The future of label printing – drupa is even more important than you think
"The digitalization of our world and of our lives is everywhere and is quickly entering into the print and packaging industry. Digital may exist a competitor but it can as well be part of the solution for printers and converters to be more efficient."
When I think about drupa, I think about information technology as the World Cup of Printing. The Globe Cup too happens every 4 years – but contrary to drupa my ain state is usually not a qualifier at that place. People told me when I first joined the printing industry 'don't get there, it's too big, you lot'll get lost', or 'don't become in that location, it's not focused plenty on your business.' Since my first drupa visit, I can't look to visit once again and I certainly won't miss it in 2020.
Yeah, it'due south true that drupa is huge and I did get lost there more than one time. Yes, it'southward not just focused on labels-printing, but to attend the biggest print show in the globe gives me an overview of the complete printing marketplace, the latest innovations, and the trends that we can await in future years. The different printing sectors within the industry are related and some trends that occur now in 1 category volition also evolve in another. For example, inkjet technology was first introduced for wide-format applications simply information technology is now playing a major role in label-printing. To proceeds cognition about competing printing processes at drupa gives me more insight and adds new perspectives to my ain business.
So, what can we expect from the next drupa in 2020? First and foremost – innovation! Printing, including packaging, is under intense pressure to transform itself. Make owners are upping the footstep and accept new, different requirements. The industry is more competitive than ever and innovation is what our clients – brand owners – are looking for.
One very important aspect is sustainability. Press, and especially packaging, is nether huge pressure to improve its carbon footprint and to limit waste. Today's younger generation participates in regular demonstrations to put pressure on governments and brand owners. They don't know why packaging is important but many think it'southward something inherently evil. Most don't understand the benefits of packaging and wait only at the waste generated. Even if today some more sustainable solutions are available, a lot of them are not implemented – just considering they are non notwithstanding economically feasible. Yes, everyone wants a better, cleaner planet merely nobody is prepared to pay for information technology! Packaging customers are out to cut cost, whatever it takes. Our group has, for case, adult many new solutions and brought them to the market. We are certified PEFC, FSC; Imprim'vert did a carbon footprint analysis. But today our green turnover is still very small. Maybe nosotros are not good enough in promoting or selling our solutions, but the resistance to change is also notwithstanding very strong – too strong in my view. I actually hope to encounter more sustainable packaging materials coming through, and more environmentally friendly inks, with print-machines able to print and process substrates in a more environmentally friendly manner.
At the World Cup of impress, the biggest contest is the confrontation between press techniques: flexo, offset, helio and the new digital ascent star. In the context of increased demand for more sustainability, quality, shorter commitment times and reduced costs, all press technologies are improving and innovation can move applications from i printing engineering to another. But like at a World Cup, watch out for the hooligans – those who just believe in one printing engineering science (their ain) and don't capeesh or understand the advantages of others.
Nowhere else can you exist equally close to the development of press technologies as at drupa. Hither an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages is essential in order to better serve your customers' needs. I look major changes to come up for all printing processes as they need to amend efficiency, waste direction, quality and also reduce their environmental impact significantly. Something to have in mind is that traditional print techniques are becoming more and more than digital, with sensors all over the machines and taking away time-consuming tasks from the operators. For example, digital set up-up tools enable printers and converters to be more than efficient; cameras and sensors can reduce the set-upwardly fourth dimension and increases productivity significantly – and all without replacing your current operators.
The digitalization of our globe and our lives is everywhere and is rapidly entering into the print and packaging manufacture. Digital may be a competitor but it can as well be part of the solution for printers and converters to exist more than efficient, to calculate in a more precise way their real costs and to integrate concrete products into the digital world using, for example, augmented reality. RF-ID and printed electronics are likewise opportunities for the print manufacture to connect with the digital world. Digital in general, incorporating pre-press, printing and converting in one system, is on the rise with the automation of all the steps of the print-workflow, thereby helping to optimize the unabridged product flooring and not merely the printing office. And it too links printers and converters better together with their customers and suppliers. In a digital world, print can be seamlessly integrated into multichannel communications offering personalization (individualization).
And what about my expectations for drupa 2020? Well, I don't usually take specific expectations – most of the fourth dimension I go surprised by visiting a booth I didn't intend to visit, which then informs or even inspires me about something unexpected. In the end, you volition get a different view on your investments or on the market trends and dynamics. So 'expect the unexpected' and exist open-minded! As mentioned, drupa is the best place to understand that the printing globe is made of numerous applications and that with all the innovation and new technologies beingness made available, the changes happening are in fact opportunities for printers and converters to reshape their time to come.
Finally, think beyond the press-press; information technology will take more than a new press to be successful. At drupa you need to look at the unabridged product-chain for print and packaging. Substrate innovations are going to be critical in the coming years. The digitalization and the automation of the entire workflow will alter your organization. New technologies will crave the hiring of new staff and the development of new skills. The way you will engage with your clients volition change significantly equally they are all soon going to be digital natives. So rather than resist the changes, exist gear up to embrace them.
Like the Globe Cup, drupa is an issue y'all really shouldn't miss – the biggest meeting place for the world's leaders in printing and packaging, a place where all the latest innovations volition be put under the spotlight. Then, see you at drupa 2020!
Almost the author
Isidore Leiser is the chief executive officer of Stratus Packaging, i of the leading European label converters using both conventional and digital technologies to transform the label industry.
Source: https://packagingsouthasia.com/events/the-future-of-label-printing-drupa-is-even-more-important-than-you-think/
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