A new survey and report produced by I.T. Strategies for InPrint USA anticipates growth for industrial, digital inkjet print technology for production in functional, decorative, and packaging printing sectors. The report analyzes data collected from a survey distributed to 162 respondents in January.
A new survey and report produced by I.T. Strategies for InPrint USA anticipates growth for industrial, digital inkjet print technology for production in functional, decorative, and packaging printing sectors. The report analyzes data collected from a survey distributed to 162 respondents in January.
According to the report, 74 percent of survey respondents feel that the packaging sector has the greatest amount of expected growth in 2017. “The value of print for packaging globally is $296 billion. Digital currently represents $3.26 billion. So rates for growth are set against a relatively low level of digital penetration thus far,” says I.T. Strategies Founder Mark Hanley in a release.
The report also reveals the following:
• The segments that perceive growth for the industrial print industry to be between 1 and 5 percent have more than doubled, from 13 percent in 2016 to 30 percent in 2017.
• Almost half of responders believe that inkjet will play a larger role in packaging over the next two to five years.
• Ink chemistry remains the largest challenge for new applications with inkjet.
• Flexible packaging, labels, and direct-to-shape packaging markets have the highest potential for investing and adopting industrial inkjet solutions.
• Nearly 32 percent of those surveyed feel flexibility and speed offer the most value for digital printing for packaging.
• Respondents felt that two of the biggest barriers to greater market adoption are: brands and retailers focusing too much on digital print quality matching and analog printing, and the supply chain resisting change due to a heavy investment in analog technology.
The inaugural North American InPrint show takes place April 25-27 in Orlando, Florida.