Modest Market Demand for Corrugated Drives Opportunity for Inkjet
The Freedonia Group’s new study, “Corrugated & Paperboard Boxes,” predicts demand for corrugated and paperboard boxes in the U.S. will increase 2.6% per year to $41.2 billion in 2020, as both nondurable goods manufacturing and retail sales post healthy gains.
The report says, “Value gains for corrugated and paperboard boxes will be stimulated by the increased adoption of value-added features such as high-quality printing, easy-open tear strips, and special coatings. Volume growth, however, will be held back by lightweighting trends and market maturity.”
Corrugated and solid fiber boxes will continue to hold the largest share of demand, says Freedonia, comprising 74% of the total in 2020 and reaching $30.5 billion on annual growth of 3%.
Corrugated boxes provide cost and strength benefits. The Cleveland-based industry market research firm says corrugated boxes “will remain the default shipping container throughout the foreseeable future, despite some competition from reusable containers, flexible packaging, and film covers.”
“Moreover, as the e-commerce market continues to expand, so too will demand for boxes to ship products to consumers,” notes Analyst Katie Wieser.
Demand for shipping containers that can also act as retail displays will boost value growth as this application typically requires the use of high-quality printing and the integration of features that allow the box to be opened without tools.
Corrugated Printing Inkjet Opportunity
Given the minimal growth that’s been forecasted in the corrugate market, the opportunity for inkjet to deliver cost savings is significant. Consider the following four strategies related to printing on corrugated materials:
1. Implement Bulk Ink systems – Intuitively you understand bulk supplies will save you money long term. CASE makes it an easy transition for customers to upgrade from disposable cartridges to bulk products and achieve 50% cost savings.
2. Save money on original and remanufactured HP ink products – In business you can buy list price or wholesale, whichever you prefer. CASE removes the middle man so you get best pricing on all products, including new and remanufactured items. Ask CASE about replacement cartridges for Thermal Inkjet coders.
3. Troubleshoot & rebuild print systems – When your print systems are down, print quality is poor, or barcodes are not reading accurately, these are just a few of the issues CASE can help you overcome. The CASE technical department will diagnose your problem, replace old parts, and repair the existing unit to get it running again. CASE will make every attempt to prolong the life of your HP inkjet print system.
4. Replace labels on corrugate – It’s indisputable that ‘print & apply’ labels add significant cost as compared to coding direct-on-box. CASE helps customers realize up to 50% cost savings by simply eliminating the paper label. And with 300 or 600 dpi inkjet coding, there’s no compromise on print quality and barcode readability.
CASE Printing Solutions is an expert at optimizing costs related to package coding on corrugate materials. Whether you’re running a high speed product identification system, or a 24/7 case packaging line, CASE can help. Contact us today: (541) 754-2273, or www.caseprintingsolutions.com.
