Pace, held last month in Brussels, brought together C-level Executives from the packaging industry. Neil Falconer, print strategy consultant with Pira, told the brand managers who attended the event at Agfa Graphics, that digital packaging is growing at an annual rate of 18-27 per cent across various industry segments, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food and beverage packaging. Among the different packaging media, including corrugated, flexo and folding cartons, Falconer said he expected double-digit growth in the next five years.

He said, “There are a number of benefits to digital packaging. It helps avoid high set-up costs of Flexo/Offset and Gravure and creates a reduction in capital equipment costs. Digital packaging systems help reduce cost, waste and inventory in the supply chain, offer popular digital security features and coding, and open up new niche markets. The packaging market as a whole is growing steadily. When looking at digital solutions, I expect to see growth in toner based solutions but the major growth will be in inkjet based systems as inkjet becomes the dominant process during the next decade.”

Jan de Vooght, manager sales and marketing for :Dotrix at Agfa Graphics, said, “Having the capability to offer mass customised packaging, with text and images, gives brand managers a powerful tool for attracting new customers with their packaging. Agfa’s :Dotrix Modular digital printing press offers many other advantages over traditional flexo printing techniques. Most notably, it is faster, offers greater colour reproduction, and gives brand owners the ability to be more flexible (variable and even personalised printing) with their promotions and adapt to changes more quickly. Now is the time to print what will be sold, hence reducing stock and waste.”

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