Cartonmakers Must Accentuate Positives

Offset carton printers may see flexo as less of a threat in the coming year, as print process choices continue to evolve. McGuinness points out familiar trends remain firmly in place, with offset remaining lead dog, gravure contining to lose ground to both offset and flexo, and flexo's market share gains stealing the spotlight. The wild card entry that could shake up these dynamics, he says, is new generation sheet-fed offset technology's significantly faster speeds and reduced makeready. These upgrades, combined with sheet-fed's wide-sheet number-up advantage, have slowed flexo's share of market penetration. For its momentum to kick back in, McGuinness says flexo must snag a greater share of wider web-width installations and produce sheet-fed offset print register consistently.