Packaging Pulse: Increasing Throughput Ranked as No. 1 Goal for 2026

At the beginning of January, we posed an important question to the label and packaging printers and converters in the Packaging Impressions community: What’s the biggest challenge you’re solving in your operation this year?

Of course, the answer isn’t simple. There are many moving pieces involved in creating a package — from order placement to delivery — and every operation is different.

Our data illustrates this point. Most respondents (66%) reported offering more than one packaging solution, highlighting the diversity of operational needs printers and converters are managing today.

For example, in our sample, 66% of respondents said they offer labels. Most of those respondents also provide at least one other packaging type: 50% of label providers surveyed also print flexible packaging and folding cartons, while 33% of label providers also offer corrugated packaging.

The Results

With that in mind, it’s no surprise the printers and converters who participated in this month’s survey reported a wide range of top challenges.

The most commonly cited challenge was increasing throughput and reducing bottlenecks, with 34% of printed label and packaging providers saying this is the No. 1 challenge they want to address in 2026.

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This suggests package and label printers and converters continue to see inefficiencies in their workflows, an issue previously identified by Alliance Insights (formerly NAPCO Research). Analyst Cory Francer writes:

Many converters are adopting a hybrid approach of leveraging conventional and digital technologies for the distinct advantages of each but have run into issues in their finishing processes. In a situation in which both long-run conventional output and short-run digital output are being finished using the same conventional finishing platforms, bottlenecks in production can occur.

Another top challenge printers and converters want to address is improving workflow automation or software integration (22%). These are two tangible ways those in the packaging and label space — and even printers in other segments — are working to improve efficiency. As one label and packaging provider in our survey noted, automation and software integration are a means to boost throughput and subsequently take on more job orders.

This was a common theme among the respondents. Though other challenges surfaced — including managing labor shortages and reducing production costs — the underlying goal was clear: to increase revenue. One folding carton producer summed it up succinctly, citing their goal as “improving throughput to allow growth in volume without hiring additional people.”