Digital presses to increase their share in packaging printing: InfoTrends

The strong majority of physical volume of print in label, folding carton, and flexible packaging printing will continue to be printed by analogue presses for at least the next ten years. In that interval, though, colour digital presses will continue to increase their role and their share of physical volume. In folding carton and flexible packaging printing – where colour digital presses now have only a tiny role – colour digital presses will be working in tandem with conventional presses, as they do now in the label converting industry, conveys InfoTrends in a multi-client study entitled ‘What Do Converters Want?’

InfoTrends estimates that converters’ 2011 billings for colour digital printing reached $2.75 billion globally, and forecasts it at over $5.0 billion by the end of 2016. There is a high interest among converters and even brand owners in colour digital as a print method, one that can allow the printing of jobs that are hard to print, especially short runs. Although there is a high interest in digital printing, there is currently low penetration of labels and packaging. Less than 10 percent of colour labels for consumer goods and less than one percent of folding cartons and flexible packaging are now printed digitally. Meanwhile, digital print technology meets essential requirements and is a cost effective alternate to conventional presses for many existing label and packaging print jobs.