By Melissa Donovan
Part 3 of 3
Flexibility and customization are two of the strongest traits related to digital printing. Packaging providers interested in expanding capabilities turn to digital presses to offer both of these services to customers. This series of spotlights looks at three companies involved in packaging that have either extensively invested or are just beginning with digital.
Paper-Based Packaging
The third and final company is Smurfit Kappa, a global paper-based packaging solution provider with around 46,000 employees in approximately 370 production sites across 35 countries. Its main headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with regional European headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Sunrise, FL in the U.S.
The company manufactures a range of papers mainly used for packaging, printing, and writing purposes out of 34 of its own paper mills. For packaging, it designs, manufactures, and supplies paper-based packaging to package, promote, and protect products.
Its printing expertise includes a wide range of print solutions for both corrugated and solid board including lithographic, flexographic post print, high-quality post print, preprint, screen, and digital print.
Adding In Digital
Smurfit Kappa added its first Barberan single-pass digital printer—the Jetmaster 1260—in 2015 at a location in Spain.
In January 2018, it decided to purchase another device, the Jetmaster 1890. The corrugated plant experienced reliable performance from its first sheet fed digital press over the last three years, so it made sense to add a second.
The newest printer offers a printing width of 1,890 millimeters and six colors. It is configured to reach 50,000 meters squared per shift. It also utilizes Jetmaster Cloud technology, which controls information and workflow from anywhere at any time.
Packing Up
Packaging manufacturers and converters continue to discover digital printing and all of its benefits in relation to short runs, customization, variability, quality, and cost effectiveness. The three companies spotlighted in this series are ideal examples of how leveraging experience, customer demand, and the right technology at the right time results in success.
Click here to read part one of this exclusive online series, Trade Supplier Converts.
Jul2018, Industrial Print Magazine