SunDance’s core purpose is “to solve problems for our clients, partners and team members.” Our commitment to this single purpose challenges us daily to find new and innovative ways to solve a multitude of problems. Recently, we have made the necessary investments to offer a new print solution - digital print flexible packaging. Digital print flexible packaging is one of the fastest growing segments of the packaging market and provides many benefits for businesses over conventional (rigid) packaging design. With a projected compound annual growth rate of 4.7% by 2022¹, flexible packaging is here to stay, and brand owners have taken notice.

Three reasons why flexible packaging offers clear advantages over traditional packaging:

• Print on demand technology – Flexible packaging with digital print on demand offers an almost unlimited capacity to adjust your print volume based on consumer demand. On-the-fly flexibility allows unparalleled responsiveness to market trends and inventory needs. Digital print also slashes traditional production costs by eliminating costly plate charges, long production lead times, minimum order requirements, and wasted inventory. Flex packs are ideal when bringing a new product to market, introducing a limited product run, or launching different SKUs.

• Hyper customization of packaging and print – digital print on demand allows for complete customization of packaging and print design. Consumers respond very favorably to individualized and unique packaging, and flexible packaging allows you to customize both packaging style and print. From highlighting a sports team or event to personalizing with individual names or pictures, print on demand flexible packaging allows control like never before to grab and hold consumer interest. Packaging materials and features with spot films, holograms, metallic inks, stand up pouches, gussets, hang holes, and more add to the levels of customization and allow for improved competitive positioning of your product on the shelves.

• Environmental consideration - According to the Flexible Packaging Association, “When you consider the full life cycle of packaging materials, in most cases, flexible packaging requires less energy to manufacture and transport, reduces product waste, and sends less material to landfills.” Flexible packaging uses less material in manufacturing and takes up less space during transport than rigid packaging. The eco- friendly benefits of flexible packaging also allow more product per box, thus slashing shipping and transportation costs and reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Many components of flexible packaging may also be recycled, with ongoing research into developing a more consistent supply chain. Flexible packaging is a more sustainable packaging option that also uses less energy to produce, print, and ship than conventional packaging, which is a huge selling point for today’s environmentally conscious consumer.

When we started our “deep dive” into the flexible packaging industry we were amazed at the number of conventionally packaged products that could benefit from the move to flexible packaging. It is estimated that up to 71% of surveyed consumers have indicated they would prefer flexible packaging over non-flexible packaging², and more companies are making the switch to from rigid packaging to flex pack every day. SunDance is proud to officially launch our flexible packaging division and support our customers as we continue to offer solutions to customer problems every day.

 Download our Flexible Packaging Cheat Sheet here 

1.https://www.flexpack.org/outreach-materials/flexible-packaging-transition-advantages-brand-owner-study

2. https://trayak.com/flexible-packaging-sustainable-future