Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the printing industry, offering a wide range of tools that boost productivity, unlock smarter customer insights, and enhance creativity across converter operations. For label and packaging converters, it’s no longer a question of whether to adopt AI tools, but when.

According to Alliance Insights’ “AI Adoption in the Print Industry” report, 85% of US print providers see AI as critical for competitiveness. However, while many print businesses are taking their first steps into AI in everyday operations, a significant 42% remain unsure where to start.

The potential is significant: in addition to intelligent automation and optimization via machine learning, the use of AI to analyze data from print production equipment and ERP systems can transform business insight. From identifying customer order cycles, assessing ink and substrate reorder patterns, to monitoring equipment efficiency and maintenance intervals, AI can provide real-time insight to support smarter decisions.

Expanding existing intelligent automation

Many converters are, in fact, already using AI on the shop floor, thanks to the integration of machine-learning-based intelligent automation into modern press workflows. Using AI to automate repetitive pre-press tasks, scheduling, and job routing improves operational efficiency while freeing operators to focus on tasks that deliver greater value.

In addition, the use of intelligent automation in layout optimization and color management modules, as well as real-time RIP, is enabling variable-data personalization at scale without slowing production transforming competitive advantage. AI-driven visual quality inspection to detect errors before they affect output, and predictive maintenance prompts also offer significant benefits – including less waste, fewer reprints, and greater reliability. To date, however, just 10% of converters claim to have explored these tools.

Preparing for AI

Given the diverse opportunities presented by AI technologies, it is important to understand how best to progress. AI is not a single, ready-made solution that delivers instant results, but rather a set of specialized tools and systems that require specific conditions to deliver maximum benefit to converters.

To unlock wide-reaching benefits, converters need to prioritize, plan, and coordinate. Start by assessing where AI could add the most value and focus on a priority AI use case, such as automating pre-press tasks, before scaling across the business.

Accurate Data

AI provides the opportunity create a data-driven ecosystem where every stage of the customer journey and printing process is optimized for speed, accuracy, and sustainability. As such, data quality is paramount. Data needs to be clean, accessible, and well structured, which means it is important to assess the data management capabilities of current systems, including data capture and intelligent automation tools.

To maximize the benefits of AI, any new printing and ancillary equipment should be data-rich, offering strong, future-proof data capture and reporting capabilities to feed machine learning and AI models.

Upskill your business

Humans will continue to play a key role in AI-enabled print operations. Leaders in AI adoption actively maintain human oversight of AI processes, with more than half (56%) of the print businesses surveyed ensuring that human team members check and verify all AI functions. While AI analysis can supply insights and predictions to support decision-making, humans are needed to interpret the results in the wider business context and making informed decisions.

To do this effectively, converts will need to build capability across several skill areas. Data literacy is increasingly valuable, enabling teams to understand and validate machine-generated insights. Strong workflow knowledge also remains important, helping operators to understand how AI fits into pre-press, color, and production processes. As AI-enabled tools become more common, basic familiarity with how machine learning works and what its limitations are will support confident adoption.

In addition, problem-solving, color and print-quality expertise, and digital connectivity skills will all play a role in ensuring AI systems deliver reliable, real-world value. With 23% of print businesses actively hiring for AI skills, there is strong recognition that the right people, with the right skills, are key to both driving change and managing AI enabled processes.

The future: connected factories

AI will continue to develop, creating faster, smarter, and more efficient workflows that will drive the creation of connected factories. Press-agnostic data platforms will unlock insights across the business, from customer purchasing patterns and equipment utilization to preventative maintenance and material use, enabling smarter business decisions.

Now is the time for converters to prepare for utilizing AI for long-term business success. In addition to strengthening data quality, enhancing connectivity across equipment and systems, and developing skills in data literacy, workflow understanding and AI-enabled decision making will all be critical. With the right capabilities in place – and support from a trusted and knowledgeable digital printing supplier – converters can not only adopt AI, they can turn it into a sustained competitive advantage, providing a robust foundation for future success.