The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry has been in constant transition for the past five years, withstanding a global pandemic, environmental changes, economic disasters, and a shifting political climate. Digital label presses have proven themselves ideal for meeting ever-evolving requirements within governing agencies and customer expectations. They are becoming a requirement as they provide a convenient solution that can quickly produce labels to address necessary industry changes and produce high-quality, embellished labels that will accurately represent products and captivate a customer.  

Digital labels are printed on a wide variety of machines, from desktop solutions to wide-format and roll-to-roll presses. Therefore, when selecting a label press, it’s important to consider everything from expected clientele, run size, print quality requirements, embellishments and finishing techniques, application requirements, cost per label, and pay structure to future-proof your investment.

A digital label press can offer a label converter various benefits, including color matching and features to produce embellishments and intricate details to meet customers’ expanding needs, as well as improved workflow efficiency and enhanced sustainability.

Customization and consistent color   

Customers today have high expectations for labels, whether for branding or compliance. Some seek intricate details like foil embellishments to make products stand out on store shelves while others require precise QR codes or small-font SKU details for supply chain traceability. Digital label presses offer the most efficient solution, delivering high-quality customization and accuracy to meet these diverse needs in a single solution. 

An inkjet digital label press is electronic, making it highly accurate and precise. Consistent, high-quality output is essential, ensuring exact color matching and replication to maintain brand integrity. On-shelf products must maintain the same look, and brands need to have consistent logo coloring, regardless of how much time has passed.

To ensure color accuracy, select digital label presses are certified by the Idealliance Digital Press certification (G7). Digital presses that garnered this recognition have been tested in areas of color, print properties and print production. Recognized products meet or exceed industry expectations for colorimetric accuracy, uniformity, repeatability, durability, and registration, helping converters know they can rely on consistent, repeatable output that meets branding and label requirements every time.

Exceeding expectations

In addition to consistent, repeatable, and high-quality color, digital label providers should consider presses that offer inline embellishment features to meet evolving customer expectations. Label presses that offer digital varnish can produce scratch-, moisture-, and fade-resistant labels with a gloss or matte finish and a tactile feel for added impact. Additionally, digital label presses offering inline corona treatment can deliver label output on expanded substrates and improve adhesiveness on non-absorbent materials. These include films and foils that are ideal for flexible packaging labels, clear labels, and industrial labels – greatly expanding clientele opportunities. 

Print providers looking to expand services outside of traditional CPG labels that would like to produce high-quality window labels or clear backing labels will require a digital press with high-opacity white ink and the ability to print reverse white. This is critical for the niche window label market, as the opacity of white ink needs to be dense when being printed on clear materials to be seen. Leveraging RIP software, a label converter can reverse the white ink, telling the printer to print the high opacity white ink first, behind the color ink, to allow the graphic and white text to stand out on a clear background.

There are digital label presses that offer these diverse feature sets to support label customization and meet high-demand customer needs, and some presses offer nearly unlimited finishing capabilities, including flexo stations, coaters, diecutting, laminations, varnish, foiling, embossing, and more to support a wide variety of customer orders and customization requirements. All customers are looking for high-quality labels that accurately portray the brand and product, precisely relay the information required, and are produced within the given deadline. They expect the provider to deliver, and with the right equipment print shops can create large, intricate label runs efficiently.

Efficiency and cost savings  

Print providers must produce even the most intricate labels efficiently and cost-effectively. When compared to analog presses, digital presses are highly efficient as they do not require printing plates or specific setup sets. Without specific setup requirements, print providers can address and implement quick job changes and switch print jobs effectively and without downtime, increasing print shop productivity.

Digital label presses offer features such as batch printing to support multiple runs of the same label with different SKUs, which is ideal for customers who require variable data. These labels are printed with differing numbers for unit tracking purposes. Furthermore, a digital label press that can print without a frame gap will enhance efficiency, allowing for seamless printing of variable data, short runs and custom designs without unnecessary interruptions.

Many digital presses come equipped with the features and software to efficiently produce millions of labels per month. To help support large label orders, some digital label presses offer built-in firmware designed to reduce communication errors and keep presses operating with high levels of automation, simplifying the printing and maintenance process. 

In addition to RIP software, workflow programs are available to help monitor equipment and manage print shop production and cost reporting. Some software programs also help track ink and media usage to better estimate and understand production costs and profit margins. Digital label presses offer feature sets and compatible software solutions to help print providers with production efficiency, workflow efficiency, and cost evaluations to ensure high-quality output and maximized profitability.

Sustainability in digital label printing  

Today, customers actively seek sustainable solutions, with many big-box companies pledging to work exclusively with environmentally conscious providers. Investing in digital label equipment can open doors to new clientele and create opportunities for business growth.

Unlike analog solutions, digital label printers do not require plates, and therefore do not require washing chemicals and excess water to clean the plates that are required in traditional analog techniques.

Furthermore, on-demand printing can help to eliminate excess inventory. With precise printing capabilities, digital label providers can print the exact number of labels requested without meeting a required minimum, with accurate ink application and outstanding color matching capabilities, reducing surplus labels.

Benefits of integrating digital label printing

As the demand for highly customized labels grows, integrating digital label presses provides a solution to meeting both customer needs while supporting print shop productivity with the ability to support on-demand production, intricate customization, demanding color gamuts, variable data, and a variety of embellishments.

With the integration of a digital label press, providers can expand their capabilities, reaching new clientele and markets while driving long-term business growth in an ever-changing and competitive market.

About the author: Mike Pruitt is a product manager at Epson America, Inc., where he is responsible for the SurePress digital label press division.