WhatTheyThink

Premium Commentary & Analysis

Technology Outlook 2022—The Art and Science of Data in a Workflow

In this year’s third annual Technology Outlook, Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee look at how to effectively collect and use data to improve production workflows.

Thursday, June 09, 2022

(Be sure to watch the complementary webinar to this article, presented by Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee.)  

Journalists learn to craft a story by following the data points that come from asking who, what, where, when and how. A modified version of that rubric works for data collection.

We want to know why a datapoint is essential and the best method to collect it. We want to know what metrics will lead us to the insights we need and how often we should collect and analyze them.


Continue reading your article
with a WhatTheyThink membership.

WhatTheyThink Annual Membership

Less than $4/week.

Get unlimited access to in-depth commentary and analysis covering the latest trends, emerging technologies, operational strategies, and key events across every segment of today's printing industry.

Stay informed. Stay competitive. Stay ahead.
WhatTheyThink Day Pass

$5 for 24 hours

Unlimited access to all of WhatTheyThink. Get your Day Pass

Already a member?
Sign In

About Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee

Pat is a well-known evangelist for inkjet productivity. At McGrew Group, she uses her decades technical and marketing experience to lead the industry toward optimized business processes and production workflows. She has helped companies to define their five-year plans, audited workflow processes, and developed sales team interventions and education programs. Pat is the Co-Author of 8 industry books, editor of A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge, and a regular contributor to Inkjet Insight and WhatTheyThink.com. Ryan McAbee is Chief Analyst at Pixel Dot Consulting LLC.

Recent Articles from Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee

Riding the Automation J-Curve: Why the Robotics Revolution Is Your Print Shop's Best Opportunity Yet

Riding the Automation J-Curve: Why the Robotics Revolution Is Your Print Shop's Best Opportunity Yet

The productivity promises of robotics and AI sound almost too good to be true, and yet somewhere between the trade show demos and your actual production lines, there’s a gap that nobody seems to want to address, but understanding it is the single most important thing you can do right now to position your operation for success over the next decade. Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee talk about the J-Curve. Read More

Labels as Data: The Software Stack Behind Automated Label Production

Labels as Data: The Software Stack Behind Automated Label Production

The smartest operations have stopped thinking about labels as print jobs. Today, they treat them as enterprise data problems. Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee explain. Read More

AI Won’t Save Your Workflow: But Fixing It First Will Make AI Work for You

AI Won’t Save Your Workflow: But Fixing It First Will Make AI Work for You

There’s a phrase that has echoed through prepress departments for decades: garbage in, garbage out. The same principle now applies to AI adoption across your entire operation, and most print service providers are missing it. Read More

How to Attract, Grow, and Nurture Gen Z Talent

How to Attract, Grow, and Nurture Gen Z Talent

Too often, conversations about Gen Z center on what they lack: experience, patience, or deep technical understanding of legacy systems. That framing misses the opportunity. Gen Z represents the industry’s best chance to rebuild institutional knowledge, modernize workflows, and redefine print as a technology-driven manufacturing career. Doing so requires a shift in how companies recruit, onboard, develop, and retain talent. Read More

The Myth of the Digital Native: A Cautionary Tale for Employers Betting on Gen Z Tech Skills

The Myth of the Digital Native: A Cautionary Tale for Employers Betting on Gen Z Tech Skills

Employers in every business segment have been told to expect something extraordinary from Generation Z—they are digital natives, born with a device in their hand, tech savvy from day one, intuitively fluent in software, platforms, and tools that previous generations had to learn the hard way. Core software skills were assumed rather than taught. Today, that assumption is unraveling. Read More

Recent Printing Industry News

Wednesday, June 03, 2026