How to Start Flexo Printing Business in India 
 
We have often seen business owners moving ahead with their new business idea by looking out for industries and businesses that are in trend and have been passed on for a long period of time. One such industry is the Printing business, be it print media, printing newspapers, books, magazines, and so on, each of them require printing company or specific services to run their business. There are various variations and processes in a printing business, right from the type of printing to the further process. Let us understand Flexo Printing in detail.

What is Flexo Printing? 
 
Flexographic Printing is a technique that uses a flexible printing plate. In the past, these printing plates were made of different components such as rubber and nowadays businesses use flexible photopolymer printing plates. It is widely used for printing on the non-porous substrates required for various types of food packaging. Flexography can be termed as a modern version of letterpress printing, it is a type of traditional method of printing that can be implemented in any type of substrate, including corrugated cardboard, cellophane, plastic, label stock, fabric, and metallic film.  
 
Advantages of Flexography Printing 
 
We are not going to talk about the advantages of starting a Printing business in particular but rather the advantages of starting Flexo Printing over the other Printing methods. Knowing these advantages is crucial as it would help you in making your business plan accordingly. The various Pros of the same are as follows. 
 
A. One of the major benefits that you should consider is that Flexo Printing can be done on various substrates such as cardboard, plastic, label, and so on. This gives you a clear advantage and more opportunity to deal in different types of fields.  
 
B. When we consider the Printing business, the first thought is the cost and maintenance of the materials, machines, and so on. However, in Flexography Printing you can expect to consider the cost of equipment quite lower when compared with the same. 
 
C. If you are looking out for a long-run process, Flexo Printing is the answer. It gives you an improved and best quality of results on printing. In fact, Flexo Printing also handles all the other processes in one go such as printing, varnishing, laminating, and die-cutting, it all goes in one pass.   
 
End-Products of Flexo Printing 
 
By end-products, it means the uses or the various by-products that are produced or can be achieved by going for Flexo Printing. These are all the items that you can print and mass-produce as a Printing business and perhaps fulfil the demands of your clients.  
 
1. Food Packaging  
 
There is a huge demand for food packaging and printing on those packaging becomes difficult. With Flexo Printing’s use of non-toxic ink and the faster pace of drying, this becomes quite manageable. Various items where Flexo printing can be used in this regard are packaging like beverage containers, milk cartons, food containers, and so on.  
 
2. Corrugated Boxes 
 
Corrugated boxes are required in huge numbers by various companies for delivering of their products from one store to another. It is used widely for storage and shipping purposes and with the help of Flexo Printing, printing on Corrugated boxes becomes easy. 
 
3. Medical Packaging 
 
Thanks to Flexo Printing’s uniqueness of being able to Print on various different types of substances and the right ink, medical packaging is also done with the same. When it comes to printing on a foil paper, hygienic bags, wrappers, plastic, and so on. 
 
4. Newspaper and Others

 
 
As we already discussed in the section of advantages, Flexo Printing goes on a larger scale and hence it grants you orders of large prints. Be it newspapers, magazines, novels, etc, it comes under the part of Flexo Printing, thereby profiting you in your business.  
 
Flexo Printing Process 
 
To start the business, you would need to have a first-hand insight into how Flexo Printing works, what exactly is the process that makes it one of the most preferred Printing methods. The details related to the process of Flexo Printing are as follows. 
 
1. Platemaking  
 
We all know that one of the most crucial parts of any printing process is making of the plate, it contains all the text and images that are needed to be printed. There are three methods of the same and they are mentioned as follows. 
 
A. Photo etching is a method of plate making where the Printed image is etched through a photo negative directly onto a light-sensitive polymer plate by the means of ultraviolet light. After the process, it is washed by water and exposed to a temperate of 40 degrees, this method is one of the most commonly used methods in Flexo Printing.
 



 
B. Digital Plates is another type of method, in fact, it is the most modern approach towards Flexo Printing. It works with a digital image being directed computer-operated laser to etch the printing plate, it makes things easy. 
 
C. Rubber Plates is the final type of approach where the print image and the process are given an acid bath and then on a polymer. This type of method is very time-consuming and expensive. 
 
2.  Printing! 
 
The crux of the quality and process lies in the plate making, after that it is just the work of the printing machine. Once you have the plate, you need to load it onto the right printing cylinders as per the colour. Later, the process moves ahead, you need to ensure that the ink is not wasted or flooded, this would help you to avoid smudging on your plate and waste the efforts. As soon as the printed image gets transferred to the substrate, the Ink needs to be dry, this can be reached through fan-powered Infra-red dryers, or by ultraviolet curing, depending on the Ink type used. 
 
Get Your Business Started! 
 
That’s the entire concept of the Flexo Printing business, after learning all its types, uses, and even the process you can start gathering the necessary resources, equipment, machinery, and start your own Flexo Printing Business.