By Richard Cotterill, Head of Sales - Packaging | Digital Printing Solutions at Agfa.

From the rainforest to the ocean, apex predators don't reach the top of the food chain by accident. They get there through intelligence, adaptability, and the ability to thrive in conditions that others can't navigate.

In folding carton production, digital inkjet is showing exactly those characteristics.

Where brand owners need speed, flexibility, and the ability to run short jobs profitably, digital doesn't just compete, it dominates. Agfa's SpeedSet Orca, running at 11,000 B1 sheets per hour with no plates and instant changeovers, is built precisely for the conditions that define the market right now.

That market has changed significantly. For decades, offset lithography handled the bulk of folding carton volume, and it did so extremely well. High-volume runs, predictable work, and economies of scale favoured conventional presses, and converters built solid operations around that. But ecosystems don't stay static, and the folding carton market today looks fundamentally different than it did even five years ago.

The short-run reality
The rise of brand proliferation isn't slowing down. Limited editions, regional variants, seasonal launches, and regulatory updates, mean packaging has become a channel for constant product differentiation. And naturally, premium brands want personalisation at scale.

This creates a major volume problem for offset. Jobs that once justified plate costs and makeready waste no longer do, resulting in much tighter margins. Converters find themselves quoting work where the economics don't quite add up or losing bids to operations that can run profitably at lower volumes. The work is there; the question is whether traditional production methods can capture it.

Digital doesn't just compete in this environment, it thrives. No plates, instant changeovers, and saleable from the first sheet. Agfa’s SpeedSet Orca, a single-pass digital inkjet printer for folding carton, runs at 11,000 B1 sheets per hour. This performance makes short runs not a compromise, but a competitive strength.

Apex predator characteristics
So why Orca? Killer whales dominate their ocean home for three reasons: intelligence, agility, and raw power. They adapt their hunting strategies to different prey, they move fast and they operate at the very top of the food chain.

The name also reflects the technology itself. The SpeedSet Orca uses water-based inkjet technology, which helped to inspire its ocean predator identity, and positions it as a serious challenger to traditional offset and UV digital systems. Water-based inks deliver food-safe, recyclable packaging that meets tightening regulatory requirements, giving converters a compliance advantage that solvent-based systems struggle to match.

The SpeedSet Orca brings the same attributes to folding carton production.

Intelligence: Integration with Agfa's Asanti workflow software automates job planning, colour management, and scheduling. Production decisions that used to require operator expertise happen systematically. The press doesn't just print, it ‘thinks’.

Agility: Job changeovers happen in minutes. There’s no plate prep and no makeready waste. A converter can run multiple SKUs in an hour without productivity loss. That’s the responsiveness that brand owners increasingly pay for.

Dominance: 11,000 B1 sheets per hour puts the Orca at industrial-scale productivity. This isn't a short-run specialist press as digital presses have been in the past. It's a production workhorse that happens to excel where offset struggles.

Like the press’s namesake, converters with this capability aren't competing for scraps, but hunting in waters others can't access.

A hybrid advantage
The smart move isn't abandoning offset. It's building a hybrid operation where each technology handles the work it's best suited for.

Ultra-long runs still favour offset economics. But that said, the proportion of long runs is shrinking. Converters that can profitably produce 500-unit jobs, 48-hour turnarounds, and variable data packaging aren't just filling capacity, they're securing relationships with brand owners who need exactly that flexibility.

Digital capacity turns "no" into "yes" on work that previously went elsewhere or didn't happen at all. But most importantly for high-performance carton converters, the Orca doesn't - and shouldn’t - replace existing capabilities. It adds a new position in the food chain, one that's increasingly valuable as market conditions continue shifting toward shorter runs, faster turnaround, and greater variety.

Evolution or extinction
Every market has converters who will wait too long. They'll watch competitors invest in digital, win new business, and build stronger customer relationships. And they'll convince themselves the shift isn't major until it's too late to catch up.

We've seen this pattern in commercial print and labels. Digital went from niche to necessary. Not because it replaced everything, but because it captured the fastest-growing segment of work. The converters who moved early didn't abandon their existing equipment, they simply became more versatile, more valuable, and harder to compete against. Folding carton is at that point now. The work is changing, the economics are changing, and the hierarchy is shifting.

The apex predator in any ecosystem isn't the strongest in absolute terms. Instead, it's the one best adapted to its conditions. For folding carton converters, that means having the capability to hunt where the work is moving - toward shorter runs, faster turnarounds, and greater variety.

The SpeedSet Orca puts converters at the top of that food chain. The question is whether they'll claim that position… before someone else does.