Episode 275 - Inkjet’s Fibre Future: How Digital Printing Is Reshaping Packaging

Digital is moving from promise to production in packaging. In this episode, Marc Graindourze, Business Manager for Industrial Inks at Agfa, explains how water-based consumables, process control and smart partnerships are unlocking fibre-based packaging at industrial speed.

We cover why folding carton and corrugated are “natural fits” for inkjet right now; how water-based formulations simplify indirect food-contact compliance; and why primers and varnishes matter just as much as the ink itself. Marc breaks down the roles of primer (holding pigment at the surface for sharp text and colour), ink (delivering density and gamut), and varnish (providing rub and water resistance) — and why separating these functions improves stability, consistency and cost control.

You’ll hear a concise tour of preprint versus postprint in corrugated: preprint offers ultra-high throughput and tighter process control, but inks must survive the corrugator’s heat and pressure; postprint brings agility for shorter runs, with adapted waveforms and careful gap control. We discuss how connected packaging, track-and-trace and regulatory drivers are pushing brands toward digital — alongside sustainability moves away from plastics and toward recyclable fibre.

Beyond the lab, Marc emphasises the collaboration imperative: OEM engineering expertise plus ink chemistry, validated with real field tests and clear market access. The economics are improving too — not only on print cost, but across the workflow: faster time-to-market, reduced inventory and less waste. The goal is not a one-off “hero” print, but consistent, repeatable quality at speed.

If you work across packaging, inks, or OEM systems — or you’re a brand owner exploring digital — this is a practical roadmap to making inkjet work on fibre at production scale

FuturePrint Events:

FuturePrint TECH: Industrial Print: 21-22 January '26, Munich, Germany