Changing Environment
Karstedt breaks the digital printing segment into two arenas: high-speed industrial and micro-run digital label production. In the high-speed industrial he notes the successes of HP and Xeikon in establishing a presence over the past decade, along with the advances in full-color, single-pass inkjet printing systems from the likes of Agfa, Sun Chemical, and efi Jetrion. In the micro category, Karstedt mentions systems from VIP Color Technologies and Degrava Systems, which he says are based on existing desktop technologies that have been adapted to micro-run digital label production. Karstedt believes that “digital printing will undoubtedly gain acceptance and market share in all segments over the next five years.” The successful implementation for converters will depend on two key issues, he says. These are:
