Packaging is next growth focus for EFI

Packaging is next growth focus for EFI focus for EFI

EFI highlights its importance in supporting analogue to digital transformation in Asia Pacific’s burgeoning digital print packaging industry.

Digital printing in packaging is projected to grow at the rate of 14.73% CAGR by 2026, according to Trends Market Research. Asia Pacific accounted for a higher share in the total digital printing packaging market. As Asia Pacific is projected to have the highest growth due to increasing urbanisation and rising disposable income, EFI is perfectly poised to grow its packaging footprint in the region.

“Moving into packaging is a hot button issue for EFI in general, in Asia and globally. We are bringing out new and innovative products that allow the transition from analogue to digital. That's really the focus for us as – for over 20 years we have been bringing digital production to analogue processes and we've made huge inroads. We started this transformation journey with our customers in display graphics, and packaging is just getting into that digital space, and, therefore, there is huge growth potential,” said Rodd Harrison, vice president of sales for Asia Pacific, EFI.

The award-winning EFI Nozomi press platform is a digital press for high-quality graphic corrugated board printing. The 1.8m-wide press prints at speeds up to 75 metres per minute, providing a level of digital productivity unmatched in the industry. In addition to the standard CMYK ink set, the printer is available with optional orange, violet or white inks for an imaging gamut of up to 97% of PANTONE colours. “Our Nozomi product design is a world leader in corrugated packaging. We have 33 Nozomi presses placed around the world, which is more than our closest competition. The reason why, is that it’s a great product. It’s a single pass product with excellent colour gamut and efficiency in terms of running cost, speed and quality,” said Harrison.

The EFI Nozomi C18000 press is one of the leading digital technologies in corrugated packaging. Two leading corrugated producers in the Asia Pacific region – Opal in Australia and SCG Group in Thailand – are using EFI Nozomi printers to drive more value and innovation in corrugated packaging and display.

Paul Haggett, National Sales Manager Pos & Digital, Opal Packaging Plus, said: “We are helping our customers innovate by optimising designs through digital printing in ways that enhance consumer appeal in retail furniture promotional displays. Our EFI Nozomi printer helps us deliver outstanding colour vibrancy while allowing us to provide value producing work with low setup costs and the ability to produce premium-quality displays in exact quantities.”

In late 2020, EFI launched a new version of the single-pass digital inkjet corrugated printer, the Nozomi C18000 Plus. It builds on the performance features of its predecessor to ensure greater productivity, quality, and versatility for post-print corrugated packaging and display operations. Key

Packaging is next growth

EFI Nozomi C18000 Plus

improvements include an advanced transport feed and patented vacuum table systems to eliminate warping while maximising printer productivity and uptime. It has an improved postprint quality inspection system to help users monitor quality and quickly identify inkjet nozzle issues or other defects.

Digital Print aligns with Branding Demands

All types of fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) product brands are looking to improve their packaging, and digital print has been an important solution for brand presence, both in traditional retail and e-commerce.

And of course, with e-commerce, the unboxing phenomena remains a hot trending topic in Asia and throughout the world. Digital printing has become an important factor in many products standing out in unboxing experiences. Sustainability has also made corrugated packaging more important than ever, as brands look to create corrugated packaging solutions that can replace plastic packaging.

According to Harrison, EFI will be bringing out a series of new products based on the Nozomi platform. “We want to help grow that market by bringing more products to market, at different price points, that suit different applications. We want to convert more and more packaging to digital because then it becomes efficient and offers opportunity to enhance brand value.

“We’re not trying to replace super high volume, traditional flexo corrugated production. Within the packaging space, printers can produce good quality, but not that fast. We want to convert more corrugated packaging – especially litho-lamination – to digital because then it becomes efficient. The value of digital is important with brands which want mass-customisations and massversioning. Digital offers that flexibility without a penalty of make-ready, and dialling in the press,” said Harrison.

Digital printing in packaging opens opportunities to produce packaging print-runs of any size and just-in-time production of high-quality boxes. As life cycles of products on the shelf are shortening, brands are under a time pressure to sell as much as possible in the shortest time. Digital printing allows brands to market-test designs efficiently and respond quickly and effectively to the needs of the market. Due to the high productivity of the Nozomi, time to market is reduced, so

the packaging can maximise impact on the shelves.

“If we can cut out ways to do short runs in mass customisation, we can help brands communicate with consumers in a much more efficient way. Brands can now customise and do different versions at no extra cost, because you don't have any make-readies, nor any waste associated with that. With digital, brands can customise 15 different versions, for example, so they’re not just putting the same packaging on the shelf at any one time,” Harrison explained.

“We've got a lot of new, unlocked value to deliver to customers with greater efficiency, higher productivity, and lower labour cost. We can help packaging converters reduce the number of shifts they have to run or allow them to handle peak periods while minimising overtime. All these things realise real measurable and tangible benefits,” added Harrison.

Job processing for the Nozomi C18000 Plus is 5% faster thanks to the latest version of the EFI Fiery NZ-1000 digital front end (DFE) used to control the printer. It additionally features Smart Ink Estimator, which can accurately analyse image data for more-

Rodd Harrison, Vice President Sales, APAC at EFI

precise control of ink costs, as well as Fiery Edge, to deliver colour and quality enhancements.

In addition, EFI's MarketDirect Pack Central solution allows packaging

Photo courtesy of Electronics for Imaging, Inc.

and corrugated service providers to increase value for their customers using powerful features like the SmartBox Designer, a web-based tool that enables packaging providers to host their product library online and allow their customers to create 3D visual mock ups before placing an order. The SmartBox Designer provides print buyers with beautiful 3D rendered artwork with the power to control substrate and finishing options all in a single application. Brands and designers can now bring their designs to life in realtime before placing orders, delivering brand integrity and consistency with a faster speed to market.