Regardless of the size of your company, digitally printed flexible packaging has a variety of benefits over conventional printing methods like offset, gravure, and flexographic. There are many differences between digital and conventional printing, and while traditional print is a great choice for many brands, there are several advantages to choosing digitally printed flexible packaging. Digital printing for flexible packaging is the smart move, it’s faster, involves way less headaches and if you need to make a change, that’s ok.
Read on to learn the seven advantages of digital printing and how it can help your company level up with a lot less effort.
1. Turnaround time is cut in half, and then some.
With digital printing, there are never any plates to create or set up. This means once the digital file is sent over, your project is ready to print in minutes instead of the days or weeks it would take to create and set up the plates for each package design. And, when you partner with a local digital printing manufacturer, shipping time is significantly decreased, so you get your packaging fast. In some cases, it’s the difference between getting your order in days, instead of months.
2. You have the ability to print multiple SKUs in a single run.
For smaller brands looking to print less of each SKU, this is the game changer of digital printing flexible packaging. Because there are no plates, multiple SKUs can run at once so brands can combine multiple SKUs into one order, or one print run. No matter if you have 3 designs or 300, digital printing has got you covered, and all in one order.
3. You can make changes to your packaging design on the fly.
Since there are no plates, there is no lengthy or costly set up when a change needs to be made to the design. It’s just a new file, so you can make tweaks to your packaging design file without the headache, cost, and delay associated with the creation of new plates. If your ingredient list changes, you get a new certification, or even if you change your logo, you can easily adjust your design file and start printing the updated design immediately.
For a lot of smaller companies, they experiment with the look, feel, and brand identity. Sometimes, what was brainstormed initially doesn’t work for digital flexible packaging. Maybe it’s the logo, maybe it’s the colors, but whatever the case may be, by going digital, it’s as simple as uploading a new file rather than creating a whole new plate, which is never cheap and worse, never fast.
4. You only have to print what you need, when you need it.
This allows you to respond to market demand in real time. And, with digital flexible packaging, short and medium runs are possible, so you can print to demand and avoid having excessive inventory. This allows you to keep more cash in your business while decreasing the risk of obsolescence and excess inventory, both of which can cost you more than you may realize.
Maybe your company is experimenting with the idea of trying out some new markets, or maybe breaking out from just the internet and into the local farmer’s markets. By embracing digital for flexible packaging, that small move can have a momentous impact.
5. Short run, seasonal, and promotional packaging is possible with digital printing.
This is a game changer if your brand is experimenting with marketing and packaging for the holidays. Maybe you’re trying a small batch run of something for Christmas or Halloween, this is a good way to see if the concept works without spending a ton.
Brands of all sizes can take advantage of short runs for seasonal and promotional packaging when you don’t want to place a large order. This allows you to try packaging for target markets, come up with a fun, limited time promotion, or create seasonal packaging for any holiday or season you can imagine. With no plates and short runs, you are not limited to how many SKUs you can create.
6. Digital printing is more environmentally friendly than traditional printing methods.
In fact, digitally printed flexible packaging adds even more sustainable benefits, overall, including:
- Custom flexible packaging uses fewer natural resources and energy to manufacture and transport than other package formats and generates fewer CO2 emissions.
- Flexible packaging, when it comes to food packaging printing, also reduces food waste by extending the shelf life of the product inside.
- Digital printing packaging also produces fewer emissions and less energy consumption than traditional printing.
- The HP Indigo 20000 printing press is a carbon neutral machine used in all our plants. Learn more about the environmental benefits of our press here.
- With no printing plates, there is less materials needed to set up.
- Customers can order to demand, which means less inventory potentially being wasted, since obsolete packaging usually ends up in our landfills.
- Lastly, digitally printed sustainable packaging is also an option! Brands have the ability to add a recyclable pouch or post consumer recycled (PCR) rollstock to their product line up.
7. Digital printing has capabilities like none other.
For instance, Variable Data Printing (VDP) is made possible only by digital packaging technology. Brands can take advantage of creating customized and personalized packaging on each package printed, or the track and trace capabilities. This technology helps customers enhance product shelf presence, create digital consumer engagement (like QR codes), and guard against counterfeiting, as well as provide the ability to track products from cradle to grave.
Partnering with a Digitally Printed Flexible Packaging Manufacturer
By choosing digital printing for flexible packaging, you will benefit from a slew of different advantages, especially when compared to traditional print. If you’re curious about what digital print could do for your brand, give us a call or click here to receive a free quote. We’d love to show you some of the brands we’ve collaborated within the past. Digital printing for flexible packaging can be a game changer and we’ve got the samples to prove it.
Related Products
The advantages of digital printing for your packaging:
- Speed & Agility: Digital printing slashes set-up times and enables swift updates, making it ideal for quick, customized product launches.
- Personalization Powerhouse: Leverages variable data printing for customized, engaging packaging designs that resonate on a personal level with consumers.
- Cost-Effective for Smaller Runs: Saves on set-up costs and avoids large minimum order requirements, benefiting small to medium-sized businesses.
