Defining the Buzz

No business serious about its commitment to its customers would shy away from enhancing its product offerings. Current trends in the package-printing industry reflect just that, especially the trend toward short-run printing. One such enhancement is adding digital printing capabilities for your existing product lines. But just what is digital printing? When people say “digital printing” what do they mean?

Defining digital printing

“It really depends on what aspect you’re looking at,” says Dan Briley, North American category manager, industrial products, HP Indigo Digital Press. “In general, when you’re talking about the packaging application, digital printing refers to the fact that every single package, whether it be a label, folding carton, or flexible package, can be different.” With digital printing, he says, there are no plates, no dies, nothing that is physiclally made to do the printing because every single image is generated electronically.

Mark Strobel, VP of sales and marketing, Primera Technology offers a technical definition of digital printing. He states that digital printing is a method of putting ink onto a substrate without the use of an analog intermediate such as a printing plate. “It allows variable data to be directly imprinted for lot coding, serial numbers, private labeling, and more,” he says. According to Mac Rosenbaum, VP, Aquaflex/F.L. Smithe, digital printing is a common name for a multitude of printing processes including toner-based, inkjet, thermal transfer, and sublimation. Each of these processes, according to Rosenbaum, has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. “For some,” he says, “digital printing suggests the entire printing process is digital. For others, it suggests variable data printing such as bar codes and text combined with traditional print processes.”

There are a number of technologies available for digital printing. They include toner-based, inkjet-based, and electrophotography/LED laser. Inkjet-based technologies can use UV inks for instant curing on a wide range of substrates. “This system is more practical for packaging and it is especially good for printing on heat-sensitive substrates that cannot tolerate the high temperatures generated when fusing the toner,” says Rosenbaum.

Inkjet is used predominately for variable content and/or for lot coding, serialization, other additive information, or for imprinting of a static package, according to Briley. He also cites thermal transfer, which is often used to print small labels, monochrome labels, and sometimes color. Generally though, it is used for “monochrome labels for shipment information or logistics information—again, bar code serialization and/or small labels that might identify a product or lot number.”

According to Dennis Kallaher, president, Degrava Systems, electrophotography/LED laser is used for exceptional print quality, proven durability, ease of operation, and the flexibility to bring on a variety of facestocks. It also offers low entry cost, minimal maintenance costs, and low cost of ownership.

“The three predominate methods of digital printing today are inkjet (primarily thermal and piezo), thermal transfer, and electrophotogrpahic or laser,” says Strobel. He states that thermal inkjet is a very low-cost, high-performance technology, but is limited to surfaces that are treated for use with aqueous inks. Other types of inkjet, such as solvent and UV-curable, are “higher-end in terms of cost and complexity, but are necessary for certain applications such as printing onto non-porous surfaces.”

Digital printing expectations

Deciding to employ digital printing technologies is only part of the overall implementation. Using such techniques is not the same as installing a new traditional press. Specialized knowledge is required, as well as specially trained personnel. “Don’t expect your pressman to be your digital print manager,” says Rosenbaum. “That task will require database management skills and a good knowledge of RIP software, networking requirements, and of the actual printing device. Digital print engines are intricate and very different from each other. Virtually every system requires specialized training, support, and maintenance from the manufacturer.”

Kallaher suggests a different kind of “training” with digital printing technology. “[Converters] may need to retrain themselves on how to sell digital solutions, including how to price their jobs. They may need to adjust their business model for more customization.”

Along the same lines, Rosenbaum states that finding the proper customers and applications for digital printing is critical to profitability. “Niche markets with multiple SKUs requiring variable data on each image are ideal for digital printing,” he says. “Salespeople will need to understand the full capabilities of digital printing and promote the added value it delivers to their customers.”

The benefits of digital printing, according to Briley, go beyond just being able to print variable data. By printing variable data, you increase productivity because the press never stops. Another benefit is cost savings because of waste reduction. “You don’t have the set-up time. Every time you’re doing that set up, you’re running materials through. If you’re running materials through, you’re wasting mateiral. Every foot of waste is a lot of expense. So minimizing the waste and the set up is another revenue impact that you have besides the time.”

Speaking of cost

According to Rosenbaum, digital inks and toners continue to be more expensive than traditional printing inks and in some cases require a top coating or lamination to enhance durability in harsh environments. Some digital printing systems require precoated substrates for proper adhesion. “All this adds up to a cost-per-impression that is substantially higher than traditional printing process,” he says. “However, job approval is simplified, there is less job waste, and preparation time is substantially reduced. Reruns on some systems are as easy as retrieving the print file.”

Rosenbaum suggests that a more mainstream application for digital printing is to combine it in-line with traditional printing processes. Typically this means using one or more single-color digital print heads for the variable content. “As a result, you can deliver high-quality color printing with variable content for less cost per impression,” he states. He adds that consumables remain very costly, which effectively keeps digital printing outside the practical range of full-color, mainstream package printing.

Clearing hurdles

Digital printing has been around since the early 1990s, and during that time it has cleared many hurdles. Initially, the presses were large, but according to Kallaher, “the hurdles of capital outlay are now being eliminated with lower-cost, affordable systems being introduced to the market.”

Strobel states that, before, acceptable substrates were hard to find. “That has changed a lot in the past few years as more inkjet printers have been introduced into commercial label printing applications.” Strobel adds that speed was also an issue. “The technology has progressed to the point that it is quite practical for use in short runs.”

In that same vein, Rosenbaum states that most full-color digital printing systems were toner-based, requiring specialized or treated substrates. “Toner-based images lacked durability and print speeds were painfully slow,” he says.

Digital inkjet variable data printing has come of age for applications such as UPC codes and text, asserts Rosenbaum. “Print resolutions of 300-600 dpi are commonplace with single-color print speeds approaching that of a good mechanical flexographic press.”

Digital printing’s future

Having cleared these hurdles, digital printing technologies have sustained continual improvement, and the outlook is good. “Substrates and inks will steadily improve, speeds will increase even more, and adoption rates will grow,” says Strobel. “At some point, digital will be a part of virtually every printing company’s equipment portfolio.”

Punch Graphix, with its Xeikon line of digital printing presses, is following such a strategy. It has been actively expanding its product line and is focusing its R&D efforts on speed and capacity, image quality and consistency, and extending application range. Although Xeikon presses are used in many different applications, Siegfried Trinker, chief sales officer for Punch Graphix, says, “One of the strongest growth areas in the next several years will be labels and packaging.”

Kallaher sees tremendous growth as “new, more affordable digital printing solutions become a bridge for printers wanting to enter the digital printing arena, allowing them to drive their business in new more profitable directions.”

Perhaps most important is applying the original concepts for digital printing to the package-printing arena. “In the early days, the battle cry for digital printing was ‘A Print Run of One,’” says Rosenbaum. “The promise was the ability to produce personalized materials for one-on-one marketing.” Rosenbaum states that as converters apply that concept to packaging, he sees greater opportunities for specialty or regional packaging. “With greater attention being paid to health and allergy concerns, we may see food packaging individualized by production batches, enabling batch-specific ingredients information,” he says. “We may also see packaging becoming more regional and language-specific.” Rosenbaum adds that digital printing has the power to personalize packaging and in doing so, help build brand unity.

Ultimately Rosenbaum suggests that converters consider digital printing as a complementary process rather than a competing process, one that enhances package appeal and value. In doing so, “digital printing will continue to improve and continue to offer brand managers greater marketing flexibility, and more accurate product identification.” pP