Manufacturing · Stage 07

The Decoration Line: Printing, Labelling and Coating In-House

Decoration runs in the same buildings as molding, which is what keeps a five-colour design economical at cosmetic volumes — and what stops a printing problem becoming an argument between two suppliers.

Quick answer

Decoration is a production stage with its own quality risks, not a finishing touch added at the end

Bottles, jars, closures and dispensers are printed, stamped, labelled or coated after molding and before closure matching. Silk screen (up to six colours), hot stamping, pressure-sensitive labelling, spray coating with matte, gloss, frosted, holographic and soft-touch finishes, pad printing and shrink-sleeve labelling all run in-house.

Two things make decoration different from the other manufacturing stages. First, it is applied to a surface that has already been stressed by blowing or by ejection, so ink adhesion is a real variable rather than an assumption — particularly on polyolefin surfaces, which need a flame or water-hanging pre-treatment before printing or the ink will peel. Second, it is the stage where the artwork, the tool and the customer all meet, so a miscommunication about position or colour shows up on every unit in the run.

Up to 6

Silk-screen colours

Coating finishes

In-house

Pre-treatment and printing

100%

Print-adhesion checked

ISO 9001

Quality system

4-point

Wall thickness check

Scope of this page

This page explains decoration as a production stage: how it runs, what can go wrong and how it is controlled. If your question is which decoration process to choose for your design — effect, material constraints, colour count, what it costs at what volume — that is an engineering question: see bottle decoration options.

Six questions

Decoration, answered in six questions

The same six questions apply to every manufacturing process on this site, so the answers can be compared stage by stage.

What is the process?

After molding and trimming, bottles are pre-treated where the material requires it, then printed, stamped, labelled or coated, then checked and cured. Silk screen printing, hot stamping, pressure-sensitive labelling, pad printing, shrink-sleeve labelling and spray coating all run in-house. Spray coating carries matte, gloss, frosted, holographic and soft-touch finishes.

Why does it matter?

Decoration is the stage that decides what the customer sees on the shelf, and it is also the stage most often subcontracted — which is exactly when a print position argument becomes a three-week delay between two suppliers who each say the other caused it. Running it under the same roof as molding means one specification, one approval and one accountable owner for the finished decorated part.

What packaging does it produce?

Decorated cosmetic and skincare bottles, lotion and shampoo bottles, household cleaner bottles, jars, closures, pumps and dispensers. Up to six silk-screen colours, foil stamping, printed and functional labels, shrink sleeves for full-body coverage, and coatings from high gloss through to soft-touch.

What quality issues should buyers watch?

Ink or coating adhesion — the single most common decoration failure, and it appears after filling rather than before; registration and print position against the approved artwork; colour drift across a run; coating gloss and thickness drifting outside the agreed band; scuffing during packing; label placement tolerance; and curing that fails when the pack meets a solvent in the filling line.

What information does the buyer need to provide?

Vector artwork with Pantone references; the decoration specification naming which process applies to which surface; the print area and position; a master sample or an approved physical reference for colour; the fill product and any downstream sterilisation or solvent exposure; and the packing method that the decorated part will travel in.

What happens after this process?

Curing and drying, then print-adhesion and visual checks, then closure matching, final QC, packing and export. Decoration is stage 07 of eleven: it sits after inspection and before the closure goes on, so a decorated part is never assembled until its print has been released.

The line

How a decorated bottle moves through the plant

Decoration is not one machine. It is a sequence with a pre-treatment step that exists because of the chemistry of polyolefin surfaces, and an adhesion test that gates the whole run.

Surface pre-treatment

Polyolefin surfaces (HDPE, PE, PP) are low-energy and ink does not bond to them reliably. The bottles are flame- and water-tested before printing to prevent ink peeling. This step is non-negotiable on those materials, and skipping it is the most common cause of a print that looks perfect and then washes off.

Print, stamp, label or coat

Silk screen (up to six colours), hot stamping, pressure-sensitive labelling, pad printing, shrink-sleeve labelling or spray coating. The process was chosen at design stage; this stage executes it.

In-process registration and colour check

Print position against the approved artwork, and colour against the approved reference, checked while the run continues rather than only at the end. Visual defect inspection runs every 30 minutes across the plant and covers the decoration line as well.

Curing and drying

Ink and coating are allowed to reach their final state before the part is handled or packed. Packing a part that is still curing is how scuffing and set-off happen.

Print-adhesion testing

Adhesion is tested before the run is released, not after it is finished. The test is the one the failure mode demands: if the ink can lift, the test has to try to lift it.

Visual and dimensional release

The decorated part is released against the master sample for colour and appearance, and against the specification for position and dimension.

Handover to matching

Released decorated parts move to closure matching and final QC. Nothing is assembled until its decoration has been released.

Defects

What a buyer should watch for, and how we control it

Decoration defects are unusual among manufacturing defects because most of them are invisible at the moment of manufacture and appear in your filling line or on a retail shelf.

