The pandemic contributed significantly to the accelerated adoption of digital as brands had to change the way they marketed their products to attract customers in a digital space. This notwithstanding, digital is still a small percentage of the overall print business. “If you consider commercial, label and packaging printing, globally, digital probably accounts for between 5% and 6% of the total market space for print. But it is growing by double digits annually,” says Carl Zerle, Head of Digital Print Solutions at Kemtek.
Wendy McLoughlin, Business Development Executive at Kemtek, points out that offset printing numbers are declining as digital steadily grows, while overall print volumes remain static. “We’re seeing a decline in the traditional long print runs of the past and an increase in on-demand print runs that include variable data or personalisation or some form of customisation.
“People have mistaken a decline in magazine and newspaper publishing for an overall decline in print. However, the huge uptake and growth in packaging has shifted to replace that print volume. Many of the bigger brands have been slow to realise the potential of digital as compared to smaller businesses that started up during the pandemic that have taken advantage of being niche, opting for small runs and a need to differentiate their products.”
A historic drawback for digital has always been print speed; however, digital printers are starting to produce labels at a speed that competes with flexo and are starting to infringe on the offset space. “I believe we’re going to see an acceleration in the adoption of digital compared to the past five to seven years as digital printing gets faster and the quality is as good or better," says Zerle.
Digital printing faces limitations when it comes to cost – it’s significantly cheaper to do longer print runs using offset or flexo technology. “Digital can’t play in the same space as traditional printers and is more suited to personalised, on-demand print runs, where time to market is a key factor – you can print what you want when you need it.”
He adds: “Ten or so years ago, digital printing was more aligned with ‘photocopier’ technology. The technology has since split into two distinct spaces: photocopier and digital printer, and has evolved significantly.”
The shift towards digital is having a distinct impact on the printing and finishing markets. “As mentioned previously, we can offer a quick turnaround time, personalisation, customisation and add the wow factor that ensures that the consumer engages with product. So many more value adds can go into a printed product, enabling brands to gather consumer data such as what they buy and where they buy it. Digital printing offers lots of ways to engage with consumers to attract them to brands. You can’t achieve that with offset printing,” explains McLoughlin
Digital benefits
One big benefit of digital print is the ability to add security features to the packaging, according to Zerle. “You can include microtext, patterns, security inks or track and trace elements. Consumers want assurance that they’re buying an original product, while brands are realising they need security features and are prepared to pay extra for them.
“The counterfeit market grew exponentially during the pandemic and brands needed to find a way to protect their own products.”
Another benefit is that digital devices are versatile, so one printer can be used to produce more than one item, such as both labels and pouches. “You don’t need a bank of different machines to produce the different components of a solution.”
Digital also allows the brand to use sustainable media and inks for its packaging, benefiting the planet.
Another huge benefit of digital is that mock-ups can be produced on the actual equipment that the final packaging will be produced on. “Often when the mock up is produced on a proofing device, the colour or feel of the trial packaging can differ from the final result. This is a big win for creative agencies, who have to manage client expectations when there’s a difference between the mock-up and the final product,” says McLoughlin.
Key differentiator
At the moment, all printers are competing on price, says Zerle, while they should be considering time to market. “Printers are making single digit margins, then taking three to five weeks to get the packaging to market. However, with digital printers turning print jobs around in a matter of days or even hours, it means they can effectively make better margins. They’re being smart in targeting smaller, up-and-coming brands and doing packaging at a competitive price and getting it to market quickly, a strategy that traditional printers have a challenge with.”
Finally, there’s the cost of the technology itself. Zerle says: “Naturally, things like interest rates, exchange rates and logistics challenges impact the cost of digital printers in South Africa. However there’s a misconception that digital printers need to be replaced every three to five years, but that’s not the case. These devices can run for 10 to 15 years.”
He goes on to explain that platforms for big production runs are built using digital technology, much the same as is done with the traditional offset press. “It’s made to last and work hard, a mindset that’s taken people a while to adopt.”
McLoughlin agrees, saying: “Digital presses can run between two million and three million impressions a month, going up to five million impressions if required. Brands can change their packaging design as often as they like to stay current. Pharmaceutical and food companies can change their packaging every time regulations change. All of this falls easily into digital’s lap.”
Brands that have a traditional printer doing massive runs for them are left with a stockholding that they have to store – and potentially dispose of – if something changes with an ingredient or compliance. With digital, brands can print what they want when they need it.
Today’s brands are having to fight for shelf appeal, according to Zerle. “As little as five years ago, there was a smaller selection for consumers to choose from, but now it’s common to see as many as 10 different brands offering the same product. The only way to differentiate is packaging. Consumers have also changed. They want information about what brands are doing, for example for the environment. Their shopping behaviour is also affected by influencers, and brands have to keep pace.”
Finishing neck and neck?
Finishing is also playing a role. For instance, brands are encouraging consumers to use pouch refills once they’ve purchased the product in rigid plastic packaging. Spot varnishing and foiling add additional scope for brands to embellish packaging for high margin products. Doing this digitally enables the brand to do variable foiling or spot varnishing more affordably.
McLoughlin points out that digital printing and finishing aren’t yet able to be integrated in-line, but instead are near-line simply because the printing process is that much faster than the finishing one. “You never slow down a printer to keep pace with a finishing machine,” she states. “The more complex the finishing, the longer the process is going to take. The same applies to labelling, depending on how many processes you’re going to include.”
Looking to the future of digital and what it’s going to take for it to compete on an equal footing with traditional printing presses, Zerle says it definitely comes down to print speed. “Digital is getting to the stage where it can play in the flexible and commercial print spaces. People have been asking for faster production in the digital space, the quality keeps improving and the pricing hasn’t gone through the roof despite the exchange rates.
“Commercial printers that haven’t ventured into digital yet will need to do so soon, as long run, low margin work is just going to become more and more competitive. The flexibility offered, particularly when it comes to labels and packaging, means we’re uncovering new opportunities all of the time. They need to realise that your product offering has to be different or you will continue to operate in a price war. Digital technology has evolved and become mainstream, which print business can no longer do without.”
He concludes: “Historically, digital was a ‘nice to have’ in the print shop. Today, it’s a necessity.”
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