Introduction

Packaging ranges are becoming more complex.

A coffee roaster may now have separate packaging for different origins, seasonal releases, decaf and house blends. Food, beauty and pet brands face the same challenge as product ranges grow and designs change more frequently.

Haim Levit, President of HP Industrial Print, has described the current market as one where brands increasingly expect shorter runs, faster turnaround and greater customization.

That shift is changing how packaging is produced.

More Products Mean More Packaging SKUs

A brand may still order 50,000 bags, but those bags might now be divided across ten or twenty designs.

The total volume can remain high while the quantity of each individual SKU becomes much smaller. This makes setup cost, artwork changes and production flexibility more important than they were when brands relied on only a few long-running designs.

Shorter Runs Reduce Commitment

Large production runs can lower the unit price, but they also create inventory.

If a product changes, a barcode is updated or the brand refreshes its identity, unused packaging can quickly become obsolete.

Shorter runs allow brands to order closer to their actual demand, which can be especially useful for seasonal products, new launches and smaller SKUs.

Digital Printing Supports More Flexible Production

Digital printing removes the need for conventional printing plates, making it easier to switch between different artworks.

This makes it well suited to projects with multiple SKUs or relatively small quantities. A coffee brand, for example, can use the same pouch structure across several origins while changing the artwork for each one.

At HoldenPak, the HP Indigo 200K gives us another production option for projects where SKU count, quantity and speed are important.

Faster Product Cycles Matter

Brands are launching and updating products more frequently.

Seasonal coffee, limited editions and short-term collaborations may only stay on the market for a few months, so long packaging lead times can reduce the useful selling period.

More flexible production allows packaging to follow the product cycle more closely and gives brands more room to respond to demand.

Inventory Is Becoming Part of the Decision

Packaging buyers often focus first on unit price, but inventory cost matters as well.

A lower unit cost is less useful if thousands of bags remain unused in storage. Packaging takes up space, ties up working capital and carries the risk of becoming outdated.

For some brands, ordering smaller quantities more frequently can therefore make more sense than buying the lowest possible unit price.

Digital and Conventional Printing Both Have a Role

Short-run growth does not mean every project should be digitally printed.

Large, stable production runs can still be better suited to conventional printing, while digital production can work well for smaller quantities, frequent artwork changes and multiple SKUs.

The right production method depends on the full project: quantity, number of designs, lead time, forecast certainty and expected reorder frequency.

Packaging Is Becoming More Flexible

The broader trend is simple: brands want packaging supply to respond more closely to how products are actually sold.

More SKUs, shorter launches and changing demand are pushing packaging production toward greater flexibility.

_{For suppliers such as Holden Pak, this means looking beyond total quantity and understanding how that quantity is divided, how often artwork changes and how much inventory the brand wants to hold.}