Middle East and Africa: Embracing automation

In 2025, the labels industry across the Middle East and Africa saw converters responding to rising cost pressures, supply chain volatility and increasingly complex brand demands. Over the past year, converters have been rethinking both their technology investments and operational models.

Short digital runs

Across MEA, new brands and increasing SKUs are pushing converters to rethink traditional setups. The region saw growing adoption of hybrid production where digital enhances conventional processes.

“Converters now prefer presses and finishing systems that simplify operations, shorten setup times and maintain consistent output with minimal operator effort”

An accelerating shift toward short-run, high-quality production was driven by increasing SKUs and the rise of regional and private-label brands. As Ranesh Bajaj, director of Vinsak, notes: ‘This has changed converter requirements, with machinery that combines flexibility, faster changeovers and lower waste are now in high demand. This trend pushed hybrid and offset-based solutions such as Rotatek’s Universal series to the forefront.’

Jagannath Wagle, managing director at Sigma Middle East, an Ajman-based label converter, agrees: ‘The industry is moving towards digital due to high demands in short runs as new private labels emerge in the market.’

Brand owners across East Africa are also demanding shorter lead times and greater SKU flexibility.

‘At Skanem Africa, this has translated into customers prioritizing quick turnarounds, smaller batch sizes and consistent quality, which is driving a clear rise in workflows where digital has to complement flexo or conventional flexo,’ says Sachen Gudka, managing director at Skanem Africa.

‘Sustainability is also becoming increasingly central, with more requests for recyclable, down-gauging as well as low-waste solutions,’ he adds.

Automation

Automation and advanced press technologies are critical to helping MEA converters remain competitive amid rising operational costs.

Vinsak’s Bajaj highlights that offset-based film printing for IML and shrink sleeves, servo-driven finishing and converting systems with precision engineering and waste-reduction modules, in-line inspection, automatic register controls helped converters remain competitive despite rising operational costs.

‘MEA converters have begun embracing automation. There has been a clear move toward automated presetting and color management, digital workflow integration for job planning and repeatability, AI-based inspection and predictive maintenance systems,’ he says. ‘Converters now prefer presses and finishing systems that simplify operations, shorten setup times and maintain consistent output with minimal operator effort.’

Digital and flexo automation together enable greater agility in operations.

‘High-speed digital inkjet technology will impact the labels and packaging industry going ahead, as it enables economically viable short runs, personalization and versioning,’ says Gudka. Alongside this, increasing automation in flexo, such as auto registration, auto impression and faster changeovers, are reducing waste and downtime.

Greater automation in label finishing and die-cutting is now delivering measurable efficiency gains.

‘Collectively, these advancements have directly improved our responsiveness to customer demands, allowing the business to operate with greater speed, flexibility and consistency,’ Gudka notes.

Many converters in Africa are also embracing AI-enabled planning tools for maintenance and predictive maintenance for reliability and reducing unplanned downtime.

Challenges

MEA converters faced extended lead times, fluctuations in raw material availability and increasing freight costs in 2025.

‘These pressures were compounded by skilled labor shortages making reliability, automation and ease of operation more critical than ever, pushing converters to invest in equipment with higher automation,’ Bajaj highlights.

These challenges have been particularly pronounced in East Africa, where logistics disruptions remain unresolved. According to Gudka, lead times are getting longer in terms of supply chain, largely because the Red Sea disruptions have not been resolved. Ongoing congestion has further strained port operations, resulting in longer lead times.

Financial instability was another concern in Africa. Currency volatility, depreciation or appreciation of certain currencies within the region, has made substrate planning complex and forced converters to diversify sourcing.

‘In response, operational discipline has become essential. For us, this has meant proactive procurement, tighter inventory discipline and strong supplier partnerships to ensure continuity, despite unpredictable availability,’ Gudka explains.

Converters that can offer fast, local and technically capable supply are best positioned to benefit. However, economic uncertainty remains a challenge in some markets.

‘In Kenya, for example, higher taxation has reduced consumers’ disposable income, creating pressure and concern for brands,’ Gudka adds.

Converters in the Middle East are facing competition from China and many printers rely on China for imports. Operational and living costs in the Middle East, especially in the UAE, are rising. Productivity is the only key to success.

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