Category: Print is Vital

Digitization of Packaging: a Great Opportunity at drupa and Beyond

April 25, 2024 / SEYBOLDREPORT

By Dr. Sean Smyth – Analyst & Consultant, Smithers

The drivers of sustainability, automation and workflow as the world continues to digitize dominate most print and packaging operations. Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is increasingly difficult for many businesses as baby boomers retire and the younger digital native generations demand a different approach to their working life.

Digital print developments will be center stage at drupa across all graphics, industrial and packaging and there will be further announcements this year. Digital packaging offers many opportunities for commercial printers looking to move into new sectors as many traditional print applications continue to decline. The same dynamic is encouraging more equipment suppliers to offer digital printing systems for labels, corrugated, cartons, flexible packaging, rigid plastics, glass and metal packaging.

The figures below show how the suppliers of digital print equipment for labels and packaging have developed since this technology map was first produced in 2019. There has been a steady stream of new entrants, from established analog print equipment suppliers and new providers offering their digital print expertise.

Digital printing systems for packaging and labels in 2019

Digital printing systems for packaging and labels in 2023

In addition to these there are digital overprint systems and sophisticated bespoke integrations, some operating as a part of manufacturing and filling lines. While there has been consolidation on the supply side, it is striking there have been few exits from the sector, the high number of players now competing in the wide range of packaging applications, offering new capabilities and functionalities, with steadily increasing productivity and lower costs.

Well, the good news for us print techies is this diagram (above) will get even more crowded this year. Smithers tracks the developments in this sector, publishing reports and running conferences on digitally printed packaging. The European, American, and Asian events bring together hundreds of brands, retailers, packer/fillers, converters, agencies and designers together with equipment, substrate and ink/toner suppliers, with workflow and logistics companies also involved.These are excellent forums and over the years the discussion moved from technology issues into tangible benefits and improved business processes from adopting digital printing, and increasingly digital finishing. Today quality, reliability and productivity are no longer issues for inkjet and electrophotography packaging presses.

At drupa there will be sheetfed inkjet machines offering the equivalent of process color sheetfed litho at speeds of 11,000 B1 sheets per hour and web presses offering speeds in excess of 400 mpm up to 2.8 m wide. These are mainstream alternatives to litho, flexo, and gravure alternatives.

The print head and press manufacturers are developing methods to eliminate inkjet artifacts, compensating for nozzle outs and deviations in real time that extend the life of the heads and machine uptime.

Inkjet will be the real winner, with faster machines being shown, particularly in flexible packaging. Ink technology is improving, with UV and water-based inks being employed for specific applications.

There will be more highly pigmented formulations helping reduce the ink film thickness while lowering the total cost of ownership further boosting the share of digital print.

It is not just printing. Some vendors will show single pass, highly automated systems to print and finish corrugated boxes, cartons and flexibles in a single pass. The enabler is the combination of digital print with digital finishing. These will feature automated control systems that drive the press, measure and check the print then track through finishing which may be coating, laminating, cutting, creasing, folding and gluing, together with a wide variety of embellishments.

The digital front end controllers are becoming increasingly powerful, automating and driving the digital print unit while at the same time measuring and controlling quality and then to set and drive the finishing technology. This approach helps replaces the traditional skills of press minders and finishing journeymen operators – important as skilled labor resources become scarcer.

While new digital presses are the shiny and sexy headline grabbers, even more important is the enabling workflow software. The only way of making money from a digital press is to produce saleable output and powerful workflow is vital to prepare the artwork files and keep the print queue well stocked. output and powerful workflow is vital to prepare the artwork files and keep the print queue well stocked.

This reality can be a barrier for packaging converters entering the sector as many do not have the necessary prepress and data handling skills. This year’s drupa will see many companies providing solutions with integrated management information systems to automate the administration needed to handle many short run jobs.

Workflow will become increasingly collaborative, with new designs produced and approved, then loaded into job queues for automated color management and imposition with no manual involvement at the converter. The MIS is linked, ordering substrates and planning the production on printer and finishing to meet the customer requirements and optimize capacity at the converter.

Digital workflow can be daunting for packaging converters accustomed to handling only a few large jobs but it is the way of the world. At drupa this year companies can explore solutions at drupa to simplify supply chains key to
future success supplying packaging and labels.

The market leaders offer a broad variety of creative software. They will show new methods to automate the repetitive processes involved with packaging design, approvals and prepress taking time and cost out of the process. Other players will offer specific solutions for integration and to optimize color management, imposition and providing variable data capability.

All these packaging developments are ultimately driven by end-customer expectations, or rather, demands. In the increasingly connected world these demands and expectations are changing, with more engagement and interaction to improve the consumer experience of the brand. Digital printing allows brands to make content decisions later in the supply chain. These additional functions move packaging beyond the traditional containment and protection functions, with information and promotion. A unique digital print product can be connected to the cyber world, opening new opportunities of logistical efficiency and greater consumer engagement.

