CTP Technology Development Status and Trends (2)

2. In 2008, China's CTP equipment was mixed.

At the 11th International Conference on Printing Information Exchange, the latest set of data on the current status of China's CTP (Computer to Plate) utilization statistics: By September 2008, the total installed capacity of China's CTP was nearly 1,500, and the total amount of CTP plates used At 10 million square meters, the average plate-making capacity per machine is 14,400, and the average number of machines published per day is 48. Looking deeper into the data, we can see that the current status of China's CTP applications are mixed. The good news is that the CTP has grown steadily this year compared with last year, but it has not ushered in the expected "explosive growth" and the actual application results are not good.

Low penetration rate and low operating efficiency

It is understood that the total number of 1,500 units of this data also includes CTP equipment for testing, demonstration, and teaching. In addition to these non-commercial uses, we must also consider that the final results are affected by statistical data. According to Xiang Jianlong, chairman of Hangzhou Kelei Electromechanical Industry Co., Ltd., in fact, there are currently 1,200 CTP plants in China that are operating normally. For an average of 48 prints per machine per day, "this data is relatively low," Xiang Jianlong said at this year's International Print Information Exchange Conference. He said: “For a standard commercial CTP, 20 plates per hour is a standard data. It is conservatively estimated that if a printing plant calculates the workload of an 8-hour work shift per day, a CTP device There are at least 160 plates.”

Therefore, Xiang Jianlong summed up the current status of China's CTP application: “The operating efficiency of CTP equipment is very low, and China’s use is still quite backward. Many CTPs only exist as concept machines; they do not reach the stage of practical use. Existing CTPs on the market Normal use, production capacity will be doubled.” And 1,500 units of CTP ownership in China's 100,000 printing companies in the popularization rate of only about 1.5%, compared with developed countries there is a big gap.

According to reports, the penetration rate of CTP in the United States reached about 75% in 2006, 70% in Europe, and 50% in Japan. China's CTP has low penetration rate, low operating efficiency, and narrow application. Except that the high plate price is a major factor affecting the CTP usage rate, there is a mismatch between the installed capacity of the installed capacity and the production capacity, and the application technology is not yet mature. Lack of technical personnel and other reasons.

Large demand gap in the next five years

According to speculation by experts, the penetration rate of CTP in China will reach 70% after 5 years. In terms of volume, there will be 60 million square meters of printing plates each year that need to be converted into CTP plates in the next 5 years. CTP equipment industry is also difficult to determine. According to Xiang Jianlong's calculation plan, if the current CTI usage for 48 days is needed, about 7,000 CTPs will be needed, and if it is calculated according to the normal 160-day CTP production capacity, only about 2,000 CTPs will be needed. Others argued that China will have 10,000 CTPs in 10 years, and there are also people who put forward the use rate of “one plant and one plant”. Xiang Jianlong believes that the demand for CTP equipment should be determined by the printing demand instead of the number of printing plants. Decision.

When CTP is fully matured in China, what kind of CTP will each occupy a large proportion, which technology will become the leader? Until September of this year, the proportion of CTP equipment of the three mainstream technology types of direct thermal printing, photosensitive, and PS plates was 63.59%, 28.30%, and 6.35%, respectively. From the perspective of these data, the thermal CTP occupies the top spot, and the photosensitive CTP also has a large market advantage. The market share of the PS plate direct plate making is not enough to have a great influence.

According to industry insiders, various technologies have their own advantages. The thermal and photo-sensitive technologies have matured, and the PS plate direct plate making technology has become a “dark horse” on the CTP arena, opening up even more for CTP applications. A wide range of new areas.

Plate material price becomes the bottleneck of development

In the face of these three technological disputes, Xiang Jianlong's personal view is that the PS version of the direct-printing CTP is the real CTP, because the original intention of the CTP concept is to transition from CTF to CTP, cancel the film.

The promotion of the direct plate making of the PS plate is mainly restricted by the three major problems of equipment cost, plate making speed and plate making quality. Xiang Jianlong believes that with the rapid promotion of the violet laser technology in the civil sector, the problem of light sources has been solved. The speed of plate making and the quality of plate making have greatly improved, and the standards of ordinary CTP have been achieved; in terms of cost, there are two pairs of pairs. The printing capacity of 40,000 sheets of small and medium-sized enterprises of the printing press is the standard. If the traditional PS version of the direct plate making technology is used, the cost of the film can be saved directly, and one million yuan can be saved in one year, and the cost of equipment can be recovered. Will be very attractive to customers.

However, Teng Fangqian, the director of the second rubber factory of Lekai Group, stated that at present, there are not many cases where the PS version of the production line has been changed to a CTP production line, because the conventional PS version can be compatible with small batches of live parts, only when it is mass-produced. Only need to transform or build a new special production line. Therefore, whether or not the PS plate direct plate making technology can suddenly become dominant CTP can not make a clear statement, all have to rely on the market and practice to verify, but it is certain that with the continuous decline in the price of CTP plate material, the application of technology mature and The emphasis on the training of professional and technical personnel, etc., China's pre-press industry, the comprehensive upgrade and the popularization of CTP and digital processes will certainly be able to achieve.