Pad printing cost estimation and control examples

Many people who are engaged in pad printing work do not know exactly what the cost of printing a job is. In fact, it is not difficult to know. If the cost of each step is correctly counted, the pad printing cost can be estimated. When estimating the cost of printing, the main consideration is to consider factors such as the consumption of pad printing equipment, staff salaries, daily expenses, raw material consumption, reject rate, packaging fees, printing plate processing fees, and freight charges. This paper will discuss the calculation and control of pad printing costs through examples.

Suppose we received an order for the printing of 20,000 monochrome car decorations. When estimating costs, the first thing we need to do is determine the average output per hour. In the printing process, due to various reasons such as equipment installation, workshop cleaning, adding thinners, and transporting materials, it is impossible for the printing machine to be in operation all the time. Therefore, the reduction of machine efficiency caused by these factors should be taken into consideration when determining the average print volume. Generally, these factors will reduce the efficiency by about 20%. Therefore, when calculating productivity, multiply the highest volume by 0.8.

Labor costs

For example, if a printer is operating, printing 12 pcs per minute, then the one-hour print quantity is 720. Taking into account other factors, the actual print output per hour can be calculated as:

720×0.80=576 (pieces)

The time required to print 20,000 decorations at the above printing speed is: 20000 ÷ 576 = 34.72 (hours)

Finally, the employee's hourly pay is multiplied by the total time to calculate the total labor cost. Taking into account daily expenses, taxes, insurance, and employee vacation expenses, with a labor cost of US$25 per employee for one hour, the total labor cost for printing all the prints is:

34.72×25.00=868.05 (US$)

Consumables cost

First calculate the cost of the ink. If two-component ink printing is used, the cost of ink calculation is relatively simple because the ink cannot be used after it exceeds the activation period. When we add the catalyst to the two-component ink at a ratio of 4:1, the ink has an activation period of about 8 hours.

In this case, the number of inks to be printed for this batch of activities is: 34.72÷8=4.34 (times)

The number of inks is 4.34 means that at least 5 times of ink, cleaning equipment and other operations.

It is worth mentioning that if no two-component ink is used for printing, the remaining ink after printing can be used for the next use without considering the ink activation period. Assuming that the last time the ink can be printed in 5,000 copies, then printing 20,000 copies requires 4 inks.

In addition, it is necessary to figure out the amount of ink each time. This can be obtained from the printer supplier, but generally experienced printers can estimate the value.

Another point to note is that printing ink is always inevitably wasteful. Since pad printing is a wet ink printing process, there must be enough ink in the enclosed oil pan to ensure normal printing. Therefore, the amount of ink is more than the actual application.

The total cost of the ink is calculated below with 5 inks. Assume that the press uses a 60 mm diameter oil pan, and the amount of ink applied is 50 g at a time. If calculated at a price of $55 per kilogram, it is $0.055 per gram of ink. The ink cost for inking once is:

50×0.055=2.75 (US$)

Then calculate the cost of the catalyst.

Assuming a catalyst with a capacity of 150 ml and a price of $12, the price per millilitre of catalyst is $0.08. The catalyst is added in a ratio of 4:1 (4:1 of ink and catalyst) and the catalyst used should be 12.5 g once. In pad printing, inks are formulated according to weight rather than volume, so we should add catalysts by weighing 150 ml of catalyst. In this example, for the sake of calculation, the catalyst weight per 1 ml is 1 g. In this way, the cost of adding a catalyst once is: 12.5×0.08=1.00 (US$)
In the same way, the cost of the diluent can be calculated. Assuming a thinner of $15 per litre, it is $0.015 per milliliter. The amount of diluent added is related to a number of factors, typically a number, such as 15%, between 10% and 20% of the total weight of the ink and catalyst. According to the above data, the weight of diluent can be calculated as:

(50+12.5) × 15% = 9.375 (g)

Then inked once, the cost of thinner is:

9.375×0.015=0.14 (US$)

Therefore, the ink and various additives are taken into account. The ink cost for inking is 2.75 US$, the catalyst is 1.00 US$, the thinner is 0.14 US$, and the total is 3.89 U.S. dollars. Therefore, the cost for complete batch printing is:

5×3.89=19.45 (US$)

Note: Above we calculate monochrome printing. If two-color printing is used, the entire cost must be multiplied by 2, that is, 3.89 × 2 = 7.78 (US$). In addition to the cost of the above consumables, the cost of the print head must also be considered. The lifespan of the print heads varies, some are only 200 prints, and some can reach 200,000 prints, which is related to many factors. Since the decorations we have printed are used in automobiles, the printing quality is very demanding. According to our experience, the printing heads should be replaced after 25,000 printing. Now, our total output is 20,000, and we need to replace it 0.8 times after we have finished printing this batch. Assuming that the price of the print head is $26, the cost of the print head can be calculated as:

26.00×0.80=20.80 (US$)

Note: If multicolor printing is used, the cost of the print head is also multiplied by the number of colors. For example, two-color printing, the cost of the print head is:

20.80×2=41.60 (US$)

Platemaking cost

The cost of printing plates is the most important. In general, the stencil resistance of the steel template can reach more than 1 million, while the high-quality resin plate is generally resistant to 100,000. Since this print volume is 20,000 copies, a high-quality resin gravure can be produced. We use a 70mm x 150mm resin plate, which costs $53.

