2020, spoke and wrote many, was going to be a landmark year for digital package printing. That includes this very publication, which back at the tail end of last year predicted 2020 to be the year of the customer. This turned out to be a prescient prediction, albeit not quite intended the way this year has played out.
Rather than suppliers placing their customers on pedestals to show how they are utilising technologies to their gain, this year has seen label and package printers and converters working tirelessly to keep their customers’ products moving through distribution chains, onto shelves and into the hands of consumers. Digital printing and converting technologies have played an important role in this.
The next generation of technologies that are in and now emerging from equipment manufacturers’ pipelines will help bring about further new ways of working and open up new markets to exploit, such as the rapidly solidifying one for digitally printed flexible packaging.
‘Digital print technology is advancing at such a speed that everyone involved needs to be on their game or they will be left behind,’ advises Kevin McKell, vice president, technical sales at Vetaphone.
To facilitate this, technical barriers have had to be overcome.
‘For package printing the issues have always been that of width and production speed,’ continues Mr McKell. ‘As presses become wider and faster, we shall see a greater uptake of digital across the sector.’
Takeshi Amano, corporate officer, sales general manager, international strategies at Japan’s Miyakoshi, and his colleague Enrique Rodríguez García, sales director at Miyakoshi Europe, suggest, ‘Generally, inkjet printers are not suitable to print on films, and are affected by things such as the odour released when printing UV. But this problem can be managed by UV ink technology, and we have successfully reduced odour by using nitrogen purge technology.
‘We think that packaging and label industries demand more digital technology in the future, so we will continue to upgrade our technology in this field and have more in our portfolio.’
Let Digital Labels & Packaging be your guide to these new technologies, and virus or no virus, drupa or no drupa, help you prepare for the future of digital package printing:
Read about the latest technological developments in digital label printing here.
Read about the latest technological developments in digital flexible package printing here.
Read about the latest technological developments in digital folding carton printing here.
Read about the latest technological developments in digital corrugated printing here.
Read about the latest technological developments in finishing and converting here.
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