The opportunity to capitalize on this growth trajectory is very attractive to companies currently serving the market with gravure, offset or flexographic printers, as well as commercial printing companies of all sizes looking to expand capabilities to include packaging and display products. With such a diverse potential customer base, the range of single-pass inkjet pinters serving this market is also quite diverse.

One of the first things to note is the type of corrugated board and the width of the board that the printer will support. Corrugated board thickness ranges from A flute (5 mm) to F flute (0.06 mm), with C flute (4 mm) being the most common. There are also five-ply boards up to 8 mm thick.

Some printers may only support thinner E and F flutes for lighter packaging and folding carton applications, while others support the full range including single-faced, three-ply and five-ply boards. Production print on the market today support widths ranging from approximately 1-2.5 meters. Printers vary in the use of ink type, resolution, color channels, and speed. There are more printers using water-based inks than UV inks, and most only offer CMYK.

It is worth noting that the Nozomi C18000 printer (UV inks) and the Delta SPC130 (water-based ink) offer CMYK plus three additional colors. The Jetmaster series and the HS6000 (based on the Jetmaster) offer variants with two additional colors. Native resolutions vary from as low as 360dpi to 1200dpi. There are entry-level pinters available with top speeds of less than 30 meters per minute, compared to 150 mpm for the most productive printers. Many printers have significantly reduced speeds when offering the highest resolution and may offer multiple speed/resolution print modes.

Once basic substrate, speed, and image quality considerations are addressed, there are many other features that can impact the productivity of a solution, especially for high-speed, high-volume printers. In the corrugated packaging and display market, there are a variety of inkjet printer options available, including hybrid inkjet and gravure solutions, allowing companies large and small to participate in this growing market. Look carefully for features that are truly needed, as only a small percentage of printer buyers will require the highest speeds, resolutions, and media size support offered today.