In our recent webinar with Package Design Magazine titled: Should Digital Printing be Part of Your Brand Strategy? we spoke to over 400 attendees who were looking for better understanding of the capabilities and uses of digital printing for packaging. The questions around using digital printing for packaging as part of a brands strategy are being asked in more and more conference rooms and are ones that many still do not have a clear answer to. One of the key reasons the answer is elusive is there is often not a clear understanding of the need for digitally printed packaging from inside the company. And in the cases where there is a clearly defined need, acting on that need leads to ambiguous or conflicting paths to addressing the needs.
Questions on the Cost of Digital Printing:
From the questions submitted by attendees we were struck by the fact that only 6% centered on the cost of digitally printed packaging. This is interesting because historically most Brand Owner pushback to digital printing was due to the premium price short run digital packaging required over those delivered through historical channels. Most of the pushback came from purchasing and procurement functions that were focused on the “piece price” of the package not having visibility to the whole process. Does this mean that Brand Owners are now shifting away from this historical micro view of digital pricing? Jim Goldman of Global Innovation Professionals presentation addressed this issue very nicely in the webinar.
In speaking with Julie Okon, Publisher of Package Design Magazine about these responses she suggested another viewpoint, “because of all the applications questions, it may be that Brand Owners want to know if their packaging can be produced digitally and then they will ask how much it costs”. The vendor side of the digital printing industry has been working very hard to focus the cost question on the overall cost of the process rather than the cost of the package. But with procurement and purchasing functions being hammered to cut budgets and operations functions measured by sticking to budget and efficiency, looking at the larger picture of packaging cost is easier said than done.
When I boil down the total body of questions from the webinar that came in from Brand Owners and Designers (other questions came from vendors and others attending) they seemed to fall into four distinct buckets of interest; Cost (the smallest bucket), General (about who is doing what), Process (about how to get digital done) and Applications (about specific uses for digital).
Questions on Digital Printing Applications:
Most of those asking questions were interested in understanding how digital could be used for specific application needs. Of this group 21% were specifically interested in folding carton applications with smaller groups asking about bags, flexible packaging, laminates and chipboard applications. The short answer to all these applications questions is yes, digital printing can and is being used for each example. Today the capabilities of digital printing systems are fairly robust for many label applications and smaller format folding cartons, flexible packaging and shrink sleeves are being produced on the same web based single pass printing systems. Larger format flatbed systems are being used for larger cartons and corrugated as well as point-of-purchase applications. There were many new digital systems shown at drupa 2012 (the global print show that happens every four years in Düsseldorf, Germany) that will be coming to market over the next 8 to 24 months that have the potential to open the spectrum of what digital can accomplish for packaging applications. Format sizes, production capacity, image quality and connectivity to other systems are all going to be addressed by some of these new systems. Contact me directly if you have specific questions or click here to learn about our report titled, “Digital Printing for Packaging: Folding Carton Review”.
During the webinar Mike Ferrari of Ferrari Innovation Solutions gave his view of the trends driving packaging change and presented some examples of how digital printing is making a difference in branding and prompting products through digitally printed packaging.
The webinar was concluded with a lively Q&A session moderated by Jeff Wettersten of Karstedt Partners. It was that Q&A session that sparked this new series, the Karstedt Digital Packaging Spotlite geared at helping the Brand Owner (and their supply chain partners) to understand Where, How & Why digital printing might fit.
We encourage you and your colleagues to participate and to make it worth you while we will provide you a free overview document describing “Is Digital Printing Part of Your Brand or Operational Strategy?” a report published by Karstedt Partners in collaboration with Mike Ferrari that addresses many of the questions Brand Owners will have as they move their thinking to digital printing for packaging.
Click here to receive your Free Overview Report of “Is Digital Printing Part of Your Brand or Operational Strategy?”.
