Haim Levit, SVP and division president at HP Industrial Print, shares his observations and predictions for the labels and packaging industry after a drupa year and considers how intelligent automation will evolve the labels & packaging industry in 2025.
In 2024, we saw a shift in labels and packaging. Key challenges like labour shortages, rising energy costs, waste, and idle machines have come into focus. However, at drupa 2024, the industry’s transformation – foreseen by HP over two decades ago – became clear. Our vision for intelligent automation, as revealed at drupa, will guide the industry for decades to come and HP remains committed to supporting converters on their digitalisation journey.
Industry factors driving change in 2025
Alongside this clear vision for the future are some significant developments across the industry. Inventories are down, inflation has eased, and optimism is cautiously returning. Market consolidations continue across all industry segments. Over the next few years, packaging will embrace automated job management and pre-press, dynamic job batching and scheduling combined with flexible pricing. E-commerce, while currently still low in labels and packaging, will develop as well.
There is a strong focus on data collection and processing, powered with AI, to help printers execute better and faster. Multi-site operation will require software and workflow standardisation.
And, of course, sustainability remains critical. Converters are prioritising low-energy and waste-reducing production lines. Digitalised workflows will measure and cut CO2 emissions while still enabling shorter runs and faster turnarounds – meeting the demand for ‘next week’, ‘same week’, and even ‘next day’ delivery to brands, both large and small.
Brand owners’ dynamic requirements are driving the need for fully integrated and standardised printing equipment, connecting with global MIS solutions and ERP systems. And as consumers and brands seek more than just information from labels and packaging, security and track-and-trace capabilities are becoming essential.
In Labels: The adoption of digital printing, reaching more than 10 per cent of the Pressure Sensitive label volume, will intensify going forward. The HP Indigo technology quality – now available up to 120m/min on the HP Indigo V12 – offers the most complete and proven printing portfolio, increasing profitability.
“What’s great about the V12 is that it makes the whole site more efficient by moving jobs we used to print on flexo or other HP Indigo presses and optimises them on the V12. This way we can allocate each job to the press that fits it best,” commented Peter Overbeek, CEO of Eshuis.
As printing is not enough, HP presses are developed to operate within the largest community of printing solution partners such as Esko, Hybrid Software, Cerm, Label Traxx, ABG and Infigo. With these partners and more, HP guarantees the highest level of automation across the largest range of substrates – today, more than 1800 presses are the go-to digital technology for brand owners.
In Flexible Packaging: Digital adoption is still at an early stage and accounts for less than one per cent of the sector. HP Indigo and its customers started the journey of digitally printed flexible packaging 10 years ago; we end 2024 with 400 HP Indigo 25K and 200K digital presses installed. Digitally printed flexible packaging is the fastest growing segment in print, with a growth rate in 2024 above 20 per cent. This trend will continue as more conventional flexible packaging converters require more agile production capabilities.
The HP Indigo 200K helps converters to deliver non-minimum quantities in a very short time across a breadth of products, which are becoming more and more popular. The complete HP Indigo solution also helps to reduce converters’ overall carbon footprint by reducing waste in setups.
“HP Indigo’s exceptional high-quality impressions allow us to be more flexible and deliver on demand to our customers regardless of the quantity demand,’ said Marti Alaball, project management director at Enplater, who recently acquired two HP Indigo 200K presses.
In Folding Carton & Corrugated: the HP Portfolio, combining HP Indigo LEP and Inkjet technologies is addressing similar converter pain points as in other industry. The ‘fibre-based’ printing sector is not only facing the growing demand for short runs, but also a tremendous pressure on substrates and energy costs.
Globally, digital adoption has been lower than initially anticipated but 2024 has been showing very positive signs – especially during drupa 2024. Pre-print adoption remains higher than post-print and folding carton remains of high interest.
Running side-by-side to conventional presses, the HP Indigo 35K enables Nosco to hit 94 per cent of all 2161 Pantone colours within 2∆e. In addition to offset quality, HP moves sustainability one step further.
“Thanks to the HP Indigo 35K Digital Press, we can not only offer a more sustainable packaging manufacturing process, but we can differentiate ourselves and provide a wide range of boards that can be recyclable, recycled, bio-degradable and compostable,” said Jonathan Padley, managing director at Kalas Packaging.
In an industry where substrates represent most of the total costs, digital printing is critical. The recently announced HP PageWide T700 streamlines processes, improves productivity, and helps reduce costs for digital single-face lamination, corrugation, and folding carton applications. Pratt Industries will acquire this new press to add to its existing HP PageWide C550, which already enables the company to deliver speedy production for short runs and limited-edition packaging in post-print packaging production.
With more than 100 HP Indigo presses installed in folding carton and the most complete line-up of pre-print and post-print water-based corrugated presses – HP PageWide T400, T700, T1195, C550 – HP provides proven printing technologies and solutions to increase flexibility, enhancing profitability of the entire production floor.
Evolving production floors
In conclusion, 2024 has been a turning point. drupa demonstrated that digital printing is core to the labels and packaging industry, and the future lies in integrating digital and conventional equipment under a standardised intelligent automation infrastructure. HP Inkjet and Indigo LEP, along with advanced software and services, are driving the shift to fully automated, lights-out production sites where machines, software and robots will take care of the entire production workflow with easier human interventions – from material handling to printing and finishing, to quality control and service routines.
Across labels and packaging and beyond printing technologies, new services are emerging to accelerate customer growth. In 2024, HP began testing AI capabilities to expand the functionality of its xRServices, with a full rollout expected in 2025. HP’s AI-enhanced mixed-reality service environment will elevate the entire customer journey, streamlining ramp-up, production, diagnostics, issue resolution, and system availability to maximise overall performance.
The key to this future lies in seamlessly integrating machines, software, and robots with partners under cloud-based workflows. Some may think, “that’s impossible for my shop” but the challenges ahead demand more intelligence, and step by step, with HP, it will happen.
Together, we will unlock profitable growth.
In the ANZ market, HP industrial printing technology is distributed by Currie Group.
This article was first published in the January-February 2025 print issue of PKN Packaging News, p36.
