The first designs intended for the market are now visible, and it has to be said that NeXtep, the new digital solution deployed by printer Draeger GPP, produces amazing quality results! It is hard to the naked eye to distinguish a cardboard box digitally printed with this technology from another offset-printed box. Two packages made with different printing techniques can now be displayed side by side on the same shelf. A first!

NeXtep, the new digital solution by Draeger GPP, had been announced as a preview at the last Luxe Pack show in Monaco. Since then, it has tempted its first customers

It is the first time digital printing has produced almost the same results as offset printing. With this technology, the focus is on the screen, and it avoids the pixelisation flaws that used to be observed with digital techniques. The whole Pantone colour range can now be printed,” explains Olivier Roussier, Sales Manager and VP Sales GPP Prestige.

The NeXtep concept directly results from the Draeger GPP group’s know-how in digital printing. It widens the digital printing capacity of the company to folding boxes, while upgrading it to the industrial level.

Customization on the industrial scale

Given the quality level obtained, the NeXtep technology is immediately available to meet the increasing need for small series, but also for brand new applications. “There is a growing demand for short series. The number of references is rising, and so are limited or customized series, or the will to leave references that have reached the end of their lives on the market,” explains Roberto Nardini, Director of the Draeger GPP Group.

As for new applications, the NeXtep technology is perfectly adapted to meet the booming demand for personalization, as consumers aspire for their individuality to be considered. “NeXtep offers numerous possibilities to customize packaging and create new purchase experiences,” adds Roberto Nardini. “We can now print thousands of units on an industrial scale, all different from one another.

Many new marketing strategies can thus be imagined. “For many people, digital technologies make delayed customization possible. That’s true. But NeXtep also helps us make customized products right from the start,” Olivier Roussier insists. For example, it is possible to differentiate product animations according to the point of sale, and create series dedicated to VIP customers or to the most faithful ones. Each packaging can also be personalized by fixing the regulatory elements and those that constitute the brand, and customizing what is left to be printed. There are endless possibilities!

Polaar has chosen NeXtep for producing over-packaging celebrating the exclusive partnership with the producers of Wolf Totem

Draeger GPP can thus help their customers make marketing or industrial choices by offering them two complementary systems to manufacture their products: offset printing for classic productions, and the digital technology for customized or differentiated productions.

2.0 million euros invested

Our NeXtep solution does not only rely on a new generation of laser printers. We have implemented a whole production system to offer our customers the best packaging generation,” emphasizes Roberto Nardini. In fact, a whole new production line had to be set up, with a new generation digital printer (new HP Indigo 30000), but also adapted finishing machines and digital laser slitting machines. This investment amounts to almost 2 million euros in total.

The technology will be featured on February 4-5, 2015 at the PCD show.