Brands Want Speed. Digital Printing Helps Converters Deliver.

Label and package printers are used to operating at breakneck speeds, churning out labels and packaging for brand owners in need of getting their products delivered to retailers and consumers. But, as the realities of retail have evolved, brands want their packages produced and delivered even faster, putting an immense strain on converters’ workflows. At the same time, package printers are being tasked with producing more versions of labels and packaging as brand owners increase their quantity of SKUs and expand their product lines.

Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, the latest packaging research report from NAPCO Research, demonstrates that there are strategies printers and converters can take to contend with these brand owner demands. In particular, a strategic pairing of digital and conventional printing technologies, along with an investment in automation, can help package printers adapt to today’s brands’ speed to market requirements, while also satisfying the versioning needs of brand owners seeking to enrich their connections with consumers.

In the fall of 2023, NAPCO Research surveyed brand owners about a variety of packaging topics, including their top packaging challenges and key attributes they seek in a packaging provider. The results of the survey indicate a need for digital printing across the packaging industry, utilized in tandem with conventional technologies. When asked to indicate their top packaging challenges, brand owners reported that developing packaging that influences purchasing, improving their supply chain efficiency and responsiveness, meeting sustainability objectives, and managing many product versions were the top four. (See Figure 1).

Click to enlarge. Credit: NAPCO Research

While long runs of labels and packaging still dominate the industry, it is clear from these responses that brand owners’ most pressing challenges can be assuaged via digital printing, including improving supply chain efficiency and increased versioning. For example, in situations where a run of packaging is needed to quickly get on shelf, digital’s quick makeready, made possible by the technology’s lack of plates, is highly beneficial for a fast turnaround. Additionally, with nearly one-third of respondents (32%) stating that managing many product versions is among their top challenges, the power of digital is again made clear, as the technology allows for multiple versions to be produced in a single run, slashing the changeover times necessitated by conventional printing.

When asked specifically about the advantages that digital printing brings to their businesses, brand owners largely cited the speed and efficiency benefits of the technology. Cost-effective short-run production emerged as the top benefit of the technology with 65% of respondents, while on-demand ordering was the second most cited digital advantage, with 56% of respondents. This finding indicates that brand owners want to order labels and packaging on their own terms in quantities they desire. (See Figure 2)

Click to enlarge. Credit: NAPCO Research

This is a departure from the traditional buying in bulk that occurs with conventional printing, which is typically used to produce longer runs of static designs. It is important to keep in mind however, that while brand owners are cognizant of digital printing’s advantages and see it as a solution to many of their challenges, digital should not be viewed as a replacement technology. The reality in the packaging world is that long runs of high-volume labels and packaging are still essential and will comprise the vast majority of printed label and packaging output into the future. Printers and converters that strategically pair their conventional and digital assets will be best positioned for the multi-faceted needs of the packaging industry landscape.

For more on how brand owners and package printers and converters are utilizing digital printing, check out NAPCO Research’s report Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive.