In 2018, Gurong Printing installed the first Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 label digital label printing machine in East China. In April 2019, Gurong Printing signed a contract to purchase the latest AccurioLabel 230 label digital printing equipment from Konica Minolta.

Gurong Printing (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (referred to as Gurong Printing), located in Dongjing Industrial Park, Dongkai Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, was established in 2015. It is a professional printing product supplier that integrates design, production, printing, and post-processing.

The company's products include various high-quality daily chemical, food, pharmaceutical, electronic, stationery, toy adhesive labels, as well as playing cards, envelopes, cards, manuals, product manuals, brochures, and books. At present, the factory area of Gurong Printing exceeds 1200 square meters, with more than 60 employees and an annual sales revenue of over 20 million RMB.

▲Zhang Fengmiao, Founder and General Manager of Gurong Printing

When it comes to the company's development history, founder and general manager Zhang Fengmiao told us:

Gurong Printing has been officially established for less than 4 years, but our history in the field of adhesive label printing can be traced back to 1998. The previous company was located in Jiading District, Shanghai and was a subsidiary of Shanghai Prospect Computer Advertising Company.

With the growth of our company's business and the transformation towards environmental protection and digital printing technology, we registered and established an independent company called GuRong Printing in 2015

In the past two years, GuRong Printing has continuously introduced Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 and 230 label digital printing equipment.

What are the considerations behind the annual purchase speed of one machine for GuRong Printing? What is the future development strategy?

The Chinese interview team of "Labels and Labeling" conducted an exclusive interview with Zhang Fengmiao, General Manager of Gurong Printing.

Introduce new equipment

As the original intention of the establishment of Gurong Printing, we aim to grasp the trend of the adhesive printing market and maintain the ability of continuous innovation and reform, "said Zhang Fengmiao.

In recent years, the increasing demand for short order and personalized products in the terminal market has put forward higher requirements for label manufacturers in terms of production speed, delivery cycle, cost control, etc.

In addition, with the improvement of digital printing technology, more and more Chinese label printing factories are beginning to improve towards digital production methods.

Regarding digital printing technology for labels, Zhang Fengmiao said:

Actually, I started experimenting with digital printing technology as early as 5 years ago. At that time, there were far fewer brands of label digital printing equipment in the Chinese market, and the supporting services were not as comprehensive as they are now. In addition, my lack of understanding and preparation for this technology ultimately led to the failure of that attempt

At that time, he was interested in a second-hand digital printing equipment and personally went to Beijing for on-site inspection. However, after the equipment was installed in the factory, it has been experiencing malfunctions and production cannot proceed smoothly. Currently, this machine is still stored in the warehouse of GuRong Printing.

This experience also made him more cautious in choosing digital printing equipment later on.

Compared with traditional printing, the producti````on mode of digital printing equipment is completely different. We do not have practical experience in using it, and it is impossible to test all types of label products. Therefore, compared to the equipment itself, I value the reliability of its brand more

Zhang Fengmiao said, "Konica Minolta's achievements and reputation in the field of wide format digital technology have largely eliminated my concerns. I believe in their brand and believe that even if there are problems in the subsequent production process, they can help us solve them together

The first label digital printing equipment of GuRong Printing was installed in July 2018.

At present, digital printing products account for 70% of the company's total business, with 85% of small orders transferred to this equipment. During peak periods, the monthly printing length exceeds 100000 meters

▲ Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 installed by GuRong Printing

The AccurioLabel 190, which uses carbon powder technology, ensures more stable and vivid colors, with excellent gradient effects. Especially for the problem of missing small dots in the bright tone part of traditional printing processes, using digital printing equipment can completely avoid this situation

Especially with its high cost-effectiveness, Konica Minolta adopts a per meter charging system, and all maintenance and parts replacement costs are fully borne by Konica Minolta. For printing factories, the cost can be completely controlled, and coupled with the time cost savings, it is very suitable for small enterprises like us who are entering digital printing production for the first time, "Zhang Fengmiao added.

All of these have led to the investment in the second digital printing equipment of GuRong Printing - Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 230.

Environmental Impact Assessment Issues

Regarding the environmental issues in the printing industry, founder Zhang Fengmiao included it in the company's development plan before its establishment. At the time of registration and establishment, Gurong Printing had already obtained permission from the national environmental protection department.

