Why Single-Pass Flexo is the Answer to Today’s Lead Time Pressures

Converters everywhere are facing mounting pressure from brand owners to deliver more jobs, in shorter timeframes, and with increasing complexity. Lead times that once stretched to weeks are now expected in days, sometimes hours, with zero compromise on quality.

For many, the question, and fear, is simple: how can we keep up?

The answer lies not just in working harder, but in working smarter. And that’s where single-pass flexo printing is becoming a game-changer.

Over the last decade, packaging demand has shifted dramatically. The rise of e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sales means shorter product cycles and more versioning. Seasonal promotions, regional variations, and personalised campaigns create a constant churn of new SKUs.

For converters, this means traditional offset or multi-step workflows, with separate machines for printing, varnishing, embellishing, die-cutting, and stripping, are becoming less viable. Each stage adds time, operators, and risk of bottlenecks. Jobs pile up as they move through multiple departments, and valuable floor space gets taken up by work-in-progress.

It can lead to a situation where delivery pressures build, margins shrink, and brand expectations become harder to meet.

Single-pass flexo consolidates all the key processes into one inline system. Printing, varnishing, foiling, embossing, die-cutting, and stripping all happen in a single run. That means cartons or labels can move from the substrate to a finished, retail-ready product without leaving the press.

This approach delivers tangible benefits:

Brands increasingly want packaging that stands out: foil accents, tactile varnishes, or intricate embossing. Traditionally, these finishing steps were outsourced or handled by separate machines, adding days to production.

Modern flexo systems integrate embellishment inline. Converters can now deliver premium finishes within the same pass as print, eliminating delays while boosting the value of every job. This makes it possible to respond quickly to market demand and exceed brand expectations.

Lead time pressures aren’t just about meeting deadlines. They’re also about protecting profitability. Long setups, high waste, and inefficient job handling all eat into margins. Enhanced automation is a key part of single-pass flexo’s advantage.

Systems like automated inking, impression, and registration (AiiR) reduce setup times, cut material waste, and make it easier for less experienced operators to achieve consistent results. This reduces reliance on scarce skilled labour and helps every job remain profitable.

Converters adopting single-pass flexo are already seeing measurable results: faster turnarounds, fewer rejected jobs, and stronger customer loyalty. For those coming from offset, the bonus is that modern flexo offers HD print quality on par with litho, but at the speed and efficiency today’s market demands.

Edale’s CartonLine is a great example of this in action, bringing every stage of carton production into one platform. From print and varnish to die-cutting and stripping, it shows how single-pass workflows can transform both speed and efficiency.

In a world where delivery pressures define success, converters need more than incremental improvements, they need a step-change in how they work. Single-pass flexo delivers that change. By consolidating processes, enabling inline finishing, and harnessing automation, it enables converters to move from reactive firefighting to proactive, agile production.

The message is clear: if lead times are the pressure point, flexo is the solution.