Corrugated Printing 101

Interesting Facts About Corrugated

Most of us cannot imagine a world before the use of corrugated material. We’ve all grown up using corrugated material to safely ship items, marveled at its durability at point of sale, and even spent our formative years rolling down hills cushioned by the stuff. Corrugated needs to be celebrated, and here are some interesting facts about the versatile material:

The first commercially available corrugated box was created and produced in the USA in 1895. Until the early 1900’s, however, nearly all shipping was done in wooden crates.
There is actually a real museum dedicated to the corrugated cardboard box! It is located in Valréas, France, and is called Musée du Cartonnage et de l’Imprimerie (Museum of the Cardboard Box).
The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York includes the corrugated cardboard box as an exhibit.
Over 70% of corrugated boxes are recycled, giving corrugated one of the highest sustainability rates in the United States.
Corrugated accounts for the largest share of all paper grades recovered for recycling.

How Digital Adds New Flexibility for Corrugated Printers

Recent innovations in toner and inkjet technologies enable commercial printers to bring the increased flexibility to meet ever-shorter customer lead times with additional benefits unavailable in traditional screen and flexographic printing.

Commercial printers utilize Fujifilm toner and inkjet technologies today to successfully:
Capture more of their client’s branding business by locking into custom corrugated displays and other designs.
Employ Variable Data Printing (VDP) into their product offering, dramatically increasing new higher margin business for runs of one to several thousand. Change text, photos or other graphics on each print!
Expand color match quality with more consistent control of branded spot colors.
Have jobs completed before set up is even started on other corrugated printing options.

How Digital Dominates the Short Run

Prototyping – Quick to press and color accurate digital presses provide an ideal solution for creating prototypes that can later be printed on traditional analog presses at higher quantities. Helps you get the sale without typing up your traditional production press assets.
Short Run Variable Data – Gets you branding business you may currently be missing allowing you the ability change the message on every piece to take advantage of target market installation or testing.
Print Quality – Recent innovations in printhead technologies, toner technologies, water-based inkjet ink chemistry, color-managed workflow software and real-time, closed-loop color controls have led to press solutions that meet and often surpass flexographic and screen quality.
Sustainability – Inkjet and toner presses deliver a dramatic reduction in raw materials, hazardous pressroom consumables and paper waste, along with the complete elimination of the plate production process. It is estimated inkjet delivers a 25% lower carbon footprint than an equivalent traditional offset half-size sheetfed press. Fujifilm Vividia inks have the highest rating for recycleability.