Digital printing has been a driving force behind the growing interest in printing for the packaging market, according to experts. Even as technology becomes increasingly complex, smartphones and tablets will still need a printed package to some degree.

In the latest issue of Quick Printing magazine, Jon Fultz, business development manager at Fujifilm North America Corp., discussed the new trend for the packaging market.

“So many other areas of traditional printing are in decline that printers are looking for new sources of revenue by adding to their current offerings or extending new services to their existing customer base,” Fultz said. “What we’re seeing is that many of our customers found they were only doing part of their customers’ work – brochures and sell sheets, maybe some banner and poster jobs – but there was an entirely untouched area of opportunity to expand into packaging.”

Fultz added that there are specific trends within printing, such as customization, as regional versioning is often needed, along with multiple language versions of packages, special offers and promotions printed right on the boxes. Major brands also highly value color consistency, he said, or special corporate colors.

In addition, Fultz predicted that there will be more prototype and short-run packaging as brands test products and markets.

Whether individual labels are needed or a larger advertisement needs to be printed for a packaging company, a proper laminating machine can help ensure that the quality printing job stays protected and in place.

After a product has been delivered to a client, the information printed on specific packages might be sensitive, and individuals would not want it falling into the wrong hands. As such, investing in a heavy duty paper shredder would ensure that the printed packaging is destroyed so the labels can not be misused.