How on-demand label printing is reshaping converter operations

The conversations across the label converting community in India have begun to echo a familiar rhythm. Brand owners are no longer working on seasonal timelines. They want speed, immediate iteration and shorter windows between concept and commercialisation. It is a shift that mirrors the direction seen at Labelexpo Europe 2025, where the global label industry put its weight behind agility and micro batches. The Indian market is now experiencing the same acceleration, and converters are responding by rethinking the role of on-demand digital printing.

S Prabagaran, senior general manager for sales and marketing at Epson India, has been speaking to converters across the country and sees a turning point. “Brand owners want partners who can support fast refresh cycles, multiple SKUs and constant design updates,” he says. “Converters are increasingly stepping into the role of strategic partner rather than vendor.” That new relationship is driven by the need for short-run, design-heavy and rapid-turn jobs that are difficult to support with conventional workflows.

The shift is not being driven by instinct alone. The global label printing market reached USD 52.3 billion in 2025 and is projected to touch USD 89.7-billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 5.5%. Digital label printing is valued at USD 12.3-billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 20.6-billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 5.3%. The driver is the rise in short-run and variable data jobs, with short-run demand rising sharply year on year.

Consumption is moving in the same direction. Global label consumption has reached 71.91 billion square metres in 2025 and is forecast to grow to 111.67 billion square metres by 2035, at a CAGR of 4.5%. Food and beverage continue to dominate label demand with a 34% share, while eCommerce and logistics are one of the fastest-growing segments globally, expanding at a CAGR of 10.2%. The mix is changing, and it is being shaped by SKU proliferation, faster refresh cycles and the need to localise packaging at speed.

“We are seeing more launches, more variants, and more frequent changes,” Prabagaran says. “That is where the strain starts showing in traditional workflows.”

Pressure builds on traditional workflows

Converters are facing shorter runs, rapid design iterations and continuous regulatory changes. Flexo-centric setups that once handled stable volumes are now grappling with operational friction. Prabagaran explains that changeovers, colour corrections and substrate adjustments are taking up a disproportionate amount of time. “The smallest jobs are creating the biggest bottlenecks,” he says. “Converters are spending too much effort on setup and too little time actually producing.”

India’s label market reflects this acceleration. The Indian print label market is estimated at USD 2.17-billion in 2025. In volume terms, the market is estimated at around 3,500-million units in 2024. Growth expectations vary by category and methodology, but the market is expanding at a pace that reflects strong demand across FMCG, food, pharma, personal care and D2C brands.

The biggest operational challenge, however, is not only market size. It is the changing nature of work. Short-run jobs are rising quickly as brands push customisation and local relevance. Variable data and short-run formats are now influencing a significant portion of SKU planning in Asia, and digital platforms are increasingly being used to manage these fragmented, high mix requirements while conventional technologies continue to dominate long-run efficiency.

At Labelexpo Europe 2025, a clear trend emerged. Many live demonstrations centred on ultra-short runs and micro-batches. The long-run economics that once defined converter profitability are being disrupted. “The old model was volume-led planning,” Prabagaran says. “Now it is high mix planning.” Margins get squeezed when converters manage multiple small SKUs and carry inventory risk. Digital printing steps into this gap and turns short runs into economically viable work.

The hybrid pathway for Indian converters

The most compelling opportunity for converters sits at the intersection of traditional flexo and digital technology. When converters layer on-demand capability into their setup, they open new doors. Limited editions, regional variants, design tests and pilot batches become commercially attractive. Prabagaran describes it as a way to build incremental growth without disturbing the core business. “Digital is not about replacing everything,” he says. “It is about adding a capability that makes the overall operation stronger.”

Balancing conventional and digital workflows remains an operational question for many converters. The answer lies in intelligent job segmentation. Prabagaran explains that long, steady jobs continue to run best on conventional lines, while fragmented high-mix work is most efficiently handled through digital. The global conversations at Barcelona reinforced this approach. Modern digital systems demonstrated faster changeovers, automated colour management and stable output, reducing manual intervention and driver dependency.

Even as adoption accelerates, the conversation in India is still shaped by practical questions. Converters want to know what share of labels will move to digital, and how fast. While precise India-specific penetration percentages are not consistently tracked, the direction is clear. Digital label printing continues to grow globally, and India’s shift is increasingly visible through hybrid setups where converters use digital for short runs and flexo for long runs.

