Packaging and Label Innovations Take Center Stage on Day One of PRINTING United Expo 2025

The expansive show floor at PRINTING United Expo in Orlando, Florida, is hosting some of the latest technologies developed with label and package printers and converters in mind. With so much to see in just three short days, here's a taste of what had the show floor buzzing on Day 1 of the event.

Like any printing trade show, technology is front and center here at Expo.

"I would say the advancements in technology would probably be the No. 1 thing that I've seen, because technology is everywhere — it's automation, it's efficiency," says Matt Leach, president and CEO of World Arts in Spencer, Indiana.

The technology that's struck Leach most? The manufacturing aided technology that enables equipment to fulfill specific functions.

One of those specific functions is embellishment, which has caught on like wildfire in labels and packaging in recent years because of its ability to elevate the consumer perception of a product.

Orlando, Florida-based SPC does long-run folding cartons on its new Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106, but also does short-run packaging for prototypes. The company's president, Mark Mills, explains that finding a way to show their embellishment capabilities on prototypes is crucial.

"We didn't know what to expect, because we do a lot of packaging, but we're walking around," Mills says. "We found this booth where they do short-run foil stamping that we could do for proofing. So like, we're gonna buy one on Monday. So we didn't even know we're gonna learn about that. So we got all excited. I brought my whole team to the booth, and so you never know what you're going to learn when you walk the floor."

What's driving innovation, says Mike Barry, national sales manager at Domino, comes back to what printers and converters need for their operations.

"Our customers always push us on new features, higher uptime, higher speeds, higher quality," Barry says. "I mean, that's really evolved the product line of the years, and the feedback and trying to take different parts of the market with different needs for different people."

Barry says that's the reason Domino entered the corrugate space a few years ago, and will continue to drive innovation for the company.