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title: Ten Years of ePac: Digital Flexible Packaging Is Not a Backup Plan
lang: en
source: https://mindsprt.dev/en/knowledge/epac-flexible-packaging-digital-printing-10-years/
---

# Ten Years of ePac: Digital Flexible Packaging Is Not a Backup Plan

*Industry Insights · 6 min read · 2026-09-03*

> The CEO of flexible packaging giant ePac Flexible Packaging looks back on a decade of running an all-digital print business. From the perspective of brand procurement and executive decision-making, this article breaks down what this model means for both Taiwan's small and medium print shops and brand owners

**Quick answer:** ePac spent ten years proving that all-digital flexible packaging can deliver steady profits

## What Did ePac Get Right to Last Ten Years on Digital Print?

The answer is simple: promote digital printing from an emergency backup to your primary capacity, not a sidekick.

Reflecting on the company's ten-year mark, the CEO of flexible packaging giant ePac Flexible Packaging noted that they went all-in on digital printing right from the start. They refused to treat digital presses as mere backup gear for traditional gravure printing (a method using engraved metal cylinders tailored for ultra-long runs), unlike most of the industry [A Decade of Digital Flexible Packaging: Breaking Down ePac's All-Digital Business Model](https://www.packagingdive.com/news/epac-flexible-packaging-virag-patel-digital-printing-10-years/829190/).

That choice was far from mainstream a decade ago. Gravure offered low unit costs and reliable color, making it the industry's default answer for decades. But cylinder engraving takes weeks, and minimum orders run sky-high. Brands wanting to test the waters with small runs simply could not afford it.

From my years watching production lines and talking with clients, most print shops that bring in digital gear still think of it as a spare wheel. Their core volume stays pinned to traditional presses. The ten-year track record of ePac proves the opposite: building digital print into your core business model rather than treating it as a hedge is what truly sets you apart.

## Why Should Brand Owners Care?

Because it directly dictates how fast and how affordably you can test new products and roll out fresh packaging.

The biggest headache for brands has never been print quality. It is inventory risk. If a new flavor flops, you end up with a hundred thousand pre-printed pouches collecting dust in a warehouse, which means your cash is trapped on pallets. An all-digital model slashes minimum order quantities from tens of thousands down to thousands or even hundreds of units. That lets brands seed the market with small batches, verify demand, and print more only when sales pick up.

For consumer brands, this is not just about trimming costs. It shrinks the time from decision to shelf. In categories like personal care and health foods where seasonal drops and frequent updates are the norm, flexible packaging (resealable pouches made from flexible composite films) is already the primary carrier. Digital printing turns packaging into an agile marketing vehicle that can iterate on the fly, instead of a one-time fixed investment.

## Mai Strategy's Three Questions on Volume, Plates, and Clients: How to Spot Genuine Digital Transformation

Vetting a vendor is simple. Just ask them these three questions:

・Volume: What is their minimum order quantity? Can they truly handle small batches, or do they talk digital while secretly pooling runs to make the math work?

・Plates: How many days does prep take when swapping designs or artwork? A true digital setup turns jobs around in days or hours, without waiting on plate-making schedules.

・Clients: Does their client roster feature plenty of emerging brands and startups rather than exclusively bulk accounts? That breakdown reveals whether their production floor was actually built for short runs.

These three questions are not academic theory. They are lessons drawn straight from the ePac journey. When a printer burns the ships and bets everything on digital, its organizational structure, pricing models, and sales conversations all adapt. You cannot hide those operational fingerprints. Three questions are all it takes to hear the truth.

Whether you are a Taiwanese printer looking to pivot in this direction or a brand owner searching for a partner who can truly deliver, you can reach out to the [Mai Strategy Knowledge Academy consulting team](https://mindsprt.dev). We can audit your current line setup and client base to map out the right transition priorities.

## What Opportunities and Risks Does This Mean for Taiwan's Small and Medium Printers?

The opportunity is a lower barrier to entry. The risk is that your competitors see it too.

The upside:

・Equipment prices and maintenance overhead for digital flexible packaging have dropped steadily in recent years, giving smaller shops a chance to break into a market once monopolized by industry giants with far less capital.

・Short-run agility aligns cleanly with the everyday needs of local Taiwanese brands and e-commerce teams, freeing you from head-on clashes over massive international contracts.

