中文Fujifilm has signed a global strategic alliance with ePac Flexible Packaging, a move the companies say will accelerate the use of Fujifilm’s Jet Press FP790 water-based inkjet platform in high-volume digital flexible packaging. The partnership begins with an installation at ePac’s new manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona, with further deployments planned across ePac’s international network in later phases.
For ePac, the agreement extends its digital capabilities beyond the short-run work that built the business, opening the door to larger production volumes while preserving the flexibility emerging and established brands require. Parag Patel, president of shared services at ePac, said the investment will let the company support customers as their packaging needs evolve, providing greater capacity and a more scalable digital manufacturing model.
The Jet Press FP790 is engineered for high-volume flexible packaging, combining 1200 by 1200 dots-per-inch resolution with water-based inks formulated for food packaging. Fujifilm states the press can reproduce more than 90 percent of the Pantone colour gamut, supporting consistent brand colour across a wide range of designs, a critical requirement for brands unwilling to compromise on colour identity as they shift work to digital.
Sustainability is threaded through the proposition. The platform supports recyclable packaging structures, aligning with rising demand for materials and processes that meet environmental expectations from both regulators and consumers. For ePac, the technology offers a path to higher throughput and longer runs without abandoning the on-demand model that delivers shorter lead times, multiple SKUs, regional customisation and reduced inventory.
Osamu Nakashima, corporate vice president of Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp., described the partnership as an opportunity to demonstrate the FP790 within an established international digital packaging operation. By deploying the technology across ePac’s production network, the companies aim to support localised manufacturing, consistent print quality and scalable capacity for customers operating in multiple markets, an arrangement that turns a single press sale into a multi-site, recurring footprint.
The alliance reflects a broader shift in flexible packaging, where digital production is increasingly evaluated not only for prototypes and short runs but also as a practical option for higher-volume applications that demand speed, versioning and supply-chain flexibility. As brands grow from limited launches into wider distribution, the ability to scale digitally, rather than re-tooling for conventional long runs, becomes a strategic advantage.
For Fujifilm, ePac’s global, digitally native operating model is an ideal proving ground. ePac has built its reputation on short-run, on-demand flexible packaging across many regional sites, and layering high-volume FP790 capacity onto that base lets Fujifilm show the platform’s range in real production rather than in demonstration.
The water-based, food-packaging-friendly ink set is also a differentiator in a segment where compliance and safety are under scrutiny. Combined with recyclable structures, it positions the FP790 for brands with strict sustainability and food-contact requirements, a fast-growing share of flexible-packaging demand.
If the phased rollout proceeds as planned, the partnership could become a template for how digital press makers scale capacity with a single, networked converter, rather than placing isolated machines. That model aligns incentives: Fujifilm gains a deep, reference-grade install base, while ePac gains capacity and capability to chase larger programmes.
The deal also highlights how strategic alliances, rather than one-off equipment sales, are becoming the dominant route for digital press makers to achieve scale in packaging, binding technology, capacity and a converter’s growth roadmap into a single, long-term commitment. Ultimately, the Fujifilm-ePac alliance signals that digital flexible packaging has moved from the lab and the short run into the volume conversation, with water-based quality and recyclability as the arguments.
The strategic logic for Fujifilm is clear. Digital flexible packaging has long been constrained by the perception that it suits only short runs and prototypes, leaving the high-volume bulk of the market to conventional rotogravure and lamination. By pairing with ePac, a converter whose entire operating model is distributed, digitally native and built for on-demand, Fujifilm gains a credible stage to prove the FP790 at scale. A phased, multi-site rollout turns one press sale into a deep, reference-grade install base, and the water-based, food-friendly, recyclable-structure story answers the sustainability and compliance questions that increasingly decide packaging awards and brand approvals.
For ePac, the alliance is equally opportunistic. The company built its reputation on short-run, versioned flexible packaging across many regional sites, and layering high-volume FP790 capacity onto that base lets it chase larger programmes without abandoning the responsiveness that defines it. As brands grow from limited launches into wider distribution, the ability to scale digitally rather than re-tooling for conventional long runs becomes a strategic advantage. If the phased deployment proceeds as planned, the partnership could become a template for how digital press makers achieve scale with a single, networked converter rather than scattered installations, binding technology, capacity and a converter’s growth roadmap into one long-term commitment.
The alliance also reflects a broader truth about how digital packaging capacity is being built in the 2020s: not through isolated flagship installations but through networked, multi-site commitments with converters that already think digitally. ePac’s distributed model, with regional sites close to brands, is exactly the kind of footprint that lets a press maker prove consistency across markets and time zones. For Fujifilm, that proof, delivered in real production rather than demonstration, is the most credible sales asset it can possess as it courts the next wave of flexible-packaging converters weighing their first or next digital investment.
