Last Word - Mike Fairley

To meet changing label printing requirements over the past 30 years, the dominant label printing technology of the time has undergone several changes: in the 1980s it was rotary letterpress that dominated new press sales. Then came growth in the flexo process during the 1990s.

Much of the early part of the 21st century has seen UV flexo as the dominant technology for new label press sales. Since the mid-2000s, digital printing has also begun to evolve quite rapidly, initially with electrophotographic liquid and dry toner technologies and, most recently, with new generations of UV and water-based inkjet.

In the pipeline for launch in 2014 is the newly developed Landa Nanographic printing process, an offset inkjet process that has already created significant market interest amongst label, folding carton and flexible packaging printers.

Put together, the key challenge today for label printers is to decide what their new press investment will be this year, next year or the year after. Will it be another conventional UV flexo analogue press? Or maybe an offset or combination process press? Some converters are perhaps still deciding whether to go digital. If so, will the investment be in toner or inkjet technologies?

In the past, deciding which press to invest in was perhaps rather simpler. Today there are even more factors to be considered - even with conventional analogue press technology. A press's environmental footprint and energy consumption might be an important factor. So might its colour gamut and the number of colours or print stations available.

What added-value finishing options are available? What inspection or control technology is required on the press? What kind of output speed is demanded for the type of work being produced? How long does the press require to change over from one job to another? Does the converter want to print other products as well as labels, such as flexible packaging, tube laminates, folding cartons, or sachets? These factors may well influence press investment. Each of the main press manufacturers undoubtedly has its own technology variations and solutions to promote and offer.

When it comes to investing in digital there are various other factors to be considered as well as just investment in a press. Digital printing is all about new ways of working. It's about enhanced colour management. It's about making decisions whether to go conventional or digital as late as possible. What throughput of different jobs can be handled each day without getting bogged down in administration and paperwork?

All these factors are likely to require more sophisticated Management Information Systems (MIS). Yet another key investment decision to be made.

Then there is the additional challenge with digital of what dpi resolution to go for; does the work produced need a white ink in one of the printing heads; does the press have an extended colour gamut. Running speeds between all the digital label press technologies also vary considerably. How important is speed with many short run job changes?

Go digital and the converter also needs to decide whether to invest in in-line or off-line finishing. If in-line, every job change may mean a press stop to change cutting dies. If there are multiple short run jobs to be produced, the die changes can take up a considerable part of the press day and offer reduced press running time.

That means reduced output and potentially lower profitability. Off-line finishing can mean that one finishing line can handle the output of several digital presses, so maximising press production time.

Another finishing investment option for the label converter might be laser diecutting: a higher cost investment, but offering significant benefits where multiple short runs are required each day. Used with, say, inkjet, laser cutting technology combined with inkjet (or Xeikon) technology where there is no fixed repeat length offers the exciting potential of batching jobs across or along the web for maximum economics and performance.

Looking back, it seems that more changes in printing technology, particularly for self-adhesive label printing processes and technologies, have occurred over the past 50 years than at any other period in the last 400 years.

Even today, change in label printing and converting technology is still continuing to take place. This was evident at Labelexpo Europe this year, where new makes and models of label presses were launched, including ever more printing machinery emanating from Asia and the world of digital printing technology.

The author's views expressed on this page may not be shared by this publication

FINAT, with headquarters in The Netherlands, is the world-wide association for manufacturers of self-adhesive labels and related products and services. It has 600 members in more than 50 countries.