Digital Printing Options

Digital printing technologies are continuing to become more mainstream—to the point that manufacturers of digital printing equipment are beginning to more outwardly take aim at traditional printing processes. But, digital printing isn't for everyone, and does require capital investment most times to begin offering it as an option.

packagePRINTING queried some of the most active suppliers in the market about what digital printing options are available to package printers, as well as digital prinitng as a technology in general. Respondents include, Vince Pentella, who manages worldwide labels and packaging business development for Indigo division of HP; Kristof Dekeukelaere, Agfa's :Dotrix sales manager, North America; Kenneth D. Stack, Ph.D., senior vice president/general manager, Jetrion Industrial Inkjet Systems, Electronics for Imaging, Inc.; and Michael V. Ring, president, Xeikon.

pP: What are the digital printing options available to package printers?

Pentella: There are two basic primary digital printing methods: inkjet and electrophotography. In packaging printing, particularly for labels, electrophotography—or more specifically liquid electrophotography using HP Indigo technology—is one choice. HP's current Indigo press lineup includes the HP Indigo press ws4500 and the WS6000 Digital Press.

These converting solutions are often used for labels, but also for shrink sleeves, flexible packaging, in-mold labels and folding cartons. Converters can also produce larger packaging work digitally using flatbed large-format inkjet printers such as the HP Scitex FB500, FB700 and FB7500 printers.

Dekeukelaere: Most solutions on the market are focused on the label market. They have limited width and are restricted substrates.

A step up are the hybrid digital presses. They combine flexo and UV inkjet technology which allows inline treating (priming/corona/flexo white) and printing on the substrates of the industry. Whether you print on a 24-pt SBS board, a 25 micron LDPE or aluminum film, you can print it 24.8˝ wide by any length and get it finished as a sheet or on a roll. Even inline finishing like diecutting, laminating, embossing, slitting, etc. become possible. All technologies offer full variable data.

Stack: There are two main digital technologies used today for packaging: toner and UV inkjet.

Ring: When it comes to digital packaging, there are generally two digital printing options: toner-based electrophotographic digital color presses and wide-format UV inkjet. Digital packaging is still relatively new, and while most of the attention of this industry has been focused on the potential for digital labels, we're already seeing high rates of adoption in folding cartons and flexible packaging. The Printing Industries Research Association expects digital printing of flexible to grow by a factor of four or five between 2009 and 2014, which makes this a truly exciting time to be part of this period of innovation. What's driving the demand for digital packaging is the incredible versatility of many of the technologies available. I think there is also a realization that this is "not your father's digital printing." When we say that our Xeikon machines have "offset-like quality," we mean that you don't have to sacrifice image quality to achieve the customization and shorter-run efficiencies that digital printing offers in today's market. Digital printing technology continues to add wider formats and more speed, and greater customization capabilities. Also, this recent recession, I think, taught many people a lesson about being more efficient to control costs and not have idle inventories, and also created a greater market for on-demand, just-in-time capabilities. This is where digital printing really shines.

pP: What are the main differences between different digital printing technologies?

Pentella: There are two basic primary digital printing methods, inkjet and electrophotography.

Getting more specific, there are also two distinct types of electrophotographic printing. One is liquid electrophotographic printing—the liquid ink process that HP Indigo presses use—and the other is dry toner electrphotographic printing.

With electrophotography, ink or toner gets placed into the image area of a print job through an electric charge. Electrophotographic presses place a charge in the shape of the image area for a given color on a special imaging plate surface. Toner or ink create the image based on their attraction to the charged area of the surface. From there, the HP Indigo printing process somewhat resembles analog offset or flexo printing: The charged particles in each color are transferred to the page using an impression roller that takes the image from the plate and then applies them to the substrate.

HP's liquid electrophotographic printing ink ("HP ElectroInk") can be imaged to create something as small as a 1-micron spot, something that, in turn, gives HP Indigo the ability to print with a level of quality that many feel exceeds flexography.

Inkjet is a substantially different digital imaging method. It involves the ejection of extremely small ink droplets through a printhead directly onto a substrate. There are several different types of inks used in inkjet printing, including water-based inks, solvent-based inks, UV-curable inks and a latex/latex resin ink technology (used mostly in signage and graphics printing) that HP introduced in 2008.

While they have not all been applied to use in label and packaging printing applications, there are also several different inkjet head technologies used to jet ink onto the printed substrate. This includes a thermal inkjet method that uses heat to push ink through inkjet nozzles, as well piezoelectric and continuous inkjet, two technologies that use more mechanically based ejection methods.

Dekeukelaere: The two main technologies out there are toner and inkjet.

Toner based systems are based on proven copier technology. The image gets created on a charged drum and then baked onto the substrate. It's a contact print process. The newer technology out there is inkjet and mainly UV inkjet is used for the digital package printing presses. The reason is the scratch and scuff resistance, light fastness, heat resistance and the flexibility to print on a wide variety of substrates. Inkjet is a non-contact print process where the substrates moves at high speed under the heads. This means there is no wear and tear which gives a consistent quality and color accuracy. The maintenance cost is very low and some suppliers such as Agfa warranty the heads for life.

Stack: Toner based technology is very similar to that of your office copier. Magnetically charged toner particles are transferred from an imaging drum to the substrate. Toner is therefore known as a "contact" printing technology, i.e. the toner is physically transferred to the substrate like in an offset process.

UV inkjet on the other hand uses ink that is very similar to that of UV flexo ink. Inkjet is a non-contact printing technology—the substrate is moved underneath the print heads and each drop is fired from the print head onto the substrate, and then cured using a UV lamp—traditional or LED. It is therefore a non-contact printing.

