The playing cards manufacturing process is as follows:
- Design and plate-making
- Material preparation and modification
- Printing
- Check product embossing
- Glazing
- Slitting
- Finished product
The sequence of each step of the process is as follows:
1. Design and plate making
That is the design of the front and back of playing cards, the design of the playing card packaging box, and the printing plates.
2. Material preparation and modification
The company will physically modify the stock playing card paper for a certain period of time. Due to the uneven internal stress of the new paper, the internal stress concentration area is prone to wrinkles. The produced playing cards are unstable in terms of flatness, elasticity, and folding resistance, which affects the overall quality of the playing cards. Through the modification process, the company can effectively improve the quality of paper, thereby ensuring that the quality of playing card paper is significantly better than the industry average.
2.1 The specific requirements for the modification of playing card paper are as follows:
2.1.1 Demand for paper stability. Paper is a thin layer of material interwoven with natural plant fibers. Therefore, paper has a strong hydrophilic ability. The newly produced paper can only be stored in the company’s warehouse after long-distance transportation after it leaves the factory, and the difference in temperature and humidity between the production place and the place of use also makes the paper inevitably affected by the external environment and absorbing or discharging water to cause deformation, which affects printing and printing. Order processing and product quality. Therefore, it is very important that the moisture of the paper before printing and the humidity of the external environment reach a relative balance.
2.1.2 The demand on the flatness of the paper. Paper is a multi-phase, complex and homogeneous polymer material. It has elastic properties and time-dependent flow properties. It is both elastic and viscous. Paper will deform when subjected to an external force. Even if the external force is removed, it will still be partially deformed and cannot return to its original shape, that is, permanent deformation. In the production process of paper, paper mills generally first roll the produced paper into a roll shape, and then unroll it and cut it into flat sheets. Although the bending of the paper can be partially recovered after cutting into flat paper, there is still some deformation that cannot be recovered. Therefore, if the purchased paper is directly put into production, it will easily cause the playing cards to warp, which will have a negative impact on the production process and the quality of the final product. Therefore, it is necessary to apply appropriate external forces to eliminate the paper caused by these undesirable stress and deformation. Warpage problem.
2.2 Specific measures adopted by the company in response to paper modification needs:
2.2.1 Store the paper in a specific environment for a certain period of time, and balance the moisture of the paper with the humidity of the external environment. The company has carried out continuous experiments on the paper and proved that under a certain environment, the paper placed for about three months will reach a good state in terms of dimensional stability, and the paper will no longer have obvious expansion and contraction problems, and it can be effective. Improve the inaccurate overprinting of poker paper and the problem of unilateral size and head size in the subsequent process.
2.2.2 Store the paper in a specific environment for a certain period of time, deal with the stress and deformation of the paper, eliminate undesirable stress (warpage), and achieve the best flatness. According to the theoretical explanation of the relationship between paper stress and time in the “Paper Page Structure and Performance” published by China Light Industry Press in 2006, the company combined with the actual situation to store the newly produced playing card flat paper for three months. Time to eliminate the bad warping stress of the paper and the bad curling stress caused by the roll. Three thousand sheets of flat playing card paper are stacked in a rack and stored for three months, which can well eliminate the permanent benign deformation, and the product quality is significantly improved.
3. Printing
That is, the front and back printing of playing cards and the printing of playing card packaging. The company uses Heidelberg series printers with world-leading technology to improve printing efficiency and ensure high-quality printing results. The printing process of playing cards must be carried out in the order of “front side first, then back side”, that is, after the front printing is completed, the reverse printing can be performed after about 12 hours of circulation; after that, after 5-7 days of circulation, the ink is dried. Can enter the next process. The company uses advanced printing equipment, and its operating efficiency is greatly improved compared with traditional production processes.
4. Inspection and embossing
Product inspection is to check whether the printed playing cards meet the production requirements and specifications. The playing card paper that meets the requirements and specifications can enter the embossing process, that is, the machine is used to emboss the pattern on the front of the playing cards. The company adopts a fully automatic inspection machine to realize the two processes on one machine to improve production efficiency.
Embossing can improve the special feel of playing cards during use, and improve the grade of playing cards. Currently, most of SUPC‘s products are embossed, and products that do not require embossing enter the glazing process after the inspection process.
5. Glazing
Glazing is an important step in the manufacturing process of playing cards. There are many detailed procedures for glazing, and both the front and back of the playing cards need to be glazing. The company adopts a double deck two-way glazing machine for playing cards to realize full automation of the process, which not only improves production efficiency but also saves the loss of raw materials, and strictly controls product quality.
6. Slitting
About to cut the playing card paper into standard playing cards. The traditional production process has to go through two processes: creasing, manual branding and corner cutting. By adopting the technology of “orderly collection after paper slitting”, the company can complete slitting and corner cutting at one time, simplifying the production process, and improving production efficiency and product quality.
7. Finished product
The finished product steps are divided into three categories according to the different forms of product packaging: outsourcing, carton inner packaging, and special inner packaging.
Outsourcing is a packaging method in which the playing cards are first wrapped in a paper card box, and then the carton is encapsulated with BOPP plastic film.
The carton inner package is a packaging method in which the playing cards are sealed with BOPP plastic film and then put into a paper card box.
The special inner package is a packaging method in which the playing cards are sealed with BOPP plastic film first, and then put into a special box.