Corrugated Digital Printing Gains Share as Long-Term Potential Draws Industry Attention

Viewed within the wider digital label and packaging landscape, digital printing for corrugated board is a faster-growing segment and one of the most dynamic areas in package printing. Considerable untapped potential remains in the corrugated box market, prompting many packaging printers to evaluate entering it, while machinery, software and other suppliers are ready to back them with more capable equipment and technology.

Philip Easton, Director of Digital Printing Solutions at Domino, sees digital as a key long-term strategic path for corrugated carton producers because it aligns ever more closely with current and future customer requirements. He notes that digital printing’s market share is rising quickly, yet the pace will depend on how well inks fit market needs; by total volume the share may remain small, but by total sales value it could be significant, possibly around 20%.

Sharon Chesler, Marketing Manager for HP’s PageWide Industrial corrugated carton division, is equally optimistic. In her view, digital printing both supports production optimization and acts as a key driver of supply chain value. Packaging is itself a growing inkjet arena, so interest in and demand for HP PageWide corrugated digital presses keeps rising, giving converters a powerful tool for producing corrugated cartons at lower cost.

Robert Stabler, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer Durst, adds that digital printing is becoming more important to the corrugated packaging market and its share has continued to climb. Ultimately, shifts in consumer purchasing habits are the core force driving that growth.

Maximilian Mark, Digital Printing Product Manager at BHS, takes a more cautious view, at least for now. He says digital printing’s current share is almost negligible because it accounts for a very low portion of total print volume. Still, as high-capacity presses become more available and brand owners push the possibilities of digital packaging, the technology will grow increasingly important.

When Mark looks further ahead, his tone becomes notably more positive. He points out that compared with other traditional corrugated printing methods, digital corrugated printing has a 20% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025, showing that its growth in corrugated packaging far outpaces other packaging sectors. Over the long term, he believes digital printing will completely replace traditional printing, especially for new carton plants.

BHS’s RSR printing solution was designed around its “2025 Carton Factory” vision and, according to the company, is “completely different” from any other digital printing solution on the market. The RSR (real-time roll-to-sheet) system offers a 2.8 m job width and a maximum speed of 300 m/min. It was developed with Screen GPIJC, with core inkjet technology based on Dimatix Samba printheads.

EFI is another equipment maker placing high hopes on corrugated digital printing. Its Marketing Director, Reinshild Westermeier, explains that digital printing is already highly disruptive, but frankly it is only just beginning and will need several more years of development. For now, digital coexists with other printing technologies; over time, EFI expects it to become more dominant.

Advantages: lower fixed costs and less prepress work, with assured print quality

Westermeier naturally attributes this potential to digital printing’s inherent advantages. Compared with conventional methods, digital printing has much lower fixed costs and fewer prepress steps, while still ensuring high print quality. That said, she stresses that taking a full-workflow view is essential to making the most of digital solutions; even with highly efficient presses, jobs must be fed into the machine at a suitable speed to unlock their potential.

James Nelson, Product Marketing Manager at EFI, elaborates that EFI has focused on building a total ecosystem that connects every part of the factory through seamless solutions. A digital press can handle multiple jobs per hour, but many businesses struggle to process those jobs efficiently. Order creation, scheduling, planning and shipping are all vital steps in job handling, which is why a strategic workflow approach through an ecosystem is needed to lift digital printing adoption to a higher level.

EFI offers the Nozomi C18000, a 1.8 m wide press capable of printing at 75 m/min, with more than 30 units already installed worldwide. The Nozomi C18000 and Nozomi C18000 Plus print at 360 dpi with four grayscale levels and use CMYK, orange and violet.

Of course, the advantages of digital printing go beyond that. Easton says it is well suited to short and medium runs with multiple versions and avoids downtime caused by production changes. Operation is simpler, requiring no flexo operator skills, and it eliminates platemaking, mounting, plate changing and storage of flexo plates.

Fewer setups and less preparation mean less downtime and less waste. Lower cost per job allows carton plants to optimize production across different equipment, while on-demand printing can reduce finished-goods inventory, cutting storage needs and waste from outdated packaging. Variable data printing also opens further opportunities such as personalization and traceability.

On the technology side, Domino offers the single-pass X630i digital inkjet press, designed for everyday corrugated carton production. It is based on Domino’s sixth-generation inkjet platform, which has nearly 1,000 installations; the X630i can print at up to 75 m/min, at 600 x 600 dpi and with a maximum print area of 3,000 x 1,345 mm.

For Stabler, digital technology can respond well to the market trends sweeping the industry. He says one positive effect of COVID-19 has been to accelerate the digital transformation of packaging printing. The industry is shifting faster toward shorter run lengths and less predictable demand; channel mixes are changing, retail brand promotion through channels matters more than ever, and online ordering keeps growing, often requiring different packaging.

To meet these challenges, converters need more flexible and automated systems that can handle more small orders with faster factory cycle times. At the same time, there is an opportunity to develop new business models that let brands leverage the flexibility offered by high-speed digital printing.

Chesler agrees. She notes that the corrugated packaging industry has not only grown but also shown strong economic resilience during the pandemic, especially in inkjet printing on corrugated board. E-commerce is a growth driver, as is the search for sustainable packaging. PageWide customers, she says, have clearly seen rising demand for e-commerce projects, and with the advantages of HP’s true water-based inks, they can offer brands genuinely sustainable packaging solutions.

HP offers the PageWide press family, including the 75 m/min PageWide C500 based on HP thermal inkjet technology, and the PageWide T1190, a six-color inkjet preprint device with a 2.8 m web width. There is also the 1,066 mm PageWide T470S, another digital preprint solution suited to large-scale preprint for corrugated board.

Mark highlights many of the same benefits. He points to time-to-market and the cost-effectiveness of short runs. Digital printing also supports different carton designs: because of conventional printing’s cost structure, block colors currently dominate, but digital removes that barrier. In addition, digital can produce realistic graphics, opening new possibilities for brand owners. A final major advantage, he says, is that digitally printed corrugated packaging can now serve as both transport packaging and primary packaging.

Turning to the trends driving the shift to digital, Mark cites short runs, variable data, waste reduction and the e-commerce explosion. He also outlines a series of trends the industry should watch: “There is always a gap between what brands want, what they are willing to pay, and what can actually be produced. Digital printing is narrowing that gap, especially in personalization, sustainability and personalized experiences. Government regulations on carbon footprint, waste streams and cradle-to-grave tracking cannot be ignored either.”

Pandemic drives corrugated box demand

Of course, any review of corrugated packaging’s development would be incomplete without assessing COVID-19’s market impact. As Chesler explains, while other print markets have been phased out one by one, corrugated packaging has had a chance to shine.

Easton adds that the pandemic increased demand for corrugated packaging across society, with many converters focusing on delivering what they could.