Label printing will become the wind vane of the whole packaging industry? Four main trends tell you
The label printing market continues to grow: in 2017, the global market value is US $36.98 billion, which is expected to reach US $45.22 billion by 2022.
To some extent, this is driven by the changing market and the changing needs of label customers, including the increasing number of SKUs, the significant shortening of average operation time and life cycle of mass-produced products, and the substantial increase of regulatory content required for products. But at least to some extent, this is also due to the willingness of participants in the label printing industry to accept changes and develop new printing and processing methods. In recent years, the types and varieties of labels in the industry are increasing.
So, will this continue? And should we take the label industry as the wind vane of the whole packaging industry? This paper will explore the four major trends of the label industry and the potential impact of these trends
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1. Integration of digital printing and analog printing
The label industry is clearly an early adopter of digital printing. In recent years, digital printed labels have flourished, driven by the market demand for shorter orders, more personalized packaging, stronger sustainability, and helping products stand out.
The rest of the packaging market is also following up. In fact, we have recently seen a turning point in the industry where there is more demand for narrow width digital presses than for flexographic devices. In addition to labels, analysts expect strong growth in digital printing in corrugated boxes, folding cartons and flexible packaging applications.
The performance of digital printers and printers is improving, but this breakthrough innovation may take more time to become mainstream. Digitalization represents a new way of work processing. From documents to final products, it will gradually bring the company to a new realm in terms of quality, productivity and overall workflow. In addition, the importance of online "digital products" is increasing; complex software can use digital products to complete more design, approval and marketing processes. This will change the dynamics of work between processors / printers and brand owners, as they will share more digital collaboration throughout the workflow.
2. Customization and the rise of high-end labels
Simulation printing is very suitable for medium and long version orders and will continue to account for a large proportion of global production. At the same time, demand is rapidly evolving into more customization and promotion, which means smaller order operations, greater cost constraints, and ultimately the transformation of the entire digital workflow. Being able to produce results with maximum flexibility and optimal economic value will give digital printing a huge foothold in all fields.
Brands of different sizes are promoting the so-called "target marketing", that is, only labels can improve the surface quality of products. Different printing effects (such as hot pressing, cold pressing and gravure printing) will be used to touch up the label, so that it has a more "high-end" appearance, such as the tactile effect of local polishing and other processes. Some of these enhancements can even be done digitally.
We may see that traditional flexography, extended gamut (ECG) and digital printing technologies are better used in the industry, all of which are best used to meet the growing needs of labels.
3. Need better color control - from documents to finished products
Understandably, brand owners have high requirements for color consistency. They know that their customers will subconsciously look at the packaging and labels for clues about quality, so any problem inconsistent with the brand color will lead to a negative impression.
The growing demand for color consistency is leading the pursuit of extended color gamut (ECG). On top of the traditional cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), ECG printing uses three other ink colors: orange, green and purple (OGV), a total of seven colors (cmykogv). Only about 60% Pantone can be matched with traditional CMYK hybrid printing, but more than 90% Pantone can be matched with cmykogv hybrid printing. Similarly, in this area, innovation will be the forefront of improving ink, while increasing Pantone coverage.
What the industry needs to see is repeatability and consistency. Now, the digitization of color matching makes 100% of color matching meet the requirements of cooperative owners become a reality. No matter where the printing supplier is located in the world, the brand owner wants to achieve color consistency on a global scale. Processors are very surprised by this result, which will enable them to deliver products according to this requirement. They also recognize the direct advantages of flexibility and time to market when using ECG technology in combination with digital automation of flexographic printing equipment.
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