Don’t be Boxed In to Long Runs

High Quality Short Runs Affordable for Folding Carton, Label Markets

Since you can’t download your box of cereal from the Internet, the packaging and label market has not faced the same constraints, competition and consolidation seen in conventional commercial print. However, there are still challenges. With conventional converting processes, including gravure and flexographic printing technologies, brand owners and converters must balance cost with run length, and it can be difficult to efficiently and cost effectively produce short runs.

Why are short runs important in packaging? There is a growing demand for white label, store brand, regionally differentiated labeling and package design, and short-run mock-ups that look just like the final product. According to the Private Label Manufacturing Association, store brands now account for one of every five items sold in North American supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchandisers, and other parts of the world are experiencing a similar trend.

The good news for brand owners is that digital offset printing technologies are now available that can deliver against all of these needs—and without any compromise to quality. For example, the Presstek 75DI, a B2+ format digital offset press, with an inline coater and can be configured with up to 10 colours, is designed to cost-effectively produce runs in the 500 to 20,000 sheet range. Its maximum sheet size of 788mm × 600mm (31.02″ × 23.62″) is large enough to address a wide range of packaging and labeling needs, and its ability to print on a wide range of substrates, ranging in thickness from 0.04mm–0.6mm (0.0016″–0.024″) with an option for up 0.8mm (0.031”) delivers unmatched flexibility to converters as they work to meet the needs of brand owners.

Quality is not an issue, either. With print resolutions of up to 300 lpi or stochastic (FM) screening with no extra cost of effort delivers the type of stunning quality that makes packages stand out on the shelf, and with consistent colour the ensures brand integrity.

What’s even more exciting is the speed with which product can be produced. The press prints at up to 16,000 sheets per hour and has the ability to go from digital file to printed sheet in six minutes. For brand owners who wish to see exactly how their packaging will look, and perhaps even wish to watch materials coming off the press, the process takes minutes instead of the hours conventional processes require, making better use of time for busy brand owners.

For converters, this rapid job changeover and the high level of automation of the press means that more of the smaller jobs increasingly being demanded can be produced in a day, enabling these manufacturers to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver against today’s market demands.

“The Presstek 75DI delivers a low cost per unit in the shorter run lengths that are growing prevalent in the packaging industry,” said Peter Banks, Presstek’s UK Sales Director. “The ability to print a wide range of inks, including vegetable-based varieties, protective varnishes, special colours and metallics, on stock up to up 0.8mm thick, makes the 75DI press well suited to meet many of the printing needs of packaging converters and brand owners.”

And don’t just take our word for it. Take a look at the brief video demonstration of the Presstek 75DI by visiting www.presstek.com/75DIoverview. Industry leading research firm InfoTrends has also completed an extensive white paper analyzing the market impact, benefits and competitive advantages of the Presstek 75DI digital offset press. The white paper is available as a free download at www.presstek.com/75DIreport.

For more information about how a Presstek 75DI digital offset press can complement traditional folding carton manufacturing, visit http://www.presstek.com/solutions-packaging.htm.

Contact information:

Presstek Europe Ltd.
Unit 1, Summit Centre
Skyport Drive,
Harmondsworth,
West Drayton UB7 0LJ
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0) 20 8745 8000
marketing@presstekeurope.com
www.presstek.com