During Nilpeter’s Open House on Flexible Packaging & Food Safety, numerous industry leaders illustrated a bright future with flexo. The April 22^nd event examined the use of automation and AI in driving the next wave of flexographic printing. Meanwhile, numerous experts detailed how their companies have prepared for the future with new solutions and services.

For example, live demonstrations on the Nilpeter FA-17 showed on-the-fly job changes, which can drive efficiency and reduce waste. The technology was first showcased at Labelexpo Europe in Barcelona, Spain.

Meanwhile, Nilpeter – and keynote speaker Kevin Kollman of Prime Packaging – explained how the future will be shaped by investing in new technology. Prime Packaging delivers cutting-edge flexible packaging, courtesy of two Nilpeter FA-26 flexo press.

Nilpeter has already started exploring the future, with a deep investment in data and automation. According to Nilpeter, AI will allow the company to perform tasks never before possible.

The evolution of flexographic printing will help label and packaging converters meet faster turnaround times and deliver in the absence of a qualified workforce.

Nilpeter Insight

Nilpeter’s Peter Pederson and Carsten Clemensen delivered a deep dive into the usage of data, automation, and AI to craft the future of flexo. With flexo continuing to serve as the backbone of label printing, Nilpeter wants to deliver more data and insight to press users. Therefore, the manufacturer has developed Nilpeter Insight to provide live, automated press data.

“It’s not easy to get qualified operators anymore,” noted Clemensen. “That’s one of the most challenging things going forward. Data combined with automation and digitalization will help inexperienced operators run presses.

“On the press floor, there are a lot of different ways to capture data,” added Clemensen. “The majority is done manually relying on operators, and it’s up to every operator how they enter the information. There is very limited real-time data from presses. What we’ve been working on is Nilpeter Insight, where we deliver data directly from the presses so you can react immediately while you are running.”

Accessing data

There are currently multiple challenges present on pressroom floors. Downtime is often unclear because it’s left up to the operator, data could be missing, and decisions can often be based on assumptions.

“We’re developing a system where you can rely on real-time data to generate results,” says Clemensen. “You can make decisions where to improve and optimize your processes. The machine is measuring itself, so it’s not depending on the operators. Nothing will be inserted manually. By doing this, we know you’re getting higher productivity and you’re producing less waste.”

According to Pederson, real-time data can produce sustainable benefits. Energy consumption and material waste are recorded per job and per press. Sustainability figures can then be reported to calculate waste.

“You can access this data anywhere, not just where the machine is located,” said Pederson. “The data is replicated to a cloud environment, and all data is encrypted so only the customer can read it.”

In the absence of employees, the goal is to have the presses run with as little human intervention as possible. “Our main goal at Nilpeter is to do our best to make sure our presses run autonomously,” said Clemensen. “We need closed-loop systems where possible to react to errors.”

In the future, AI and pattern recognition will also help with early-error detection. “We want to reach a fully automated printing machine,” remarked Clemensen. “We need to be able to run machines without operators chasing things. There is still work to be done, with sensors and camera systems, but we’re not far away from the point where we can turn off the light and run the machines.” 

A ‘Prime’ case for flexo

Kevin Kollman, president, Prime Packaging, gave out the event’s keynote presentation. There, he highlighted how Nilpeter has helped his converting company expand into new markets. In the future, more and more label converters will look at expanding their book of business – incorporating shrink sleeves, folding cartons, flexible packaging, and more.

Prime Packaging, which has been in business for 45 years, produces flexible packaging, roll-fed labels, and shrink sleeves. The company relies on multiple flexo presses, with up to 10 colors, printing with UV and water-based inks.

Prime Packaging can accommodate customers from short runs of 5,000 feet to longer runs of  two million feet. The company boasts two 10-color Nilpeter FA-26 presses, with the most recent installation coming in early April 2026.

“We’ve made a lot of investments into our business,” stated Kollman. “The value add of flexible packaging allows us to reinvest. We’ve undergone a complete renovation and expansion.”

Prime Packaging turned to Nilpeter for help with flexible packaging due to the size of the market. Kollman cited the flexible packaging industry’s value at roughly $42.6 billion. Meanwhile, the value-added segment in flexible packaging measures at $34.1 billion.

“It’s a growing market, and there’s much value in it,” commented Kollman. “And it provides our customers a product that runs fast and provides great shelf appeal, and we give the Nilpeter FA a lot of credit for that.”