Direct-to-object printing is one of the most intriguing processes to watch. It is really interesting to see how intricate printing can be performed on irregular shapes, be it cans, tubes, even food and much, much more. It is also a fast growing field.

In speaking with industry leaders, direct-to-object printing is becoming more mainstream, with a lot of different reasons driving this growth.

“This is our bread and butter,” said Oscar Granados, director of sales at LogoJET. “Digital printing is allowing people to decorate their products with full-color customized images from one-offs to several copies, and from a simple guitar pick to industrial components. The result is that many companies are taking advantage of the spike in ecommerce consumption due to last year brick and mortar retail shut down, as well as manufacturing companies are managing inventories smarter.”

“We see tremendous interest in direct-to-object printing and inkjet has enabled a fast-growing market for directly printing on objects such as cups, tubes, bottles or pails,” said Matthieu Carni, director Business Unit Inkjet at Siegwerk. “The freedom of contactless printing coming from inkjet has raised significant competition to in-mold labelling (IML) or printed sleeves. And the number of available printing systems for direct decoration of objects, especially with UV inkjet technologies, is growing fast.”
Enric Odena Garcia, category marketing manager, Markem-Imaje Centre of Competencies, said that Markem-Imaje is seeing a lot of interest in direct-to-object printing, which is predominately related to a need to reduce waste and is a trend that we expect to continue to grow.

“In parallel, the packaging materials and shapes are becoming more and more complex, and it is challenging for other technologies to code on these objects,” Odena Garcia added. “Inkjet therefore has an important role to play for our customers.”

“The demand for printing directly to objects accounts for a huge portion of our customer’s businesses,” said Jay Roberts, Roland DGA product manager - UV printers. “The presence of digital flatbed printers, or small-format UV printers, has grown tremendously in the awards, promotional and specialty gift markets. Business of all sizes have seen amazing growth both in production and in the sales of customized and personalized products.

“The retail and light industrial businesses have seen how UV printers, such as those offered in our VersaUV LEF series, can drive the sales of a diverse range of specialized or customized products,” added Roberts. “The ability to print directly on blank products and create unique gifts, promotional items, and awards, has enabled businesses to increase their sales and add value to their product offerings.”

Merav Sheffer, marketing manager, Velox Ltd., noted that Velox’s core business is direct-to-shape printing, more specifically, digital direct-to-shape printing for the mass production of rigid packaging like plastic, laminated and aluminum tubes, aerosol cans, and other cylindrical and semi cylindrical containers.

“We offer a major breakthrough in direct-to-shape digital decoration both in terms of the technology and printing speed," Sheffer noted. "Velox’s technology consists of a dedicated system architecture and series of inks specially developed for industrial direct-to-shape applications. Having these two pillars enables the high-quality, operational agility, low total cost of ownership and sustainability that is a must in industrial decoration. In addition, with printing speed of 250 containers-per-minute, converters can finally use digital direct-to-shape printing technology for mass production.  

“Talking to medium-large size converters, we hear similar pain points resulting from current printing technology limitations: low operational flexibility (lengthy setup process, minimum-order-quantity) which neglects to answer the market need for shorter job sizes for things like customization, frequent design changes, etc.; long time-to-market; inability to print on-demand; design limitations caused by the technologies such as limited number of colors, combining few technologies in order to achieve a certain design; price pressure; and, improved sustainability. Industrial direct-to-shape digital printing solutions (as Velox’s) answer the converters’ needs by providing agility in so many ways,” added Sheffer.

“Velox’s technology opens up a world of possibilities in packaging decoration, allowing high-quality printing with unlimited number of colors, smooth gradients and halftones, photo-realistic image quality, seamless 360° decoration and unique features like printing on the cap, digital embellishments, and others,” Sheffer observed. “It also provides high operational agility by simplifying the decoration process allowing the ability to print any run-length job with affordability (not only short but also long runs), print on-demand and significantly shortened time-to-market. The low total cost-of-ownership, that is a result of the fast change over time between jobs (nearly zero setup time), the increased capacity and efficient ink coverage, and the significantly sustainable process, drives the great interest in direct-to-shape digital printing solutions like Velox’s.”        
 
Jay Larsen, GM and director of R&D – digital hardware for INX International Ink Co., said that the challenges with direct-to-object printing typically start with proper ink adhesion and laydown to obtain a durable and high quality product.

“As an ink company and a supplier of inkjet printing systems, INX is often asked to take part early in R&D efforts for direct to shape printing,” Larsen continued. “As a result, in recent years we have seen a steady stream of customers who have a desire to reduce their manufacturing and inventory costs by printing directly on products or packages. As inkjet printing advances and the market accepts the alternate look and feel of an inkjet printed product, the demand will continue to increase.”

Warren Catchpole, director, digital solutions for digital inkjet inks at Wikoff Color, said Wikoff Digital is involved in direct-to-object printing, and its specialized team of chemists have developed a number of specialty solutions for range of materials used in this segment.

“Our direct to metal, glass, and plastic inks are making a splash because of their adhesion and hardness properties,” Catchpole added.

Phil Jackman, global product manager, digital, Sun Chemical, noted that Sun Chemical has developed a variety of ink formulations that serve these various markets, including its AMPHORA UCP inks for beverage container printing that meets regulatory requirements for food packaging and delivers the adhesion and water resistance expected by these applications. Sun Chemical’s Revolution UVI inks are used for industrial decoration projects.

Matt McCausland, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, reported that Epson became involved in the direct-to-object printing market with the introduction of its first UV flatbed printer last year.

“Print service providers want the ability to direct print on substrates, so we are definitely seeing a lot of interest in the direct-to-object printing market,” said McCausland. “The SureColor V7000 was specifically designed to address common pain points of flatbed printer customers – quality, productivity and price – and allow print service providers to expand their business offerings with an affordable solution. This entry-level UV flatbed printer offers high-end printing technologies, providing an easy and cost-effective option for print shops looking to expand from roll-to-roll printing to flatbed printing.”