Digitally printed packaging is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors in print, with projected growth to $23.6 billion (£18.7 billion) in 2027 and $45 billion (£35.7 billion) by 2032. So, there is plenty of room at the table for new entrants, writes Michal Lodej.
While digital’s current share of the total global printed packaging market is small, the potential for the technology is enormous, as are the opportunities for wide-format and display graphics print providers looking to extend their portfolio with new, exciting packaging applications.
Thanks to digital printing technology’s ability to quickly produce short runs of variable, full-colour print, it fits perfectly into a packaging industry where segmentation dominates.
Only with digital print can brands customise packaging designs to cater to specific demographics and audiences efficiently and profitably in small numbers. Primary packaging can even be personalised to address individual customers, creating experiences and fostering brand loyalty.
For converters and PSPs seeking a position in digital packaging, corrugated packaging – used to display, promote and package almost every kind of product – and corrugated boxes could be a good way in.
There are two workflow options for manufacturing printed corrugated packaging: ‘pre-print’ and ‘post-print’. In the simplest terms, the ‘pre’ and the ‘post’ refer to whether the top liner (the outside of the box) is printed before or after the corrugation process (when it is glued to the flute and the bottom liner).
Widely known advantages
There is significant opportunity here for wide-format digital production to gain a foothold. While litho lamination is suitable for long runs involving no variable data, consumer demand for more personalisation and the drive by marketers for increasingly customised/versioned packaging plays into digital’s customised and personalised short-run strengths.
As an example, Steve Hardy, managing director at Prosign, a Canon partner and PSP, describes the growing packaging printing opportunity for the business. ‘Packaging printing is a growing business opportunity for us. We currently not only print a range of short-run packaging jobs for our customers on our Canon Arizona, but we also offer packaging design and prototype services. These include especially personalised and eye-catching presentation boxes for retail environments and gift boxes which are very popular.
‘Many of our customers and prospects don’t have a huge awareness of the capabilities and benefits of digital packaging printing and it’s been a really exciting opportunity to show them what we can achieve with digital print. I think more and more people are realising the possibilities and cost savings digital print brings to the packaging market. Whereas traditionally, packing orders had to be longer run lengths to make them cost effective, we can now efficiently produce short runs thanks to digital print.’
Start small
The Print and Mail Service is the campus print facility for the University of Leeds. The work it produces is mostly split into three areas: traditional document printing; graphics arts printing for marketing purposes etc; and transactional work such as print and mail services.
Staff as well as students can order anything from staff IDs, postcards, posters, dissertation and thesis printing, to signage and labels, through the department’s online store.
To offer all those products the department is equipped with a heavy load of different professional printing hardware and software. One of the recent additions to its print portfolio is the DTM Print LX610e Colour Label Printer. This full-colour, desktop label printer/plotter combines colour inkjet label printing with a built-in digital die-cutting mechanism, producing any shape of customised label in seconds.
The LX610e is a roll-fed label printer which not only prints but also cuts any shape or size. Oliver Renshaw, business and systems manager, said, ‘It also opens up new markets for stickers and shorter run labels due to its flexibility of substrates and ease of use.’
Since it purchased the LX610e the Print and Mail Service produces several thousand labels at peak times. Order quantities can be anything from just one label to a few hundred at a time. It is used every day because its main customer for labels at the moment is the university’s own catering department, wanting food labelling. The label printer is already showing great returns as the department could add new products and services. It also shifted some jobs from other devices to the LX610e, allowing for greater profitability. Mr Renshaw elaborates, ‘Not only were we able to diversify our product range, but we also expect a full return on investment in the first year.’
Together with the LX610e, it also bought Eddie, the edible ink printer that prints logos, photos and text directly onto biscuits, sweets, marshmallows, white chocolate and a wide range of baked goods. As Eddie prints directly onto the surface of food, there is no need for using icing sheets; no aftertaste and no added texture which would decrease the quality of the food.
Men of Kent unite
From left: ARC Technologies’ Ricky Snell (head of operations EMEA), Ross Snell (VP, EMEA) and Darren Moorhouse (head of sales, EMEA) in front of the new Fujifilm Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED system
ARC UK, a leading provider of wide format digital print and creative design services, has announced its latest investment in the Fujifilm Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED, installed at its headquarters in Dartford, Kent. This cutting-edge wide format printer was conceived and designed just down the road, in Broadstairs, Kent, at Fujifilm’s Wide Format Inkjet Headquarters.
The investment in the Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED has provided ARC with the tools to significantly expand its printing capabilities. The machine’s hybrid technology allows for high quality printing on both rigid and flexible media and is an ideal solution for ARC UK Technologies’ broad range of applications, which include printed packaging solutions, fabric printing, graphic design, retail displays and banners, digital printing services and event tradeshow graphics.
ARC’s business portfolio also includes wayfinding and signage projects for numerous well-known brands around the globe, including Accenture, Adidas, Boston Consulting Group, PwC and Shell.
Darren Moorhouse, head of sales EMEA, ARC Technologies commented, ‘At ARC Technologies, we pride ourselves on delivering world-class products with high quality and bespoke print solutions for branding and signage applications. The Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED has given us the ability to take on more jobs than ever. It prints remarkably high quality on both rigid and flexible media, and thanks to its LED curing technology, it has massively increased our throughput and transformed our business, all while lowering our energy consumption.’
There is often a chicken and egg scenario when it comes to investing to capture new markets: do you build up the business need first and then buy the kit, or do you buy the kit and go all out in trying to fill it with jobs. Yet, as these examples demonstrate, many printers are already producing packaging and labels with equipment built for the commercial print sector. Perhaps you already have what it takes to enter this market, sitting in your print shop.
