The Digital Packaging Summit 2024, held from November 12–14 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, brought together industry leaders to explore cutting-edge solutions for the packaging industry. Among the event’s highlights was a presentation by Edi Perets, Solutions Architect and Customer Success Manager at Highcon, titled “Growing Your Business with Digital Manufacturing.”

What is Digital Manufacturing?

Edi began by explaining how digital manufacturing eliminates physical tooling, increases automation, and reduces manual touchpoints. These advancements pave the way for new services like no MOQs, customization, smaller orders, and faster deliveries. However, he emphasized that analog die-cutting often serves as a bottleneck, limiting the full potential of digital workflows. Highcon’s digital die-cutting technology addresses these challenges, enabling businesses to meet evolving market demands, particularly for short runs.

Customer Success Stories

Real-world testimonials demonstrated how Highcon’s technology drives business growth:

• Jordan Patterson, VP of Virtual Packaging: “The key advancements are speed—it’s what it is. Digital, in the past, was seen as drastically slower. But today, we have printing devices and digital die cutters approaching traditional speeds. The make-readies are so much faster for digital. We handle 20 to 30 jobs a day that need to ship in two days. It’s the speed and ease of moving to the next job that makes the difference.”
• Richard Brown, CEO of The BoxMaker: “Fortune 100 clients are now asking for the agility that digital provides…We’ve been able to meet their demands for smaller MOQs and faster turnarounds without sacrificing quality or margins.” He added: “Larger customers are willing to pay more per unit for lower MOQs, less inventory, and less obsolescence. Fortune 100 companies are embracing this shift immediately.”
• Additional Testimonial: “Given current economic conditions, businesses avoid large inventory commitments to reduce carrying costs and risks. Digital workflows support shorter jobs, addressing these concerns.”
• Additional Testimonial: “Highcon lets us win customers on the front end by offering unique capabilities competitors can’t, ensuring long-term business growth.”

Highcon’s approach has received enthusiastic customer feedback. One customer noted, “Highcon is ahead of the curve, knowing what customers need and what their challenges are.”

Key Benefits of Highcon’s Technology

Highcon’s digital die-cutting technology delivers key benefits, particularly for short-run production. These include:

• Short Run Efficiency: Eliminating MOQs to make smaller orders profitable.
• Faster Turnarounds: Meeting tight deadlines with reduced setup times.
• Cost Optimization: Supporting on-demand production to minimize inventory costs and waste.
• Sustainability: Reducing material waste and supporting eco-friendly practices.
• Higher Margins: Digital die-cutting enables businesses to charge premiums of 43%–63% for fast, tooling-free production. Customers value speed and flexibility, allowing businesses to cater to tight deadlines and custom orders.

Neff Packaging: A Real-World Example

Toward the end of the presentation, Edi showcased a video testimonial from Neff Packaging, demonstrating how they leverage Highcon’s digital die-cutting technology to expand their capabilities. In the video, Neff highlighted key projects, including a craft job printed on a Landa press and cut into 15,000 units of three different items, as well as a sleeve job with two colors and a run of 1,000. These projects exemplify how digital technology enables them to meet diverse customer demands efficiently.

“We would not have this opportunity if we had not had the ability to sell digital technology,” Neff stated. As a traditional offset business producing 750 million cartons annually, Neff emphasized the transformative impact of Highcon’s solutions in driving operational flexibility and opening doors to new business opportunities.

Summary

Digital manufacturing paves the way for adding capabilities, differentiating services, capturing more business, retaining customers, increasing margins, and optimizing production efficiencies, particularly for short run production of packaging and display. Edi reiterated that digital printing alone cannot realize the full potential of digital manufacturing—digital die-cutting is essential.

Take the first step towards digital transformation

Reactions from the Digital Packaging Summit validated Highcon’s ideas and messages, reinforcing our position as a leader in the field.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you overcome challenges, drive growth and meet the evolving demands of your customers.

• Get more information about Highcon’s solutions
• Reach out directly for an in-depth discussion on how Highcon can transform your business