Top 10 Causes of Label Fly-Off in Die Cutting — How Many Do You Know? (Part 1)

Die cutting is an essential step in self-adhesive label production — and one that label printers' technical teams most often overlook. Die-cutting quality directly affects the customer experience, and label fly-off during die cutting is a perennial headache for label printing companies. So what exactly causes it?

When the matrix keeps lifting labels at the same position, carefully peel a label off the matrix and inspect the attachment point with a magnifier. Torn paper fibers usually mean the blade is nicked or has gone dull there, or the bearing surface beneath has sunk. Either way, the facestock is not being fully cut and labels ride away with the matrix — similar to what happens when a gap opens where the die's head meets its tail.

04 Waste matrix area too largeFor round, barrel-shaped, or specialty labels, the larger the ratio of matrix area to label area, the harder the matrix tugs at labels during stripping and the more easily it carries them off. Adding blades in the matrix area of the die plate spreads the stripping force, and the carry-off problem fades.

05 Release force of the self-adhesive stock too low

Low release force in self-adhesive stock causes

fly-off during die-cut rewinding. There are two main causes: (1) the material's release force was set low to begin with, or long storage has degraded the adhesive and silicone; (2) the stock was stored too cold and the chilled adhesive never thawed before converting, or the shop floor itself is too cold, stiffening the adhesive and weakening its grip on the liner.

Lingmin Named a 2022 Fengxian District "Sci-Tech Little Giant"

Under the Fengxian District Rules for Recognizing Sci-Tech Little Giant Enterprises (Feng Ke [2022] No. 9) and the notice organizing the district's 2022 program, following company self-application, recommendation by townships and development zones, preliminary review by the District Science and Technology Commission, and on-site expert evaluation, 18 companies — including Shanghai Yinlun Heat Exchange Systems — were named 2022 Fengxian District Sci-Tech Little Giants. Shanghai Lingmin Packaging Materials is among them.

In early 2020, a sudden pandemic dealt the global economy a heavy blow, and many SMEs struggled to stay afloat. Lingmin Packaging kept investing in new equipment and specialized production lines, advancing steadily through the crisis: it became a High-and-New-Technology Enterprise in 2020 — and was the 40th company approved to resume operations during that year's outbreak — and in 2022 was again among the first white-listed companies to restart production.

As an ordinary small-to-midsize printer, what is Lingmin Packaging's secret to withstanding the pandemic shock — and what let it grow against the tide?

20 Years of Groundwork, Traditional Business Intact…while rising to Sci-Tech Little Giant. In 2003, an unknown little print shop quietly opened its doors — Lingmin's predecessor — focused on traditional commercial printing and packaging. By 2005, Lingmin had sensed how fierce competition in traditional package printing was becoming; with the internet spreading year by year, informatization and intelligence were clearly the trend. Where was traditional package printing headed? Guided by the founder's prescient read on the industry, Lingmin moved swiftly onto the path of digital packaging transformation, dedicating itself to a one-item-one-code digital anti-counterfeit traceability system.