Businesses that rely heavily on corrugated boxes or bags as secondary packaging, including ecommerce sellers, retailers, and manufacturing companies, have been actively seeking alternatives to standard adhesive shipping labels. 

Printed adhesive labels are primarily used for variable data such as address, tracking codes, product identification, and instructions for use. Labels can also include logos, brand messaging, and other promotional elements as well.

However, labels have significant disadvantages, including being an enormous source of environmental waste. Large volumes of paper, films, adhesives, printing plates, solvents and chemicals are typically left over as byproducts of the label production process. Most adhesive labels are not recyclable and can contaminate the box or bag such that it is no longer recyclable.

To mitigate these environmental impacts, shippers and ecommerce retailers are increasingly exploring alternative solutions that are more sustainable. This includes eliminating the need for a traditional adhesive label by printing directly on secondary packaging using high-speed inkjet systems.

The technology, which is already utilized in the mail manufacturing industry to produce personalized mass mailings in extremely high volumes, eliminates the primary barrier to direct printing – namely, the ability to print in full color, with variable information, at the extremely high speeds required.

A Blank Canvas for Promotion

Secondary packaging plays a significant role in marketing and branding strategies. In addition to safeguarding primary packaging, it provides a golden opportunity for companies to showcase their brand identity, logos, slogans, and promotional messages. By carefully considering the secondary packaging design and shipping methods, ecommerce retailers and shippers can differentiate themselves from their competitors and increase the likelihood of customers choosing their products.

This applies, of course, to the traditional adhesive labels used on corrugated boxes and bags. 

However, given the volume of packages shipped, there is an industry-wide mandate to reduce the environmental impact along the entire chain. As sustainability becomes more critical, corporate leaders like Amazon are looking for ways to significantly improve their mail and packaging efficiency while reducing their environmental footprint. 

According to the Nov. 8, 2021, article posted on Packaging World’s website, “Amazon Invests in Fit-to-Size Box Making Equipment Company,” by Anne Marie Mohan, Amazon is investing in CMC Machinery, a company with technology that makes custom-sized boxes that eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging. That is, the technology allows for customized boxes based on the size and type of item to reduce the amount of air (unused space) in the boxes. 

This concept spurred MCS Inc., a company that designs, manufactures, sells, and supports high-speed industrial inkjet imaging systems for the mail manufacturing industry, to conduct tests on packaging equipment at its facility to explore the idea of incorporating advertising messaging in process color directly on the packaging. 

A leading supplier of high-speed mail manufacturing equipment since 1989, MCS’s inkjet and tracking products are designed and manufactured in the United States. MCS equipment has been used for many mission-critical mailings, including two U.S. Censuses and many vote-by-mail elections. 

“We are already getting quite a few inquiries from logistics and fulfillment companies asking about images that can be printed directly on boxes and bags,” says MCS President David Loos.

Direct Printing of Corrugated

Corrugated board is produced by combining various papers together in the form of paper layers. These layers are called liners and fluting (the fluting being formed to create a specific profile). The liners can be pre-printed with standard messaging before it is glued to the medium. This is a cost-effective method for high-volume production.

After the corrugated board is converted to boxes, “High-speed, direct-to-packaging inkjet printers could then be used in defined locations on the box to deliver customized promotional messages such as a special offer, or an announcement about a new store opening in a region,” explains Loos.

Direct Printing of Custom Bags

Loos says that MCS was approached last year for a solution that would print trackable variable barcodes directly on shipping bags. Many larger bag suppliers invest in high-tech manufacturing equipment to offer cutting-edge bag solutions, including modern bag designs in many shapes, variations, and types of substrates. The bags are used by ecommerce sites for shipping and by online retailers that offer home delivery services.

For high-speed printing, roll-feed flexographic printers are utilized. The paper rolls are then cut into sheets at approximately the same speed. The concern was whether direct-to-bag printing systems could keep up. The average inkjet printer operates at a speed of 105 to 500 feet per minute. However, MCS has printers that can reach speeds of up to 1,000 feet per minute. 

“We print on a wide web at very high speeds and there are very few [direct print inkjet] machines that can run at a thousand feet per minute and print the high-quality tracking codes at that speed,” says Loos.

Although the bag is printed on a flexographic printer, space is available on the press to add an inkjet printer for direct printing of tracking codes and “just about anything else you can think of,” according to Loos.

“Instead of a label going on that affects the cost and affects the recyclability of the product, we can now digitally print that unique code directly on the bag using the MCS printer,” says Loos. “We can print anything the customer wants, including notifications about store openings in their area, special offers, links to sales or other sites, or other promotional messages.”

The equipment used is one of the fastest inkjet printers in the industry – the MCS Hayabusa Inkjet – which delivers print widths from 4.25 to 34 inches. MCS offers other direct-to-packaging alternatives at different speeds and price points. 

Loos believes that direct printing to bags or boxes will have many applications in the future now that the primary barrier – speed – is no longer an issue.