The printing and converting industry for packaging production across labels, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated boards is undergoing a massive transformation. It is important for all converters to understand the main challenges ahead and to be prepared. 

Within the Bobst Group, we are closely assessing the market to ensure our customers and future clients will have the solutions they need in a changing environment. We recommend proactively addressing the seven topics below.

1. The Packaging roles - Protect, deliver, appeal
The role of packaging has been evolving over the years. While protecting the goods is still the number one priority, it needs to be done in a sustainable way, often using thinner materials and more sophisticated design. With the rapid development of new retail formats (particularly e-commerce), the delivery mechanism of boxes is becoming more complex and the packaging production needs to be done differently and faster with more productive and flexible machines while delivering the highest quality.

Brand owners use packaging to stand out on the shelf and to appeal to customers. The recent trend requires shorter production runs, repeat orders and flexibility, which is putting more pressure on converters to adjust their packaging production line capabilities. This leads nicely onto the second major topic.

2. Conventional and Digital
For decades, the printing and converting of packaging has used conventional methods. But new digital solutions are now enabling significant progress, meaning brand owners and converters can do things that were not previously possible. 

Digital will not completely replace analog, but it will provide the flexibility required for shorter production runs driven by new trends such as customization, security and traceability needs. Bobst is investing heavily into digital capabilities for packaging printing across a wide range of substrates. While there is little doubt that digital will positively contribute to packaging production, it will require more than a digital press to deliver effective packaging production. Which brings us to the third challenge.

3. The digitalization of the workflow
One of the biggest challenges is the management of various interfaces between different equipment and between the brand owner, the agency, the printers and converters. Automation will help to fully optimize the machines’ up-time and enable effective communication between the one ordering the boxes, the one producing them and all the others in the middle. While printers and converters spend a lot of energy to select the most productive machines, they sometimes underestimate the complexity of the entire workflow.

This is where Bobst expertise is critical. We understand that the maximum print or converting speed indicated on a machine is theoretical until it is well-managed for the most effective packaging production at the right price.

4. Cost pressure
We live in a world where we all want more for the same – or even better, for less. Brand owners, who are the ultimate decision-makers on the packaging, want better, faster, more customized, better secured, but they do not want to spend more. 

The truth for packaging production is that the cost of a given box should not be higher than it is today. The overall packaging production costs are impacted by three major elements: quality, productivity and costs. 

These three factors are all very important, and they should not be seen in isolation but across the entire chain from designing to printing to converting and to packing. We are all familiar with the concept of a chain being as strong as its weakest component. This is the same for packaging production especially in an integrated workflow. 

At Bobst, we are integrating digital printing, quality checks and zero default converting into the entire chain so that customers can rely on the highest quality at the best price.

5. Sustainability
This is a topic we all need to take into consideration. Packaging production will need to process more advanced substrates, thinner materials and more demanding designs – all with the same productivity, more flexibility and definitely at the same cost. Ideal waste management means zero-fault packaging. The ability to manage repeat orders and legal regulation changes will also be high on the requirements list. And with sustainability, we always need to keep one eye on the future: do not only look at what you print today but what will be printed tomorrow.

6. Workforce education and staffing
Hiring in this industry can be challenging – talented individuals who fully understand the industry requirements are rare, and the industry is sometimes perceived as less attractive than others. The move to new digital solutions across the production chain will make packaging production more attractive. Training of existing staff members needs to be integrated in workforce planning.

Within the Bobst Group, we face the exact same challenge and by working closely with universities, schools and by promoting apprenticeships, we can help our clients to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

7. Services
This is not about the break and fix of a given machine but rather the daily relationship needed with suppliers – indeed, they should be "partners," rather than "suppliers." With the advent of the Internet of Things, more and more equipment is connected directly with the manufacturers, and preventive maintenance is no longer science fiction. Within the Bobst Group, we have a complete range of services embracing the entire printing and converting process. We always aim for excellence and can leverage more than 125 years of experience in servicing clients across the globe. All this leads to higher up-times, longer life spans of equipment, optimized production quality and costs and overall better ROI.

So, as you can see, our objective is not to predict the future but to constantly assess the challenges ahead to enable packaging production in the most appropriate manner. More information is available through the Bobst website.

About the author: François Martin serves as the senior communication advisor of Bobst Group, an international supplier of equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board and flexible materials industries.