The development of the flexible packaging market and the innovation and evolution of digital printing within it

For digital printing technology, 2020 was a landmark year in which a large number of new technologies were launched, and as consumer trends and behavior continue to change, the digital flexible packaging market is about to open. Nevertheless, some challenges and obstacles remain.

"The flexible packaging market is very similar to the label market 20 years ago, when digital label printing was just getting started," said Matt Burton, Global Sales Director at AB Graphic (ABG). "The trends are more or less the same. At present, we see the digital drivers for flexible packaging as: the adoption of digital presses; the demand for shorter, more customized and more economical runs; brands becoming increasingly sensitive to the total cost of packaging; personalization and product quality. Given its scale, the flexible packaging market represents a huge opportunity."

"Product packaging is seen as an extension of the brand, another platform for communicating directly with consumers and offering them a more personalized experience," said Juan Cano, Flexible Packaging Business Development Director at Screen Europe. "The rise of new technologies such as digital printing enables brand owners to be more creative and to convey more personalized messages through packaging design. In addition, consumer attitudes and new regulations calling for more ethical and sustainable use of flexible packaging are driving the industry to seek greener ways to produce and print flexible packaging."

Randy Vandagriff, Senior Vice President of Printing at Eastman Kodak, said: "The demand for greater agility and shorter time to market is driving the adoption of digital printing in the packaging market. This is in stark contrast to analog printing, which faces longer lead times and higher costs. More and more brand owners are now looking for solutions that support personalization, versioning, more frequent design changes and efficient short-run production. In addition, by leveraging the greater flexibility and variability of digital technology, packaging designers can realize striking creative concepts."

Joe Collins, Technical Sales Specialist at Afinia Label UK, echoed some of these points, saying: "Shipping delays and supply chain complexity have had an impact on customers' mindset, leading brand owners to want to control this part of their product packaging. We hope this mindset persists after the pandemic. Pandemic-related issues forced many people to do so, and now they are open to the feasibility of in-house digital printing, even in 'normal' times."

For Phil Smith, General Manager of BakPac, the "Amazon Prime" mindset is driving a new era of short-run packaging, with the expectation of fast delivery from the point of order. The potential to offer promotions and late-stage differentiation is also pulling larger brands toward digital, but emerging brands are accelerating the pace of digital packaging.

Both Smith and Paul Humpage, Sales Director at CS Labels, drew attention to the number of small businesses newly established during the pandemic and to their role in developing the digital flexible packaging market. They noted that these companies need flexibility, smaller minimum order quantities and fast, responsive service. Mr. Humpage said: "Our research shows that in 2020, around 85,000 new companies were established. Most of these companies are in markets that will certainly use

pouches, such as animal, nutrition, food and snacks. Traditional minimum order quantities (MOQ) may have proven to be an obstacle for these companies, because digitalization has not helped to bring them down, and in some cases order quantities at CS are as low as 1,000. With traditional flexible packaging production technology, minimum order quantities in the tens of thousands could be a reasonable expectation."

"Such customers may also have less technical knowledge, which increases their engagement with the UK printer through its CS Pouches brand, because they want to leverage the company's experience and technical knowledge to bring packaging to market, which will help them establish a foothold and attract consumer attention. This is the essence of the modern B2C relationship. Pouches look really great, and with the growth of social media platforms, aesthetics are almost as important as the product itself," said Mr. Humpage.

In flexible packaging, CS is known for innovating with Xeikon's five-color toner printing equipment, with which it developed and launched fleXflow. The technology is driven by Xeikon's X-800 DFE, and it runs from the CX500 toner press for printing, to the LCoat500 for thermal lamination, and then to inline pouch construction.

Adam James, Operations Director at CS Labels, pointed out that "food-safe toner is a huge advantage of the entire solution and a major win for us. After migration testing, we found that the results were clear - this technology is really the way to go." For the pouch construction requirements, CS initially had a custom line built by QuadroPack, which has since been upgraded to Karlville's KS-DSUP-400-GSW. The Karlville line allows processing a wider range of pouch sizes and can process up to 200 pouches per minute, much faster than the QuadroPack line. We do put pressure on technology manufacturers to recognize, accept and support us.

BakPac also relies on the HP Indigo 20000, complemented by Enprom thermal lamination equipment and a Karlville bag-making line. BakPac is the dedicated flexible packaging division of Baker Labels, established to enable trade printers to gain a foothold in the emerging and lucrative digital flexible packaging market.

Mr. Smith pointed out: "The HP Indigo 20000 press is ideal for providing the ideal printing width and amazing print quality for the flexible packaging market. When combined with thermal lamination, you immediately get a product for pouch converting or slitting. Karlville's bag-making development focuses on short-run orders by shortening long setup times into a fast process. Pouches have been printed, laminated, formed and shipped in less than 24 hours to meet urgent customer needs."

Printing on demand and short-run printing, as well as controlling design changes as needed, are also driving demand for systems such as the Afinia Label FP-230. This is a compact desktop system with a maximum media width of 230 mm. The system is based on the L901 Plus inkjet printer and uses Memjet's VersaPass DN technology, printing in full color at 1600 dpi with a maximum speed of 18 m/min. When water-based CMYK inks are combined with inline lamination, it has been approved for food packaging. The system is designed for use with Sihl's Artysio packaging films.

While the FP-230 is described as the only desktop flexible packaging press on the market, the TrojanLabel T2-L is marketed as "the world's first industrial-grade professional digital press for flexible packaging using water-based inks." It also uses Memjet's VersaPass technology, delivering 1600 dpi resolution and a maximum speed of 18 m/min when printing only. When inline cold lamination is required, the printing speed is 9 m/min. Once again, Sihl's Artysio packaging films are recommended, and the use of Natura water-based inks is food-safe and durable.

