When Will Inkjet Printing Become Mainstream in Corrugated?
Flexo dominates corrugated printing, but inkjet is growing fastest in volume and value. The disruption is no longer a question of if, but when, and how far. Smithers is launching a new multi-client study to answer it, and we want your input to shape the scope.
Printed corrugated is made via preprint, where the liner is printed before it's formed into board, and postprint, where finished board is printed flat. A third route, litho lam, laminates an offset-printed sheet onto single-face board. While analogue printing competes on cost and productivity, digital competes on value and is reshaping how corrugated producers think about print investment.
What's moving the market:
- Shrinking run lengths
- Regulation and legislation (PPWR, EPR)
- E-commerce growth
- Variable data – GS1 digital links, QR codes, serialization
- Cost-competitiveness and profitability of inkjet production
- Genuine sustainability advantages.
New multi-client study: Inkjet for Corrugated Markets
Launching in Fall 2026, this major new initiative tracks the adoption of inkjet technology across the corrugated packaging market. It includes:
- Market sizes and forecasts, 2019–2032, value and volume
- Print output, inkjet inks, and inkjet equipment
- Segmentation by full grade, print process, end-use market, and application
- Global geographic coverage
- A 100-slide report, market data in Excel, and anonymised primary research findings.
Register your interest to help define the focus and direction of the research. Download the white paper to find out more: