Digital printing in the label market is coming of age. Today, a significant proportion of label converters are running digital or digital hybrid label printing presses alongside their established flexo equipment, with digital accounting for 21.6% of the market value of labels produced globally in 2024.

While digital printing technology’s versatility and efficiency for short print runs have been a key driver for growth for many printing businesses, feedback from many converters underscores the importance of retaining access to both digital and flexo technologies.

Balancing customer demand for sophisticated label design and finish with workload, capacity, and productivity means that converters now need to be able to evaluate and respond to a variety of operational scenarios; the choice of digital, hybrid, and flexo technology is no longer down to print run length alone.

Mike Barry, commercial manager – Digital Printing, Domino, explores the considerations and challenges for converters looking to maximize the return on their label printing assets while meeting their brand customers’ needs.

Beyond run length: a practical approach

The choice of whether to use flexo, digital, or hybrid print technology has, until now, primarily come down to application and run length, with long, low-variation print runs typically the domain of flexo, and shorter, higher-variation print runs allocated to digital.

However, the common conception that once the print volume of a label has grown to a certain level (with the figure varying depending on who you ask), it will be more efficient and profitable to move from digital to hybrid and hybrid to flexo is no longer holding true. For most converters, the crossover point between technologies is not fixed; rather, it is continuously shifting to reflect changing customer demands and press availability from day to day and job to job. Indeed, sticking to a rigid limit based on print volume alone can adversely impact overall operational efficiency and resource utilization.

Moreover, failure to embrace flexibility in print technology allocation – e.g. running a job on whichever press is available at the time – may even necessitate declining a project, to the detriment of client relationships and brand reputation.

This drive for operational efficiency is, at least in part, driving the increase in hybrid printing sales – which, according to market research reports, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 12%, surpassing a valuation of around $16.53 billion by 2034. In practice, many converters are now taking advantage of the flexibility of their hybrid lines to help balance their overall workload, pushing hybrid volumes as high or as low as their business requires.

Balancing press availability and demand

So, how can converters achieve the optimal balance between flexo, digital, and hybrid printing?

Maximizing press run time remains a key consideration for converters: the simple maths is that any downtime reduces ROI. However, in a print production facility with multiple technologies, considering individual press run time in isolation may be missing the bigger picture.

For example, let’s consider the idle time of the digital asset on a hybrid press during flexo station setup. A short-run job encompassing digital printing, embellishments, and finishing could be produced in a single pass on a hybrid press – but it may be worthwhile using a separate digital label printing press for some elements of the job, with the finishing aspects covered offline in a second step. Deploying a solution like this will maximize the return on the digital press with near continuous running, compared to introducing periods of downtime on the digital print module in a hybrid line during flexo station setup.

Similarly, being able to move shorter runs from flexo or hybrid presses to digital-only solutions can provide converters with an instant productivity increase, freeing up hybrid or flexo press capability for longer, more profitable runs, with less time and consumable waste incurred during setup and changeovers.

Multi-SKU Jobs

Then, let’s consider multi-SKU jobs. At first glance, digital technology should be the best way to manage such variations. However, if the labels share the same die and varnish with only minor artwork variations or variable data elements – such as language versions of a standard label – hybrid could be a more efficient choice. In this scenario, if large areas of the label are “standard,” a converter using a hybrid solution will only incur the setup time of the analog part of the press once, spreading it across multiple jobs, increasing productivity, and lowering job cost. Flexo stations on a hybrid line can also offer more effective application of bold, solid colors, enabling potential cost reductions compared to digital printing alone, as well as enhancing appearance.

Ultimately, it is up to the converter to decide which option will deliver the best overall ROI, considering all the variations, other jobs being processed, and the availability of labor to oversee each step.

Managing practical challenges in print job transition

While transitioning between digital, hybrid, and flexo technology to meet business demands may make operational and commercial sense in some scenarios, converters also need to consider their ability to manage these transitions smoothly, both in the moment and over the time span of a particular client’s job.

For example, ensuring image quality and brand color consistency across platforms can be a challenge when brand customers request a low-volume run to restock an existing SKU, as moving artwork from a flexo to a digital label printing process typically does not deliver the same result.

Flexo spot colors in a hybrid label printing process may seem an obvious choice for color-sensitive jobs, as the brand elements of color are rarely – if ever – changed between product variant runs, with little flexibility lost when running a set of similar but not identical labels on a hybrid press.

However, even spot colors can be subject to color matching challenges as heat and mechanical factors such as pressure can cause subtle color variations, with some converters reporting 10-15% of a run being rejected due to color inconsistencies.

Aware of this issue, more and more converters are turning to digital inkjet printing technology to help ensure color consistency and image quality, selecting a digital label printing press even for jobs with “flexo” run lengths because the color consistency and image quality are overall better and more consistent.

Until packaging designers can anticipate potential variability in the label printing process and technology used so that results are consistent across both flexo and digital print, the onus lies on the converter to decide whether brand, cost, or maximizing operational capacity is the more important factor.

Conclusion

Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, nor is there a universal cut-off print run volume between technologies. Indeed, flexo, hybrid, and digital solutions all have an equal part to play in a converter’s optimal operating efficiency – and long-term competitiveness will likely depend upon having the right combination of presses to meet current and evolving business demands.

A strong solutions partner at the forefront of printing innovation will be able to help converters evaluate how to allocate print jobs to maximize uptime and productivity across their operations, as well as supporting in the long term through genuine appraisal of current workload and future opportunities to determine the best solution for their business.