Unwrapping Opportunities in Packaging Brand owners around the world are responding to changing consumer needs by rethinking their product packaging. More emphasis is being placed on shortening product cycles, increasing variations and compressing run lengths. The keys to unlocking this potential lie in today’s digital print technologies. According to InfoTrends, digitally printed packaging worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 16% globally between 2015 and 2020. As brand owners strive to create countless variations of products and product sizes to appeal to an increasingly option hungry consumer base, they are looking to packaging vendors for new application ideas that yield business results, while more effectively managing the supply chain. This falls right into the strengths of digital print by reducing warehousing and obsolescence costs, adding value with variable data and infusing brand protection features. Whether you’re a converter building a digital business, or a seasoned printer looking for ways to expand, digital printing technology offers a number of advantages needed in today’s demanding packaging environments. Used strategically, it can help brand owners respond rapidly in competitive markets and provide print providers with an opportunity to offer end-to-end printing support for marketing campaigns, fulfi lling both the packaging and printed collateral. For print providers looking to capture a piece of this booming packaging opportunity, there are four considerations they should take into account when investing in a solution: • Streamline workfl ow: With a greater number of small jobs coming in, it’s important to invest in the right software and learn how to integrate with customer workfl ows to build more effi cient and agile supply chains. • Manage color: Brand owners maintain critical requirements for colors represented on their packaging. Work closely with a color management specialist to obtain color quality certifi cations or other services to get the most out of processes. • Understand substrates: Investigate and test a range of different substrates to get a better understanding of how each will impact the workfl ow. • Educate your customers: Help brand owners understand the value that digitally-printed packaging can bring to their customers’ business, such as meeting demands for versioning and maximizing supply chain effi ciency. Xerox’s (Booth 1625) packaging solutions are designed to streamline integration and workfl ows to remove bottlenecks all while delivering end products that meet stringent quality guidelines. For example, our Xerox Automated Folding Carton Solution enables in-line production of specialized, short-run folding cartons that better meet customer needs. With our extensive production print portfolio, system integration skills, and workfl ow and fi nishing partnerships, Xerox solutions can be applied across many other packaging market segments including direct-to-object and corrugated materials. In fact, we recently introduced the Xerox Direct to Object Inkjet Printer—a 2016 MUST SEE ’EMS award winner— which prints directly on three-dimensional objects as large as one cubic foot, and eliminates the need for pre-printed labels. Be sure to stop by our booth for a demonstration during the show. Xerox also recently announced a partnership with KBA (Booth 1435) to develop a 40" digital sheetfed press for the folding carton market, the KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox. The press will have the fl exibility, format and speed to help industrial production printers capture new business opportunities. Offi cial Show Daily | PrintingNews.com GRAPH EXPO 16 | September 27, 2016 | 23
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