Pressing On: Of Print Geeks and Packages

Let’s face it: Many printers are geeks. I know this partly because I inherited the “How’d They Print That?” column when I worked at the once-venerable (and now defunct) Graphic Arts Monthly magazine. Those detailed articles dissected impressive printed pieces, breaking down job specifications -- from paper and inks to special effects. I heard reports of readers literally tearing apart pages, trying to decipher how a particular technique was executed – sometimes seeing if we were indeed telling the truth!

And the print geeks among us love the holidays, from cool greeting cards and fancy ribbons to designer wrapping paper and metallic, foil-enhanced boxes. Fact is, the global package printing market is huge and growing at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.26 percent from now until 2020, reaching more than $587 billion, according to a MarketsandMarkets trends and forecast report released this past August.

Some predictions are even more bold, such as those cited by the folks who manage the now triennial drupa trade fair. They believe the overall packaging market will increase to more than $1 trillion (USD) as early as 2018. Come late May and early June 2016, one of the highlight topics at drupa in Dusseldorf, Germany, will be packaging production. A Packaging Touchpoint special show will reflect its market significance. “Our aim is to use the visionary Touchpoint to identify potential in packaging design and production and address important vertical markets,” said Sabine Geldermann, director of drupa. Packaging Touchpoint is geared towards brands, packaging designers, and service providers already operating in the packaging sector or planning to enter it.

The special forum is designed and implemented in close collaboration with the European Packaging Design Association (epda), Europe's leading association of brands and packaging agencies. “We will cover the entire spectrum of the packaging world: from technical/functional requirements, cultural and ethical considerations, cost-effectiveness and efficiency to the wide range of substrates and the technologies used,” explained Claudia Josephs, epda project manager. To fulfill the special needs of the various user industries better, Packaging Touchpoint will be divided into four “future labs:” “food and beverage,” “non-food,” “pharma," and “cosmetics.”

The Digital Opportunity

On the digital side, the demand for customization and on-demand solutions is driving the worldwide label and packaging (L&P) printing-press market. According to mid-year research from International Data Corporation (IDC), total L&P Press shipments grew 27.5 percent in 2014, and IDC has forecast the market to expand to 627 shipments by 2019, growing at an 8.7 percent CAGR and representing $507.5 million in value of shipments. Both electrophotographic (EP) toner-based and inkjet printing devices will continue to gain traction throughout the forecast period, reported the firm.

“The growth opportunity for digitally printed labels and packaging is substantial and represents a sure bet,” commented Amy Machado, senior research analyst for IDC’s Hardcopy Peripheral Solutions. “L&P will not be impacted by some of the challenges faced by traditional document printing. For example, the L&P market will not be disrupted by e-presentment or the emergence of mobile technologies. The worldwide appetite to purchase goods of all types — products that need to be labeled and packaged — shows no sign of abating.”

According to IDC, the “omnichannel” transformation has led to brand owners using “big data” more. IDC is seeing an increase in the number of SKUs. And, the need for variable data is increasing. It has led to manufacturers demanding more “on-demand” or “just-in-time” solutions.

Hardware vendors are not only finding growth in shipments but also continual ramp-up in print volumes coming off their presses. Increasing volume translates to a growing annuity stream of consumables/services revenue, and every production-class hardware vendor should be serious about entering the L&P segment, IDC reported. Other findings from the research include:

• Hewlett-Packard was the worldwide market-share leader with a commanding 62 percent share in 2014, followed by Xeikon, EFI, and Epson.
• Newer entrants into the worldwide L&P market include Screen, Durst, Delphax, Founder, and Fujifilm.
• As customers/consumers become more enabled through the omnichannel, they also become more demanding of the supply chain. Customers are demanding more personalized offerings and expecting more personalized products targeting them directly.
• Brand owners at manufacturers are also using customized messaging to their own marketing advantage, to grow brand awareness, gain new customers, and retain brand loyalty.
• One of the biggest threats to digital print in L&P is still the traditional flexographic process, but digital adds value beyond cost. Hardware vendors that have spent a great amount of research and development on technology development must now also invest in sales and solutions, ensuring that everyone — the brand owner and the converter/commercial printer — fully realizes the value-add of digital.

For more information on overall package printing trends, including flexography and offset, read “Packaging Packs a Punch for Print” beginning on page 14 this month.

We wish you, geeks and otherwise, the hap-hap-happiest of holidays from Printing News in print and PrintingNews.com!