Industry trends for packaging and printing companies

Packaging and printing companies have been greatly affected by the supply chain and prices, especially in paper supply. In essence, the paper supply chain is very global. Companies in different countries and regions all over the world basically need raw materials such as paper for production, coating, and processing. Businesses around the world are dealing with labor and the supply of materials such as paper brought on by the epidemic in different ways. As a packaging and printing company, one of the ways to deal with this crisis is to fully cooperate with distributors and do a good job of forecasting material demand.

Many paper mills reduced production capacity, resulting in a shortage of paper in the market, making its price higher. In addition, freight costs have generally increased, and this situation will not end in the short term, coupled with delayed demand, logistics and rigid production processes, all have a huge negative impact on paper supply, and perhaps the problem will be over time. Over time, the problem is gradually getting worse, but in the short term, this is a headache for packaging and printing companies, so packaging and printing companies should prepare goods as soon as possible.

The supply chain disruption caused by the new crown epidemic in 2020 will continue into 2021. The global epidemic continues to affect manufacturing, consumption, and logistics transportation. Coupled with rising raw material costs and freight shortages, companies in many industries around the world are facing enormous pressure. Although this situation continues until 2022, some measures can be taken to Mitigate the impact. Like planning ahead as much as possible and communicating needs with paper suppliers as early as possible. Flexibility in the size and variety of paper stock is also very useful if selected products are not available.

There is no doubt that we are in the midst of global market changes that will have consequences for a long time to come. Immediate shortages and price uncertainty are here to stay for at least a year. Businesses that are flexible enough to work with the right suppliers through difficult times will emerge stronger. As the raw material supply chain continues to impact product price and availability, it forces packaging printers to utilize a variety of paper types to meet customers' printing deadlines. For example, some package printers use more super-satin, uncoated papers.

In addition, many packaging and printing companies will conduct comprehensive research and judgment in different ways according to their scale and the market they serve. Although some companies purchase more paper and maintain inventory, others use optimized paper usage processes to adjust The cost required to produce an order for a customer. Many packaging and printing companies have no control over the supply chain and pricing, and the real way out lies in creative solutions to improve efficiency.

From a software perspective, it is also important for packaging printers to carefully evaluate workflows and be aware of the time that can be optimized between the time a job enters the print and digital production plant and final delivery. Some package printers have even cut costs by as much as six figures by reducing errors and manual processes. This is an ongoing cost reduction that also opens the door to more throughput and business growth opportunities.

labor shortage

Another challenge faced by packaging and printing suppliers is the lack of skilled labor. At present, European and American countries are facing a large-scale resignation phenomenon. Many mid-career workers leave their original units to seek other development opportunities. Retaining these employees is important because they have the experience and knowledge needed to mentor and train new hires. It is good practice for packaging printing suppliers to provide incentives to ensure employees stay with the company.

What is clear is that attracting and retaining skilled workers has become one of the biggest challenges facing the packaging printing industry. In fact, even before the pandemic, the printing industry had undergone a generational shift, making it difficult to find replacements for retired skilled workers. Many young people do not want to spend a five-year apprenticeship learning how to operate a flexo printing machine. On the contrary, young people are more willing to use digital printing machines that they are more familiar with. Plus, training will be easier and shorter. In the current crisis, this trend will only accelerate.

Some packaging and printing companies retained their employees during the epidemic prevention and control period, and some packaging and printing companies were forced to lay off employees. Once production starts to fully resume and packaging and printing companies start to rehire staff, they will find that there is a shortage of workers, and they still are. This has driven companies to continually look for ways to get work done with fewer people, including evaluating processes to figure out how to eliminate non-value-adding tasks, and investing in systems that facilitate automation. Digital printing solutions have a shorter learning curve, making it easier to train and onboard new operators, and businesses need to continue to bring new levels of automation and user interfaces to allow operators of all skills to improve their productivity and print quality.

Overall, digital printing presses provide an attractive environment for a young workforce. Similar to traditional offset press systems, a computerized control system with integrated artificial intelligence (AI) runs the press, enabling less experienced operators to achieve excellent results. Interestingly, using these new systems requires a new management model that instills methods and processes that leverage automation.

Hybrid inkjet solutions can be printed inline with an offset press, adding variable data to fixed prints in one process, followed by printing of personalized color boxes on a separate inkjet or toner unit. Web-to-print and other automation technologies address worker shortages by increasing efficiency. However, it is one thing to discuss automation in the context of cost reduction. It becomes a market problem when there are hardly any workers to receive and fulfill orders.

A growing number of companies are also focusing on software automation and devices to support workflows that require less human interaction, which is driving investments in new and upgraded hardware, software, and free workflows, and will help businesses with more Fewer staff to meet customer needs. The packaging and printing industry is experiencing labor shortages, coupled with the push for agile supply chains, the rise of e-commerce, and growth to unprecedented levels in the short term, there is no doubt that this will be a long-term trend.

future trend

Expect more of the same in the time to come. Packaging and printing companies should continue to monitor industry trends, supply chains, and invest in automation where possible. Leading suppliers in the packaging and printing industry are also focused on the needs of their customers and continue to innovate to help support them. This innovation also goes beyond product solutions to include advancements in business tools to help optimize production, and advancements in predictive and remote service technology to help them maximize uptime.

External problems may still be unpredictable, so the only solution for package printing companies is to optimize their internal processes. They will seek new sales channels and continue to improve customer service. Recent surveys indicate that more than 50% of packaging printers will invest in software in the next few months. The pandemic has taught packaging printing businesses to invest in leading products such as hardware, inks, media, software that are technically sound, reliable and allow for multiple output applications as market changes can dictate volumes very quickly. "

The drive for automation, shorter orders, less waste and full process control will dominate all areas of printing, including commercial printing, packaging, digital and traditional printing, security printing, currency printing and electronics printing. It follows Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, which combines the power of computers, digital data, artificial intelligence, and electronic communications with the entire manufacturing industry. Incentives such as shrinking labor resources, competitive technology, rising costs, shorter turnaround times, and the need for added value will not return.

Security and brand protection is an ongoing concern. Demand for anti-counterfeiting and other brand protection solutions is on the rise, presenting excellent opportunities for the printing inks, substrates, and software segments. Digital printing solutions offer huge growth potential for governments, authorities, financial institutions and other institutions dealing with secure documents, as well as brands needing to combat counterfeiting, especially in the nutraceutical, cosmetic and food and beverage industries.

In 2022, the sales of major equipment suppliers will continue to increase. As a member of the packaging and printing industry, we are striving to make each process as efficient as possible, while striving to enable people in the production chain to make decisions, manage and meet Business development and customer experience requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought real challenges to the packaging and printing industry. Tools such as e-commerce and automation help ease the burden for some, but issues such as supply chain shortages and access to skilled labor will persist for the foreseeable future. However, the overall packaging printing industry has remained remarkably resilient in the face of these challenges and has actually grown. Clearly, the best times are yet to come.