Simon Daplyn, Sun Chemical

It is widely acknowledged that the adoption of digital printing for packaging is on the rise. However, the landscape is evolving rapidly, with a significant growth curve predicted as the technology transitions from niche sampling and mock-up prototyping to full production implementation. According to ‘Towards Packaging’, the global digital printing packaging market is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8%, from USD 2.10 billion in 2022 to reach an estimated USD 5 - 6.03 billion by 2032.

Big numbers with growth estimations are exciting, but what is the reality we are confronted with now?

While there are several segments under the printed packaging umbrella, the corrugated market is well-placed to take advantage of the benefits of digital print.  As brands react to online marketplace purchasing growth and sustainability demands, digital printing can play an increasingly important role in delivering high-quality print-on-demand 

Several significant macro trends are currently shaping the corrugated market, favouring the adoption of digital printing. Despite existing challenges, the potential for a substantial shift towards digital printing in the industry's output is steadily increasing.

What are the trends?

Cost is a top priority in printing considerations. Traditionally, digital printing has been perceived as an expensive technology to operate. However, this perception is evolving as the full value chain and process costs, including the hidden costs of operation, are now taken into account. Consequently, digital printing can effectively compete with analogue printing, especially in shorter run-length productions. One of the costs often discussed is the requirement to produce printing plates for analogue processes. While the cost of producing plates is normally passed on to the client, there are additional costs in storage, energy, water and chemicals used to clean both the printer and printing plates post-operation. As average run lengths continue to decrease, with small and medium-sized brands expanding their retail presence, the value of digital printing and the cost benefits become more pronounced. Moreover, digital printing offers benefits such as streamlined processes, shorter turnaround times and reduced inventory management as well as the ‘cash flow tie up’ which is a situation where a brand, converter, or company has to commit to a long-run analogue print. Often they tie up a lot of cash in stock of printed materials that will go out to the market over time, whereas with digital, the potential for shorter runs means they can order based on need rather than based on minimum run length to get a price and much less cash is tied up in stock. Often price discussions focus on a bottle price for the consumables whereas the overall value proposition is often more complex than “the ink is too expensive”.

Sustainability has become more of a necessity than a trend with consumer demand and government legislation dictating recyclability requirements, product lifecycle and stringent chemical regulations. Digital printing offers several environmental benefits including waste reduction by the elimination of wastewater from flexo plate washing and press cleaning, plate disposal (land fill), and excess ink which is often left in the sumps. 

The third key trend is the ongoing growth of e-commerce and personalisation. This may be regional pack variations, variable data integration, the need to have unique product identifiers and personalised messaging, and on-box advertising on the outer pack. In all cases, digital printing emerges as the optimal platform for converters to adapt to regional and market needs and allow on-demand high-quality print in shorter run length production runs.

While the market share for digital corrugated printing remains below 1% of total printed board, the advantages it offers indicate significant growth potential for the technology within this market. However, several challenges remain to allow a faster conversion to the technology.

One of the challenges in this industry is the expectation from many that it is a single fix for all substrates, applications and processes, whereas in analogue printing there may be businesses running lithographic lamination print for some projects and flexographic for others, with requirements in terms of quality, colourway, and substrate expected to cover all eventualities. Within ink chemistry there are additional challenges due to the need to optimise solutions for specific printheads and presses, leading to the design of specific inks rather than a single formulation for all machines. The same applies to ink-substrate interaction as corrugated presents challenges in terms of its porosity and variability of surface quality whilst there is a maintained expectation of achieving the perfect print. There is also the continual evolution of legislation and chemical classifications requiring the ink to adapt to the changing landscape and be compliant with end-use and country-specific requirements.

The role of ink in any application extends beyond the process of printing. The ink forms part of the product whether this is a graphic, a barcode or a contribution to the final function of the item. This means that it must perform in the print process but also in any post process, on the shelf, in use and as part of the end-of-life management of the product. As such, the ink on the substrate should have certain performance characteristics for corrugated markets including abrasion resistance, legibility, fit to function, compliance with market, country regulations and be able to be recycled.

The pull of aqueous technology

One emerging pull from the market is the move to water-based technology. This is driven in part by the fact that a large percentage of corrugate is used in the packaging of foodstuffs. UV inks currently offer many benefits including drying speed, simplicity of use and increased substrate tolerance - but there is a growing pull from the market towards water-based solutions, which have a perception of being more likely to meet evolving regulatory and compliance requirements. Water-based inks have developed greatly, however some application challenges remain. Aqueous inks are more sensitive to substrate variability and with the increasing use of liners containing a percentage of recycled content, the substrates can change along the length of a job. Water will absorb into the substrate to a greater extent leading to loss of colour and drying challenges in terms of temperature and time.

For this reason, using a primer layer combined with an aqueous digital ink can be a pathway to the adoption of the technology by removing substrate variability and providing a better surface to accept a print. If the ink and primer are tuned to work in combination, the results can offer significant benefits. These include enabling a wider range of substrates to be printed (including coated, uncoated, recycled etc.), assisting with global regulatory compliance challenges and speeding up the switch to digital print by “levelling the playing field”.  In addition to primers, digital inks can be used with analogue overprint varnishes and coatings to add value with spot gloss, haptic finishes and other effects.

For the full potential of digital to be achieved in the short term, a strong collaboration is needed between stakeholders. This includes ink developers, hardware and printhead suppliers, brands, and converters. If a holistic approach is adopted early in the design cycle, highly efficient print and post-print processes can be accomplished, allowing digital print to move into the mainstream for corrugated printing.

To learn more about Sun Chemical’s sustainability efforts and to download the company’s latest sustainability recent report visit: sunchemical.com/sustainability.

Check out Simon’s talk at our recent FuturePrint TECH: Packaging & Labels Conference in Valencia.