By Cassandra Balentine
The November issue of Industrial Print magazine included content on directly digitally printing to corrugated. While the article focused on both the current advantages and limitations in this segment of the market, we wanted to share what the future holds as well.
As a technology rising in popularity, emerging trends in the corrugated print space are exciting to watch.
Lloyd Kent, VP sales and operations, Kento North America believes that for one, printing “eco” solutions will be a huge growth area over the coming months. “Getting robust color on brown in a low-cost manner will fuel this,” he predicts.
He also sees a trend towards hybrid technology utilizing white and metallic flexographic inks that interact with digital inks in ways previously unimaginable, and says both lower ink costs and lower paper costs will be a big win, increasing margins without sacrificing the desired graphics.
“As inkjet technology is advancing, it is becoming more widely understood and accepted. Recent developments are often on enhancing the technology and solution through automation—such as vision systems and cleaning, to improve productivity or through embellishment—such as spot varnishes to create gloss or texture, for example,” say Phil Jackman, global product manager–digital, and James Gould, product manager of Streamline Inks, Sun Chemical.
Additional trends, according to Kent, include inline converting on some installed machines in 2024, two-sided print should be available from some suppliers in or around 2025, and digital print modules being added to existing machines will happen in two to three years.
Two main factors that John Corrall, chairman, and Nadina Using, sales and marketing, Industrial Inkjet Ltd. have seen to date include safety and recyclability. “These account for the drive toward water-based or human-safe printing technologies, specifically inks. The ink requirements, both to be safe for human interaction and to be more easily recyclable using current methods are driving the demand for more and better aqueous systems.
Currently, Jackman and Gould admit that most direct, post-print applications are using UV-curing inkjet technology. “This technology optimizes ink adhesion and ink spread by controlling the UV exposure during pinning and curing. While this can overcome some substrate variations, many single-pass digital presses still employ the use of analog primers to further enhance achievable image quality and across a wider range of base materials. While direct printing with aqueous inks is starting to become available, it is not as widely used relative to direct printing with UV inks. Water-based inks are certainly growing in popularity, mostly driven by cost and regulations, particularly where food packaging is concerned. Aqueous inks lend themselves readily to digital printing and can make the next generation of sustainable corrugated printing a reality.”
Industrial Print magazine will continue to report on advancements in corrugated printing into 2024 and beyond.
Nov2023, Industrial Print Magazine
