Benchmarking (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 )
percent of rated press speed. True production capacity or what converters are looking for in terms of planned output is about 60 percent of machine capacity. The actual output — what is physically produced — is about 25-30 percent of machine capacity or about 55 percent of production ca- pacity. Second, digital print at least from an entry standpoint has always identified and aligned with the display market, and multi pass devices were always aligned with display applications. One of the big surprises was that the square feet produced on single pass digital presses is actually greater for boxes than it is for displays. That’s a positive statement to the industry because the box market in high graphics is much larger than displays. Third, the market can be its own worst enemy when we pull out the loops and begin to look at print quality. Is it at the high end of flexo or can it compete against offset? Converters who have adopted single pass print who have had their press installed 2+ years routinely say they have converted 80-90 percent of their litho label/litho laminate business over to their digital assets. If you look at offset as being the highest level of print quality, digital is penetrat- ing to a very high degree the litho label and the laminate business. The “low hanging fruit” opportunity ranges for a low of 12.9 billion square feet to a high of 18.9 billion square feet. Market ntry and development requires the following: • An entry level product capable of meeting some, but not all, market requirements. • Access to enough capacity to serve the market. • “Feet on the street” to promote the new capabilities. Key Takeaways from section 6: • The installed “machine capacity” for digital printing in corrugated printing has increased from an estimated 7.300 billion square feet in 2017 to an estimated 20.045 billion square feet in 2019. Figure 6: Installed Base Digital Capacity Benchmarking Digital Printing in Corrugated Packaging: Volume 1, Session 1 Fall 2019
Industry Capacity- NA (Sq. Ft./Billions)
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
20.045
14.397
15.596
4.271 4.271 4.271
2.106 10.110
1.377
0 5
7.332
1.215
0.955
Single Pass-Web Fed Single Pass-Sheet Fed
Total Industry Capacity
Multi-Pass-Installed Base
Digital Press Technology
Fourth, oversized boxes that may have been previously done on large litho labelers that required two passes on a jumbo diecutter or converting operation can now be done single pass with a digital operation. So converters are eliminating a process step, not in print but in converting. And fifth was the number of converters who said it didn’t take long after they installed their digital asset to begin to notice on a monthly basis improvement in prof- itability. They can’t track or trace exactly why or how, but they’re noticing profitability improvements because of the changes digital is driving across the operation. BCN: Is digital printing creating new demand or replac- ing analog demand? Wettersten: It’s both. Converters that are early into digi- tal are probably still focused on print and managing costs. • Independent converters have 64% of the estimated capacity for single-pass presses in North America. Third party providers in the form of sheet feeders or pay for print providers have 12% share. thru 2017 2018 2019 The installed “machine capacity” for digital printing in corru- gated has increased from an estimated 7.300 billion square- feet in 2017 to an estimated 20.045 billion square-feet in 2019. 13
© 2019 by Karstedt Partners LLC
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