Automation, digitalization and data collection were dominant themes at this year’s Labelexpo Europe in Barcelona. Flexo press manufacturers, for example, are pushing towards ‘lights out’ production. As Andy Thomas reported in his Labels and Labeling feature ‘Lights out?’, advances include virtual press twins for remote control, on-the-fly job changes, AI inspection, and robotics at the end of the line.
At GSE’s stand, label and packaging printers – from SMEs to multinationals – confirmed the need for automated ink handling and smarter ways to capture, use and share ink-related data across their organizations.
Why automation and digitalization matter now
Several factors make automation, digitalization and data collection essential in packaging workflows today:
- Skills shortage: Print, like wider manufacturing, struggles to attract new recruits as experienced operators retire. Companies must now achieve more with fewer people.
- Workplace expectations: Younger employees want clean environments and intuitive tools that remove repetitive tasks, freeing them for higher-value work.
- Performance optimization: With little scope to increase flexo speeds, efficiency gains must come from accelerating processes – in turn, reducing waiting and makeready times.
- Supply chain transparency: Printers must increasingly provide sustainability metrics such as job-level carbon footprint. Food safety already demands traceability of ink ingredients. Automated reporting is vital here.
- Quick-response manufacturing: Service-driven supply chains depend on agility. For inks, this means on-demand colour production and instant recipe retrieval.
- Unpredictable consumer demand: Software-driven insights help align inventories and schedules with shifting demand, reducing waste.
Automated, digital workflows – where information is instantly retrievable, analyzable and actionable – give printers the agility to compete and grow.
As Mr. Thomas observed, the real efficiency gains come from integrating processes into wider factory networks. Yet, as many converters and suppliers told us, ink data remains difficult to access.
Closing the ink data gap
This challenge is particularly acute with spot colours. Because these inks are mixed, used, returned and reused in non-linear ways, ERP systems often fail to track them. This results in blind spots where valuable data on ink usage, costs and availability remain siloed.
Converters are committed to spot colour printing as a reliable way to achieve repeatable accuracy, so overcoming these blind spots is essential. Part of the problem can be solved by raising awareness of ink management software’s capabilities – as covered in this previous blog. Even so, seamless integration with wider workflows is still a work in progress.
Ideally, information for jobs, recipes and reporting should be available on demand – across locations, job roles and departments – without manual file management, data retrieval or data re-entry.
At GSE, we continue to develop solutions to give converters better insight into their ink processes and enable seamless integration with the data systems of value chain partners. But reaching the ideal requires stronger collaboration across the value chain. We call on press manufacturers, MIS providers, pre-press workflow specialists, ink formulation software developers and ink suppliers to work with us in closing the ink data gap. This collaboration is key to strengthening competitiveness in packaging printing, in the years ahead.
Let us know your ink challenges
What are your ink handling experiences and challenges? Continue this important conversation by letting us know at info@gsedispensing.com!