In addition, the cost of the film has to be considered. According to experience, the average cost is about 25 US dollars.

If the plate needs to be produced by oneself, the cost of the raw materials and the salary of the employees should also be taken into consideration. For example, a blank version with a size of 7mm x 150mm costs $5.75, and the plate-making process usually takes 20-30 minutes. Therefore, the half-hour labor cost is US$ 12.5. Therefore, a total of $18.25 was added to raw material costs and labor costs.

In addition, various fixed equipment, fixtures and other expenses should also be considered. Taking these factors into consideration, we set the cost to be US$300.

Energy cost

If the printer is using electrical energy, the energy cost is the electricity used.

The price per kilowatt-hour electricity is set at $0.697. If the printer consumes 1.65 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, the energy cost per hour is: 1.65 x 0.697 = 1.15 (US dollars). The entire live electricity fee is: 34.72 x 1.15 = 39.93 (United States dollars)
Summarize the various costs calculated above, namely the labor cost of 868.05 US dollars, the ink and additive 19.45 US dollars, the printing head 20.80 US dollars, the plate 318.25 US dollars, the electricity 39.93 US dollars, for a total of 1266.48 US dollars.

Other costs

When estimating pad printing costs, the cost of scrap must also be taken into account. Due to different printing equipment, different technical levels of workers, and various other printing conditions, the scrap rate is not the same. Therefore, it is necessary to find an average value based on past data. If the reject rate is 4%, then 20,000 copies will have at least 20,800 copies printed.

Carton costs and shipping costs for packaged prints should also be considered. Assuming $2 per carton and 250 prints per carton, 80 cartons are required for a total of $160. If each carton takes 5 minutes to transport, it corresponds to a labor cost of $2.08. The total labor cost for 80 cartons is $166.40.

How to reduce pad printing costs

Through the above examples, we see that printing costs mainly come from labor costs, consumables costs, plate-making costs, energy costs and other aspects. Therefore, in order to reduce costs, it is necessary to proceed from the following aspects.

(1) Improve the production efficiency of printed materials. With the increase of production efficiency, other costs will be reduced. This is the reason why the printing companies take the reduction of downtime as the most important control content.

(2) As far as possible, the main processes of printing (from prepress, printing to postpress) are all completed in the company, which can reduce the transportation turnaround time and reduce the management cost. The greater the production capacity that the same management scale can bear, the lower the average management costs and administrative costs.

(3) The salary of employees is a large part of the cost, and the management of wages has a great impact on costs. Therefore, we must constantly analyze the workload of the posts we have established to see whether the responsibilities and work intensity of the posts are commensurate with the remuneration. If it is not commensurate, it will either increase the workload or the content of the work. The staff will use the work in duplicate. One person will perform multiple tasks, either canceling the position or merging with other positions.

(4) Due to the nature of pad printing, printing plates account for a significant portion of the cost. Since many orders in pad printing are not very large, there is no need to use steel templates. Resin plates can be used instead. In addition, when the plate is produced, good quality must be maintained, otherwise it will not only increase the cost but also extend the delivery date.

(5) In printing, the control of material costs is critical. Because the material cost accounts for a large proportion of the total cost, the purchase of materials becomes the job that the general manager directly interrogates and participates in. Printing companies should use the lowest price to purchase high-quality materials as the guideline for procurement work, and the production department should require the full use of materials and comprehensive use of materials to make the most of their use. In addition, we must pay close attention to reducing the scrap rate in the workshop and reduce the number of reprints and reprints. Warehousing management should be standardized in order to reduce the storage loss and the backlog of materials. The largest proportion of materials is paper and ink. Their price is like that of stocks. It rises and falls. Enterprises must pay special attention to their price movements, buy more when they rise, and save less when they fall.

(6) Save electricity. Printing companies are big consumers of electricity, and many printing companies spend millions of dollars a month on electricity. Therefore, we must make all employees have the awareness of saving electricity, and set up strict and specific energy-saving measures, and to implement it.

(7) Control the cost of each minor link. In the above example, we found that the total cost distribution is in many aspects. While grasping the major aspects, we must also pay attention to the cost control of various details, such as packaging fees and shipping costs. In short, to minimize the cost of printing, we must control the cost of each step to the best, which requires us to strictly manage and sum up experience.

Reprinted from: China Printing Materials Market Author: Sun Yong help / compiler