Looking for a digital printer & digital cutting solution | PrintPlanet.com

I am looking to help a horticulture farm bring in house printing and cutting solution for customized labeling of plant tags (the type you would see when you walk into a garden nursery or a home depot) to inside a grower operation. I am looking at a printing and cutting solution that would allow the labels to be outputted on a synthetic substrate of 12X18 & around 6 & 10 mil and capable of two sided printing and cutting plant tags that are outputted in a SVG format for the cutter.

So entire solution needs to be digital. The volume might be upto - sheets to be printed and cut on a single day. Looking at a single operator to do both. (I have the software side of label design for front and back covered for the variable data).

Some of the potential combinations I am looking at is

A) RICOH combined with a DUPLO DPC 600.
B) KONICA Minolta / combined with a INTEC FB Pro
C) RICOH combined with an assembly line laser cutter (not sure if anything like that exists).

Questions.
a) Budget is $100K to $200K max as the initial CAPEX investment for the farm. What is the high end configuration versus a low end configuration I could get that would also solve for volume?
b) Is there a big difference between the INTEC FB Pro and the DUPLO 600? What are the pros and cons of one versus the other? Are these machines that break down easily?
c) Is there a big difference between the KM / vs the RICOH ?
c) Does anybody provide a turnkey solution that has both Printer and cutter integrated?
D) Are there any other solutions out there I should be looking at? Wondering if laser cutting solutions could work to meet the high volume. We run synthetic substrate from Kernow Coatings on our KM C and as @SoggyWinter rightly points out, static is a major consideration. Typically we leave the "brick" for a couple of days before putting it through the laminator and/or Veloblade digital die cutter. This allows sufficient time for the static to fully discharge. If you don't observe this, you will get double feeds and jams on your laminator and/or cutter.

It will also be imperative you have the RU-518m relay unit/curl adjustment (or Ricoh equivalent). If you feed smiley face curled sheets into a digital die cutter, you will have problems - the sheets must be perfectly flat.

As far as cutters go, if you go the Duplo route, as an SRA3/12x18 equivalent operation you don't need the DPC-600, the smaller DPC-400 is the machine to go for (equivalent to the Vivid Veloblade 640, only with better software - although I believe Vivid have fixed that issue with their latest machines)

How many labels up are you going to be printing on a 12x18 sheet? Even at the lower end of printing 1,000 sheets per day, this is absolutely not the most cost effective way of producing tens of thousands of labels per week. Synthetic substrate is expensive and digital die cutting is relatively slow - the process is tailored for lower production volumes and product trialling.

How many SKUs / how many label variants do you need?
How many die patterns?
I'd wager it would be loads cheaper to buy 1m full colour shells and a hopper-fed inkjet solution to personalise them from a product catalogue on demand... and you'd have a much more consistent product and no production worries.
Just my 2p

We run synthetic substrate from Kernow Coatings on our KM C and as @SoggyWinter rightly points out, static is a major consideration. Typically we leave the "brick" for a couple of days before putting it through the laminator and/or Veloblade digital die cutter. This allows sufficient time for the static to fully discharge. If you don't observe this, you will get double feeds and jams on your laminator and/or cutter.

It will also be imperative you have the RU-518m relay unit/curl adjustment (or Ricoh equivalent). If you feed smiley face curled sheets into a digital die cutter, you will have problems - the sheets must be perfectly flat.

As far as cutters go, if you go the Duplo route, as an SRA3/12x18 equivalent operation you don't need the DPC-600, the smaller DPC-400 is the machine to go for (equivalent to the Vivid Veloblade 640, only with better software - although I believe Vivid have fixed that issue with their latest machines)

How many labels up are you going to be printing on a 12x18 sheet? Even at the lower end of printing 1,000 sheets per day, this is absolutely not the most cost effective way of producing tens of thousands of labels per week. Synthetic substrate is expensive and digital die cutting is relatively slow - the process is tailored for lower production volumes and product trialling.

How many SKUs / how many label variants do you need?
How many die patterns?
I'd wager it would be loads cheaper to buy 1m full colour shells and a hopper-fed inkjet solution to personalise them from a product catalogue on demand... and you'd have a much more consistent product and no production worries.
Just my 2p

Thank you so much for the inputs. We are looking at potentially upto 10 different label shapes. Could you help me with what 1M full colour shells mean? I am not familiar with that term. (New to the print industry). The substrate needs to be waterproof. So I am assuming that would rule out inkjet printers. Is that a correct assumption?

We run synthetic substrate from Kernow Coatings on our KM C and as @SoggyWinter rightly points out, static is a major consideration. Typically we leave the "brick" for a couple of days before putting it through the laminator and/or Veloblade digital die cutter. This allows sufficient time for the static to fully discharge. If you don't observe this, you will get double feeds and jams on your laminator and/or cutter.

It will also be imperative you have the RU-518m relay unit/curl adjustment (or Ricoh equivalent). If you feed smiley face curled sheets into a digital die cutter, you will have problems - the sheets must be perfectly flat.