Symptom	What it usually means	How we control it
Print or coating lifting, peeling or washing off after filling	Insufficient surface energy on a polyolefin part, or a curing schedule that did not reach the ink’s final state. This is the most common decoration failure in the category.	Flame and water-hanging pre-treatment before printing on PE and HDPE, and print-adhesion testing before the run is released rather than after
Colour that differs from the approved sample	Ink mix drift across a long run, or a colour approved from a screen or a paper reference rather than from a physical sample.	Colour matched against the approved physical master sample under standard light, and checked in process as well as at the start of the run
Print in the wrong position or the wrong size	Artwork supplied without a defined print area, or a change made after the print station was set.	Print area and position defined against a physical master sample at approval, and version-controlled artwork
Coating gloss or texture outside the agreed band	Coating thickness drifting, or a finish approved from a photograph rather than a coated physical sample.	Finish approved on a physical coated sample, then gloss and thickness checked in process against that reference
Scuffing, set-off or rub marks in the carton	Parts packed before the ink or coating had fully cured, or insufficient interleaving for the finish.	Curing and drying time before packing, with the packing method agreed against the finish rather than defaulted to the standard carton
Labels bubbling, lifting or skewing	Surface contamination, a label stock mismatched to the surface energy of the bottle, or placement tolerance not defined.	Label stock and the bottle surface specified together, with placement tolerance agreed before the run
Shrink sleeve misaligned or distorted	Sleeve shrinkage not matched to the bottle profile, which is a specification issue rather than a line setting.	Sleeve artwork proved on the actual bottle profile before production is released

Notice that five of the seven rows are consequences of an approval that should have happened on a physical sample. Paper and screens are useful for design; they are not a standard to manufacture against — which is the same principle the colour matching guide applies to colour.

Inputs

What we need from you before a decorated run is released

Decoration is the one stage where a buyer’s artwork file is a production input, so most of this list is about making the artwork unambiguous.

Decoration project inputs

Artwork

Vector artwork with the colours called out as Pantone references. A raster file can be used as a reference but not as a production input for screen or stamping.

Print area and position

Where the artwork sits on the part, and how much tolerance the design can absorb. If the bottle is tapered or the surface curves, say which part of the artwork must stay undistorted.

Decoration specification

Which process applies to which surface: bottle, closure, dispenser or all three. If the run mixes processes, name them separately.

Colour reference

Pantone references plus a physical sample. Production is matched against the physical sample.

Number of colours

Silk screen carries up to six colours. Each additional colour is an additional pass, so colour count is a cost and a schedule variable rather than a free parameter.

Finish, if coating

Matte, gloss, frosted, holographic or soft-touch, approved on a physical coated sample.

Fill product and downstream process

What goes in the pack, whether the pack is exposed to alcohol, solvent or heat after filling, and whether it is sterilised or shrink-wrapped. Ink adhesion is judged against that exposure, not against a bare bottle.

Master sample

A physical approved sample for colour and appearance, retained by both sides. This is what production is inspected against.

Volumes

First order and annual volume, because the setup economics of each process change with volume.

Packing method

How the decorated parts travel. The finish decides how much interleaving and protection is needed.

FAQ

Decoration line FAQ

Which decoration processes do you run in-house?+

Silk screen printing (up to six colours), hot stamping, pressure-sensitive labelling, pad printing, shrink-sleeve labelling and spray coating with matte, gloss, frosted, holographic and soft-touch finishes. All of it runs in the same buildings as our molding lines.

Why does my print look perfect and then peel in the filling line?+

Almost always because a polyolefin surface was printed without pre-treatment, or because the ink had not reached its final cured state before packing. PE and HDPE are low-energy surfaces: they require flame and water-hanging pre-treatment before printing, and the print is adhesion-tested before the run is released.

How many colours can you print?+

Up to six colours in silk screen. Colour count is a real cost variable because each colour is an additional pass, so it is worth designing to the minimum that carries the artwork.

Which is cheaper, a label or a print?+

It depends on volume and on the artwork, and it is a design decision rather than a line decision. See bottle decoration options, where each process is compared on effect, material constraints, production minimums and quality risk.

Can you print on the closure as well as the bottle?+

Yes. Closures, pumps and dispensers can be decorated, and a run can mix processes across the components. If it does, they are specified separately rather than assumed to follow the bottle.

Can I change the artwork after the first order?+

Yes, and artwork is the one item on the specification that can be changed late at relatively low cost, because it does not touch the tool. It does need re-approval, and a physical master sample has to be re-signed, so build a cycle into the schedule.

Do you test print adhesion, and how?+

Yes, before the run is released. The test is chosen to match the failure mode — if the ink can lift, the test has to try to lift it — and the exposure the pack will actually meet (alcohol, solvent, abrasion, moisture) is part of the specification rather than an afterthought.

Where decoration sits in the chain

Decoration is stage 07 of eleven. It sits after inspection and before closure matching, and it is the reason a five-colour design is affordable at cosmetic volumes rather than only at household volumes.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing hub →Injection molding →ISBM — stretch blow →EBM — extrusion blow →Tooling and molds →Decoration line →

Materials and engineering

Materials hub →Material comparison →Packaging engineering →Bottle design →Neck and closure →Formula compatibility →

Quality, process and reading

Quality & compliance →Quality & compliance — certifications →One-stop capability →How to choose between PET, HDPE and PP bottles →PET vs HDPE vs PP vs PETG: material guide →Virgin resin vs recycled resin: what to verify →

Send us the artwork and the surface.

We will confirm which process carries it, how many passes it needs, and how adhesion will be tested before the run is released.

Talk to Engineering Request a Quote

Part of Plastic Packaging Manufacturing: From Resin Pellet to Export | Shijin

Keep reading

Material, engineering and buying pages that this one sits next to.

EBM: Extrusion Blow Molding for HDPE, PE and PP Bottles | Shijin Injection Molding: Preforms, Closures and Dispensers | Shijin ISBM: Injection Stretch Blow Molding for PET Bottles | Shijin Tooling: Stock Mold vs Custom Mold Explained | Shijin Quality & Compliance: ISO 9001, Testing and Documentation | Shijin Packaging Engineering: Bottles, Closures and Decoration | Shijin Custom Bottles, Jars & Dispensers — Wholesale

Products behind this page

Real items from the Shijin stock-mold library. Shown specifications are the published ones; a quotation is built from your own drawing and fill volume.

PE | 180 ml | SJE1773-JJ017-180