・Rapid design iteration builds stickier client relationships. Once a brand gets used to same-day proofs and instant revisions, their switching costs shoot up.

The downside:

・Unit costs for digital print naturally run higher than long-run gravure. Without steady order volume or paired value-added services, your margins can get squeezed fast.

・Buying the hardware is not enough. Sales pricing structures and proofing workflows have to be redesigned from scratch, or you are just pouring old wine into new bottles.

・Brand clients will not lower their standards for color consistency or seal strength just because an order is a short run. Quality control actually demands much more hands-on team experience.

For shops with a commercial printing foundation looking to branch into packaging, a path like MINDS, which focuses on mid-to-high-end fully custom commercial printing, offers a solid reference: master the service mindset for high-ticket, bespoke work first, then expand into short-run flexible packaging. That saves far more time than learning print manufacturing from scratch.

## What Other Blind Spots Do Brands Have When Choosing a Flexible Packaging Vendor?

The most common blind spot is obsessing over unit print price while ignoring overall turnaround time.

In several packaging projects I handled over the past couple of months, I noticed brands making the same mistake: comparing digital quotes against gravure strictly on unit price. They forget to factor in the marketing schedule lost while waiting weeks for gravure cylinders. Hitting shelves two weeks late during a peak campaign can cost a brand far more than any difference in print pennies.

Another blind spot is ignoring sample consistency. Color management in digital printing depends entirely on the shop's calibration discipline. High-end hardware does not guarantee stability on its own. Before signing a purchase order, always insist on seeing samples pulled from an actual production run, not just single proofs run off a standalone proofer.

## Key Takeaways

・ePac's ten-year journey proves that treating digital print as your core strategy rather than a backup press is what sets you apart.

・To tell if a vendor is genuinely digital, asking three questions about volume, plates, and clients tells you far more than checking their equipment roster.

・Brand owners should never evaluate vendors purely on unit price. Turnaround speed and agility between design revisions are where the real costs live.

・The capital barrier for Taiwan's small and medium print shops to enter digital flexible packaging is lower than ever, but pricing logic must be re-engineered alongside the machines.

## Further Thoughts

For print manufacturers, the practical takeaway here is to audit your current order size distribution. If small and mid-sized orders already make up a healthy share of your book, the demand is already sitting there. What you need is to pivot your floor capacity and pricing logic, not just buy another digital press as a spare tire. For brand owners, asking prospective packaging suppliers upfront about lead times and minimum orders will reveal far more about their ability to match a rapid marketing pace than any quote sheet ever will. If you want to review transition paths or vendor evaluation criteria in depth, reach out to the Mai Strategy Knowledge Academy consulting team.

## Further Reading

・[A Decade of Digital Flexible Packaging: Breaking Down ePac's All-Digital Business Model](https://www.packagingdive.com/news/epac-flexible-packaging-virag-patel-digital-printing-10-years/829190/)

## FAQ

### How does all-digital flexible packaging differ from traditional gravure printing?

Gravure relies on engraved metal cylinders, which excels at ultra-long runs and keeps unit costs down. But engraving takes weeks and minimum order quantities run high. Digital printing eliminates plates entirely and speeds up design changes, bringing minimums down to thousands or even hundreds of units. That makes it ideal for testing new products or iterating fast.

### Is it a good idea for small and medium brands to work directly with digital flexible packaging converters?

Yes, particularly for brands rolling out new products or updating lines seasonally. Digital printing cuts inventory exposure and testing costs, keeping you from tying up large sums of cash in packaging upfront.

### What is the biggest oversight Taiwanese print shops make when adopting digital flexible packaging?

The most overlooked trap is failing to reshape pricing models and sales workflows alongside the hardware. If you buy new presses without updating how your organization sells, capturing the true upside of the short-run market remains out of reach.

### How can brands quickly tell if a packaging vendor has genuinely gone digital?

Ask three direct questions: What is your minimum order quantity? How many days does prep take for a design revision? What percentage of your current accounts are small to mid-sized brands? Those three answers tell you whether their production capacity was truly designed for short runs.

### Is digital flexible packaging more expensive than traditional printing?

Unit costs are usually higher on paper. But once you factor in plate lead times, dead inventory risks, and missed marketing windows, the total cost of ownership is often lower for brands that need to move fast.


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