This Month's Spectrum Summary:

(The following is an excerpt from the March 2006 issue of Spectrum, a proprietary monthly briefing published exclusively for the clients of I.T. Strategies, Inc. © 2006)

DIGITAL PACKAGING PRINTING
The Future is Bright as Megatrends Merge;
Our Job: Put the Right Pieces Together

This month we sit down with Liz Ziepniewski and Mark Hanley to discuss packaging. Now is the time to look seriously at this application for a number of reasons. Digital vendors are finding that markets are maturing in the traditional segments, in both document printing and wide format. Digital presses have not been particularly successful in taking pages away from offset. At the same time, inkjet technology is closing the cost and speed gap with new array technology, UV inks, and lower cost inks.

On the user side, converters are being challenged by demand for quicker turnaround and ever shorter press runs. This is driven by demand fragmentation trends such as localization, inventory reduction pressures, and packaging as advertising. This trend has been described as a worldwide move from commodity to custom, toward a demand-based economy.

In comparing digital to analog printing, we are reminded that in packaging the print module is only as small part of the converting press. As runs get shorter, raw imaging speed tends to be negated by set up time, waste, and post-processing. Speed does not equate to productivity. Nevertheless, there is a perception that digital printing speed needs to come close to analog and this remains a barrier. This may be one reason to date there have been few moves to tap this potentially important new market.

An incremental conversion approach can work. Analog printed packaging can be stocked and then overprinted with targeted copy as needed. A digital module can be mounted on the analog converting press, but this can negate the strengths of both analog and digital. Establishing a parallel set of digital packaging converters is seen as unrealistic because unlike say quick printing, packaging printing requires a much greater investment.

With good knowledge of the industry and packaging technology, it should now be possible to partner with an appropriate converter to implement a commercially viable digital packaging application. And then, because the industry is relatively close-knit, word will spread and the market will surely accelerate.