Digital Packaging Summit Proves It’s a Great Time for Packaging

By Kalie VanDewater and Ashley Roberts

In November, after nine years running, the annual Digital Packaging Summit hosted its largest event to date in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The event’s growth was driven by the fervor surrounding digital printing, which was echoed in the opening statements by Marco Boer, conference co-chair/vice president, I.T. Strategies, during his keynote session.

“Our future is looking really good,” Boer said, “and it is looking good because … there’s more investment going into digital printed packaging now than we’ve ever seen before.”

Boer explored the state of the segment, some of the opportunities and challenges that exist, and what it all means for packaging converters looking to remain successful in the years ahead.

Diving deep into the full scope of the industry, Boer shared the state of the digital packaging printing market. For starters, the industry is still experiencing aftershocks from COVID supply chain disruptions and tighter customer budgets.

“[2023] has been soft because of inflationary pressures,” he explained. “Many of the brands are a little bit more risk averse as a result of that. They go back to the classics, they’re not as innovative as they once might have been.”

However, it’s a short-term issue, he said. One issue that isn’t short-term? The labor challenge, which is evolving.

“We’re starting to find out that when you hire somebody who’s not really qualified, they start making mistakes that affect your bottom line, your profit,” Boer said. “So there’s more emphasis these days on investing in anything that can help automate your process, finishing equipment software, workflow software, anything that gets you a quick return [on] investment.”

Compounding the labor and inflationary issues is the demand for flexibility. Brands, he explained, want the ability to “place last-minute orders, shorter-runs, and have faster turnaround.”

‘Daily Challenges Create New Opportunities’
Although we’re still working through the aftereffects of the past few years, there are opportunities that have been created, Boer stressed.

“All of these daily challenges basically open up the door to do business in a different way with your customers,” he said.

Marco concluded by saying “our future is looking really good.” He explained that there is more investment into digital printing of packaging; brands are becoming more flexible and innovative, opening up opportunities; and digital printing is a high-value technology that converters can’t live without.

“It’s a great time to be in this business,” Boer concluded.

Making the Most of Partnerships With Brands
Unsurprisingly, brands were a large focus of the event, as many of the sessions aimed to educate attendees on the pathways that reveal themselves when brand requirements are taken into consideration by print providers.

In conversation with Packaging Impressions Editor-in-Chief Linda Casey, Ron Burrage, founder and creative director at Courage The Agency, explained that printed packaging buyers at brands want to work with their print providers to find the best option for their purposes.

To deliver comprehensive insights on the needs of brands big and small, Burrage pulled on his collective experience in brand development, marketing, brand design, and end-user experience in his current role at Courage The Agency. Burrage's previous roles include head of beverage design and experience at PepsiCo Beverages North America, head of global design and content at The Hershey Company, creative director at Cranium, associate director of design at Procter & Gamble, and more.

“Our procurement team or our R&D and production teams want to make sure that we’re effective,” Burrage said. “So, one of the things that’s most important from a relationship point of view is how can I have a partnership with my printers to learn what the technology out there is? What are the things I don’t know about it?”

In the same vein, Burrage explained that creatives don’t just want to get the best option for them, they want to make sure their choices benefit their print partners as well.

Burrage also highlighted the best practices for aligning creative vision with capabilities of digital printing. Specifically, he said it’s important to understand that what one printer can achieve through digital printing is different from what another printer can achieve with the same specifications and machines. To avoid hiccups, there must be clear communication up front so limitations and expectations are understood by both partners.

Later in the event, Burrage again joined Casey as she moderated a brand panel discussion with Debra Myers, chief excitement officer and founding investor of Enfusia; and Sharon Reiter Lindberg, who was finishing up her time as strategic design lead at Beiersdorf. Like Burrage, both Myers and Reiter Lindberg pulled on their vast collective experience. Myers had experience both as a female leader and founder of a personal care company (Enfusia) and in the printing and packaging industry. Reiter Lindberg most recently led strategic design for Beiersdorf’s iconic suncare brand — Coppertone — and she has served as design lead at Bayer Pharmacueticals, senior design manager at Unilever, design manager at Kraft Foods Group, and more.

One of the biggest questions asked was, “How do you ‘win’ a brand as a customer?” According to Myers, it’s when a converter leverages its expertise to bring something new to the table. “What can you do that’s different for me, that’s going to help my product be better?” she asked. “That’s how you win.”

The three panelists also shared insights into the minds of brands and what they’re really looking for when it comes to packaging and the relationships they have with their package printers and converters. One of the things they generally agreed on was the importance of printers building relationships with, and deeply understanding, the brands they work with.

“The thing that is most important is education specific to the brand,” Myers said. “You need to be very intentional about No. 1, who you’re targeting and why you’re targeting [them], and why you think that they’re a good fit for you. And if I’m a good fit for you, make me fall in love with you.”

Reiter Lindberg shared that her company brought HP in to speak with her team about the Indigo process during a seminar to educate the team about personalization and the possibilities with digital printing.

“How could you think about your brand in a very different way and use the capabilities of digital?” she asked. “How do you really break out of the mold?"

Burrage had similar sentiments to Myers’ and Reiter Lindberg’s. He explained that education is the biggest piece of the puzzle in terms of making brands aware of what package printers and converters can do.

