New Opportunities in Packaging Enabled by Xerox Automated Packaging Solution

Written by Hamidah Mansor
Packaging Business Manager, Xerox Corporation

Ever try to order a custom package for your special edition product, complete with a bar-code allowing you to track each unit? How many times have you heard, “That machine cannot be tied up with such a short run length”? Or how about a newly-launched product being tested with a limited quantity and introductory offer? You don’t want a mass production of packages, but are often faced with the challenge of meeting a minimum order quantity.
Specialty products, such as in the nutraceutical industry, are designed to meet individual requirements and are  growing by leaps and bounds. According to the Global Industry Analysts Inc, the industry will be worth approximately $450B by 2015.
Imagine the process and headache to create those “individualized” packages. What a dilemma!

But now imagine the opportunity!
Does your company have a solution that can provide what brand owners demand – SKUs proliferation, faster service, no minimum quantity requirement, target marketing to specific region or demographics, to name a few.
The good news is there is a fully integrated solution that streamlines the folding carton production process, saving time and labor. Enter the Xerox Automated Packaging Solution with the Xerox iGen4 Digital Press, the first fully integrated system of its kind.
This new technology offers brand owners and converters a “touchless” end-to-end workflow to provide faster and more responsive delivery, versioning, and shorter run lengths. This is all achieved with proven Xerox printing technology, the iGen4, which was recently acclaimed one of the most productive presses in the high-end production printing industry. The inline solution is a result of an agreement reached with Kama GmbH. The solution is connected to the coater by the stacker/buffer line, provided by Epic Products International.  It can handle either UV or aqueous coating, providing protection to the package against handling and also enhancing its aesthetics.
A new optional component, the SBU, allows automated stripping of the waste from printed blanks without the need for expensive tools or cumbersome manual processes. The SBU is attached to the die cutter. There’s also an optional automatic registration module for tight image alignment to the die lines.
Mass customization on packaging applications with quantities as small as one are now possible.  No need to tie up the analog press; wait weeks for your order or  warehouse extra blanks.
Folding carton samples will be shown at Print 13 in Xerox Booth #1202 at Chicago McCormick Place, September 8 to 12.
How do you view the opportunities in customizable, short-run on-demand digital packaging?