Coating/Printing Equipment

Printing paper is broadly categorized into uncoated paper, which is mainly composed of pulp and filler, and coated paper, which is coated with pigments as the main component on the surface of base uncoated paper. In addition, the quality of paper is significantly affected by the structure of the coating layer, formed by the pigment, as well as the pulp and filler of the base paper. Consequently, factors like brightness, gloss, smoothness, and ink acceptability are highly dependent on these elements, making the product design of coated paper more complex than that of uncoated paper. We produce high-quality coated paper by fully optimizing the materials used for both base paper and coating layers.

In line with the increasing use of color in newsprint and printing speed, we are developing our proprietary technology to improve the functionality of newsprint paper. In order to obtain fine color printing, it is important to prevent ink show-through and to minimize paper dust generation during printing. In our newsprint paper manufacturing mill, we produce our own high-performance calcium carbonate filler specifically designed for newsprint, and by incorporating it into paper, we reduce ink show-through and paper dust during printing and utilize our independently developed surface treatment agent to accommodate increased printing speeds. We will continue to develop technologies to produce higher quality and environmentally friendly newsprint paper.

We produce calcium carbonate at many mills and use it as a filler for paper. In our calcium carbonate production process, CO2 gas emitted from mills is utilized as raw material to react with limestone, which is abundantly available in Japan. Therefore, this process is an environmentally friendly system that leads to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Also, in the production process, it is possible to control various forms by adjusting the reaction conditions of the carbonation process. By controlling and utilizing technology, we have achieved higher quality paper tailored to specific applications, such as brightness, opacity, bulkiness, or the neutralization of newsprint paper.

We have thorough equipment and systems, so that printing evaluation can be conducted from the perspective of our user (printing company).

In order to accurately understand the requirements for printing workability and quality, we have installed various actual printing machines and evaluation equipment to conduct a variety of printing evaluations. In commercial and publishing printing, we use four-color sheetfed offset printing machines to evaluate the paper and printing problems under similar conditions at the printing company. In addition, we use the equipment for making printing plates to evaluate the optimized printing patterns for specific purposes.

In addition to the printing evaluation of newsprint paper and printing paper, we provide printing support for various paper products produced by the NIPPON PAPER GROUP. We also own flexo printing testing machines for cardboard, paperboard, and liquid packaging, and are equipped to evaluate various printing methods.

At development plant, we possess testing facilities for coating and finishing processes. The following are some of the typical facilities:

In addition to general blade curtain heads, transfer-type gate roll coating methods are available, and we mainly conduct coating tests for the purpose of confirming the suitability of various coated papers produced by the NIPPON PAPER GROUP and for developing new products.

By passing paper between a heated metal roll and a resilient resin roll, the smoothness of the paper can be increased without excessively increasing the paper’s density.