Full day event focuses on international speakers in direct marketing, transactional and publishing 

Charlottesville, VA and Lucerne, Switzerland - INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry, today announced a successful 2015 Lucerne Digital Printing Forum. The full-day event held on Tuesday, February 24 expanded on the success of the INTERQUEST Book Forum at the Hunkeler 2013 innovationdays in Lucerne, Switzerland. The educational forum, which drew about 120 printing and publishing professionals, concentrated on trends and opportunities in two of the highest growth segments for the digital printing market: multichannel communications which includes direct mail and transactional; and the publishing of books, magazines and newspapers. 

According to Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, "This year the lineup of international speakers helped to complement the products and services shown on the Hunkeler innovationdays show floor. Advancements in areas such as multi-channel communications, relational marketing, and newspaper/magazine/book publishing were topics where the executives from leading international companies shared a wealth of knowledge that included their experiences, innovations, and visions for the future. Inkjet printing continues to be the focus of change both as told by our speakers and demonstrated on the show floor."

In the morning seminar—"Digital Printing & Multi-channel Communication"—Toby Cobrin, a Director at INTERQUEST, presented recent research findings in direct marketing and multi-channel communications. Cross-media success stories were shared by direct marketing specialists including: Xavier Moreau, Managing Director of French company D'Haussy; and Steven Stuedli, Director of Sales & Marketing at Trendcommerce AG in Switzerland. 

Gilles Biscos followed with additional INTERQUEST research findings in transactional printing. Leading transactional print providers presented solutions they have recently implemented to reduce costs and increase the productivity and efficiency of their transactional applications. The session provided insights into the convergence of transactional and direct mail applications as well as workflow innovations in hybrid mailing solutions. They included: Jukka Saariluoma, Business Unit Director for Hansaprint in Finland and Federico Tornielli, Sales Director and Board Member, Poligrafico Roggero & Tortia of Italy.

The morning Vendor Panel featured: Pat McGrew, Inkjet Evangelist, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, at Hewlett-Packard; Hans Gut, Director of Sales & Product Management, Hunkeler AG, Switzerland; and Olivier Zwartjes, Sales Director, Production Printing Solutions Division at RISO. 

Leading off the afternoon session—"Digital Printing in Publishing"— Gilles Biscos of INTERQUEST discussed opportunities and success stories in the use of digital printing in newspapers and magazines. Forward-thinking printers and publishers who shared their applications and experiences included: Swiss Mengis Gruppe's Owner Nicolas Mengis; Werner Suhr, Managing Director of MSG GmbH; and Gabriella Moretti, Marketing & Business Development Manager, Rotolito Lombarda SpA of Italy. 

The forum concluded with an in-depth discussion of book printing and publishing and the growing role of digital printing. INTERQUEST shared additional research in digital book printing, followed by a Vendor Panel which focused on digital printing developments in publishing. Participants included: Will Mansfield, Director, Worldwide Sales & Marketing, Inkjet Presses, Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division, at Kodak; Erwin Busselot, Commercial Print Solutions Director, Production Printing, at Ricoh Europe; and Reinhold Frech, Sales & Marketing Director, Commercial Printing Group, for Canon EMEA. In the final session, book printers and publishers shared their experience and the latest developments in digital printing. Speakers included: Gaby Duer, Owner of Cordoba Printing and Binding in Israel; as well as Alper Çifçi, Digital Printing Group Manager for Meteksan; and Oytun Çetin, General Manager at Teknolist, both from Turkey. 

The 2015 Lucerne Digital Printing Forum was sponsored by leading players in the market, including Canon, Domino, Hewlett-Packard, Hunkeler, Kodak, Ricoh, and RISO. It is supported by leading industry association including the European Business Document Association (EBDA), the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the European Federation of Envelope Manufacturers (FEPE), and Verband der Schweizer Druckindustrie (VSD).