“Show that you are subject matter experts,” he said. “That might be via your Instagram account, your social media, your website, what you are showing at trade shows and conferences … [it’s a] huge benefit to people in the creative industry.”

Lisa Cross, principal analyst at NAPCO Research, furthered these points in her session, “Opportunities to Thrive” in digital packaging. Cross shared her insights and presented research from her colleague Cory Francer, who is a regular contributor to Packaging Impressions in his role as research analyst.

Cross explored the ways in which package printers and converters are shifting how they serve their customers — and what’s driving these shifts. One of the biggest motivators, Cross explained, has been the various benefits printers can provide to their customers. The top five cited in the report were meeting demands for short runs, adhering to quicker turnaround times, personalizing packages and labels, printing multiple versions with just a single print run, and eliminating plate and tooling production and costs.

Specifically, brands are facing several packaging challenges. At the top of their concerns, 38% of brand owners reported challenges with designing packages that influence purchasing decisions. Other concerns high on the list included sustain-ability goals and managing multiple versions of a product.

“All of those challenges can be addressed somehow by the benefits of a digital printing press,” Cross said.

Brand owners aren’t blind to the benefits of digital for their packaging needs. According to the data, 65% recognized the ability to do short runs as the top benefit, while 56% said on-demand ordering capabilities were the top benefit.

Other benefits brands cited include:

The ability to make design changes without needing new plates (51%).
Personalization, customization, and versioning (49%).
The cost-effectiveness of testing new packaging designs (30%).
The ability to make limited edition packaging (29%).

Speaking on versioning specifically, Cross explained that 41% of brands have increased SKUs over the past two years, and they anticipate the next two years to trend in the same direction, with 60% of brands anticipating their SKUs to increase.

“We did ask brand owners why they expected their stock keeping units to increase, and 75% said that it was because of customer demand for more variety,” Cross explained.

With all the benefits digital printing can provide to converters, and the fact that brands are aware of those benefits, it’s no wonder brands prefer to harness the capabilities of their print partners’ digital machines. Notably, 35% of brand owners said it is essential for their label and packaging print provider to offer digital printing services, while 44% said it was preferable. In all, 79% of label and packaging buyers are looking for their partners to offer digital printing services.

Views from a Retailer
To get a better understanding of the impact of digital printing on retailers, Boer hosted a 1:1 conversation with Ron Sasine, principal at Hudson Windsor. Sasine commanded the stage, sharing stories from his time as the senior director of private brands packaging at Walmart.

“I may have the distinction of being the only Walmart employee to ever be kicked out of a Walmart,” Sasine joked. “I was walking around taking pictures of everything, I was standing right in front of shelves, taking pictures of samples, turning things upside down, and taking pictures of the printer’s marks.”

This is something that he suggested all attendees do. “Find time in your schedules to go to the grocery store,” he advised.

He suggested doing this research with almost an “art museum eye” while considering what works, what doesn’t work, and what you would do differently.

One of the biggest takeaways from the discussion was the general misconception about who is the most important person to connect with at a retailer. Sasine emphatically stated that it’s the category buyer.

“If you talk to the marketing department, you are wasting your time,” he said. “The person who really matters is the person who buys breakfast cereal. The person who buys potatoes. The person who buys peanut butter. Because they’re making the decision about what’s going to go on the shelf. And I’m confident that most of your selling teams are not equipped or connected to those folks.”

As a final message, Sasine said there are three things he typically asks people to remember about packaging.

“Packaging is there to convey, it’s there to communicate, and it’s there to convince,” he said.

Tips and Trends
One of the biggest perks of the Digital Packaging Summit is the chance to hear from peers. Boer moderated a panel of converters in labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons, and corrugated packaging to explore their experiences with digital printing. Joining him on stage were Eddie Kopaczynski, senior director of graphic services at Atlanta, Georgia-based Graphic Packaging International; Pramit Sen, vice president and general manager of CCL Healthcare, based in Etobicoke, Ontario; Sal Pellingra, vice president of package design, applications, and business development, at Cincinnati, Ohio-based ProAmpac; and George Perreira, vice president of Hamilton, Ontario-based Whitebird/Moyy.

The panel shared thoughts on how digital printing has increased flexibility and quality, enabled short runs, decreased turnaround times, and, in some cases, has replaced flexo and offset equipment.

To address the hot topic of M&A activity in the packaging market, Boer also led a session with Peter Schaefer, partner at New Direction Partners, and Nitay Laor, vice president of investment banking at Mesirow Financial Holdings.

Laor explained that current interest rates are not impacting buyer participation or valuations, and that M&A activity is “still very healthy.”

“On the contrary, we’re seeing strengthening valuations as there are less quality assets on the market,” he said. “So, buyers are competing for less supply out there, particularly within packaging, and I think what packaging has proven over the last 18 months or so is how resilient the industry is.”

Schaefer agreed with Laor’s assessment.

“A year ago, I think [Boer] and I spoke, and I predicted with the raising interest rates, that ’23 would be a slower year,” Schaefer said. “What I didn’t realize was that interest rates have risen, but there are more buyers in the industry today than there ever have been.”

On the final day of the event, Boer remarked on the growth of digital printing while stressing the need for packaging converters to educate their customers.

“You have to be persistent to be able to open that door to educate people about [digital printing’s] inherent benefits,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity, and we see digital printing continuing to grow.”