Flexography’s Applications & Market Shares
PMMI—The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies—and Euromonitor put out a report titled Global Packaging Landscape: Growth, Trends & Innovations, just over one year ago. It spoke of key trends driving development and innovation. Namely: health and wellness, environmental impact, rising disposable incomes, urbanization and convenience.
The study estimates food controls 37.1 percent of the packaging market, followed by beverages at 21.7 percent, pharmaceuticals at 8.1 percent, household/agricultural products at 7.6 percent, and personal care items at 7 percent. All other classifications account for the remaining 18.5 percent on a collective basis.
Specifically speaking to challenges ahead, Euromonitor notes, “In February 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal for updated nutrition facts labels for packaged food products. Changes include increasing the size of the calorie count section to make it more prominent and adding a line about added sugars. In addition, how serving sizes are calculated will be modified to reflect more accurately what people actually consume. These changes are likely to lead to growth of small pack sizes as well as a manufacturer driven effort to have servings that are lower in calories and added sugar.” It further states, “Carbonated soft drink consumers embraced small packages of sugary beverages as an indulgent, portion controlled product, while manufacturers benefited from the higher margins these offerings provide, and beauty and personal care manufacturers turned to small packages due to the travel restrictions on liquids and consumer impulse purchases.”
Euromonitor maintains new products are driving packaging innovation. “In an attempt to stand out from the competition on store shelves, new products are increasingly packaged in an unconventional way in order to capture consumer attention, assist in product consumption, and facilitate brand recognition.” One other point being stressed: “Manufacturers continue to focus on creating more sustainable packaging. This is responsible for a great deal of innovation in plastics and other materials to make them more environmentally friendly by using fewer materials and relying on renewable sources. This primarily affects beverage products, but home care and foods manufacturers now follow a similar trend.”
Smithers Pira’s latest analysis of flexographic printing trends indicates that the print process has a secure hold on packaging related business and will continue to be a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Converters who responded to the company’s query cited flexography’s share of the business at 77 percent and pegged market share at 75 percent in 2019.
PRIMIR recently went on the record and said, “Flexography is well positioned for growth, with trends in both product run length and substrate usage favoring flexo over gravure and litho.” It estimates flexo’s global market share in flexible packaging at 89 percent, corrugated at 69 percent, tag and label at 53 percent, and folding carton at 23 percent.
drupa lists flexo as recording 18 percent growth in recent years, and most importantly, all market intelligence reports point to packaging being a largely recession proof industry.
Sabine Geldermann, director of drupa, states, “In our recent survey on global investment in print technologies for packaging, the money is on flexo, with 34 percent of respondents looking to invest in new technology. Digital printing technologies are gaining steam in packaging, with 12 percent reporting planned investments in digital roll fed color and 11 percent in cut sheet color.”
“A key question today is how digital fits with flexo,” Geldermann explains. “There are digital presses that can achieve high and consistent printing quality, but their limitations, such as lower production speeds, can affect costs. Flexo has the advantage of printing on multiple substrates and is suited to short runs with low prepress costs.”
“As run lengths get shorter, there is a larger role for digital,” the expert comments. “Expect to see a variety of different options and processes, and—in some cases—hybrid solutions that combine multiple printing technologies, such as digital and flexo. Digital and flexo can work effectively together to offer added value solutions, including versioning and personalization as well as added value finishing.”