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Is web-to-pack the next big thing?

Web-to-pack, essentially an online print shop for folding cartons offering short runs and promising 72-hour delivery, is a concept that is beginning to take hold.

The Heidelberg Primefire 106 was on display at Xianjunlong's open house.
The Heidelberg Primefire 106 was on display at Xianjunlong's open house.

What’s claimed to be the world’s first web-to-pack platform for folding cartons made an auspicious debut April 9 to 13 at an open house held at the Shenzhen, China facility of Xianjunlong Colour Printing Co. Ltd. A Primefire106 from Heidelberg starts by digitally printing the carton stock, which gets designed and ordered online. Once the B1 (40 in. wide) sheets have been printed, postpress operations are carried out digitally on a dmax 106 coating system from Steinemann configured with an in-line dfoil digital foiling module, also from Steinemann. Finally, a digital laser system from Heidelberg partner Masterwork Group Co., Ltd. takes care of carton creasing and cutting. Xianjunlong thus offers a completely digital production chain for folding cartons.

The platform—referred to as boxuni--connects packaging designers, print buyers, and producers with unparalleled efficiencies. It also combines Heidelberg’s well known software and technical capability with Xianjunlong’s strong footprint in the Chinese packaging industry.

One big benefit of this web-to-pack platform that converters of packaging materials will greatly appreciate is that it lets them fulfill prepress work online based on standards. Most prepress procedures—preflight, color management, trapping, imposition—can be done via this platform, and the print-ready PDFs will then be transferred directly to the converter’s digital devices for proofing or to CtP (Computer-to-Plate) devices for plate output. By putting prepress work on the platform, converters of packaging materials may no longer need to maintain their own prepress department, thus saving themselves a lot of time and cost.

Designers currently have online access to several hundred folding carton designs, with more being added all the time. This makes package design tailored to the designer’s specific requirements a quick, simple, and cost-effective process. As for packaging buyers, they can order packaging designs online – customized if necessary and also in the shortest of runs – which Xianjunlong then produces fully automatically and ships.

Heidelberg is also leading the way when it comes to creating a digital ecosystem for the packaging market in China’s print media industry. The next step is to give print shops the opportunity to link their products and services to this platform. For the first time, it will then be possible to use a cloud-based platform to produce folding cartons in a standardized, highly automated process with wide coverage in China.

“It’s the first time for Heidelberg that we’re working together with a customer to invest in a new business model, which will drive further growth in the packaging market,” says Ulrich Hermann, Management Board Member and Chief Digital Officer of Heidelberg. “We are intending to generate added value for the various industry stakeholders by creating a digital ecosystem. And by investing in a Heidelberg Primefire 106, Xianjunlong is underlining the importance of our industrial digital printing system for implementing new, data-driven business models.” According to Heidelberg, the Primefire at Xianjunlong is China’s first industrial digital printing system in the B1 format.

“We’re expecting the boxuni web-to-pack platform to revolutionize China’s packaging market,” says Xiao Ming Zhuang, Xianjunlong Colour Printing management team member. “In the future, designers, print buyers, and printers will all benefit from a highly automated, standardized process that will ultimately eliminate the need for correction cycles and coordination processes. We’ll use this digital business model to ensure the Primefire is used to its full capacity on a cost-effective basis.”

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