easy.

According to Tsai, Tsung Sheng is Taiwan's only supplier of printing machines for cups and bowls. Tsai notes that the technical threshold of this market segment is quite high now. "The core technique is the way you precisely print patterns on an exact location, " he explains. His company has dedicated itself to making cup-printing equipment since it was established in 1979. "Over the past 20 years or so, we have accumulated rich experience in the field from the problems we have overcome. That is our unmatched advantage, " he notes. To ensure precise printing, the company builds its machines with crucial precision-control components imported from industrially advanced countries.

Tsai notes that his company's business is a minor, yet lucrative, segment of the printing-equipment industry, due to its narrow focus. "Investment in research and development is quite costly in this segment, because you don't have many pre-built parts available for use in the machines, " he says. "So, you have to develop them on your own. That's why a new machine takes at least three years to develop and test before it goes to market." Tsung Sheng has a team of four specialists in charge of development work. Over the past 20 years, the company has rolled out more than 10 machine models.

The sales manger points out that his company introduced a human-machine interface in its machines around 10 years ago, in compliance with world trends. Before 1995, Tsung Sheng's machines used PLC-based controllers and switch boxes.

In each of the past few years, the company has shipped three to eight machines, mostly to areas with emerging economies like mainland China, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where necessity industries have developed.

Chang Yih: Environmentally Friendl Footwear Printing

Chang Yih Automatic Screen Printing Machinery Co., Ltd. Has produced machines for printing patterns on footwear and clothing since it was established around 25 years ago. It has impressed its customers with machines that are environmentally friendly. "The printing ink that our machines use now is toxic-free and biodegradable, " says company sales manager Vicky Ho.

Her company has worked with major contract suppliers to shoe manufacturers Adidas and Nike, including the Pou Chen Group, to develop machines that can utilize environmentally friendly inks. The manufacturing group is now among Chang Yih's major customers.


Ho notes that many footwear manufacturers began asking her company to supply "green" machines around five or six years ago. "Since then, they have sent their materials specialists to work with us to develop machines that could use specially designed inks, " she recalls. The results of this cooperation include the CY-AC6-NC2 two-color fabric label printing machine, and the CY-A8-HFC2A automatic two-color screen printing H.F. forming machine.

Chang Yih's CY-A8-HFC2A is designed to print embossed patterns on fabric materials for making footwear and clothing, and then to form the patterns. This machine is equipped with a PLC-based controller to ensure printing precision and easy operation.

Since its establishment, the company has introduced 200 to 300 types of machines, including balloon screen printing machines, roller thermal transfer machines, hydraulic transfer printing machines, six-color screen printing machines, roller transfer printing machines, and jumbo automatic take-out screen printing machines. "I think we are the No. 1 supplier of footwear printing equipment in Taiwan now, " Ho claims.

The marketing specialist points out that demand for her company's machines is still growing because of their ability to print on a wide range of products, including cell phone cases, gloves, balls, footwear and clothing. According to Ho, the Pou Chen Group has booked 100% of her company's production capacity until next year.

To ensure product quality, the company has adopted key components made in Germany, Sweden and Japan for construction of its machines.

Ho reports that her company's primary advantage is its tailor-made manufacturing capability. "Customized manufacturing means you have to cope with various designs and tune your techniques to conform to them, " she says. "That's a big challenge because many of the designs are very picky." Her company has an R&D team of six specialists in charge of printing technique development. "Sometimes, we also work with local institutes on new techniques, " Ho adds. So far, her company has accumulated about 30 printing-technique patents. One of the patents covers a machine that can print in 10 colors.

Chang Yih's earliest environmentally friendly machines, Ho notes, were for printing patterns on PVC and ABS plastic panels, and for use on plastic packaging materials.

New Materials Require New Technologies For Labelmen

Focusing on label-printing machines, Labelmen Machinery Co., Ltd. Has made great strides in developing efficient and environmentally-friendly machines. The company's PW-260RS7C seven-color full rotary silk-screen letterpress is among the company's machines that combine high output efficiency and compatibility with "green" materials.

Labelmen's PW-260S7C debuted around one year ago and is designed to print on RFID (radio frequency identification) labels. According to company general manager Andy Lo, the PW-260S7C incorporates printing, die-cutting and flexo-varnishing functions, eliminating the processing delays encountered when each of these steps is done by single-function machines. The PW-260S7C's ultraviolet drying unit makes printing output more efficient than that of traditional machines, most of which use natural airflow for drying.

A PLC-based human-machine interface controller makes the PW-260S7C easy to operate, while an edge-tracing device, which is also used in the company's other machines, helps to ensure printing precision. The device notifies the controller to straighten label tapes when it finds the tape is not feeding in a straight line, ensuring label printing is done in exactly the right position. The edge-tracing device is one of the many crucial components that Labelmen imports from Germany and the U.S.


Early this year, the company introduced a cold foil-stamping device after years of development in cooperation with K Laser Technology Inc., a company that specializes in laser products including its patented Koldfoil flexo varnishing papers. The new stamping machine, Lo notes, runs fast and turns out almost perfect prints. "The device allows the printing and varnishing of a product to occur just about simultaneously, " Lo says, adding his company is the only Taiwanese equipment manufacturer to supply such a system. His company has shipped the machines to the state-run Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp., which is using the machines to varnish its logos on liquor bottles.

Industry trends lie behind the company's quest to upgrade its machines' efficiency, Lo says. "Printing today is a micro-profit industry, and the manufacturers are pursuing more efficient equipment that can help them increase output while cutting costs, " he says. The need for such efficient equipment, Lo states, has recently become more urgent than before because the rising cost of raw materials has become a global issue.

Lo points out that BOPP and PET films have replaced non-biodegradable materials as the preferred films for making label tapes. To conform to this trend, his company has turned out machines that can work with the new materials. "We have worked with firms like Formosa Plastics to develop machines to print on their BOPP films, " Lo says. He notes that the raw material used for label tapes has progressed from bulb-based paper, PVC, and resin-based paper to BOPP or PET.

Lo stresses that the use of environmentally friendly materials is an irreversible world trend, and that printing equipment suppliers must team up with materials suppliers to keep pace. "In addition to Formosa Plastics and K Laser, we have also entered into alliances with several European materials suppliers, " he reports. Europe, Lo notes, has the world's top printing technologies and is his company's primary export destination.

Since its establishment in 1965, Labelmen had long been dedicated to serving the Southeast Asian market. Then, around 14 years ago, Labelmen began attempting to tap the European market. "That was a huge challenge, and the challenge has made us grow stronger today, " Lo says. "Now Labelmen is a well-known printing-equipment brand name in Europe, and we are striving to become one of the top companies there." To this end, Labelmen received CE approval 10 years ago from a German certification company. "If your printing equipment can go to Europe, it can go anywhere in the world, " Lo adds. Today, Europe absorbs 80% of the company's exports.

Lo reports that his company's printing equipment is now as advanced as Europe's. "That's the result of our diligent learning efforts. Whenever we have difficulties to overcome, we can learn from our European partners, " he says. To speed up the learning process, Labelmen has recruited European engineers to work at its factories in Taiwan, and also opened a laboratory in Austria five years ago to develop advanced techniques. Today, the company has a research and development team of about 10 engineers.

Lo says that behind his company's successful entry into the European market are its strict quality control and advanced techniques. "We never deliver equipment before we prove it is 100% compatible with various printing materials. This is a must since we have a reputation as a brand-name supplier to maintain, " he stresses, adding that his company spends a large amount of money on quality-control management.