Label printing
technologies have undergone a sea change after the onset of 21st century.
In the beginning of new millennium, the flatbed and letterpress processes made
way for the narrow web flexographic printing which eventually grew to become
the most preferred print technology for labels. With technological advances in
prepress and plate-making process, Flexo print quality became closer to offset.
This was followed up by hybrid printing using flexo, screen, gravure and later
also offset printing in a single pass. We have been seeing the convenience of
desktop office printers, inkjet or laser but they remained that way for long
and were not used for high quality labels in roll form. It is only in the
second decade of the 21st century that digital label printing began
evolving. By middle of the decade, it was growing substantially in the western
part of the World, yet but in India it did not find many takers.
In May 2015, I reviewed
and wrote about the indulgence of Indian label industry in Digital printing
equipment, I interviewed leading label printing companies of that time in an
article titled; “Label Printing in India, digital has to wait”, available
at the link; https://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2015/05/label-printing-
in-india-digital-has-to.html.
In the summation I wrote; I am
quite amazed by the similarity of responses from most of the persons who
responded. All of them had expressed that the cost per print in digital does
not prove it to be a viable proposition, considering the prohibitive cost of
the equipment and that of ink and consumables. The undercurrent in all
expressions is that digital printing as things stand now will not be the mainstream
technology. It will co-exist with existing technologies and will be used for
specific demanding needs. As for the time frame before digital printing becomes
largely visible and used in label printing in India, they said it varies
between 3 to 5 years. So, for the time being, “It has to wait a while!”
Two years hence, on May 7th 2017 I did yet another survey and
wrote my article titled, “Digital label printing in India, the journey has begun!” Self Adhesive Labels Industry In India and The World:
Digital label printing in India, the journey has begun! (harveersahni.blogspot.com). My
estimation was as follows: By latest count, the population of leading brands of digital
label presses in India had reached twenty-two in number. This was besides the
low value small printers that some companies may have acquired. Now this was a
fairly impressive figure when just until over a year back the industry felt
that digital has to wait. Estimating the size of the digital label market, I
calculated the total consumption in the industry for digitally printed labels
to over 52 million square meters per annum, which translated into to almost 5%
of the total self-adhesive labels in India to be printed digitally. This surely
indicated that for digital label printing in India, the journey had begun!
European Label Industry Association Finat had revealed in a
statement that European digital label press installations overtook
conventional press sales for the first time in 2017. The journey that
began, has now progressed to be on a growth path. In fact, repetitive purchase
confirms that the technology is not only here to stay but also attain steady
growth.
In
the present private survey or research in respect of digital printing of
labels in roll form, done personally by me, I have arrived at interesting results. The data
being presented here is entirely my own estimation and I have not depended on
any already published authenticated information. I have interacted with the
following renowned brands to arrive at figures that I present in this article;
Domino
Durst
Epson
HP
Konica Minolta
Monotech
Screen
Xeikon
The number of digital roll
label presses of leading brands in India has expanded from the 22 in 2017 to 51
in 2022 registering a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 18% as regards
the number of press installations. Out of these HP Indigo accounts for 16 presses which include two 25K which find usage both for labels as well as for flexible packaging and one HP Indigo for
Lamitubes, Konica Minolta 10, Monotech 8, Domino 3, Xeikon 2, Durst 4,
Screen 2, Epson was 5 machines as assessment done in 2017 since they did not
respond I believe there have been no additions thereafter. Two
water-based inkjet presses from Astronova are also in the tally of
51 presses. If we consider just the numbers, Hp has 32% share of the
installations, Konica Minolta 20%, Monotech 16%, Durst 8%, Domino 6%, Epson,
Screen and Astronova account for the balance . However, this is not a real
indicator of the quantum of investment by label printing companies in digital
printing technology. I have done the calculation on the approximate costs of these
equipment, the total investment in digital roll label equipment is more than
Rupees 215 Crores or about 28 million US Dollars. HP being the most
expensive equipment of the lot, accounts for a whopping 66% of the investment
made in value while all others remain less than 10%.
Considering the
geographical spread in number of installations; 36% of the established brand
installations are in the West of India, 36% in the North and 11% in South.
However, in terms of value, the West leads the way, followed
by South. As for label materials consumed, in 2017 I had calculated that 52
million square meters of labelstock was converted by digital printing. The
consumption with increased investments and faster speeds appears to have more
than doubled to over 109 million square meters registering a CAGR of 16%. As
indicated by the people I interviewed there are many more installations being
planned that will ensure continuous growth in this segment of label printing
and converting.
