Color (consistency) is king: BOBST leverages Ink-on-Demand and DigiColor for “closed-loop” printing

11 Dec 2019 --- Machinery and services packaging company Bobst has introduced two “revolutionary innovations” relating to flexo inking and color matching: Ink-on-Demand (IoD) and DigiColor, the latter of which represents the “first closed-loop color control system in the flexo industry.” The Swiss company has also published a white paper on the digitalization of color in packaging, for which it interviewed several leading global companies in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries about the challenges of colors on brand packaging, and how they consider more digitalized color solutions in packaging production workflows. The responses reflect the high pace of change in this area, as brands grapple with a fast-moving environment and equally rapidly-evolving technology.

The power of color is well known. Research conducted by the Institute for Color Research found that up to 85 percent of consumers’ first impressions are based on color alone, while a University of Loyola, Maryland, US, study shows that color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. The Nivea BLUE and the Coca-Cola RED are universally recognized, for example.

Consistency remains the key color challenge
“Color fidelity is now table stakes. Without demonstrable accuracy and precision, you are not a player,” explains Marc Hufschmied, Senior Manager R&D Packaging Innovation for PepsiCo. “Consumers are very color sensitive and have expectations around brand colors that need to be met consistently in a global marketplace.”

Hufschmied says that consistency is the “number one challenge for brand owners around color.” Achieving consistency has traditionally been challenging due to the sheer variety of printing processes, inks, and substrates involved. 

Michele Amigoni, Group RDQ – Vice President, Global Packaging at the Barilla Group, agrees. “Like all global companies, we have had color consistency issues,” he says. “Take a Barilla pasta box in the US and compare it to one in Italy, and it might happen that you will not get exactly the same color consistency. We have standardized everything to have the same look, but still does not always happen consistently across converters, printing technologies and runs, and countries.”The Coca-Cola RED is a universally-recognizable aspect of the beverage giant's branding.

“The issue is brand perception,” says Amigoni. “In extreme situations, it can also lead to readability issues, although that is rare.”

As well as diluting brand perception, issues with colors on packaging dilute brand differentiation from competitors. For certain brands, it could make life easier for counterfeiters: if consumers are used to seeing color inconsistency, a counterfeit package would appear less suspicious.

There is also the matter of consistency between online imagery and real-life packaging. A recent report entitled “Packaging and the Digital Shopper” asked shoppers about their expectations around packaging. Forty-seven percent said they expect that the item they ordered online will look exactly the same when they see it in person. Although 37 percent say that it is OK to have “minor variations” between the online image and the package they receive in the mail, only 9 percent are happy with a package that arrives with different colors or imagery.

“Inconsistency puts doubts in the consumer’s mind,” notes one brand owner interviewed by BOBST. If there is an issue with the packaging, he argues, then there are immediately concerns about the product inside.

Color consistency is consistently challenging
The challenges around color consistency are exacerbated by current trends. “There are several key trends in packaging that are affecting this area, but in particular there are two main ones,” says Alvise Cavallari, Packaging Transversal Technologies for Nestlé Research and Development. “The first is to bring packaging that is more sustainable while still ensuring the safety and quality of products. The second trend, which has been ongoing for many years, is the desire by brand owners and consumers alike to differentiate the product through the packaging.” 

With the advent of big data, companies know more about what consumers want than ever before, which leads to a desire to customize packaging that precisely targets audiences and markets. This inevitably means more variation and more SKUs, which require greater flexibility, shorter runs and shorter turnaround times, putting more pressure on printers and converters. All the while, the need to maintain high quality – including color fidelity and consistency – remains. 

The way that color is used on packaging is also changing, and this has an impact on the printing presses. In recent years, minimalist designs have been at the forte of packaging, with all the clutter stripped away, leaving a cleaner look and a clear brand message. This means that the colors that remain on the packaging are even more important. Gradients are also used more widely now, helping to provide an element of dimension and freshness to modern designs.

