Packaging is the Next Frontier for Digital Technologies

Packaging printers with this level of press are comfortable printing a run of 100 sheets among others where the job may need several pallets of board. And litho continues to offer advantages in terms of inline varnishing and foiling that digital does not yet offer.

The same is true in narrow web printing, where what were once considered label presses are now printing boards for lightweight and small-format cartons using flexo or UV letterpress technologies, sometimes combined with inkjet for dating, coding and adding a promotional message. The demand for higher quality and shorter runs of flexible packaging has brought manufacturers such as Muller Martini into the mix. Its VSOP litho press is able to print on films with electron beam curing to meet the demand for faster turnarounds than is possible with conventional gravure and flexo presses.