The Finishing Factor: Converters Must Not Overlook Finishing’s Role in an Efficient Workflow

In NAPCO Research’s most recent article highlighting key themes from our latest packaging study Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, we explored the role of digital printing in serving brand owners’ fast turnaround demands. While digital printing is undoubtedly a key component of what an optimized workflow will look like for the packaging industry’s future, converters must also factor in the digital finishing and converting technologies needed to maintain those quick turnarounds.

This is not a new challenge for converters as they adopt and install digital printing equipment. In fact, in Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, when asked to assess the level of challenge that various production issues present to their company, 84% of respondents stated that finishing and converting of short runs presented at least some level of challenge, with 28% stating it is a critical challenge.

Credit: NAPCO Research

The influx of short runs in the label and packaging segments has been an ongoing challenge for the industry for several years, as brand owners seek to expand their product lines, reduce packaging inventory, and maintain design flexibility. These factors have been instrumental in the increased adoption of digital printing in packaging, due to the technology’s removal of plates and lengthy makereadies from the production process.

However, long-run conventional printing is still the dominant technology in the industry, and accounts for the vast majority of printed packaging output. 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. For example, if conventional finishing equipment is tied up processing a high-volume run, a digitally printed short run that also needs to be finished will have to wait to get on the equipment, thereby negating the efficiency advantages it benefited from in printing.

To maintain optimized production for both conventional and digitally printed production, converters should consider implementing digital finishing equipment, which can include digital and laser diecutting, digital foiling and embossing, and digital laminating equipment, among other processes. While investing in new equipment is a major decision for any business, an increase in versioning and the rising total number of jobs being processed at packaging plants needs to be considered. For example, in NAPCO Research’s 2022 report Trends and Expectations in Label Printing and Production, label converters stated that on average, they are seeing a 30% increase in versioning.

Credit: NAPCO Research

In Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, converters cited key production challenges that could be eased with digital finishing equipment. For example, when asked to highlight their top obstacles experienced in transitioning label and packaging work from conventional presses to digital presses, 38% of respondents stated that integrating digital and conventional production workflows was a top challenge. Additionally, 28% of respondents stated that integrating finishing with digitally printed output was a top challenge.

While the advantages that digital printing provides are well-established, when seeking to make an investment in the technology, package printers and converters would be wise to assess their finishing needs first. Oftentimes, understanding what is needed to finish and convert the applications slated to be run digitally can help guide investment strategies. Working with suppliers to understand the available finishing options and what equipment may work best with specific digital presses can help ensure optimization of production.

SKU proliferation, versioning, and short run production are no longer just trends in the label and packaging industry. These are realities of the segment that will not be disappearing any time soon, and just as these factors necessitated the rise of digital printing, they will lead to an influx of digital finishing in the packaging production workflow.