Photo Finish

Despite so much attention being given to conventional and digital print technologies at drupa this year, finishing remains the most important topic. If the finish is not right, then all the innovations to unblock prepress and improve printing technologies are for naught. Converting Today speaks to experts across the supply chain to learn more.

When finishing is done correctly, a job can be said to be truly complete. There no retakes and second attempts at finishing, which makes it the most important part of the converting process.

Olivier de Lataulade, head of decoration techniques at L'Oreal, says: "We talk about the moment of truth in packaging, when a consumer sees your product and makes the decision if they are going to buy it. All the money spent on advertising, branding and manufacturing comes to this point. If the ink is smudged or the product is shabby or unclean, then they will disregard your product and move to the next."

This is especially true in the cosmetics market, but it applies across the consumer goods market. Peter Singleton, head of Missenden Consulting and former engineer for packaging development at Gillette, says: "For all the wonderful opportunities opened up by digital print, one of the most frustrating delays we experienced frequently was having to repeat a process multiple times to get the right embossed finish on the razor packs. Each pack usually has to go through the line two to three times to be ready - that is a large amount of time and space needed to finish a product - and this is all before a consumer has even bought the product. It has to be right, accurate and fast so that we can sell the product to a consumer to pay for all the equipment we used to make it."

Most segments of the market are facing similar challenges: shorter run lengths, faster time to market and more versions of variable content, which has resulted in a move towards digital workflow. While significant focus has been placed on the benefits of digital printing, the analogue technologies - offset and flexo - are also moving to workflows that benefit from faster make-ready times, less waste and fewer touch points in the manufacturing process.

Alon Gershon, manager of Workflow Solutions at HP Indigo, says: "Finishing processes - set up and operation - are often highly time-consuming and labour-intensive, leading to dependency on skilled operators." The challenge for printers and packaging converters is to implement post-press operations that circumvent these barriers to production efficiency.

As product variations flood the consumer packaged goods market, it is challenging to stand out from other brands. However, enhancements in the finishing process such as foil stamping, embossing, coating and die cutting can influence purchasing decisions and ultimately make or break a package's success on shelf.

Kevin Abergel, vice-president of sales and marketing at MGI, says that while printing technology has advanced every year in speed and efficiency, finishing has done little to keep up. Part of this is due to most concentrated attention being devoted to print quality. However, now that printing quality has become so advanced, it has motivated companies to focus on finishing techniques that can products look more attractive.

Emotional connections
Packaging that rivals the aesthetic value of the product inside is no easy feat. Purchasing decisions are often made based on the appearance of the package, so it needs to communicate reliability and trust. When various techniques in finishing are used, there is a subconscious decision made as to whether a product is worthy of purchase. Abergel says: "It's all about jumping off the shelf."
A method to entice a consumer to choose one carton over another is to establish a physical sensation. Abergel uses a box of chocolate-covered strawberries as an example, suggesting that if the seeds on the image are enhanced with embossing, the packaging could leave a lasting, tactile impression on potential customers.

"There is so much that happens from a psychological standpoint, whether it's a perceived ownership of that product or not," Abergel says. "The chances of putting the product back on the shelf are greatly reduced after it has been picked up."

A folding carton needs to convey that its artful and useful design houses a quality product that is better than the competition's cartons next to it. "We always want to be better than the competition," Abergel says. "Variable-data embossed foil is booming because of the ability to make the packaging more valuable than the actual product."

High-value finish
Regardless of the print technology used, there is a growing number of digital finishing solutions that add value to the final printed product, reduce the time to market, lessen waste and make cost more effective for short and medium runs. Buyers and industry associations recognise the value of these solutions and high-value finishing is a popular way to mitigate buying decisions based on price.

Highcon, based in Israel, has received an award from the Printing Industries of America for the technological innovation of its InterTech digital-cutting, creasing and laser die-cutting machine for converting paper, labels, folding carton and microflute. In addition to enabling cost-effective production of small runs and speeding up time to market, these types of digital solutions bring about more opportunities for brand-owners, designers, printers and converters.

"When you have a structural designer that has been told for so many years that you can't do certain things, today, when it is all feasible, means the handcuffs are off," says Ward McLaughlin, CEO of Boutwell Owens, which was the first company in the US to implement Highcon's technology. "The world is open. We are no longer restricted by tooling and cost. People can do things they never before have imagined."

Other suppliers that offer digital high-value finishing include Scodix's digital enhancement presses that offer post-print variable-density embossing and gloss, digital foiling, and MGI with coating and foiling options. Kama, Therm-o-Type, Hunkeler and Standard Finishing offer die-cutting and perforating solutions for short runs. Kama also offers hot foil, embossing and in-register holograms for more added value.

Digital press manufacturers such as Canon, EFI, HP Indigo, Kodak, Ricoh, Xeikon and Xerox offer inline and nearline laser die cutting, coating and other post-press capabilities designed for short-run and one-off efficiencies, as well as medium-run-length production quantities. In addition, digital presses from these companies have clear toners that act as a coating agent and enhance images.

These capabilities contribute to the overall value of print by enhancing the look and feel of printed pieces with gloss, satin or matte finishes, digital embossing, innovative cutting, foiling and other special effects. Where print itself can often be a commodity, adding these types of speciality finishing increase the value of print, do better jobs of grabbing customers' attention and help marketers communicate their messages.

Packaging perfection
Packaging converters also benefit from digital workflows. Digital die-cutting and finishing techniques discussed above make it easier for converters to offer small lot-finished packages and faster, cost-effective mock-ups and samples, which are produced using the same substrates and printing processes that will be used for the final product.

There is also a growing number of vendors, such as Esko, that are working on delivering shorter runs of finished goods for use as the final product, or for samples or mock-ups in the packaging, commercial print and sign/display graphics markets.

"As the continued high growth for these solutions seems to prove, the ability to produce one-offs or short-run finishing quickly and precisely has become a standard need in the graphic arts industry for a wide range of applications," says Jef Stoffels, director of corporate marketing at Esko.

Packaging solutions providers such as Bobst have focused on increasing efficiency and reducing make-ready times for labels, flexible materials, folding carton and corrugated applications, as well as integrating its solutions with what other systems converters have in place.

Bobst has recently acquired a majority stake in Nuova Gidue, a company that began introducing digital solutions for the labels and packaging market in 2000. This sends a message that this trend will continue to accelerate.