Digital packaging printing: What has happened since drupa 2024?
Digital packaging printing was one of the hottest topics at drupa 2024, and most experts agreed: it’s set to turn the industry on its head! And not at some point in the future, but very soon. Today, almost a year on, we take a look at the topic and see which developments have actually materialised and which may need to be reassessed.
One of the key predictions at drupa 2024 was that the use of digital printing for personalised packaging in short runs would increase. This trend has been confirmed over the past year. Brand owners, particularly in the food and drink sector, are using digital printing to produce small print runs and region-specific packaging in order to boost customer loyalty and respond more quickly to market changes.
Furthermore, the advances in digital printing technology showcased at drupa 2024 have made it economically viable to produce runs of more than 1,500 copies. This development has broadened the scope of digital printing and enables greater flexibility and efficiency in meeting diverse market requirements.
Whilst smaller brands in particular have embraced digital printing, many major brands are still hesitant to adopt the technology on a wider scale. At drupa 2024, it was anticipated that major brands would very soon be using digital printing on a large scale for product variants and seasonal packaging. Last year, some major brand manufacturers also launched pilot projects, but widespread adoption is still some way off.
It appears that the decision-making process within large brand companies, involving many stakeholders, is slowing down implementation. Procurement, development, the creative department, the legal department and the sustainability department all have different requirements and risk tolerances, and it remains difficult in large organisations to reconcile these functions. This means that converters must continue to invest time in educating their brand clients not only about the technical possibilities of digitalisation, but also about its operational and strategic benefits.
Whilst digital packaging printing is playing an increasingly important role, it currently still largely complements existing systems rather than replacing them. Particularly for high-volume applications, the cost-effectiveness of the ‘old’ technology – coupled with an infrastructure that has been established for decades – remains hard to beat. Last year’s optimism and the view that all market players are ‘hungry for new ideas’ have, to some extent, proved true. The curiosity is there, but risk aversion remains a significant limiting factor, one that is likely to have gained even more weight due to the difficult macroeconomic outlook.
Seen in this light, the forecasts and hopes at drupa2024 were neither exaggerated nor premature. But they were evidently based on an optimism that underestimated the complexity of the far-reaching transformation. What we are witnessing today is not a digital revolution, but a continuous evolution. The technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and business applications increasingly strategic. The greatest change is not technological, but cultural in nature: more and more stakeholders understand why digitalisation is important in the printing industry too, even if they do not yet fully understand how it works. With drupa 2028 on the horizon, the coming years are likely to be shaped by how successfully providers manage to build partnerships, offer end-to-end support and mitigate the innovation risks for their brand clients.