“Most converters are not switching overnight,” Prabagaran says. “They are building a hybrid model that lets them take the right job on the right platform.”

Technology that aligns with converter reality

Inkjet systems with high uptime and stable colour across substrates dominated the technology narrative at Labelexpo Europe 2025. This aligns closely with Epson’s positioning. Prabagaran highlights Epson’s PrecisionCore technology and the company’s in-house development of printheads, engines and inks as key reasons converters value the platform. “Converters appreciate predictable performance because they cannot afford unplanned downtime or colour drift across SKUs,” he says.

Compliance has also become a decisive factor in technology choice. Food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical brands require strict adherence to regulatory norms. Epson’s low migration inks meet global standards. Prabagaran explains that on-demand printing helps converters respond instantly to regulatory updates without waiting for plates or minimum order quantities. “If the artwork changes because regulation changes, digital lets you move immediately,” he says. “You do not need to worry about plates or minimums. You print what you need, when you need it.”

The conversation then shifts towards economics. The question of digital costing continues to appear in India’s converter WhatsApp groups and trade discussions. Prabagaran encourages converters to evaluate the complete job cost rather than the unit print cost. “Digital removes plate making, reduces setup waste, and reduces colour matching effort,” he says. “The savings are often hiding in the workflow, not only in the print.”

Industry observations indicate that on-demand digital workflows reduce waste and inventory risk by eliminating pre-printed stock and reducing setup-related wastage. Digital production also supports just-in-time printing, which means converters can align production closer to actual demand rather than forecasting and holding inventory.

Turnaround time gains are equally central to the argument. Digital enables shorter turnarounds through reduced setup, simplified pre-press, and faster execution for short runs. “The advantage is speed and control,” Prabagaran says. “When you remove the setup stages, you remove delay.”

Prabagaran notes that converters using Epson technology often report lower substrate waste, reduced inventory storage and improved turnaround times, which make a noticeable difference in day-to-day planning. “It is not one big dramatic change,” he says. “It is a series of small operational wins that add up.”

Shift towards high mix production

The next phase of converter growth in India will be driven by high mix production. Variable data, regional SKUs and personalisation have shifted from niche to mainstream. Prabagaran believes that automation and just-in-time production will soon become essential rather than optional. “Manual processes cannot keep pace with the volume of changes that brand owners demand,” he says.

Adoption is being seen most strongly in segments where personalisation and speed matter most. Food and beverage brands, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and D2C-driven businesses are among the fastest movers, driven by rapid product refresh cycles, frequent new launches and shorter campaign windows.

The market is also being shaped by eCommerce and regional retail growth, which is increasing the need for local variants, multilingual packaging and targeted limited editions. While annual SKU counts and short-run label volumes are not consistently quantified at an India level, converters across the market are reporting the same pattern. More variants. More versions. More urgency.

Examples from converters illustrate this shift. Prabagaran mentions city-themed beverage labels, multilingual festival editions and limited cosmetic launches. These jobs were produced in small volumes and needed photographic quality with absolute colour stability. Digital platforms enabled converters to respond quickly and helped brand owners test ideas before scaling.

Converters who adopt on-demand workflows also report improved customer satisfaction because they can deliver faster and adapt to design changes without disrupting large production plans. These operational improvements often translate into stronger relationships and repeat business. “When you become faster and more flexible, you become harder to replace,” Prabagaran says.

Looking ahead

Brand owners are experimenting with micro-batches, rapid pilots and faster refresh cycles. Converters will need to rethink their production mix to support this behaviour. Prabagaran believes the future belongs to flexible environments where digital and conventional platforms operate side by side. “Digital printing is no longer a niche,” he says. “It is becoming a core component of modern label converting.”

Over the next five years, the share of digital printing in India’s label ecosystem is expected to rise steadily, driven by hybrid adoption and the growth of short-run, high-mix work. While India’s base is different from mature markets, the growth rate is expected to remain strong as converters build capability to match brand owner expectations.

“The converters who recognise this shift early will be the ones who lead the next phase of industry growth,” Prabagaran says. “Because the market is moving towards agility, and agility needs the right technology and the right workflow mindset.”

Data source: Industry reports