Mohit Bhushan, Global Director of Product Management at AstroNova, the parent company of TrojanLabel, sees agile supply chains as a further driver. "Due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we are seeing a significant increase in demand and urgency for these attributes among manufacturers and contract packers." Supply-side developments are trying to meet this demand through new printhead technology and ink formulations, as well as optimized coatings for flexible substrates, and new equipment models including smaller sizes and more affordable hardware.

BakPac and CS are just two examples of the growing number of converters active in the digital flexible packaging market, and many more are ready to make their move. These two companies fall firmly into the camp of label companies grabbing market share. There are opportunities to diversify into flexible packaging, while traditional flexible packaging companies are targeting the opportunities created by the technology and seeking to adopt a "digital-first" mindset.

Pierina López, Sales Specialist and Marketing Manager at Enprom Solutions, believes: "Over the past 20 years, the label market has adopted and embraced on-demand digital printing technology, which in some ways has made it easier for label printers to transition to flexible packaging; however, digital technology is still very unfamiliar to packaging companies."

Cano said that traditional flexible packaging producers are facing increasing pressure to deliver smaller quantities of packaging material, shorter turnaround times, and to be more cost-effective and have less environmental impact. "Some innovative flexible packaging converters have already invested in low-speed toner-based digital presses and have seen many of the advantages of digital printing. However, when they finally gain some traction in the market, the very low productivity of these early systems prevents them from growing the digital market. They are now seeking higher productivity levels and industrial-scale machines to truly advance their digital printing development and greatly increase the flexibility of their printing operations."

Screen's solution to this is the Truepress Pac 830F, a water-based inkjet press specifically designed for cost-effective short-run printing at a speed of 75 m/min, capable of printing up to 20-22 jobs per day or 4,500 sqm/hour. It can use CMYK and white water-based inks and handle substrates up to 830 mm wide at a printing resolution of 1200 dpi.

The first models are expected to be delivered later this year. Future generations of the press will be faster, up to 100 m/min and over 1 m wide, "to increase productivity levels and further reduce total cost of ownership."

The first machines from Kodak's collaboration with Italian packaging press manufacturer Uteco, the Sapphire Evo, have already been delivered. The M and W presses use Kodak's continuous inkjet technology and water-based QD packaging inks. The Sapphire Evo M has a maximum web width of 650 mm, thus targeting the typical mid-web flexographic segment, while the Sapphire Evo W has a maximum web width of 1370 mm, aimed at the wide-web market. The mechanical speeds of the presses are 300 m/min and 200 m/min respectively. Image quality is said to be comparable to flexographic and gravure printing.

Bhushan pointed out: "In the past few years, several models of UV and water-based inkjet presses have been launched, while material supply has increased, and the overall barriers to entry for newcomers to this market have been lowered."

Cano said: "There is no doubt that the future of digital printing for flexible packaging lies in inkjet technology. Inkjet digital printing is a more scalable technology that enables faster speeds, higher output and over 90% machine uptime. Static printheads eject billions of droplets of ink nanoparticles onto fast-moving substrates.

To realize his vision for the future of digital flexible packaging, Cano identified the need for converters to see the added value that digital printing can bring to their operations, and "how this technology can change their pressroom through the optimal press configuration: digital and analog. The intangible benefits, higher profit margins and service differentiation opportunities need to be clearly communicated and explained in the digital cost model."

Vandagriff said: "Brands need a better understanding of what digital can do on flexible substrates, and more printers need to adopt the technology so that brands can print their products digitally. Printers are reluctant to invest without demand, and brands are reluctant to start new digital projects without local testing by printers."

According to Ms. López, "In the past, customers' mindset focused only on the maximum speed of the machine, but now, due to development and market demand, this approach has expanded to also focus on reducing machine downtime caused by job changes and achieving more automated processes with only the personnel required. The industry's latest systems also benefit from modularity, because converters can upgrade equipment to better meet their needs. Environmental issues will play a key role in market demand, with customers placing increasing value on sustainable packaging materials and technologies with minimal environmental impact." For example, Screen identified how the Truepress Pac 830F platform eliminates obsolescence, runs recyclable water-based inks, and reduces waste in a number of ways, from minimizing ink, substrate and solvent waste to eliminating plate making and minimizing overproduction.

Bhushan added: "The entire packaging ecosystem must evolve to create more realistic options for new entrants. Much of the existing post-press infrastructure - form-fill-seal (FFS) equipment - is compatible with older analog printing equipment. This equipment also needs significant changes to truly take advantage of newer digital technology. New materials and inks that comply with sustainability regulations in key markets are also proving essential."

As mentioned earlier, one pressing issue in Cano's eyes is an industrial-scale digital press that can "deliver the full promise of digital transformation" but is suitable for mainstream flexible packaging applications. This should include high-productivity digital printing systems capable of producing a larger number of short runs per day, ranging from 0-6,000 m, in a more cost-effective way than traditional analog printing and with faster job turnaround times. Converters have their own views on what is needed to drive the digital flexible packaging printing market forward.

For Smith and BakPac, wider printing widths will help achieve finished products in certain formats, because compared with standard flexographic printing widths, digital presses are indeed very narrow when producing very large bags. Speeds are also faster when running with high white ink coverage.

Collins confirmed that Afinia is looking to increase the maximum media width of the FP-230, and that the company is also focused on improvements to the press's current resolution and speed, as well as expanded media compatibility and improved ink formulations.

This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377837.html. All rights belong to the original author; this article is for industry exchange and learning only.