Why the digital revolution changes everything
Greater digitalization and automation have been transformative across the packaging industry. In an era of more numerous but shorter runs, flexibility is one of the biggest assets of more digitalized technology. Meanwhile, one of the biggest drives to simultaneously improve color consistency and production efficiency has been the Extended Color Gamut (ECG.)

ECG printing uses three additional ink colors on top of the conventional colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK), enabling a match with more than 95 percent of the Pantone book, compared with approximately 65 percent previously.

The use of ECG is on the rise. The Pantone company estimates that 15-25 percent of all packaging is printed using ECG (based on printers using ECG software), and industry estimations expect an increase of more than 50 percent within the next decade.BOBST MASTER DM5 Hybrid Press.

“I am convinced that moving away from spot colors – where you have thousands of inks on a shop floor – will have a big impact on reducing cleaning time and on sustainability,” says Cavallari. “Spot colors have been a good way to bring color consistency, but today we are convinced that with standard process colors, it is possible to reach sufficiently good color consistency. In this way, we can avoid spot colors, which are associated with high costs. I believe that in the future, ECG will become standard.”

The future of digitalized color technology is now
In 2013, BOBST launched the REVO DigiFlexo project with a team of leading industry partners. REVO has succeeded in making available to converters a turnkey 7-color ECG printing process and digitalized workflow; a closed-loop solution with fixed partners for consumables, hardware and software equipment and devices.

More recently, BOBST introduced two “revolutionary innovations” relating to flexo inking and color matching: Ink-on-Demand (IoD) and DigiColor.

The IoD system, which works for all substrates for labels, flexible packaging and folding carton applications, is a clean and smart system that operates with only 30 grams of ink in the print unit. It eliminates ink trays and chambered doctor blades. Full wash-out and ink changes are performed in minutes with only a few grams of ink and washing liquid wasted. It delivers consistent print quality at high speed, high productivity and a sustainable operation, ease of operation and high flexibility.

The first closed-loop color control system
DigiColor, the solution for REVO ECG printing takes the IoD concept one step further: the hue of the ink dispensed to the print unit can be automatically digitally adjusted during printing.

For Agustí Mercè, Head of Product Operations Planning for Almirall, the peace of mind provided by DigiColor is very appealing. “For brand owners, it could mean being able to relax about color control, as the printing process is automatically controlled.”

DigiColor represents “the “very first closed-loop color control system in the flexo industry,” BOBST says. For the first time, it is possible to transform the final printed product from DigiFlexo back to a digital file to be able to compare it with the original digital native file.

The capabilities of BOBST's REVO.“A closed-loop approach to color consistency is an extremely powerful concept and very interesting,” notes Cavallari. “If we can use process colors with a closed-loop system, then we can ensure we achieve the stability and consistency that we need.”

“We want printing to go from an art to a science and to rely less on the influence of the operator,” agrees a global food company brand owner interviewed by BOBST. “Having a digital file that we can calibrate and recreate anywhere in the world? This is the future.”

Digital printing in its infancy in FMCG
Francois Martin, Senior Communication Advisor for BOBST, tells PackagingInsights that despite advancements in digital printing, the technology is still in its infancy in FMCG. Related costs remain too high for large and quick adoptions, Martin explains, meaning brand owners are testing digital solutions but mainly for promotional marketing – very short runs and on-line editions – at present.

“Today, if you remove labels, digital is less than 1 percent of the packaging production. No doubt it will grow. In labels production, digital is already at 25-30 percent of the print value and there is no fundamental reason why it will not be the same for the other applications. The productivity of the presses and the cost of the inks need to go down to become a main printing technology.” 

“The packaging industry is changing at a very high pace and we believe that the entire supply chain needs to evolve – from the initial PDF to the final label, pouch or box. All the players involved in the production process need to work more collaboratively, leveraging a complete end-to-end supply chain. The main challenges are in short: agility and sustainability. Digital can help significantly with these two challenges,” Martin concludes.

By Joshua Poole