Digital printing means web
to print; it is an exciting process as compared to the analogue or conventional
printing, yet it brings with it, challenges that translate it into a not so
simple process. A technology that was initially being promoted as a
complementary technology to conventional printing has reached a stage of being
referred to as a competitive one. With presses going wider and running at
higher speed and consumables getting affordable, it will not be long before it
becomes a contemporary mainstream technology . However, those who have had the
success and have understood the nuances of digital printing, are looking at
expanding further in this segment of printing. I sought comments from many who
have invested into digital capabilities and their responses make interesting reading.
Denver Annunciation, Janus
International: Janus
International are pioneers, they were the very first label manufacturing
company who invested in an HP Indigo press at their Thane facility. The
brothers Denver and Janus are very enterprising. They have offset, flexo and
Digital printing capabilities, all of which are doing well for them. They are a
company who are growing beyond the inflationary growth.
Being manufacturer of beer and liquor labels, they wanted to do
something different, and they took the challenge of investing in digital label
printing. Since HP was the only established supplier of digital presses at that
time with a proper setup, it was natural for them to install an HP Indigo
press. Denver says, “Digital helped us cater to smaller businesses and widen
our customer base while our other capabilities drove in the
volumes.” According to him digital does provide opportunities for
creativity but it is not a standalone equipment that will deliver. You need
different prepress and post-press finishing setup. It also involves additional
resources that add up to per unit cost like requirement of same amount of
manpower for packing, delivering and invoicing smaller shipments. Despite this
adds Denver, “it gives a fair return and we will definitely look at expanding
our digital capabilities“. Referring to their experience with digital Denver
says, “Initial challenges were there, it has been a long journey, but surely
enjoyable”.
Anil
Namugade, Trigon Digital: Trigon
Digital has been in the news in recent years for their multiple investments and
expansion in the state of art digital equipment. Anil Namugade Managing
Director of Trigon while answering why he opted for digital says, “Good
label finishing and converting for me is like oxygen to heart, blood and brain
for creativity.” Trigon has invested in multiple digital equipment and the
biggest of them an HP Indigo 25K, his second HP Indigo after the first 6900.
He asserts that digital has helped them grow, as since their inception 14 years
ago they have been using only digital technology. Their business has been
growing. Anil expresses, “digital is a mindset, we need to have a bit different
approach in understanding the customer’s requirements and our capabilities to
serve them.”
Honey
Vazirani, Leap Digiprint: Honey
and Vikram, both directors of Leap Digiprints, spent 25 years in labels and
packaging industry working for Paper products Ltd. later renamed Huhtamaki PPL
Limited after acquisition by multinational Huhtamaki Oyj, so packaging is what
they knew best. Wanting to be more futuristic, ecofriendly and wishing to
initiate a small boutique business of their own, they made the choice to setup their
maiden startup venture in Noida NCR Delhi. Selecting a strong digital print
partner that time, HP was the best choice. The technology has helped them grow,
giving the desired results from producing variable and short run of labels.
Says Honey,” The turnaround times, print runs of 100-200 meters, variable
printing…all the capabilities that attracted us to digital are still clear
advantages.” Further she adds, “Overall it has been good experience.
However, it is not as trouble free as one would expect it to be. Also, the
costs and pricing need to be handled effectively but unfortunately the
downstream conversion for labels (post digital printing) is not as well
developed as it should be to support short runs”
Harish
Gupta, Sai Digistik: Harish
Gupta led Sai Digistik has invested in two digital label presses HP with liquid
toner & Konica Minolta with dry toner technology. According to Harish, the
dry toner technology has limitations of only CMYK printing, no white and
printing on limited substrates, so we have both liquid toner and dry toner
printing capabilities to have the best of both. Cost of digital printing is
high, it was very good working with digital during pandemic phase-1 when manpower was short,
and requirements were instant. Short runs are easy to handle, and we got
focused to help startups for their smaller needs with our motto “Startup for
Startups.” With no need of plates and make ready etc., the turnaround time is
less, yet it is not a simple technology, one needs to study thoroughly before
investing. Cost of producing labels is higher as compared to flexo, but it is
felt that, as we grow in volumes the costs of consumables will reduce. However,
as we see the trends globally, with manpower becoming a challenge and reducing
length of jobs, digital is bound to grow and find preference.
Surendra
Shriyan, Maa Flexi-label: An
offset printer who realised that volume-based production has decreased with
more variables and short runs, in the given scenario digital is the future for
good printability and fast turnaround time. They opted for HP Indigo
label press. Being new entrants, they are exploring exciting possibilities but
feel pricing in digital is a challenge. After observing the changes
in the western world regarding the digital label printing, even though they are convinced
that it is futuristic, yet they say, “It is not all, a bed of roses.”
