July 30, 2018
What matters most: great strategy or great execution? New research finds that strategy wins, and what better way to finally execute great strategies than to be disruptive on the retail floor using a combination of digital, offset, and flexo printing? The possibilities are endless, with one wine manufacturer reporting a 79 percent increase in sales when they used case packs in a digital strategy to create floor displays, replacing the packs every four to six weeks. Strategy vs. execution—now you can achieve both in the new digital revolution. But while digital does not replace flexo and litho, it amplifies what, when, and how we can go to market by providing more flexibility and speed to market for a quicker end-to-end solution.
Yes, digital printing has been gaining ground in the corrugated industry for some time and is now making significant inroads with single-pass machines. Digital printing is that 800-pound gorilla in the room impacting displays, graphics, e-commerce, and retail-ready packaging. However, digital is a complement to the packaging business disciplines, not the final nail in the flexo and litho coffins.
One case study is the equipment mix at Dusobox Corp. in Orlando, Fla. They now leverage all three print converting processes of digital, litho, and flexo to bring the appropriate solution to each client’s specific need, not forcing any single process through one supply chain solution. Dusobox President John Kelley has found the secret formula by integrating all three processes for optimal success to clients’ varying packaging needs.
“Our clients’ needs and expectations are changing fast, and even faster is the pace our clients’ customers are demanding,” Kelley says. “We have an opportunity and responsibility to educate our clients while exceeding their expectations and delivery forecasts with the latest printing tools to support future successes with innovative frontiers that digital offers.”
Some printing solutions reside in using all three print solutions in the same program. Let’s say your customer will need the same 10,000 base displays, but has six different varieties of headers and/or trays they want to roll out throughout the year. You can exceed the customer’s expectations with variable printing of headers and trays, but using flexo for your base for a year-long marketing campaign.
The customers’ operating realities impact business facets that we need to address with our printing outputs. of speed to market, mass customization, supply chain optimization, sustainability, obsolescence, branding, and total cost of ownership come into play with every packaging program being launched.
In food packaging alone, we are anticipating a shift to more trial packs and test-size packaging to address consumer demand of convenience, as well as space-saving designs and packaging that better protects the actual food product.
Opportunities for packaging and displays continue to be of focus in food convenience. Innovative shapes, angles and indentations, and digital solutions can achieve these initiatives of diversification. Consumers are also expecting more environmentally friendly options that include food-safe inks and waste reduction. We are equipped to better forecast and provide brand owners and manufacturers proactive and innovative solutions that check off all the boxes.
The great news is that corrugated’s use of digital printing will only help all ships to rise. Through the growth of e-commerce packaging, variable messaging, short runs, growth in online shopping and subscription-based packaging, consumer engagement, and the need for speed are fueling this exciting time.
Digital means integrating value-added deliverables. We can develop programs that meet new retail needs of variable marketing campaigns and new product pilot blending/testing, and we can tie text and video into engagement. This offers even higher value to your customers’ marketing and business development areas.
On the cost and risk side of the of the business, we see supply chains optimized due to reduction in time to market and potential elimination of obsolescence. Finally, we can run the right amount of product where and when it is needed. Additionally, the ability to watermark each packing run for verification and security is now an operating reality.
In summary, these are three main areas of value that digital printing will deliver to your bottom line: optimizing print costs; reducing total operating costs; and adding value opportunities.
The news is that the 800-pound gorilla is not the bad guy in the room but is adding bandwidth and greater design flexibility to the market—a new part of the corrugated print team that we have been looking for for some time.
Chuck Delaney is managing director of GROW Retail Technologies. He can be reached at 708-491-5090 or cdelaney@growrt.com.
