PRINTING TECH: THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION CONTINUES How far along the road of digital transformation has the printing industry come? Victoria Hattersley takes a look at the current digital printing landscape and gets some insights from Rob Day, CEO of Tonejet – a company with a strong focus on digital printing solutions for the craft beverage industry.
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e’ve heard it said many times by industry experts that, in order for digital to truly take over from conventional printing, there needs to be a ‘tipping point’ in terms of their relative cost-effectiveness. Are we at that stage? In some respects, it depends upon which segment you are looking at. Let’s take the view from just one growing niche segment as an example – craft beverages. “We have reached that point in the craft beer industry, undoubtedly,” says Rob Day. “The mass market brands will continue to use high speed offset printing for the foreseeable future, but they will be pulled into greater use of digital printing as mass customization (special packs for sports events, festivals and other targeted marketing) becomes normal.”
‘So much more agile’ The increased uptake of digital print in recent years has, as we’re all aware, given converters and brand owners far more versatility when it comes to design and meeting short-run demands. According to a Smithers Pira report, ‘The Future of Digital vs Offset Printing to 2024’, the total market output of digital print has risen to 17.4% in 2019 compared to 13.5% in 2014. It further predicts that technical innovations and shifts in market demands will push its share to 21.% by 2024. “Digital offers brand owners the ability to print beverage cans on demand, with lead times measured in days or weeks,” says Rob Day. “Before digital, brands would need to forecast consumption, procure and store their cans several months ahead. Digital is so much more agile – brand owners save inventory, storage space and eliminate scrap (we hear many stories of brands over-ordering and having to scrap unused cans) and are able to keep up when demand exceeds expectations.” However, there are still practical challenges to be faced, not least of which is throughput. For example, “Offset decorators are integrated into beverage can manufacturing lines running at over 2000 cans per minute. Digital systems currently run at around 100 cpm.” That being said, we should no longer think of digital printing as being only suited for short-run projects – something which may have been the case in the past. UV inkjet technology can make it suitable for longer run jobs that before would only have been completed using conventional methods. Indeed, for many of its proponents, today’s inkjet solutions present the ideal technology, offering greater flexibility, faster printing speeds, enhanced image quality and, not least, the capability to print on a much wider variety of substrates. Going back to the craft beverage sector, for example, “inkjet is the only technology that is capable of printing directly onto the can surface, avoiding plastic labels,” says Rob Day. “The technology is new – it has been in commercial use for around a year – and will replace the use of plastic labels and sleeves which degrade the otherwise 100% recyclable aluminium can.”
Hybrid – ‘The best of both worlds’? Evolving consumer preferences are of course shaping the ways in which digital print services are developing, and will continue to develop in the future. And what we have been witnessing in recent years has been an increased demand for customization and a growing interest in niche segments. This trend will not | 28 | Packaging Europe
