I was really looking forward to attending the Packaging & Label Gravure Association Global Operational Conference in Miami recently for a variety of reasons—not the least of which, honestly, was to escape the latest sub-zero cold and 6-in. snowfall in Chicago. The program promised a half dozen sessions on “Operating Profitably in a Global Market” from materials and outsourcing to engraving trends and a customer/end-user perspective.

The session that stood out for me, though, gathered representatives from the four major gravure-press manufacturers—Bobst Rotomec, Windmoeller & Hoelchser, Comexi ACOM and North American Cerutti—to review the equipment requirements and changes brought about by a worldwide marketplace. Despite past rumors, gravure isn't going away anytime soon. It makes up 22 percent of the world package-printing market, 30 percent of the flexible package-printing field, and continues to gain market share mainly at the expense of offset, based on stats from Bobst Rotomec. And while the gravure market is growing at about 3 percent a year in North and South America, it's double that rate across Asia-Pacific, says Windmoeller & Hoelscher.

It's just this substantially growth for gravure in places such as China, India and southeast Asia that's leading to an unusual phenomenon. Local press manufacturers are now truly coming into their own versus traditional, European makers. In fact, something like 900 gravure presses for all printing applications were installed in China last year, the reps estimate. But these are not all the high-tech, servo-driven, immensely flexible systems the European builders offer; instead many are more basic, dedicated presses with fewer colors and are meant to run flat-out, 24-7. A local Asian printer might specify the stripped-down but new press with the intention of retiring it in only five years; hence “the disposable press.”

In our market, where the typical life of a press (with retrofits and upgrades) is maybe 25 years, wearing out and disposing of a new press after five years sounds ludicrous. In other markets around the world, it seems to make perfect sense. The question is, does it possibly make sense for your package-printing operation? Will you buy your next new press from China or India or Korea?

Representation for these pressmaking companies in the US is on the rise. North American service centers for these manufacturers are definitely needed. Again, not all these presses are “disposable,” certainly many are high-tech and more expensive, but it appears to be a trend. And it's not just gravure; about 20-30 flexo-press makers are doing business in China as well.