Folding carton packaging is another new business opportunity for digital printing. Brand owners are looking for improvements in their processes for packaging and they are putting pressure on packaging converters to provide new solutions. They are asking for enhanced supply chain management benefits to reduce timescales and approval processes in going to market with new products and new types of product, at the same time as looking at inventory reduction.
The Xerox Automated Packaging Solution, powered by Stora Enso Gallop, could help. It is an automated digital system that can print a variety of personalised packages in multiple languages. It can quickly switch from one job to the next, providing the flexibility needed in today's global and rapidly changing marketplace. 

The system comprises four elements, a Xerox iGen4 press, an Epic CTi-635 Inline Coater, a Stora Enso Gallop Buffering Stacker Line and a Stora Enso Gallop DC 58 die-cutter. It can integrate with existing workflow packages or can work with Xerox's FreeFlow digital workflow collection.

Digital installations
Xerox has installed 12 iGen presses in the packaging markets. Eight of these are in pharmaceutical packaging, two are in novelty packaging applications using variable data, one is in the automotive area producing blister packs in multiple languages for spares, and one is in manufacturing.In the pharmaceutical area, to my understanding, the applications are not using special security markings for anti-counterfeighting, but there is  major potential for that type of application in the future. One of the things we are seeing is production of packaging for high-value compound drugs on demand.

However, digital packaging is still at a very early stage and converters are yet to adopt the technology in significant numbers. The demand at present is mainly coming from brand owners looking to develop new secure products, so it may be the case that established digital print service providers will see the opportunity to move into this new and potentially highly profitable area of digital printing, regardless as to whether established converters identify the opportunity and act on it.

Xerox is also enjoying success in the photo markets. The largest of all the photo suppliers in Europe, CeWe Color in Germany, and Hoffman, a major producer in Spain, have both installed a Xerox iGen4 press, while  Fujifilm in Germany now has two iGen4s for photobook production. In Switzerland, Ifolor, which already has Xerox iGen3 presses in its Finnish subsidiary, installed multiple iGen4 presses.

This is not to say that before the iGen4 was introduced, Xerox did not compete in the photo market. There are
multiple Xerox iGen3 presses being used for photobooks and altogether there are 57 iGen presses in the European photo market.

When Xerox introduced the iGen4 at Drupa, they stated that it was up to 30% more productive than the iGen3 because of more automation within the process. They also claimed it produced higher quality.

I heard the following from one iGen4 user, who compared the iGen3 against the iGen4 for both productivity and colour accuracy and variance. For ordinary work, where accurate colour is not important, there is little increased productivity.

Where highest levels of quality are required, the productivity increase is more than 30%. However, the really interesting comment came when comparing colour variance from iGen3 to iGen4: the variance was only one Delta E Colour, variance between offset presses typically measures between three and five Delta E.

With this level of colour accuracy, one can understand why Xerox sees real opportunities in both the photo products and packaging areas. In packaging, one of the key demands of brand owners is accurate, predictable consistent colour.

Andrew Tribute is a journalist and consultant in digital pre-press and pre-media marketing technology. Visit: www.attributes.co.uk.