In many areas of business, innovation is key to remaining at the forefront of your company’s sector and quickly meeting customer demands. Printing is no exception, with hybrid printing proving to be one of the most exciting and impactful developments in recent years.

Demand for sustainable printing is soaring in today’s environmentally conscious world, so assimilating the benefits of different print technologies is a cost-effective way to slash waste, minimise dependence on potentially harmful materials, and reduce the carbon footprint.

Although the printing industry has been dogged by a reputation for poor environmental standards, much progress to improve its sustainability has been made in recent years.

New generations of print hardware and print management software are drastically altering the face of the label printing industry. Some businesses have responded by migrating over to digital printing wholescale, changing their business model to suit the new technology. Others are reluctant to give up the advantages of flexographic printing, especially considering the costs of digital printing.

With relative slow production speeds digital printing & finishing have been regarded as separate processes. With current speeds of some digital technologies approaching speeds of analogue flexo, offset & letterpress machinery it is becoming practical to combine digital printing with traditional print shop equipment to take advantage of ‘ in line’ finishing, cold foil, hot foil & silk screen services in order to enhance and value add to the product label. Hence the term ‘hybrid digital solution’. A hybrid solution can bridge the gap between flexo and digital for a print shop. It can improve the colour gamut limitations of digital. Thanks to its flexibility and ongoing ability to interchange print technologies you can produce labels in either flexo or digital print, or a combination of both technologies, this is the significant long-term advantage of a hybrid press.