contact us     help    login  

Color Digital Printing in Packaging and Prime Labels: A Multi-Client Report

Publication Date: December 2009
Service: Market Research Department

Introduction

The $450 billion global packaging industry in 2009 is still in the beginning stages of adopting color digital printing as a key tool, a change that is creating major opportunities for technology, supplies, and substrate vendors, and for print service providers as well. Two overarching factors are combining to pull color digital upwards in the packaging industry:

• The improving and expanding color digital print technologies that are available
• The ever increasing need of manufacturers for timely, economic short run printing of packaging for consumer goods

Regarding color digital print technology that is available to the market, color electrophotographic printers for prime labels now have more than 10 years of history in the converting world, and the latest generation of devices is more capable than ever. At the same time, color inkjet printers based on piezoelectric technology are now a young but commercially viable option, one that could burst forward as a key digital stakeholder in the packaging world.

On the demand side, manufacturers of consumer goods are increasing their orders to label and packaging converters for short runs to meet particular marketing needs. The economic recession, if anything, has increased the use of short run strategies.

Why short runs? There are compelling reasons why manufacturers are pressing for them, and converters are turning to color digital to print them. Private labeling—such as the store brand of popular food category—is one big reason, because many retailers want that option on their shelves. Meanwhile mainstream and niche consumer brands have their own applications for marketing short runs:

• Test runs of new products
• Multiple versions of one product
• Foods for specific ethnic groups
• Beverages for events or holidays
• Products co-marketed with athletic teams
• Labels in other languages
• Packages or labels with variable printing

Color Digital in Packaging, Today and Tomorrow

Where is color digital in packaging today? So far, it’s mainly used in the printing of prime product labels, a natural for color digital because of their small format and central role in consumer packaging. The small installed base generated billings from prime label converters of about $1 billion in 2008, an impressive total but still less than 2% of global label revenues.

At the same time, color digital is just beginning to print short runs in two adjacent applications, folding cartons and flexible packaging. While prime labels are the sweet spot for color digital so far, these two allied applications share some features with the prime label market, such as small format, focus on brand image, and above all the need of consumer goods manufacturers to print short runs.

All of these developments have helped printers and converters packaging and label to better compete and meet customer demands, even to cut waste and make their operations more environmentally friendly. Meanwhile software and substrate vendors have made steady advances as well, allowing a wider range of jobs to be profitably run on a color digital print systems.

To meet the information needs of printer, supplies and software companies interested in this changing market, InfoTrends offers a new multi-client study entitled Color Digital Printing in Packaging and Prime Labels: A Multi-Client Report.

Objectives

• Segment and profile the global package printing industry by major geographic region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, ROW)
• Assess key trends affecting adoption of color digital for prime label, folding carton, and flexible packaging
• Understand the use of production color digital printing technology
• Assess printer service providers’ opinions, purchase intentions and product requirements for production color digital systems
• Size and forecast the global market for key products (units, revenue) and regions (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, ROW)

Analysis and Project Deliverables

InfoTrends will conduct extensive analysis of the desk research, in-depth interviews and structured surveys to develop a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and issues for equipment vendors and service providers. Clients will receive a combination of report, presentation material, and research data for senior management, product managers and planners, and sales and marketing executives. The material will include:

• Executive summary that addresses key issues, findings, and overall recommendations.
• Detailed written report (at least 150 pages) with text, charts and graphs addressing the objectives of the study.
• Set of presentation-style overheads for internal communication of the research results.
• Data book of the survey tabulations for additional analysis of key questions and market segments.

Getting Started

For more information on the study or to sign up as a participate, contact Scott Phinney at +1 ext. 123 or e-mail . Early subscriber discounts are available until July 10, 2009.