Inkjet took many printing markets by storm. One of the last glaring voids seems to be folding cartons. It appears that inkjet technology is still struggling to fulfill the requirements, of which the most important are print quality, substrate support, sheet size and productivity.

Digital press vendors have eyed the folding carton market for quite some time. At drupa 2016 there was a flurry of inkjet announcements, but few have made it to the market yet. Some vendors even decided to withdraw, while others kept working on their press designs and are slowly moving to commercialization.

The only currently available dedicated inkjet press for folding carton is the Landa S10, which has been in the making for many years. The press is based on a Komori sheetfed transport and uses Landa’s proprietary imaging technology. Many improvements have been implemented since, and there are more than 20 installations in folding carton print currently. The S10 is being replaced by the S11 now, offering a speed of 11,200 impressions per hour.