By Tom Sander, VariJET Product Manager

Demand for folding carton packaging is being defined by major economic shifts including GDP growth, household consumption expenditure, population trends, and urbanisation.

Addressing the impact of this future growth is the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) which aims to reduce packaging waste, promote reuse and recycling, and improve the sustainability of packaging across all materials, including folding cartons.

Its key objectives that impact folding carton printers are the reduction of packaging waste by minimising unnecessary materials, promoting recyclability and design for circularity, restrictions on certain materials and composite structures and increased transparency and documentation (e.g., proof of recyclability, traceability). It also sets reusable and refillable packaging targets.

We at Koenig & Bauer Durst are ideally positioned to help folding carton converters adapt to the PPWR through a combination of technology, expertise, and documentation.

Innovative digital printing technology enables rapid, flexible, and sustainable production. From concept to market-ready product, the production timeline is reduced from weeks to just days.

The VariJET 106 digital printing press, jointly developed by Durst and Koenig & Bauer, combines conventional offset technology with digital inkjet technology and software expertise to deliver responsible, flexible on demand production with minimal waste. It enables application versatility with water-based, food-safe inks.

The topic was explored at the European Carton Makers Association Congress in Istanbul in October, which was also a strong reminder of the role collaboration plays in shaping the future of folding cartons. Among the takeaways we found worth sharing included market challenges, the focus on sustainability and the value creation with digital. See more details here [use link].

Interested to learn more? Contact us to see how our digital technology help you create a brighter folding carton future.

By Wolfgang Zeug, Lead Print Instructor, Koenig & Bauer

Being part of the team and refining the evolution of the VariJET 106 is a privilege. We are elevating the print quality to the great results we consistently achieve today.

One of the undoubted advantages in folding cartons between ourselves and competitors – such as Landa – is the ability print directly on to uncoated materials with the VariJET.

This allows us to print significantly more ink onto the sheet, which is needed when printing on uncoated materials. As a result, the print on uncoated materials looks beautifully vibrant on the VariJET.

The appearance on uncoated materials is very good. The structure of the paper is retained, but it is still possible to achieve a very high ink coverage and thus a beautifully rich and saturated color. Since the ink flows well, the material is also not susceptible to missing nozzles and skewed jets.

At the end of the day, although I’m just a printer, I can see that the VariJET offers customers new opportunities, such as a surface with a different look. In times when eco-friendly packaging is in vogue, this allows you to stand out from other market providers.

Only recently, a customer who prints almost exclusively on uncoated materials visited our Radebeul Customer Demo Center and was very enthusiastic about the results.

He went as far to say he hadn‘t seen anything like it in a long time!

Development of the VariJET will continue, with research into even better ink and improvements to sheet travel.

I am delighted to be part of this unique collaboration between Durst and Koenig & Bauer, two market-leading companies in the printing and packaging industry.

Guest blog by Markus Weiss, CEO of Koenig & Bauer Paper & Packaging

With nearly two decades of experience in the printing sector, I bring a deep understanding of digital transformation and its potential.

Now as CEO of Koenig & Bauer Paper & Packaging Sheetfed Systems, my priority is to position Koenig & Bauer as a comprehensive solution provider and Trusted Advisor. This includes developing innovative business models that drive the complementary use of offset and digital printing in the packaging and commercial printing industries.

Whereas offset printing remains the leading technology in packaging and commercial printing, digital printing is becoming increasingly important.

The optimal combination of both technologies opens up new growth opportunities for our customers and shows that their joint use will shape the future of the printing industry.

This is especially true with increasing numbers of innovative solutions in the prepress and postpress adding to the possibilities.

Our aim is to make our customers even more successful and helping them to differentiate from competition. This is why we provide our customers with holistic system solutions encompassing PrePress (software), Press (offset and digital), and PostPress (finishing), enabled by intelligent automation and leveraging AI for maximum production efficiency.

With the VariJET 106 – a joint development between ourselves and Durst Group – we provide a very good and unique technical solution for folding carton markets.

My personal opinion is that it is super-critical to be getting run lengths up to 7.000 sheets per hour on the VariJET 106 and develop even more new applications.

The VariJET 106 has an important part to play in the future, albeit one piece of the jigsaw.

I look forward to expanding the boundaries of what is possible in complementary printing and our comprehensive automation solutions, and to positioning us as a leading comprehensive solution provider and strengthening our position as THE Trusted Advisor in this dynamic market.