Editor's Note

Welcome to Issue 3 of the WhatTheyThink Quarterly Journal, a compendium of articles that take an in-depth look at the various aspects of a single topic. If you missed Issue 1—“The AI Reality Check Issue”—be sure to check it out here. Issue 2—“The Total Package”—awaits you here.

As we noted in our previous issues, this publication comprises a standalone module within the WhatTheyThink content universe. The vast majority of the content was written specifically for the journal and was not—and will not be—repurposed for WhatTheyThink’s regular site.

This issue, “The Intelligent Automation looks at…well, automation. One flavor of automation is the so-called “smart factory” and guest contributor Alan Darling walks us through what comprises a smart factory in general, and what a smart factory is in the context of a print business.

David Zwang looks at “The Future of Print with Augmented and Artificial Intelligence,” detailing the evolution from Industry 4.0—where cloud communications and data sourcing are fairly commonplace—to Industry 5.0, where we use that platform to build distributed value chains, remote production, and cyber physical systems. AI will also play a very big role in the “intelligent automation.” By the way, be sure to watch David Zwang’s webinar “Intelligent Automation Reality Check.”

In “Intelligence and the Whole Package,” which originally appeared on WhatTheyThink, David Zwang also looks at intelligent automation in the context of packaging, with an emphasis of its practical implementation in Esko’s new S2 platform.

One area that doesn’t always get mentioned in conversations about automation is human resources (HR). But as Heidi Tolliver-Walker points out, that’s an oversight and certain aspects of HR lend themselves very well to automation.

Automation doesn’t just involve software, but hardware as well. Specifically, robotics. Is the industry read for robots—be they things like robotic arms or full-fledged humanoid robots? Keypoint Intelligence’s Mark Boyt found that, at least in one corner of the industry—inplants—they are ready for robots and, indeed, are eagerly anticipating their use.

Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee step back and take a birds-eye view of automation in “Work Smarter, Scale Faster: The Intelligent Automation Advantage.” From predictive maintenance and dynamic scheduling to real-time quality control, next-generation automation isn’t just about doing things faster. It's about doing them better, with fewer touchpoints and more business insight.

In addition to our deep dives on automation, we also have some of our regular features. swissQprint president Erik Norman joins our stable of contributors and talks about the business of print in “Navigating Growth Despite Uncertainty.” Nick Gawreluk shares part 2 of his “Start Up Chronicles,” detailing how he developed and launched his new print software venture: Print Profit. And Cary Sherburne looks at the practicality of reshoring apparel production to the US.

Mary Schilling also offers up a new selection of “Cool Tools.”

So we hope you enjoy Issue 3 of the WhatTheyThink Quarterly Journal!