Mike Fairley on Digital Printing

More than 1,200 digital label presses have been installed worldwide since the first launches of the new technology in the mid-1990s, and close to 250 new presses are currently being installed each year into label printing companies in Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia, and India.

While the digital label press market to date has been dominated by HP Indigo and Xeikon, the past couple of years have seen over 15 new digital inkjet presses launched, as well as new models from the main market leaders. Many of these presses were presented for the first time at the Labelexpo show in Brussels last year. Current analysis indicates that there are currently at least 36 different makes and models of digital label presses available to converters from some 30 suppliers.