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Get on board with digital printing

Leading-edge product manufacturers increasingly are requiring contract packagers to source some or all of the supply chain to maximize short-run efficiency and increase speed-to-market.

LABEL CHANGES. Hobby Lobby makes quick work of seasonal candle introductions by changing labels using digital printing.
LABEL CHANGES. Hobby Lobby makes quick work of seasonal candle introductions by changing labels using digital printing.

That means aligning with the right printer. Often, product changes involve preprinted labels, which come directly to a contract packager, which then applies them to packages. Some contract packagers do the printing themselves.

Packaging consultant Mike Ferrari strongly encourages CPG companies to embrace digital printing to help smooth production operations at peak times. Potential solutions could include labels printed on-demand to decorate product held in existing inventory. Ferrari, retired as R&D associate director for global package development at Procter & Gamble, believes digital printing’s use is about to explode onto the scene in packaging.

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