At present, the traditional printing and post press processing equipment used by the company, such as Yuantie 9-color full rotary relief printing machine, Naiben intermittent relief printing machine, and Ruibang high-speed die-cutting equipment, strictly controls and discharges the waste generated during the raw material selection, printing, and post press processes in accordance with national environmental protection requirements.

Starting from January 1, 2018, the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People's Republic of China officially came into effect. The domestic label printing industry is generally affected by policies, and Shanghai is one of the regions in China with the most stringent environmental requirements.

Digital printing equipment saves consumables waste caused by plate materials and calibration and adjustment, allowing for fully on-demand printing production, just like a high-performance office photocopying device. Therefore, compared to traditional label printing equipment, digital printing equipment causes much less pollution to the environment, "said Zhang Fengmiao.

At present, the proportion of digital label printing in the Chinese market is less than 5%, and it is mainly supplied by international equipment suppliers.

Mr. Pan Xiaodong, Secretary General of the Shanghai Digital Printing Industry Association, told us that,

At present, there is no specific document in China's printing industry that clearly states that digital printing does not require environmental impact assessment, but digital printing is not included in the printing processes that require environmental impact assessment

Li Chunjie, Executive Vice Chairman of the Label Printing Branch of the China Printing and Equipment Industry Association, stated that,

As a communication bridge between the government and enterprises, the Label Printing Branch of the China India Federation of Trade Unions will improve relevant standards in this area in the future, and solve environmental policy issues that label printing enterprises may encounter in the process of digital transformation.

I also believe that with the development of digital printing technology in the Chinese market, policies in this area will become increasingly perfect

Comprehensive digital development

The AccurioLabel 190 equipment currently used by GuRong Printing has been installed for less than a year, but it has already achieved full load operation and production. At present, 90% of the label products produced by this equipment are used for export, and the export products have very high requirements for the printing quality and supply speed of the labels.

The technical foundation and rich professional experience accumulated by GuRong Printing in traditional label production over the years will gradually be transferred to digital printing production.

We will gradually phase out the existing traditional printing equipment and replace three traditional printing machines with one digital printing equipment to achieve comprehensive digital production, "Zhang Fengmiao told us.

Digital transformation is only a part of a company's brand development.

Gurong Printing has always been committed to implementing the 'Gurong Brand' strategy, winning with quality and providing honest services, not participating in vicious competition with low prices and poor quality, and always implementing quality management concepts and quality system standards, "said Zhang Fengmiao.

He also understands that brand strategy requires not only high-quality labeled products, but also innovative solutions to serve customers.

This is also the reason why we have introduced our second label digital printing equipment. We hope to further cooperate with the internationally renowned brand Konica Minolta, unlock more innovative applications of digital printing, and become a model enterprise for label enterprise transformation and upgrading

Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 230 Label Digital Printing System

The latest AccurioLabel 230 label digital printing equipment from Konica Minolta has made significant improvements in printing speed, preheating time, printing length, and media compatibility. Specifically, the printing speed can reach 23.4m/min; The printing (preheating) time is only 0-0.5min, which improves the overall productivity of the equipment; The printing length supports continuous printing of 1000m; Enhanced media compatibility; After installing the "overprint component", secondary overprint can be achieved on pre printed media, while printing overprint is extremely accurate; Using food grade safe carbon powder printing, etc.

At present, Konica Minolta has partnered with Chinese post press equipment supplier Shenzhen Botai to add various post press processes such as lamination, polishing, cold pressing, die-cutting, slitting and other operation units to this equipment, enabling online or offline operations.

The AccurioLabel 230 configured Botai roll up and roll up platform is only applicable to some countries such as China. In other parts of the world, the roll up and roll up platform for the AccurioLabel 230 printing engine is provided by Grafisk Masknfabrik (GM).

This device can accurately grasp the needs of the high-end printing market, better help customers cope with the increasing demand for personalized and customized printing, and establish a complete set of digital printing production lines. For both printing enterprises that are expanding production capacity and printing enterprises that hope to open digital production lines outside of existing simulation machines, it is an extremely cost-effective 'ideal choice', "said Ding Zhigang, Sales Director of the Label Business Unit of Konica Minolta Printing System Integration Department.