Mounting and lamination

The first part: The method of concise modification and earning profit. Technological progress promotes the development of society and creates profitable opportunities for merchants. The simple and quick digital image stimulates the demand of customers, especially advertisers, for image printing products, and at the same time, it also promotes the development of image post-processing technology because they need to be able to properly protect and perfect images. The method of handling - that is, mounting and laminating. The mounting and laminating techniques are actually very simple and the investment in equipment is not high. There are currently three main methods: thermoplastics, hot work, and cold pressing. Thermoplastic refers to the technique of thawing a plastic film at a high temperature to fuse it with a printed product, while hot-working refers to the activation of a pre-coated adhesive on a plastic film by heating to form a plastic film and a printed product. The process of bonding together; cold pressing is the technique of directly pressing the film and the printed product together by pressure. These three (cold, hot, and warm) methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they have different effects. Therefore, they should choose their own working methods according to the actual situation. In addition, there is a worthwhile and relatively novel technology for mounting and laminating films called Wet Transfer. It is a technology that removes digital images that have been printed on paper by a special mounting laminator and then places them on other materials to coat them. This method is mainly used for outdoor signs or frequently updated images, such as the production of automobile body advertisements. When it comes to coating, it is important to mention the UV protection issues that people are currently concerned about. Now, the arguments in this area are not uniform, but one thing is certain: the UV protection capability of the membrane is very much related to the printed matter. Pictures or screen-printed products are more resistant to ultraviolet rays than digital images and have a long shelf life. Although all coating films have some protection against UV rays, some absorb or reflect UV rays while others do not. Special UV protection film and ordinary film are also different. If you plan to start mounting and laminating work, the process is not difficult. The first thing to do is to arrange a workplace. The site is slightly larger than the size of the purchased machine and its processed image. Of course, a roll-up method can also be used to save space, but usually there should be an area of ​​8 × 12 feet. There can be no need to add new candidates for personnel, because the technology is not difficult to master. However, when purchasing a machine, it is necessary to pay attention to requiring the manufacturer to provide on-site technical training services. In addition, two work tables are also required, which require a smooth surface and a tough surface. In addition, a right angle bracket, functional knife and tape dispenser are also essential tools. Others can purchase a table (table) saw, etc. as the business increases. The whole work is very simple, do not have to worry about, basically can recover the cost in less than a year. The second part: The rules of war that suits oneself: "The Temple of the Buddha is a victory, but the victory." Although investment in mounting and laminating film is not large, thorough investigation, understanding and analysis of market and technology must be conducted in order to truly realize the benefits and remain invincible. The market usually completes the following six aspects of the work: First, do a little simple market research. Including, what is the market potential? How are the competitors? What is the required manpower and material resources? and many more. Second, understand customer needs. Ask them what are the requirements for this? When is willing to accept this service? Price expectations? Third, highlight your own characteristics. Understand if the customer is satisfied with their price, quality and delivery time? If you use the lamination technology, you must also maintain the appropriate standards. Fourth, capital assessment. Is the funding for the work adequate? When to recover costs? Importantly, is this approach beneficial to both the customer and himself? V. Formulate a work plan. It should include reasonable goals to be achieved and the means to achieve them. At the same time, we must also inject advertising and promotion costs. VI. Implementation. The actual situation will deviate from the concept. We must pay attention to the amendment plan and stick to the end. Technical aspects should pay attention to the applicable technology choices. Be clear about your situation, including the types of pictures you make? how much? How to use the user? and many more. The current technology is basically divided into five categories: vacuum, thermoplastic, cold-pressing, heat-assisted, and integrated methods. The following is introduced separately: Vacuum method: The vacuum method is suitable for small batch processing, and it is used to install silk fabrics, canvas materials or textured materials. The method is evacuation, heating and pressurization, bonding the picture