3 Things the Packaging and Label Industry Should Know About Convergence

SPC showcases a variety of carton designs. | Credit: PRINTING United Alliance

For years, print service providers (PSPs) have investigated how they can strengthen their business through diversification to set themselves up for long-term success as the printing industry continues to evolve. Over time, the packaging and labels market has emerged as a prime opportunity for growth, and now includes several players that used to fall squarely into other segments, such as commercial printing.

According to the “Commercial Printing Print Business Outlook Report, Fall 2024” from PRINTING United Alliance, 77% of all commercial printers who participated have diversified into new segments. Among those PSPs, 31% said they had moved into package printing and converting.

Cory Francer, analyst at Alliance Insights, notes that this signals a shift.

“What this tells us is that printers aren’t just thinking about making a convergence play into packaging anymore, they’re actually doing it,” Francer said during the Packaging Impressions Forum at PRINTING United Expo 2025 in Orlando, Florida.

While the session focused on a commercial printer that moved into the folding carton market, it highlighted valuable lessons for package printers and converters looking to test out another packaging segment — and for those who want to stay ahead of an increasing number of competitors.

These insights are highlighted in Packaging Impressions’ exclusive report, “The Enduring Appeal of Package Printing.” Here’s a sneak peek at three of the lessons the session held for printers and converters.

1. Stability

Compared to other areas of the printing industry — such as commercial printing — packaging and labels offer long-term stability, in that the work isn’t going anywhere. Meanwhile, Orlando, Florida’s Spectrum Packaging Corp. (SPC) noticed about 15 years ago that its area of the state had more commercial PSPs than there was demand, which led to margin shrinkage.

“So we made the decision: We can put ink on paper, it can’t be that much harder to put ink on a box,” SPC President Mark Mills said.

Why packaging? According to the “State of the Industry Update Fourth Quarter 2024,” published by PRINTING United Alliance, 29.1% of PSPs said that losing clients to print alternatives was a major concern.

“The great thing about packaging is that it’s really hard to digitize,” Francer said. “You’ve got to put a product in something.”

2. Learning Curve

Mills’ perception that printing folding cartons wouldn’t be much harder than commercial work did not pan out as expected.

“We thought we knew about paper. We didn’t know anything about paper,” he said. “Who we buy from; what we buy; how we buy it; how that paper works in a freezer, with beverage; all sorts of coatings. … There’s just so much that affects paper. The paper affects that product.”

Learning the substrates wasn’t the only challenge SPC faced. The fledgling folding carton manufacturer also invested money into equipment and facility upgrades, as well as a lot of time into learning the trade.

In fact, it wasn’t until seven years after its folding carton journey began that the PSP could say packaging was the only work it did.

“Every year, we just did a little more and more and more,” Mills said. “But it was hard. We lost money, took pay cuts.”

Long-time packaging and label printers and converters may view the learning challenges of new entrants to their markets as opportunities for them to highlight their own know-how.

3. Transferable Skills

On the other hand, new entrants to the packaging and label industry may have a leg up in some areas of the business. For instance, SPC found that it had some knowledge and skills that have helped it do well in its new market.

For one, SPC has what Mills called a “high-end philosophy.”

“We’ll add spot UV or reticulation or cool printing techniques, and [the brands] have never seen them, like ‘Oh, you can do that on a box?’ [We’ll say], ‘Yeah, you can do that on a box,’” Mills said.

The other thing that’s contributed to SPC’s success in packaging is its turnaround speed.

Ryan Hartlief, the company’s senior packaging specialist and national accounts manager who joined Mills during the session, pointed out the stark difference in customer expectations.

“We come from that world where clients are just so demanding constantly, I just lived in stress constantly in commercial print, right?” Hartlief said. “So I remember those days, and in packaging, it’s different. So we come into it going, ‘You want it next week?’ And they’re just like, ‘What do you mean next week? I need it next month.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, we’ll get it done.’”

For established printed package and label manufacturers, this offers a glimpse of how newcomers may compete — and where years of experience may be a differentiator.

To learn more about the convergence takeaways from the Packaging Impressions Forum, be sure to check out our full exclusive report, “The Enduring Appeal of Package Printing.”