As far as cutters go, if you go the Duplo route, as an SRA3/12x18 equivalent operation you don't need the DPC-600, the smaller DPC-400 is the machine to go for (equivalent to the Vivid Veloblade 640, only with better software - although I believe Vivid have fixed that issue with their latest machines)

How many labels up are you going to be printing on a 12x18 sheet? Even at the lower end of printing 1,000 sheets per day, this is absolutely not the most cost effective way of producing tens of thousands of labels per week. Synthetic substrate is expensive and digital die cutting is relatively slow - the process is tailored for lower production volumes and product trialling.

How many SKUs / how many label variants do you need?
How many die patterns?
I'd wager it would be loads cheaper to buy 1m full colour shells and a hopper-fed inkjet solution to personalise them from a product catalogue on demand... and you'd have a much more consistent product and no production worries.
Just my 2p

Thank you for your reply. The kind of labels that I am looking at are those that you would find in a plant in the garden center. The substrate is typically waterproof. The picture on the label needs to be high quality. See attached example

Thank you so much for the inputs. We are looking at potentially upto 10 different label shapes. Could you help me with what 1M full colour shells mean? I am not familiar with that term. (New to the print industry). The substrate needs to be waterproof. So I am assuming that would rule out inkjet printers. Is that a correct assumption?

Buy one million die cut plant tag pieces at a time, very cheaply, with all the standard colour content printed, logo etc and a blank panel for personalisation.

Minimise your SKUs - don't have 10 label shapes because it would be nice, when three would suffice.

Don't think consumer inkjet.

Have you looked at what the national garden centres do?

What about sustainability?

Not wanting to be a dick, but why are you consulting on a $200k bespoke print/workflow solution when you're new to the print industry? Get it wrong and you could spend over $200k introducing a hugely frustrating, labour intensive bottleneck with machine breakdown or semi-skilled operator absence meaning label production frequently grinds to a halt.

Get it right and you could spend a fraction of that, with most of the spend being on the software, database implementation and hopper-fed inkjets, operated by anyone from a POS terminal or tablet. Fully redundant, non-skilled operation, fully validated.

One other tip as you're new here - watch out for people on here trying to flog refurbed Xerox gear, etc.

Buy one million die cut plant tag pieces at a time, very cheaply, with all the standard colour content printed, logo etc and a blank panel for personalisation.

Minimise your SKUs - don't have 10 label shapes because it would be nice, when three would suffice.

Don't think consumer inkjet.

Have you looked at what the national garden centres do?

What about sustainability?

Not wanting to be a dick, but why are you consulting on a $200k bespoke print/workflow solution when you're new to the print industry? Get it wrong and you could spend over $200k introducing a hugely frustrating, labour intensive bottleneck with machine breakdown or semi-skilled operator absence meaning label production frequently grinds to a halt.

Get it right and you could spend a fraction of that, with most of the spend being on the software, database implementation and hopper-fed inkjets, operated by anyone from a POS terminal or tablet. Fully redundant, non-skilled operation, fully validated.

One other tip as you're new here - watch out for people on here trying to flog refurbed Xerox gear, etc.

Much appreciated @Ynot_UK . And you are not being a dick. Its a fair question. As a newbie, appreciate all the inputs you have given. There is a whole backstory to how I got into researching print solutions (i use consulting loosely...its more research for one of my customers and unpaid at that)....but regardless I am here. And want to help them solve for it.

Creating eye-catching, colorful packaging isn’t just a fun way to distinguish your brand from the competition. A recent study published by the Journal of Marketing in shows that bold colors still increase consumer interest across a wide range of industries. But before you start designing a new look for your corrugated mailer boxes or other packaging, consider what printing method you’ll use to apply it. The printing method can affect the details of the design, such as requiring color separation for multi-step processes, making it a good choice to choose one from the start.

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1. Digital Printing

For most of today’s modern packaging orders, digital printing is simply the best choice. It’s a direct to package surface, single-pass printing method for accurate and rapid results from a variety of design files and formats.. There’s less set-up required, making it a flexible fit for small print orders and packaging that is custom printed with customer or seasonal details.

But the benefits of digital corrugated printing don’t stop there. It’s an affordable option due to the ability to order small runs without extensive set-up fees. If there’s a need to change the design over time, it’s a relatively straightforward process since there are no plates to alter or reproduce. Running off a few test packages to compare is affordable and quick. You can see how your packaging looks and feels in person before committing to a bigger order. That’s an unbeatable benefit for most start-ups, entrepreneurs, and expanding brands.

You’re also not limited in your color options when you work with digital printing. Flexographic and lithographic printing methods both apply color in separate passes. With digital printing, all the colors are applied in one pass. Complex or even photographic level printing won’t dramatically raise the cost of production or add extra lead time to the process. This method offers quality equal to or nearly equal to lithographic printing, combined with greater flexibility and cost savings.

