Packaging Prepress Services Adapt and Expand

In the world of analog (pre-digital) packaging production, film and plates were and, in many cases, still are an important bridge between the customer, the Consumer Packaging Companies (CPC) and the print and converting provider. However, these two products are more than mere film and plate media. The processes and, more importantly, the skills used to image that media is really what ensures an acceptable end product.

The division of responsibilities during the transition to digital in commercial printing was split between the designer and the printer, with the help of increasingly "smarter" software to reduce some of the skill requirements. With the packaging transition it isn’t quite as easy. Understanding the complex relationship between machine, color, plates (in the case of flexo) and an extensive array of substrate media and the converting process is a skill that has been the purview of the prepress house for generations. In packaging, as was the case with commercial print, with the migration to digital printing the need for film and plates disappears, however even with the advent of new imaging technologies, these core skills still play an important part of the process. So where do those responsibilities lie now and in the future?

Trade Services Making the Transition

Existing packaging prepress services saw this coming for a while and have been reinventing themselves to address the inevitable shift to digital. Their role has always been more than just the platemaker for the converter. In many cases it has been the liaison between the CPC’s and the converter, since they managed the many variables that controlled the nuances in the platemaking process that ensured the expected results.

A great example of how prepress companies are transitioning can be seen with Olberding Brands, formerly known as Phototype, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the home of P&G. The new name, Olberding, is the family name of the owners. Founded in 1919, this family-owned business grew into an international packaging prepress powerhouse. With production facilities in the U.S., U.K. and China, and client support centers around the globe. They have grown as a result of their ability to innovate and adapt to the changing requirements of the market. This includes consolidation of prepress houses, as well as SKU proliferation for different product lines and sizes to support increased demand for targeted marketing, all of which has added to their growth.

To address the shifts, in addition to the name change, they have created three separate divisions that operate independently, but sometimes leverage existing and new customers across each of the divisions. Gravity is their design and branding division which works with CPC’s on packaging design. Amplify works with CPC’s on leveraging their brand design across different visual delivery requirements. Phototype is their prepress production division. Since flexo still maintains the largest share of packaging print production, their Phototype prepress division is still the largest group, but it has also continued to evolve and expand its offerings to better support the market shifts. 

A key service they offer to their clients, whether they are the converter or the CPC, are "print-quality management" services. As previously noted, this is a significant role, and according to David Olberding, probably one of the more important services they offer. Not only do they work with the CPC’s on the production realities of their design, but they also prepare the plates and work with the converter on how to achieve the expected result. They still make proofs, both analog and digital, and recently even metal decorating proofs to provide a way to envision cans before they go to full-on production. This new addition has been especially valuable to both craft beverage producers and larger companies looking to introduce a new line.

Digital Packaging Printing

While the largest percentage of their work is still going to flexo platemaking, the brands still rely on them to prepare the files for other processes as well.

“Generally all products go through the graphics process, which means it's got to get approved," Olberding said. "It's got to get routed, and the colors have got to be right. So, we still do the prep whether we do it for a flexo or offset plate, a digital file or for decorating a metal can."

It is anticipated that using their other two divisions to work with the CPC’s to create the brand designs from the beginning will help to prepare for the increase in digital production as well.

Many of the Phototype clients are larger brands, so this doesn’t mean that many companies that have selected digital printing for their package won’t take their original design file and send it to the printer/converter directly. In fact, as we have seen in digital label production, which has been the bellwether for digital packaging production, more often than not, the design file goes directly to the converter, and if needed, a proof is pulled on the digital press. However, ensuring brand identity across different production methods is still going to be a challenge without the inclusion of a quality arbiter that can navigate the many variables. To address that, the role will have to be either with the CPC’s and brands, which is not necessarily their desire in many cases, or a skilled prepress company or perhaps even some new developments in software.