Industrial digital printing on corrugated cardboard and packaging

Industrial digital printing as an alternative to offset or flexographic printing for converters handling packaging or corrugated cardboard.

Products By - Sectors

Offset printing or flexographic printing

Corrugated cardboard packaging printers, manufacturers and converters of paper goods, boxes and displays purchase or produce printed cardboard sheets. They will also carry out other operations such as creasing, die-cutting and gluing in house. Traditionally they will print offset or use flexographic printing methods. These companies have a choice of operating preprint or postprint phases, depending on the end product. Offset and flexo printing are used in preprint of the corrugated cardboard, whereas it is most common to use flexographic printing in postprint. Once the cardboard has been cut into a single rectangular sheet, flexographic printing is performed and the large sheet is then die-cut to shape and creased.

Is there an alternative to offset or flexographic printing?

Offset and flexo printing are excellent techniques for large volumes and long print runs as they keep the costs down, but as the market demands customised data/content and short time to market, these traditional methods are getting in the way of market-oriented performance. To beat the competition and respond to this growing demand for short runs, variable data/content and high-quality print, you need to adopt a machine which fits seamlessly into your production line regardless of the equipment up or downstream, not to replace the offset or flexo machines, but to address the trends effectively and economically

Another issue with offset and flexo equipment is that a significant investment and a significant amount of time is required to outsource the clichés, offset plates, anilox rollers, sleeves, doctor blades etc. as well as their installation on the printing machinery itself, all of which means unproductive downtime, further increased by set-up times prior to production. Moreover, there will be a need for accessory machines to prepare and maintain the printing systems. If you are not running a large volume, offset and flexo work are just not cost- efficient.

The answer is an industrial digital printer tuned to your specific needs

Small runs are now frequent and the only way to make them profitable is to add an industrial digital printer to your family of printing equipment. The J-Print inkjet printer handles variable content/data and speeds up time to market. Going from the print file to the printed product takes no more than a few simple steps and requires no investment in extra printing equipment. It gives you the fastest and best answer to a growing trend for short runs and personalised products.

packaging personalizzato

Applications of finishing technologies on corrugated cardboard and packaging

Industrial digital printing on cardboard and packaging offers many creative opportunities thanks to constantly evolving technologies.

Materials

  • Paper

Application fields

Some specific application areas and finished products that are part of the packaging sector

APPLICATIONS

An addition to the family has to fit in well

One aspect many converters will be keen to clarify is how an industrial digital printer will fit in with other equipment they use on a daily basis. Whatever decorative process you require, we can configure the printer to suit your needs. We can also help you set up the right configuration of technologies upstream and downstream to optimise your production runs.

Making the right choice is never done alone

Once we define the best version and configuration for a specific customer requirement, we will be of support at all stages of installation, commissioning and for future maintenance needs. Testing of primers, inks, paints is part of the service we provide to make sure a customer obtains the ideal product both technically and economically speaking, without influencing the choice of supplier.

pack-coordinati

Technological solutions designed to last

Equipped with high-quality componentry, in particular the print heads and electronics, plus proprietary software governing the ink recirculation system and many other features conceived by our in-house designers, these printers ensure maximum durability.

Benefiting from optimised ink temperatures and mix, viscosity at the nozzle is kept at the ideal level to deliver superb printing quality and preserve print head health. Furthermore, the print heads, unlike many, can be dismantled for maintenance purposes extending their service life even more.

J-Print is available to process different widths with a range of machines (from 520 up to 1820 mm) and 2 degrees of nozzle density (400 – 600 npi). Redundant and non-redundant processing is possible, the former allowing the J-Print to reach unmatched levels of reliability. Four-colour up to seven-colour printing is possible and white layers can be applied first (for opaque substrates) or after colours in the case of transparent films or glass (reverse printing). High-gloss and deep-matt finishes are also achievable.

Some of the machinery for finishing on corrugated cardboard and packaging

Machines

Case studies

Case study

WHITEPAPER

Industrial digital printing has unlimited potential

Discover all the potential effects that you can obtain on different substrates thanks to digital printing. 

Download the white paper
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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What’s the largest size I can run through a digital printer?
Depending on the printer model in our range, we can ensure the following maximum useful widths:
Single-pass up to 1540 mm (60.6”).
Multi-pass up to 2500 mm (98.4”)
02 What are the key benefits of industrial digital printing?
  1. Flexibility. It is simple to change from one design to the next as often as required.
  2. Unit cost is in no way connected to batch size.
  3. Quick response to fast-changing market demands and fashions.
  4. Very short lead time from the idea to the first sample.
  5. Ability to test countless variants, evaluate and pinpoint market trend instantly.
03 Which applications are best suited to digital printing?
  • Flooring
  • Panel decoration
  • Door decoration
  • Edge-banding
  • Fibre cement decoration
  • Profiles
  • etc.