Aluminum plate printing cost control

Low cost and high profit are the unremitting pursuit of the company. In the aluminum plate printing industry, for a certain product, different companies, there are profits, there are losses; there are more profitable, less profitable. In a word, the different measures taken in cost control are the main reasons for this phenomenon. Based on the personal experience of first-line production, the author analyzes the main factors affecting the cost of aluminum printing and talks about how to control the cost of the product and increase profits.

1. Influence of Temperature Factors on Cost and Control Measures

Before printing on aluminum plates, the aluminum plate must first be cleaned, the rolling oil on the surface of the aluminum plate removed, and the pre-production preparation for the subsequent process. The commonly used purification treatment method is high-temperature baking, which vaporizes and volatilizes the rolling oil adhering to the surface of the aluminum plate. The way to obtain the baking temperature varies from one company to another: there are heating tubes, heating of kerosene, heating of liquefied gas, and so on. But no matter what kind of method, consumption is directly proportional to cost, and it consumes more and costs more. Each aluminum sheet has a different optimum baking temperature. In this temperature range, not only the rolling oil is removed, but also the cost is minimal. For example, in the southwest aluminum plate baking temperature is relatively low, constant temperature 180 ± IO ~ C baking 10 minutes; while in Harbin aluminum baking temperature is high, the need for constant temperature 190 ± 10 ~ C baking 10 minutes. The baking temperature should not be too high or too low. It is necessary to find out the optimum baking temperature for each type of aluminum sheet according to the characteristics of different aluminum sheets. Only in this way can the production cost be reduced. If the baking temperature is too high, not only will it increase the cost, but because the aluminum sheet is soft and has a low melting point, deformation (even annealing and softening) may occur during baking, resulting in the flatness of the aluminum sheet not meeting the printing requirements, and even causing defective products. Produced; baking temperature is too low to achieve the purpose of removing rolling oil, rework will increase product costs.

2. Effect of Coating Factors on Cost and Control Measures

After the aluminum plate is cleaned and processed, the coating process must be performed according to the user's requirements before printing. Coatings of different colors, and some coatings to achieve the specified film thickness (the so-called "film thickness" refers to the unit area of ​​varnish or paint dry film weight, usually expressed in g/m2), the paint color is no longer If there is any change, if the film thickness is not controlled at the time of production, it will increase the cost and waste the paint. Therefore, the following measures should be taken: 1 First, the film thickness of the coating should be controlled at the critical point where the color no longer changes, and be fixed in the form of a process flow; 2) The operator must perform the process flow during production and record the thickness of the coating film during production. Prepare for inspection and provide the basis for the test.

After the paint is finished, brushing the car is a key link in controlling costs. Usually the situation is that one product is finished and the other one is followed. Because different paint properties are different, different paints cannot be mixed. When the operator handles the paint in the paint tubing, it is convenient to wash it away with the paint used in another product. Each time about one kilogram is needed, the price per kilogram is in the range of tens or even hundreds. yuan. Accumulated for a year, the waste is staggering. The measures to reduce costs are as follows: after the paint is finished, the paint oil pipe is flushed with the matching diluent, and the washed paint has no change in viscosity except for the viscosity, and the paint with high viscosity can be mixed after the next production.

3. The Influence of Ink Factors on Cost and Control Measures

The waste of ink in aluminum printing can not be ignored. After the boxed ink is turned on, there is a layer of moisturizing plastic on the inside, and the ink attached to it occupies about one-twentieth of the total amount. Some workers directly tear open and discard, which increases the amount of ink used.

When the spot color ink is formulated, if it is not strictly operated according to the specifications, it will also cause a lot of waste of ink. Printing workers usually use the same ink blade to take ink in different colors of ink, causing passive contamination of the main ink. When a monochrome ink is used for printing, in order to prevent the contaminated ink from affecting the overall color of the printed product, the contaminated ink will be removed, which indirectly increases the amount of material used.

If a printing company has the above two phenomena, the actual use of a box of ink accounts for only 70% of the total amount, and the amount of waste throughout the year is also considerable.

Therefore, the cost control measures taken by enterprises for ink waste are: standardizing ink access operations and printing workers' production operations. After the new ink is turned on, the moisturizing plastic should be as small as possible with ink, and the company should specify the allowable range in the operating procedures. For the spot color ink deployment process, any ink is used to use a single ink blade to prevent the inside of the box. Ink mixing phenomenon, save ink as much as possible, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing costs.

4. Influence of Aluminum Sheet Factor on Cost and Control Measures

A total of 3,600 tons of standard aluminum sheet, the current average price per ton of aluminum sheet is about 26,000 yuan, the price of sheet aluminum is 7 yuan - 8 yuan, a print production line normal loss every day is 4 to 5 sheets. However, the company usually loses up to 10 pieces, and sometimes loses dozens of pieces due to equipment, etc., and the total value is a few hundred dollars. Many companies do not mobilize the enthusiasm of operators to control costs. They only pay attention to direct labor costs and ignore the direct material costs. The wages of employees are clearly visible and easy to calculate, but the loss of aluminum plates is unclear and uncertain, but it can be more or less. If a company loses more than ten sheets of aluminum and twenty sheets of aluminum, it is tens or even hundreds of dollars. , higher than the normal loss of several times or even more than ten times. The daily wage of a worker who is responsible for the accumulation of aluminum plates is about 30 yuan. If the wages of the workers who are responsible for the accumulation of aluminum plates are linked to the loss amount of aluminum plates, if they do well, they will be rewarded on the basis of wages, because the sense of responsibility is not enough. The extra losses will be punished. This will not only mobilize the workers' enthusiasm for production, but also greatly reduce the cost of production.

5. The Effect of Spot Color on the Cost and the Control Measures

Because spot inks are formulated with several inks, the color change after baking is unpredictable, so experiments should be conducted before formal production. At this time, the technique of operating the workers is of utmost importance. After one experiment, the skilled workers adjust the ink ratio according to the color change of the ink and basically meet the requirements for the second time. If the technology of the workers is not high and the number of experiments is too many, not only the aluminum plates will be wasted (the aluminum plates after printing cannot be reused), but also the consumption of fuel will increase and the product cost will increase accordingly.

Therefore, measures to reduce costs are: the use of skilled workers, and on-the-job staff regularly on-the-job training, and constantly improve the quality of employees. Short-term training expenditures are exchanged for long-term low-cost operation of the company.

6. Waste defective products directly increase the cost of the product

In the production process, unqualified products caused by unpredictable factors or operator's mistakes cannot generally be reinstated, so the cost of products will be directly increased. Therefore, the quantity of waste defective products is closely related to the cost level. Unqualified products are unavoidable, but measures can be taken to reduce their quantity. More effective measures are: formulating appropriate rewards and penalties, rewarding advanced employees, establishing typical and stimulating staff with weak sense of responsibility, and improving the overall quality of employees. Will reduce the number of defective scraps.

The cost control of aluminum printing also includes management fees, financial costs, etc., but the direct impact is direct material costs, direct labor costs, and direct cost control. This is the key to determining product price competition.

Source: Metal Packaging

Author/Hao Xubo