This year’s drupa is an important print show because the exhibitors (and all the important ones will be there) will be showcasing what they have, while using the event to showcase what they are working on to gain feedback. And, digital packaging print (plus finishing) will very much be on the agenda.

There will be more machines for labels; corrugated – post and preprint, replacements for litholam; for folding cartons; for flexible packaging; for metal and there will be direct-to-shape machines doing interesting things on cans, aerosols, plastic and glass. Established players will show improvements to quality, speed and formats, with new inks and toners broadening the types of packaging they can produce.

In addition, I am really looking forward to seeing the newcomers who have already announced developments they will be showing off. I know of several potential developments sadly under NDA I am not allowed to mention until the show which is the bane of a technology correspondent. That will change when drupa opens. So, roll on May 2024!

It’s Banned Book Week: Read Banned Books and Join Protests

October 5, 2023 / SEYBOLDREPORT

October 1-7 is Banned Books Week. A coalition of organizations dedicated to free expression support this important effort to bring attention to attempts to ban books and repress freedom of the press.

The group includes American Booksellers for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Amnesty International USA, Association of University Presses, Authors Guild, Banned Books Week Sweden, Children’s Book Council, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Freedom to Read Foundation, GLAAD, Index on Censorship, Little Free Library, National Book Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN America, People For the American Way Foundation, PFLAG, and Project Censored. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Banned Books Week also receives generous support from HarperCollins Publishers and Penguin Random House.

This year LeVar Burton is the honorary chair. Burton has a long track record of advocating for books, publishing, and reading. In his statement for this year’s event he says, “Books bring us together. They teach us about the world and each other. The ability to read and access books is a fundamental right and a necessity for life-long success.”

He adds, “But books are under attack. They’re being removed from libraries and schools. Shelves have been emptied because of a small number of people and their misguided efforts toward censorship. Public advocacy campaigns like Banned Books Week are essential to helping people understand the scope of book censorship and what they can do to fight it. I’m honored to lead Banned Books Week 2023.”

Saturday, October 7, is Let Freedom Read Day, a day of action against censorship. You can take part: do at least one thing this week to defend the right to read and to speak on behalf of those who ensure access to information. And, of course, you could always buy and read or check-out and read (you have a library card, right?) one of the books the ALA reports people are challenging (asking them to remove); have a chat with a librarian or bookseller for recommendations. For information about ways to participate and resources, visit bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-read-day/. And, here’s more inspiration.

The Real Reason 1984 Was Not Like 1984: PostScript

February 14, 2023 / JOSSGROUP

On January 22, 1984, during that year’s Super Bowl, the now-iconic and totally unforgettable Apple Computer advertisement aired. The commercial never showed the computer itself, but ended with this audio: “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”

We were there, and we remember. And, we would strenuously argue the Macintosh did change the world in some ways.

But, we would also argue the real reason 1984 was not like the book 1984 and one of the foundational reasons the entire world began to change so profoundly that year is because of the software that is PostScript and not hardware that was Macintosh.

So, we want to draw attention to a December 2022 announcement and article released by the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The museum announced the public release of PostScript’s source code. The article talks about the origins of PostScript and its significance inside the enormous world that is Print and points to its wider significance to the world that is, well, the entire World. For Seybold Report readers and followers, the article is a must-read.

“Today, the digital printing press has far exceeded anything envisioned by the Adobe cofounders when they first set out create PostScript with their team. Almost everything printed on paper is done so using computers. Indeed, in many areas of the world, computers have become the overwhelming tool for writing. As Doug Brotz puts it, PostScript ‘democratized the print world.’ With PDF now so successful that it too has become a global standard, the number of PDFs created each year is now measured in the trillions.”

Does Print Have a Branding Problem?

February 2, 2023 / JOSSGROUP

In a 2022 in review article, industry observer and crusader Deborah Corn makes two bold statements we wanted to highlight in this post:

“We have a tremendous workforce development problem, that is swiftly moving toward a crisis.”
“Since I don’t have a vested interest to attract people to a specific program, print organization, or company, I can see the bigger picture. In this case, PRINT has a serious branding issue.”

Corn makes several suggestions in her article about what print providers should do in 2023 to help bolster the Print’s brand. We suggest readers of this blog read her article and share with her and the Joss Group their reactions. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Joss Group says, “PRINT is vital!” Deborah Corn says, “Print has a serious branding issue.” Both statements are true, but there is more to the story. It is time for more than a few serious discussions. Let us get started!

Print is Vital: Holiday Edition

December 1, 2022 / JOSSGROUP

No surprise here: American Greetings likes cards, all kinds of cards including printed cards. And, the company says, most adults in the United States do, too. More than half send some kind of card during the year-end holiday season.

The press release about the study got us thinking about one of our favorite Seybold Report subjects: the amazing vitality of Print. So, here is a quick gallery of some of the holiday-related print products and projects most people (but not us!) take for granted. Spread the word: Print is Vital!