Konica Minolta unveils digital corrugated packaging printer for customizable designs as e-commerce booms

17 Feb 2021 --- Konica Minolta is launching a digital inkjet press for corrugated packaging. Branded PKG-675i, the press enables printers, converters, and brand owners to utilize more customizable technology in corrugated printing.

PKG-675i is an inkjet device that can print short-run and personalized corrugated boards and folding cartons, flat or pre-die cut. For packaging converters, it also offers a solution to create quick mock-up packaging designs to improve time to market and reduce waste.

Typical applications include short-run “box-to-shell” corrugated packaging for personal and household care and processed food, where the box is required to protect, promote and deliver the product.

E-commerce changes printing landscape
Today’s packaging market has been profoundly affected by COVID-19, and many of the changes are likely to remain long-term, says Konica Minolta. 

The PKG-675i inkjet device can print short-run and personalized corrugated boards and folding cartons, flat or pre-die cut.Of all the pandemic effects, it is in the way goods are being sold and distributed where the most significant changes have come, according to the company 

In particular, the trend away from retail-ready designs and toward mail order, distribution, internet, and e-commerce formats.

Konica also points to research suggesting the pandemic has accelerated the demand for e-commerce packaging by two to three years, compared to pre-COVID forecasts. 

The global e-commerce packaging market was worth more than US$49 billion in 2020, it says, and 80 percent of that value is in corrugated packaging.

“The growth of e-commerce is one of the defining trends of the packaging industry going forwards, and this will have a major impact for those in the corrugated packaging sector,” says Edoardo Cotichini, senior manager of professional print at Konica Minolta.Design software makes time to market shorter than standard printing technology.

In particular, they need to react fast and develop e-commerce-specific packaging designs that solve postal distribution’s inherent challenges rather than those of retail, Cotichini explains. 

“Versioning and personalization are also on the rise. Creating high-quality proof-of-concept prototypes and short run, individualized batches is the sweet spot for the PKG-675i digital inkjet printer.”

While overall volumes of corrugated packaging have declined during 2020, the company expects they will recover in line with international trade. 

State-of-the-art-technology
The machine has been manufactured by Konica’s partner MTEX NS and is based on five Memjet CMYK printheads.

COVID-19 has advanced the e-commerce industry by several years.With minimal pre-press interaction, on-demand jobs can be produced in high resolution at speeds of up to 18 meters per minute, says the company. 

The printer also comes with a Caldera RIP – a printing state-of-the-art printing software – and uses water-based inks, which are US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for indirect food contact.

“This cooperation with Konica Minolta will have significant benefits for customers,” says Elói Ferreira, executive president and founder of MTEX NS.

Over the last decade, MTEX NS has developed a strong reputation for quality and innovation while continuously expanding its service offerings and global presence to more than 40 countries across five continents. 

“This technology will provide a perfect solution to create quick mock-up packaging designs, helping to improve time to market and reduce waste in areas such as folding cartons and corrugated packaging.”

Edited

By Louis Gore-Langton