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Digital Color Printing Taking on Greater Role in Packaging Industry

According to InfoTrends’ 2009 research on the market for digital color printing in the packaging industry, the value of packaging-related print from color POD systems and wide format systems together amounted to $1.95 billion globally in 2009, and that total is expected to grow to $4.05 billion in 2014. Almost all of that value is attributable to the printing of full and spot color “prime” labels for use in decorating foods, beverages, drugs, and other consumer products. Other applications, however, such as folding cartons, flexible packaging, and even metal cans are starting to use digital color printing. Many companies and multiple technologies are becoming involved.

Digital color printing has its own ecosystem within the packaging industry. Color electrophotographic and inkjet technologies, including wide format inkjet, are at the core of that ecosystem and they are connected to other parts of it. Ecosystems in the industry often change over time, and that is true for the ecosystem that surrounds digital color printing of packaging. Two forces are driving that change more than any other:

• The steady advance of digital color printing technology in terms of productivity, image quality, and total cost of ownership
• The growing need among manufacturers of consumer goods for short runs of packaging

Regarding the steady advance of technology, recent history has shown that improvements continue to occur and that those improvements have increased the adoption and use of digital color printing. Examples include the introduction of white inks, the increased repeat length of the newest EP systems, the advent of finishing equipment specifically for digital color printing and converting of folding cartons and flexible packaging, as well as the increasing run lengths at which digital color is competitive with analog printing.

Regarding the growing need, consumer goods companies want to target their products as precisely as they can. Meanwhile, more and more companies are selling their products internationally. Finally, most of the growth in the world’s population is occurring in countries that are still emerging in terms of economic development and consumer marketing. These marketing, economic, and social factors together will spur the short run printing that digital color does best.

In less than 15 years, the digital color ecosystem has grown from nearly nothing and became a significant part of the overall packaging industry. Looking ahead, the digital color ecosystem will grow and change to have a continually greater role in packaging. In regard to inkjet, given its recent, rapid growth and the number of products set for launch in 2010, InfoTrends believes that this technology will be increasingly influential in future markets.

The preceding is an excerpt from a report entitled Digital Color Printing in Packaging: The Ecosystem. To learn more about this report, visit our online store or contact Robyn Wuori at ext. 103 or via e-mail at .