96 | Weihai Yanfeng (OSPWH)Inline fexo press at OSPWH Intermittent offset press at OSPWH“In the future, changing end consumer requirements will require more and more label products. As a label converter, OSPWH will rely on its years of technical strength and business networks to meet these future challenges and opportunities for the label industry”North China market.’ regions to open up to the world, Weihai boasts a coastline of 968 At the early stage of the acquisition, OSPWH (Weihai Yanfeng) kilometers, accounting for 1/18 of the entire length of China’s was equipped with an HP Indigo WS4500, in-line fexo printing coast. Annual production of seafood in Weihai exceeded three equipment, intermittent letterpress and offset presses, die-cutting million tons in 2021.machines and automatic quality inspection equipment. ‘The impact of Covid-19 on our business is not that big,’ Fujita OSP Group had a clear strategic plan for further development says. ‘On the one hand, at present, the products of OSPWH are after the acquisition and set a goal of three years to achieve mainly for the domestic market, and the export is not much. On proftability. the other hand, as people become more aware of their health During this period, they planned to analyze the existing customer after the epidemic, the market demand for healthcare products base and the company’s production processes and personnel, has increased.’followed by investment in new software and hardware. Now OSPWH is ready for the next stage of development. The At the end of 2021, OSPWH retired its WS4500 digital press and company plans to invest in new printing equipment by the end purchased an HP Indigo 6K. ‘In addition to recognized excellence of 2022 or early 2023 to boost production capacity, but it is still of HP digital printing equipment and services, we also took into considering whether to choose conventional or digital printing account the characteristics of the main products ordered by our equipment.customers and the experience and skills of the company’s technical ‘Overall, there are advantages and markets for both printing staff and operators,’ Fujita adds. technologies,’ Fujita explains, ‘But the cost of digital printing Although this new equipment has been installed for less than technology is still relatively high. In addition to the cost of the a year, digital printing orders are already expected to account for equipment itself - as well as ongoing operational costs –digital around 30 percent of total business volume this year. printing is a closed ecosystem, and you are closely tied to a In addition to enhancing the company’s hardware, OSPWH supplier. In the future, we do believe, however, that with the has streamlined the production process, quality monitoring and development of digital printing technology, its operating cost will personnel management. For example, adhering to the quality be greatly reduced. management system of the wider OSP Group, OSPWH now ‘Another point of interest is that the latest digital printing implements strict quality control within the factory from raw devices on display at Labelexpo Americas 2022 are much faster and material, production, storage, and delivery. more accurate, narrowing the productivity gap between digital and The company has standardized the production process and set fexo printing technologies. It certainly makes it diffcult for us to up repair and maintenance processes for each machine to improve choose a new device.’production effciency. In addition, the company is looking at the development of smart Through regular internal training and assessment, the company tag technology.has continuously improved the professional knowledge of its ‘At present, the high cost of smart labels restricts its application staff. The result was the achievement of ISO9001 quality control in the feld of the food market,’ says Fujita. ‘We do anticipate certifcation and ISO14001 environmental system certifcation breakthroughs in the development of chip technology which will in 2021. bring down the unit cost.’OSPWH weathered all kinds of issues after the acquisition. Fujita concludes, ‘In the future, changing end consumer Now its internal production and personnel processes have been requirements will require more and more of label products. As a streamlined and organized, the company has gradually begun to label converter, OSPWH will rely on its years of technical strength make profts. and business networks to meet these future challenges and opportunities for the label industry.’Future developmentSpearheading the group’s operations in the North China market, To read more on the Chinese label market, visit OPSWH mainly produces PS labels for marine-based health www.labelsandlabeling.com/contributors/yolanda-wangproducts, such as fsh oil. As one of the frst of China’s coastal labelsandlabeling.com