There are many differences between these two technologies in terms of their performance in packaging applications. It is generally accepted that toner devices have even higher image quality then flexo. UV inkjet on the other hand has similar quality levels to UV flexo. It is also generally accepted that UV inkjet has excellent durability (similar to UV flexo), lower running costs and the ability to print directly to many substrates versus toner—liquid toner generally requires a primer and an overcoat.

Ring: Overall, what we're seeing across all digital printing technologies is the expansion of that break-even point where it becomes more cost-effective to go with digital printing to achieve greater efficiency and savings for a certain job size. The major differences you will see in digital printing technologies are the types of substrates you can print on. We're seeing a determined effort in our industry space to constantly innovate to make our technology safer. As an example, we at Xeikon made an announcement this year that our dry toner is safe for indirect food contact under certain conditions, and direct contact with dry food containing no surface oil or fat. That is a big advantage for converters using our technology compared to UV-inkjet.

pP: What are the main advantages of digital printing to package printers?

Pentella: Digital can reduce printing costs while delivering more options to customers. With the increased consumer demand for 'greener packaging,' brand owners are looking for more sustainable printing options. Digital provides a distinct advantage over conventional printing methods because brands can print what they want, when they need it, avoiding costly and wasteful overruns.

Dekeukelaere: Better offerings to their customers: Flexibility, shorter lead times, shorter runs, versioning, seasonal-ization, postponement...just to name a few.

Stack: Digital printing brings many advantages to the packaging printer.

As run lengths continue to reduce and SKU versions increase, packaging printers today are forced to deal with more and more setups, more plates, increased waste and increased labor. Because digital printing eliminates the need for setups, these cost savings come back to the packaging printer. For most narrow-web label printers for example, setup costs for a job can be between $100-$250 at a minimum. This includes the cost of labor for setup (for multi color jobs this can be between 45 minutes and 2 hours), substrate waste (100-300 ft), new or replacement plates (depending on if it is a reorder or not). Those three components (labor, substrate waste and plates, if required) determine whether or not a packaging printer is going to run a given job digitally. Most of our customers tell us if they can find just 4-5 jobs per day to move to digital, the average cost savings per job are over $100. This means by just running 4-5 jobs per day on digital, the press pays for itself. Most packaging printers have more then enough jobs in hand today to justify a press.

Ring: The biggest factor driving the growth in digital packaging is the attractiveness of short-run printing, especially for consumer goods manufacturers, where we're seeing a rapid increase in private labels. Marketers are seeing the advantage of 1-to-1, personalized marketing over traditional, one-size-fits-all approaches. This is where digital printing technology can help companies achieve a higher level of ROI and repeat business. As a marketer, you can cost-effectively test marketing campaigns using variable data printing (VDP) technology, which offers the capability of personalizing the marketing message on the package and label with text or images, based on what you know about the individual's market segment. Our customers tell us that their clients' response rates with VDP and versioning are through the roof, compared to one-size-fits-all. The digital workflows and reduced make-ready times also offer a tremendous advantage for streamlining operations and wringing out more efficiency compared to conventional printing, with its fixed setup costs. Another key factor is safety and sustainability. For instance, our technology does not emit volatile organic compounds (VOC), and the capabilities of de-inking and recycling digitally printed paper allows companies to reduce their carbon footprint.

pP: Why should package printers consider adding digital printing as a capability?

Pentella: Digital printing helps packaging converters bring greater value to the brand owners they serve. HP Indigo presses, for instance, are helping many of the world's leading converters produce work for some of the world's largest and most well-known brands. HP Indigo's capabilities help these brands reduce time-to-market and waste, while increasing sales through versioning and multi-SKU production.

Sometimes, converters can have a dramatically positive effect on a brand by moving production from analog to digital printing. One HP Indigo customer, Innovative Labeling Solutions in Madison, Ohio, was able to help its client Precision Foods double sales on a line of retail canning and preserving products, using an HP Indigo press to roll out new, more colorful packaging on a multi-SKU job that that would have been costly to produce using analog processes.

The L'Oreal brand has a recent example of HP Indigo's quality advantage. Earlier this year, L'Oreal launched new Toy Story 3 Limited Edition shampoos. Instead of having shrink sleeves for the U.S. launch produced using flexo presses, the company asked its converter to use an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press. The producers of the Toy Story series were involved in the review and approval of this product launch, and their preference for image quality possible with HP Indigo led to the switch from analog to digital production.

Dekeukelaere: Digital printing for packaging these days goes further than printing short runs and prototyping. The new inkjet presses and new speeds allows to print cost effectively up to and over 100,000 cartons or 50,000 running feet. Digital will enable you to offer more product to your existing customer and at the same time it will help you to differentiate yourself from competition and attract new customers. These new customers also print longer runs and typically pull additional work on the traditional presses as well.

With digital you can help your customers, the print buyer/brand owners, to create more value and win the battle of the shelf. At the same time there are cost savings that can be made by offering reduced inventory, less obsolete packaging, shorter lead times, etc.

Stack: The ability to deliver short run jobs gives the packaging printer new applications to offer their customers. Promotional materials, variable data, multiple versions that don't require plate charges, etc. All of these things allow the packaging printer to not only service their current customers in new ways, but also to go after new business. However, most packaging printers justify the purchase off the cost savings in hand from current jobs—new jobs and applications are icing on the cake.

Ring: My advice to package printers thinking about investing in digital printing is to first keep in mind that in today's digital marketing world, you're no longer in the printing business. You're in the 1-to-1 personalized marketing business. The printing process itself is only one facet of the service you provide to your clients. Your prospects, whether you're B2C or B2B, expect a level of customized marketing that is actionable and speaks directly to them. Digital package printing offers a combination of speed, flexibility, cost-savings, and imaging quality that conventional technologies do not offer.