Digital keeps marching on

摘要

From $6.6 billion in 2013 to $14.4 billion in 2018-that's where packaging consultancy Smithers Pira sees the market for digitally printed packaging and labels going. They're not alone in forecasting robust growth in this sector, which is why we thought the timing was right to take a look at recent developments in digital. Who's doing what and what's coming next? The development that might be the most intriguing of all is digital creasing and cutting of folding cartons, even though it's digital converting as opposed to digital printing. First shown at Drupa 2012, this innovative technology comes from Israel, birthplace of so many digital breakthroughs, and a company called Highcon . Highcon's Euclid machine transforms cutting and creasing of cartons from an analog to a digital workflow, which greatly streamlines carton finishing. It also reduces the need for the highly skilled employees typically needed to make carton creasing and cutting dies, which involves the skilled hammering of steel rules into sheets of plywood.