A Look at Commercial Printers Entering Packaging Markets

As package printers are well aware, the packaging segment of the printing industry is one of consistent growth. Meanwhile, many commercial printers that have either found their growth at a plateau, or even on a decline, have caught onto this trend and are looking into adding packaging services to their repertoires.

According to Kevin Karstedt, CEO of Karstedt Partners, the folding carton market is a good place to start for commercial printers because it relies mostly on sheetfed offset printing. But before a printer can go ahead and start printing packaging jobs on an offset press, Karstedt says it’s important for them to assess whether their current equipment is up to the challenge.

“If a commercial printer only has a four-color press, they’re going to be challenged for producing packaging, unless they can produce work that is CMYK oriented, and there are no special or corporate colors,” Karstedt says. “Some older sheetfed presses also don’t handle paperboard very well, so they’re not going to be able to produce folding cartons.”

Karstedt adds that commercial printers should determine if their diecutting equipment can be used for folding cartons, and if they have the prepress capabilities in-house to be able to do prepress for packaging. “If printers don’t have these capabilities, they should look to outsource that work to local companies and establish a relationship,” Karstedt explains. “Work like diecutting, folding and gluing, embossing and foil stamping, if not completed in-house, can be outsourced.”

As part of his consulting work, Karstedt says he holds “voice of the customer” meetings, in which he talks to commercial printers interested in packaging to learn first hand about their interest in the label or folding carton markets.

He explains that the two main drivers for commercial printers to seek out opportunities in packaging are that it can provide an additional source of revenue and, if they already serve small or boutique brands, it can serve as an opportunity to enter the market. If a printer is doing commercial work for a client in need of packaging, adding these capabilities can help them bring that work in-house.
more at:  http://www.piworld.com/article/commercial-printers-packaging-markets/