WhatTheyThink is the global printing industry's go-to information source with both print and digital offerings, including WhatTheyThink.com, WhatTheyThink Email Newsletters, and the WhatTheyThink magazine. Our mission is to inform, educate, and inspire the industry. We provide cogent news and analysis about trends, technologies, operations, and events in all the markets that comprise today's printing and sign industries including commercial, in-plant, mailing, finishing, sign, display, textile, industrial, finishing, labels, packaging, marketing technology, software and workflow.
Displaying 1100-1199 of 4703 articles
Published May 30, 2018
Ann Laidlaw, Consultant for ACL Color Consulting LLC, talks to Cary Sherburne about how ambient lighting impacts our perception of color—an important consideration in retail environments where the lighting under which a consumer views a garment may be different from that under which the garment was manufactured. Compounding the problem is the latest trend toward LED lighting (of which there are many different kinds) in retail stores, which can impact how a particular colored garment is perceived.
Published May 30, 2018
Mark Abramson, President of Printform Corporation, talks about his experiences in starting a business that produces specialty-printed products, as well as his efforts in helping other entrepreneurs launch wide-format, industrial, and other specialty products. He shares some pieces of advice for success, a key one being to invest at least as much in marketing as in any other part of the business.
Published May 29, 2018
Kirby Best, President and CEO of Purchase Activated Apparel Technologies (PAAT), talks about one of the biggest challenges he found in the analog-to-digital transformation of textile printing: the difficulty of feeding information to the production equipment. To realize all the advantage of on-demand production, all the systems within the operation need to be in sync and "talking" to each other. He talks to Cary Sherburne about how PAAT overcame that challenge.
Published May 29, 2018
Josh Samuel, Director of Ink Development at EFI, talks to David Zwang about EFI's inkjet philosophy: helping companies and even entire industries make a seamless transformation from analog to digital. EFI offers the machines, the inks, and the software as a larger system to help customers make that transformation.
Published May 25, 2018
Debbie McKeegan, Textile Ambassador for FESPA 2018, walks us through the Print Make Wear microfactory and demonstrates the process of textile printing from beginning to end.
Published May 25, 2018
Investing in companies by how much they spend on lobbying. Searching for a safe, bright red pigment. Making your mail smell like popsicles. Exaggerating the death of retail. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published May 24, 2018
At the recent Xeikon Café, Filip Weymans, Vice President of Marketing for Xeikon, discusses some recent technology and product changes that customers can look forward to, from the addition of dry toner and UV inkjet to a complete digital technology upgrade.
Published May 24, 2018
At this week's TechTextil, Will Duncan, Executive Director of SEAMS, talks about SEAMS which, for 50 years, has been the "voice" of the U.S. sewn products industry. Members include brands and retailers, as well as the textile supply sector. "Made in America" is the association's main initiative.
Published May 23, 2018
Matt Hirsch Ph.D., Co-Founder and CTO of Lumii, talks to David Zwang about a new solution for label and packaging security that allows 2D printers and presses generate holographic 3D effects. Using proprietary algorithms and Terascale computing, the Lumii Light Field Engine calculates the exact patterns for a duplex print from a single image to create a visual 3D object from a 2D pattern.
Published May 23, 2018
Brian Francois, Executive Vice President of AATCC, discusses the analog-to-digital transformation in textile printing, and identifies such emerging challenges as wearable technology and developing and implementing color standards for LED lighting.
Published May 22, 2018
Sebastien Hanssens, Vice President of Marketing and Communication for Dover Digital Printing, talks about the “microfactory” concept of on-demand digital garment printing, which Dover Digital Printing was demonstrating at FESPA 2018. “The Sports Factory” showcased customized athletic jersey printing from online ordering to printing and sewing.
Published May 21, 2018
Ken Hanulec, Vice President of Marketing, Inkjet Solutions for EFI, talks about the company's new H Series at FESPA 2018 in Berlin. This new hybrid printer, targeted at the mid-range market, is capable of printing on both rigid and flexible substrates.
Published May 21, 2018
At the InPrint Industrial Inkjet Conference, Wade Neff, Strategic Business Unity Manager for Strategic Factory, discusses how inkjet printing is not the solution for every application, and that print service providers need to understand, and be able to communicate to customers, both the advantages and limitations of inkjet technology.
Published May 18, 2018
This week at FESPA 2018, HP launched two new PageWide presses for ultra-high-volume digital corrugated printing. David Murphy, Worldwide Director of Marketing & Business Development–HP PageWide Industrial Division, describes the Digital Corrugated Experience at FESPA 2018. and how HP's PageWide technology has versatility and adaptability for uses in consumer, electronics, and food and beverage packaging.
Published May 18, 2018
Digital ad revenue, digitally colored embroidery, and curbing your media consumption. All that and more this week in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published May 17, 2018
Kevin M. Sykes, North American President of Massivit 3D, talks about the new Massivit 1500 "Exploration" 3D printer, which allows users to pursue 3D printing at a lower price point than the company's flagship product. Sykes also discusses the opportunities to be had in 3D printing.
Published May 15, 2018
Pamela Lee, Senior Product Manager for Excelitas Technologies, discusses UV LED technology vs. traditional UV curing in terms of performance, cost, and environmental benefits in a variety of commercial and industrial applications.
Published May 14, 2018
Rachel Nunziata, Product Development Manager for 4Walls, talks about the design process for digital décor. 4Walls designs and prints wallcoverings and a wide variety of other materials, handling the process all the way from design through production.
