Change Is Coming To The Folding Carton Market

By Noel Ward

Narrow Web for Cartons: The Value Prop

Narrow web flexographic press manufacturers are claiming:

Flexo is as Good as Offset

Flexo is more than an adequate replacement for offset in terms of print quality. This is a reasonable argument given flexo’s objective technology advances in recent years. Also, while products printed on narrow-web small-format presses may be complex, the smaller size makes print quality less visually demanding than it would be for larger graphic images.

Flexo Costs Less

Flexo is less costly in terms of presses, consumables, service, and staffing than offset. This is also largely valid and especially true in a narrow-web context.

Flexo Web Wastes Less

As a web process, flexo tends to involve less waste than the sheet-based offset process used for folding cartons.

Better Economics for New Fragmenting Markets

Narrow web offers better economics when processing shorter runs and smaller format final print products because it is more easily scaled to that purpose.

In-Line Conversion Saves Costs

Narrow-web press configurations offer in-line conversion that can be easily adapted to the special needs of folding carton production (heavier servos, stronger dies etc.) providing integrated, low-cost economics. By comparison, conventional sheet-fed folding carton converters often use separate printing and conversion processes.

Modular Inkjet can be Included with Flexo Narrow Web

Narrow-web presses are becoming available with full-color, single-pass UV Inkjet modules. This lowers costs and simplifies printing of variable content within runs or across batches of print jobs, without stopping machines to change plates. The ability to gang jobs in this way and provide fast response to customer needs may be the single most important driver for some users. UV inkjet has yet to prove itself acceptable in terms of food regulation and print quality, though it is not suggested that will be problematic

-- IT Strategies, Inc.

Global researcher Smithers Pira cites three trends in folding cartons that drive some of the demand for narrow-web solutions.

1. Downsizing: Brand owners are reducing package sizes in an effort to reduce costs for packaging and shipping, and to gain some positive public relations spin. For some applications, this makes narrow-web printing a more effective way to produce folding cartons with less waste.

2. Single serve packs: With an increasing number of meals being eaten alone or by consumers on the run, single-serve packaging is in high demand. The smaller containers can be a good fit for narrower webs, although ironically, smaller packages often require more material per volume of product, than the larger containers they replace.

3. Printing techniques: No matter the size of the container, brand owners want it to stand out on the store shelf. To add that “pop,” many are adopting the use of multiple colors, foils, holographic images, and more. Many of these can be more easily applied inline on a web press than via offset.

Folding cartons are the containers of choice for an immense range of products, from pharmaceuticals and health and beauty products, to cereal boxes, frozen foods, consumer electronics, and more. Together, they account for an estimated value of $61 billion worldwide, spread over about 3,500 converters.

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