The print and packaging industry is entering a profound transformation, with changing consumer behaviours and new technologies disrupting the industry. As such, brand owners of every size are under increasing pressure to deliver the ideal packaging blend of design, substrates and quality, according to Bobst Group CEO Jean-Pascal Bobst.

At the company’s recent Bobst Days virtual conference, Bobst identified that for converters, new business opportunities are on the rise.

He mentioned that the Industry 4.0 principles are entering into the packaging industry and the industry is at a tipping point where smart factories will become a reality. As such, he said connecting the dots between Packaging 4.0 and Industry 4.0 is of “great strategic importance” for converters and brand owners alike.

“It is in this context that Bobst has developed its industry vision – to shape the future of the packaging world – based on four cornerstones, which are connectivity, digitalisation, automation and sustainability,” he said.

“As Bobst continues to deliver best-in-class machines, the company is placing great emphasis on new technologies and capabilities that will enable the future of our customers.

“We are living through a period of profound transformation in our industry and our approach is to embrace that transformation and provide new opportunities for our customers.

“The solutions we provide mean converters and brand owners can cope with the shifting pressures and rapidly-changing environment that they face. We are on the journey with them and we can shape the future of the packaging world together.”

Bobst also provided proof points of several new solutions from the company that aim to help packaging converters to shape a better future. These include:

• Bobst Connect: a link between Bobst production equipment and the digital eco-system (including third-party software), designed to enhance efficiency, accuracy, performance and ultimately – profitability. The solutionprovides accurate and actionable data from Bobst machines, allowing customers to improve performanceand monitor machine and production health to reduce waste and increase profitability.

Moving into the future, Bobst said the solutionwill continuously deliver new assets to customers. For instance, the company will soon offer solutions to prepare quality and production jobs off the production line. As a step towards the next generation of process optimisation, the Bobst Connect platform will also include predictive and maintenance management solutions.

• Bobst oneECG: The company’s Extended Color Gamut technology which aims to set new colour management standards for the entire industry, increasing quality and reducing waste.It isdeployed across analogue and digital printing for label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board. Bobst saidoneECG not only brings efficiency and productivity but it allows customers to produce in a more sustainable way. With oneECG in gravure for example, customers are said to reduce ink consumption, leftovers and material waste by up to 50 per cent. Bobst said the company is currently working on additional developments, including further enhancements to the HMI dedicated to oneECG and additional automatic in-line processes and new certifications and patents.

Bobst also provided an update about its new label portfolio following the company’s acquisition of the remaining 49.9 per cent of Mouvent AG earlier this year.

“This acquisition is a commitment towards an acceleration of the digitalisation of printing based on a unique cluster technology delivering high quality, high speed and the lowest TCO. Bobst will now integrate Mouvent fully under the BOSBT brand and go-to-market activities,” he said.

“We believe that digitalised, closed-loop end-to-end connected systems are the future for labels, enabling converters to deliver faster, with better quality and less waste and more profitably answering the growing demand for on-demand labels production. Making All-in-One, All-in-Line a reality is one of the best proof points of the new Packaging 4.0 industry vision with the aim to optimise the entire production floor.”