piece and the liner through the wax adhesive layer. When coating, a special microporous material is needed to facilitate air discharge between the film and the print. The initial investment in the machine is medium and the material is cheaper. However, the processing speed is extremely low, and heat-sensitive materials cannot be processed. Generally, they are used only for mounting, and the coating effect is not good. Thermoplastic: Thermoplastic film is a processing method with large batches, low quality, and low price requirements. Menus, parking signs, maps, and so on are all its targets. The film is a composite material, the outer layer of polyester material, the inner layer of polyethylene. When the film is covered, the film is heated to 200-300° F (about 90-150° C.) to melt the polyethylene, and the film is then bonded to the print. The investment in machinery and equipment is not high, and the membrane material is cheap. It has the characteristics of high processing speed, low cost and large batch volume. The disadvantage is that it cannot be processed on one side only. The film must be applied on both sides at the same time. Therefore, it cannot be used for mounting and it is not applicable to photographs, thermal sublimation and inkjet printing products. Cold-pressed film: Cold-pressing method is mainly used for the processing of small or medium-sized, high-quality materials. It is a kind of film that depends on the transparent glue on the film and presses the film and the printing product together under the pressure of the machine. It is in the form of the “self-adhesive” that we use everyday. Cold-pressed film is not limited to processing materials, and can also be made into various styles, from bright light, mercerized to matt; from anti-aging to anti-ultraviolet radiation to flame retardant and so on. This kind of method equipment investment is not high, the processing method is various, the mounting, the film coating, the single-sided, the two-sided can be, but the membrane material is expensive, the cost is high, not suitable for the mass production. Hot (active) film: It is also only suitable for small or medium quantities of processing. It is not as popular as it was in previous years. Its property is also a pre-coated adhesive film, but it must be heated to activate the adhesive. Therefore, it is necessary to pre-heat the adhesive to activate it, and then bond the film to the print. The temperature is generally 100 ~ ~ 170 °F (about 60 °C or so). Most of the materials can be processed by this method, and the produced patterns are also more diverse (but less cold pressure), and can be mounted on one side or both sides, and covered with film. However, the investment in equipment is high, and the conversion between mounting and lamination is also annoying, and the membrane material is only cheaper than cold pressure. Synthesis method: As the name suggests, the comprehensive method is a method that can use both cold and heat treatment. It is suitable for mounting and lamination of medium to high-volume prints. By adjusting the temperature of the machine's roll, it can be processed in the form of thermoplastic, hot or cold press. The disadvantage is that the acquisition cost of the equipment is high, and the conversion between various functions is tedious. In addition, when selecting applicable technologies, in addition to examining various machines and processing materials, we must also pay attention to the reputation of the vendors, whether to provide technical support, personnel training, and supply of machine parts. Part III: A Typical Example Seattle Color One is located in the picturesque Pioneer Square. Founded in 1990, the company employs only nine people. It mainly engages in image enlargement and fresco production. The owner is Jerry. Cooper. As a small company, Jereh knows that it is impossible to compete with big companies on price. Only through service competition is the key to company survival. "Services, services, and re-services" are the company's business objectives. By providing new value-added services such as post-press processing, the company attracts and retains a large number of users. Based on a wide range of opinions from customers, Color One added the first cold press/laminator in 1991. With the increase in business, it now has another such machine. They explained that the reason why the cold-working machine was chosen was because the machine can handle a variety of materials and wasted. The workshop is 2040 feet in size and can be used for medium or high volume production. "Every 85% of the company's business needs mounting or laminating," said Jerry Cooper. "Providing this service proves to be right. It has already brought us a profit, and it takes us a processing value." Through the introduction between users, Color One has now gained more users. Speaking of future development direction, Jerry believes that digital images are the future trend. Adding a protective film to ink-jet printing works, especially UV protection film, will be a new profit growth point. For his counterparts who need to install mounting/laminating machines, he also puts up his advice: “The choice of vendors’ services is as important as their machines. Only in this way can you ultimately provide your customers with high-quality services,” he said.