It works well for long-term and ongoing printing projects as well. Although it’s a good choice for testing designs and ordering short runs, it's a great choice for speeding up large runs and allowing for changes as needed mid-order. There’s no need to worry about wasting resources or waiting long periods for small adjustments to the design. Only digital files are needed to complete the printing process, streamlining the process by cutting out an entire preparation stage between design and execution.

The adaptability of the digital method makes it the right choice for corrugated printing. You can move quickly from idea to design to printing, with no delays for plate creation or alteration. If you’re planning to make a lot of changes to your packaging over time or as your brand grows, digital printing will likely serve you best when dealing with corrugated materials.

2. Flexographic Printing

For simpler designs that need to be printed at great volumes and at top speed, flexographic printing remains a good option. It’s a versatile printing method that works well with corrugated materials, conforming to textured or uneven surfaces without issue. Packaging companies like Box Genie develop a number of polymer plates that each feature one color of the entire design. Attaching the plates to large rotating cylinders allows for rapid and accurate printing. Each cylinder and plate produces a different color, eventually completing the design in a multi-pass process. However, today’s flexographic printing processes allow for up to 10 colors to be added per pass. That means it’s a quicker way to produce multi-color prints than many packaging buyers expect.

It’s not a method capable of producing photo-quality printing or incredibly intricate designs. However, it has enough resolution to produce fine text, quality graphics, and accurate reproductions of thin lines. For many large volume orders where speed and replicability are key, it’s a good fit. You’ll get consistent results over hundreds of thousands of packages printed without the need for new plates. Fast-drying ink is automatically applied as the polymer plates are rotated by the cylinders, reducing the chance for misaligned or smudged artwork. In the end, you get a quality packaging look in a hurry, even when ordering in large volumes.

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3. Lithographic Printing

Lithographic printing involves a slightly different process for applying graphics that can provide photo-quality reproductions even on corrugated materials. It’s also known as offset printing or litho-lamination. Yet, unlike digital or flexographic printing methods, it’s not always applied directly to the surface of a corrugated packaging material. Instead, it’s often printed on a label or thin sheet of material that’s attached to the corrugated material. This creates a crisp and high-quality print while still producing the desired effects on the finished package. It’s not just glued on in most cases, but actually laminated onto the surface as a full wrap layer.

When you need sharp text, exact accuracy, and beautiful and vibrant photographic images, lithographic printing is the best option. Color-specific plates are developed, and then a rubber blanket method is used to transfer ink from them onto the label material. Since there are more steps to transfer the ink in the lithographic method than with flexographic printing, a run that uses this method will take longer to complete. However, the high-quality results are usually worth the extra wait. Digital printing offers the same quality in many situations, but some designs may still benefit from the quality offered by traditional lithographic methods.

Choosing a Printing Method

No matter which method you choose for corrugated printing, you really can’t go wrong. Still, there are benefits to choosing each method in specific scenarios, depending on what you want from your packaging. In general, digital printing will offer you the best balance of benefits for most corrugated packaging designs. However, there may be situations where you want traditional plate printing instead and must choose between lithographic and flexographic options.

For Speed

Flexographic printing is the fastest method for large volumes. Yet don’t discount the rapid setup provided by digital printing. Both are good choices for getting packages in a hurry when you realize you need to make an order without a long turnaround time. Lithographic printing requires the longest set-up time, but the flat plates used for it last longer without losing quality than flexographic plates.

By Volume

Digital printing can work well for small to medium volumes, but the cost drops for large volumes by switching to flexographic or lithographic printing. The limitation is that you’ll be using the same design for the whole volume since plates are made and used over and over again to save money. If you want to place smaller orders or change your designs often, digital printing will save money in the long run by reducing plate creation and updating costs.

By Design Complexity

For photographic designs and dense blocks of text that need great legibility, stick with lithographic printing. If it’s too slow or expensive for your plans, digital printing will give you nearly the same level of quality in almost all cases. You can also optimize your designs for the best results with digital printing, including by adjusting it after a small test run, which isn’t so easy with traditional lithographic methods.

What Can Complicate Printing on Corrugated Material?

Corrugated materials offer protection and crush resistance that make them ideal for shipping most products. However, the surface requires care during printing, which is why certain printing methods are recommended for these materials. You can easily get crisp edges and aligned prints by using one of these three printing methods, despite the slightly uneven surface. If you're working with a porous surface, the packaging experts at Box Genie will match the right ink to the job for even coverage and rapid drying. This prevents any concerns about warping or wrinkling during the drying process.

Using digital printing also protects the corrugated material from being damaged by bending or pressure from plates during the printing process. But lithographic and flexographic printing work as well for making accurate prints on corrugated materials when you choose a printing team that knows how to handle these materials. Don't let the challenges of corrugated printing stop you from using a packaging material that relies on it. With the right process, you can not only print decorative designs on the exterior of the corrugate sheeting, but also dielines and markings that help indicate packaging assembly details during later stages.

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Achieving Perfect Packaging