- Enhanced Brand Protection: Incorporating unique anti-counterfeiting features with digital printing safeguards your brand integrity.
- Eco-Friendly Innovation: Digital printing minimizes waste and emissions, aligning with sustainability goals through efficient, small-batch production.
Brand owners regularly look for ways to innovate, including how they produce their packaging. With recent technological developments, digital printing has become a powerful addition to more traditional printing options, among other 2024 packaging trends.
While traditional printing methods remain standard throughout the packaging industry, and for good reason, digital methods come with several undeniable advantages.
What Is Traditional Printing?
Traditional printing methods, such as offset lithography (“offset") and flexography ("flexo"), involve multiple make-ready steps to transfer an original image to a substrate. These methods require the production of a series of plates mounted on a cylinder to transfer ink that forms the desired image when combined on paperboard and other packaging materials.
Plates, labor, and machine setup is costly for small runs, but efficient when producing larger orders. These methods also enable you to add intricate decorative touches to your folding cartons and packaging such as specialty inks, laminates and coatings, embossing/debossing, spot UV printing, hot foil stamping, and inline cold foil stamping.
It’s the quality and cost-effectiveness over medium to large volumes that make offset printing the industry standard. However, the possibilities of digital printing give your brand more options for its packaging.
The Benefits of Digital Printing for Packaging
In contrast to traditional methods, digital printing has taken off in recent years and continues to expand in capabilities.
Provides for faster turnaround. Bypassing much of the heavy set-up time demanded by traditional printing, the simplified process also enables easy updates. Printers change a digital file in a matter of clicks instead of manufacturing a new plate for offset printing.
Digital printing is best suited for small to medium print runs, which means it can be a preferred method if you’re introducing new or customized products on a much faster timeline.
While digital printing is a viable option for most short-run print jobs—special occasions, prototyping, or other considerations—its modern capabilities really show in fast turnarounds.
Makes the most of variable data printing. Being able to customize packaging through variable data printing has opened up new opportunities for you to engage with your customers in more personalized ways. Digital printing, with fewer moving pieces, is more agile than offset in this regard.
You can produce folding cartons to celebrate special occasions, say thank you to loyal customers, or design packaging specific to particular regions. It’s a way to blend your packaging and marketing strategies.
Saves on costs for low- and medium-volume runs. Reduced set-up time saves money on the front end. And since these are not massive bulk orders, smaller businesses can afford to print without having to meet the higher and more expensive print thresholds of traditional printing.
Implements anti-counterfeiting. Digital printing helps protect your brand against counterfeiting by incorporating overt and covert solutions on your packaging. Digital inks can produce unique marks or microtext that are quite impossible to replicate.
Increases sustainability. Advancements in technology mean digital printing produces both less waste and lower emissions, including the Heidelberg Speedmaster press employed by Oliver Inc. Since digital printing is cost-effective for small print runs, you can reduce the amount of materials needed during the proofing process when rolling out new packaging.
Your brand can save money while reducing its ecological impact.
Plus, you can further enhance your green efforts by integrating digital printing with other sustainable packaging design printing principles, such as right-size packaging and sourcing timber-based products from responsibly managed forests as certified by the nonprofits Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Be sure you collaborate with a printing and packaging partner who has the right certifications.
Approaching the Digital Printing Process
While eleventh-hour printing and customization are a huge benefit, digital may not always be the best method for you. For example, offset printing has the advantage of cost-effectiveness with large print runs, especially those with advanced decorative effects and specialty coatings.
This is why it’s important to collaborate with an experienced printer who can navigate you through the various printing options and outline their folding carton design process upfront.
They might advise you in a few ways:
Manage expectations. They’ll recommend digital printing when it’s appropriate for your brand, but won’t force your company into using or abandoning traditional methods. Try digital out in its most effective ways, such as in a short-run test or personalized print job.
Faster isn’t always cheaper. Digital printing’s true strength is speed and getting new products to market. While time efficiency can save on costs, it isn’t necessarily a less expensive option. A knowledgeable printer will help you determine the most cost-effective printing method for you.
Simplify the workflow. Your printer should set out a clear plan, ensuring you understand which traditional steps are no longer relevant and how automation or artificial intelligence integrates with the remaining manual steps to avoid bottlenecks.
Examine all price factors. Your printing partner should compare prices between running the same job through a digital printer versus an offset printer, accounting for total expenses, including all the machinery tools for both platforms. That will help reveal a more comprehensive comparison, ensuring your company makes the smartest decision.
While offset printing retains its primary role in packaging, digital expands the available options with added benefits, including fast turnarounds, simplified workflows, variable data printing, flexibility, and excellent print quality.
Just be certain your company gives careful consideration to everything that goes into a comprehensive comparison between digital and offset printing. What works for one job may not work for another.
Oliver Inc. is the nation's leading independent supplier of custom paperboard packaging solutions. Our pressrooms are populated with a selection of press formats, including flexography, digital, and offset printing. We leverage leading-edge equipment in printing systems to produce secondary packaging, marketing collateral, and labels with perfection, every time. Contact us today to learn more.