K-1 Packaging Is a One-Stop Shop for Customers

A leading reason for the flexo-to-digital migration is the large percentage of short-run work within K-1's operation, which can be done more economically on a digital press that eliminates makereadies, Tsai states. He adds that the pull to digital printing is also powerful for jobs with numerous versions (which can simply be queued up on the HP Indigo) and packages that require extremely tight register, such as designs with small type. In the latter case, he says, digital's output exceeds even the quality of offset, producing "near-perfect" register. Moreover, Tsai observes many of the other frequently encountered flaws found in analog printing—including gear marks, roller streaks, and ghosting—"for the most part don't exist" on digitally printed material. K-1's current narrow-web mix sits at 70 percent flexo and 30 percent digital, but Tsai projects that, as digital technology continues to evolve and improve, the opposite balance will ultimately dominate: "That day will come when the majority of packaging materials produced will be printed digitally, economically," he contends.