Nilesh
Jain, Mahavir Impex: They
opted for a Durst UV Inkjet label press for its print quality output without
applying any primer on most substrates. Nilesh expresses that digital has
helped to achieve desired results within minimal time and reduction of
undesired wastages. They feel it will become the predominant technology , but
the results from different digital print technologies (dry toner/liquid toner
/UV Inkjet etc.) would not give a uniform and similar print
result on various substrates. The advantage of digital for them is
outstanding quality achieved at good speed and reduction of waste with no
investment on plates and other expenses.
Manish
Hansoti, S Kumar: Narrating
his experience with digital label printing, Manish Hansoti says; “Looking
to cater to demand of small quantity, variable printing multiple S K U’s and
label on demand, we have invested in a Screen digital label printing
press. We had assessed all technologies and found Screen ink jet printing
technology was a better fit for us as we wanted to print labels with less ink
coverage for specific customers. The cost of the ink in this process was found
lower as against dry toner FASMA/click charges. We consider digital technology
as part of customer service because in small volume there is no chance of
making topline but can get customer satisfaction. The technology will grow if
the capex goes down and ink price or click charges drop, then there will be big
changes in global printing scenario. Short run or variable printing is profitable
but there is limitation in getting many such orders, so we always have spare
capacity. We do not see another investment in digital until costs of inputs
come down.”
Priyank
Vasa from Unick Fix A Form: “The Domino N610i digital label press was acquired by us in
2018. Wanting to free up our flexo capacity to improve turnaround time and job
throughput, we started exploring options. We narrowed down to the Domino N610i
because of Domino's strong presence in India and its service network.
Evaluating
its media compatibility, color matching, accuracy of pantone reproduction, ink
cost analysis, it looked the right press for us. The press was commissioned in
the beginning of 2020. Dealing with a modern technology we knew there lies a
learning curve ahead. In the present-day scenario, we have been able to take up
new business both for flexo and digital. Digital has added to our sales where
we are able to completely leverage the opportunity cost which could not happen
in flexo. We do not limit use of the digital press to small runs. It has also
opened new avenues for us in respect to products like IML, Shrink sleeves,
Cartons and VDP.”
Vinod
Vazhapuli, Skanem India:
Having run a very innovative campaign for the FMCG company Reckitt
Benckiser(RB) Vinod Vazhapuli Managing Director of Skanem India is very
optimistic about including more digital printing capabilities in his
company’s expansion plans. Skanem had been a part of Dettol’s unique
packaging commemorating Covid warriors. Please see my blogpost titled
Dettol Labels used to salute "Covid Warriors"! Skanem
India, a part of Norway headquartered Skanem AS was one of the two
approved vendor of RB who were roped in to execute this special campaign of
Dettol customized labels. The deliberations for this campaign started when
Reckitt approached Skanem in second week of May 2021 and discussed the
possibility of creating one hundred variably printed unique labels. Having an HP
Indigo press, the capability was there. They were given an order for two
million labels. It was a gigantic task as there were one hundred artworks. RB
wanted the right pantone shade of Dettol and the job had to be done in speed,
so Skanem requested RB to give them the artworks also in CMYK because to match
the green Dettol shade as close as possible to the required shade it is
necessary to have the prepress right. The approvals were done online and the
material delivered in time. That is the power of digital, the rest is history.
Rajeev
Chhatwal, Kwality Offset: Rajeev
sums it all well, he says he sees a good future for digital label converting.
Printers need to look at this technology positively and separately without
drawing a comparison with analogue or current capabilities even though it is a
business that needs to run parallel with your current profile of business. One
of the biggest advantage of digital is that it helps one to increase customer
base. A larger customer base, if attended well, ensures continued growth. To
find success in digital arena one needs to accept that there is a definite
learning phase and one must provide for contingencies while planning and be
prepared for them. Rajeev says, “It is a business that has a bright future in
which the fittest, the one with guts and endurance, will survive and excel. It
is a business that provides impetus to your present business and when you do
short, variable and personalized run for a customer, you have a happy customer!
In a young Indian population becoming spenders, ecommerce is looking up, does
it not ensure positive growth of Digital which permits variable and
personalized printing? Are we not looking at the numbers of startups on rise?
My next investment, maybe a year down the line, will be digital, I
invested in a Xeikon with dry toner technology, which I am happy with, I will
probably go for a UV Inkjet next to expand my capabilities”.
The
author is grateful to the people without whose help and inputs this compilation
may not have been possible. Those whose support I got, include Umesh Kagade and
entire team of HP, Shayak Mukherjee of Konica Minolta, Ajay RaoRane of Domino
Printech, Vikram Saxena of Xeikon, Jimit Mittal of Monotech and Ajay Agarwal of
Insight Print Communication for Screen and Venkatesh Selveraj of Printronics
for Durst.
Note: Printing magazine and portals can republish the above ONLY after giving credit to the author Harveer Sahni and mentioning blog https://harveersahni.blogspot.com
Written by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited
New Delhi India April 2022
