For many products on the shelves of the nation’s retailers, competition is fierce. Not only is the market saturated for many commodities, but tech-savvy, social media-friendly consumers are increasingly thirsty for a unique shopping experience. Craftily designed packaging can make an instant impact on the consumer, determining whether the product remains on the shelf or ends up in the basket. More packaging printing businesses are now turning to digital printing, with greater consumer approval and loyalty, more flexible business models and easier compliance to changing legislation. With 90% of businesses in research identifying effective packaging a key factor in their success, it’s certain that digital printing will continue to play an increasingly influential role. What are the implications of this trend for the printing sector?

In Apparel/Garment label printing, digital innovations have been slow to develop, despite the obvious benefits in a fast-changing fashion sector where overall the variety of garments is increasing but the individual orders are decreasing. As part of the ever evolving world of digital innovation, we will be attending the world's largest international textile and garment technology exhibition; ITMA 2019 in Barcelona! Providing an unrivalled marketplace and knowledge platform, ITMA is set to feature more than 1,600 exhibitors and an attendance of over 120,000 visitors. Come and join us in June!

The label printing industry has changed a lot in the last decade, and today printing companies that don't adopt digital printing are putting their ability to compete at risk. Here are some of the factors behind the rise of digital printing technology:

In the ongoing debate about flexographic versus digital printing, or flexographic AND digital printing, a lot of the distinct advantages of modern industrial printing machines get lost in the background noise. It isn’t a case of one method being yesterday’s technology and the future being exclusively digital. Both flexographic and digital printing have changed almost beyond recognition in the past two decades. To look at, a printing press released this year may appear similar to one that was purchased in 2001, but below the surface they will be different animals. This is as true for flexo presses as it is for digital. Both have undergone a profound transformation. Here are the four main ways in which modern printers differ from their counterparts of a previous generation:

The label printing industry has been dominated by flexographic print technologies for the best part of a century. This remains true, more or less, for high volume print runs. For short runs and flexible orders, however, the ongoing trend is towards the adoption of digital technology. This gives operators far more control over print outcomes and cuts back on the amount of labour and training required to operate presses. The persistent downside of digital printing is the high cost per unit, which rules it out for large volume print runs. This snapshot of the label printing industry is, of course, extremely generalised. There have been improvements in both digital and flexographic printing over recent years that have made each technology more efficient and cost-effective.

If you are in the market for a new flexographic, digital or hybrid printing machine you have many options to choose from. There are excellent quality new machines available from companies like Focus Label, and there are also many used machines that can be had at a significant discount. While the up-front cost for a new machine that is made in the UK will be higher than any used machine, investing in new equipment will offer you some distinct advantages.