Published May 11, 2018
Blockchain, Buffett, and blurring boundaries. Silk and sneakers. One space or two? WhatTheyThink’s new regular Friday feature, Around the Web, presents a miscellany of random news items that caught the attention of our contributors this week. Read on for more.
Published May 9, 2018
At the InPrint Industrial Printing Show in Chicago, Jim Lambert, VP of Digital Sales for INX International, talks about digital direct-to-can printing, a technology that gives beverage makers flexibility in both design and volume, and the ability to adapt to changing consumer trends and tastes.
Published May 7, 2018
Mark Hanley, President of IT Strategies, Inc., discusses industrial printing and how print providers can navigate the variety of "industrial" markets, from packaging to direct-to-shape, and determine areas of emerging growth.
Published April 30, 2018
Nick Gawreluk talks to Kris Davis of Printing Industry Midwest (PIMW) about its education programs to help students explore job opportunities in print. For the past the 10 years, PIMW has provided financial support to PIMW members to help bring summer interns into printing companies.
Published April 25, 2018
Vicki Strull, graphic designer and brand consultant, helps brands increase consumer engagement, build brand loyalty, and drive purchase intent. Strull addresses the gap among design, print, and the marketing community by educating these three stakeholders in the understanding of each industry.
Published April 24, 2018
Julian Marsh is Director of Commercial Printing at District Photo, an online digital print business that produces a large range of photo products. Julian is the Global Chairman of Dscoop, and helped launch the new Dscoop.com platform to facilitate year-round collaboration and networking within the Dscoop community.
Published April 23, 2018
Matt Miloszewski, Business Development Manager at Tharstern, talks about Tharstern's approach to MIS and managing operational data within print operations. Tharstern has over 700 installations globally.
Published April 4, 2018
Digipix, a photo products company based in Sao-Paulo, Brazil recently installed the HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press to support its growing photo products business. Marco Perlman, Digipix founder and CEO, spoke with WhatTheyThink about his business and its recent investment in the HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press.
Published April 3, 2018
WhatTheyThink spoke to Keith Wilmot, CEO of DSCOOP at the DSCOOP 18 conference. Under Wilmot's leadership the organization has embarked on transiting DSCOOP from a once per a year conference to a networking platform at dscoop.com
Published March 22, 2018
In the hunt for new print techniques and technologies for mail, Trish leads us to H&H Graphics in Chicago for a photochromatic ink technology that is designed to work in conjunction with the camera on your smartphone
Published March 2, 2018
Julie Shaffer, Associate VP of Program and Community Development at the Association for Print Technologies, talks to Gina Testa about why she decided to join the team at the new association and her passion for education and bringing new people into the printing industry.
Published March 2, 2018
Kelly Kilga, VP Meetings & Events at the Association for Print Technologies (formerly NPES) lays the foundation for expectations and education at APTech’s signature annual event, PRINT®, coming September 30 - October 2, 2018 to Chicago’s McCormick Place.
Published February 28, 2018
WhatTheyThink surveyed printing business owners and executives: "What are your areas of interest in new print-related applications."
Published February 20, 2018
WhatTheyThink surveyed printing business owners and executives: "Which of the following investment items have you budgeted for and plan to acquire in the next 12 months?"
Published February 15, 2018
WhatTheyThink surveyed printing business owners and executives: "In the next 12 months, which of the following will be your biggest business opportunities?"
Published February 15, 2018
Mark Hischar, President and CEO of KBA North America and Chairman of the Association for Print Technologies talks about the Association’s rebranding initiative and the upcoming Print 18 event.
Published February 5, 2018
WhatTheyThink surveyed printing business owners and executives: "In the next 12 months, which of the following will be your biggest business challenges?"
Published February 1, 2018
Xerox and Fujifilm announced a deal to combine Xerox and the Fuji Xerox joint venture into a single company called Fuji Xerox. Industry Analysts share their reaction to the deal.
Published January 29, 2018
EFI is going into its third year with the Reggiani portfolio of fabric printing equipment. EFI has recently brought new products to its textile portfolio to ease the transition into digital production including the EFI Reggiani VOGUE and EFI Reggiani ReNOIR FLEXY.
Published January 23, 2018
PIA’s Color Conference grew attendance by about 30% compared to 2017, with 25% of attendees representing the brand/design community. For anyone with a color-critical role, this is an excellent venue to increase color knowledge, network with peers, and have in-depth in-person conversations with conference sponsors about solutions that can assist with specific challenges.
Published January 19, 2018
Are you ready for a cloud migration? Here is the fourth and final post in a four-part series on "cloud readiness" criteria put together by experts.
Published January 12, 2018
Are you ready for a cloud migration? Here is the third in a four-part series of posts on criteria put together by experts.
Published December 14, 2017
Elizabeth Gooding, President of Inkjet Insight, talks about the new venture and the ways it can help inform those serious about inkjet about both devices, paper, software, and other equipment. The site brings a lot of information together in an easy to use way and Elizabeth highlights them.
Published December 12, 2017
David Biro, Director of Paste Screen and Industrial Inks for Sun Chemical discusses the movement toward energy curing and the advantages associated with this type of curing for packaging applications. He also talks about some of the challenges associated with this kind of curing.
Published December 11, 2017
Jeff Peterson, President of FSEA, gives an overview of the association and how it serves members through their Odyssey show, magazine, and webinar events. He also discusses how new digital technologies like MGI and Scodix take specialty effects to the next level as well as a new study done in conjunction with Clemson University that showcases how end users tend to see embellished print first over standard package printing.
Published December 7, 2017
Pat McGrew, Director of Production Workflow Service at Keypoint Intelligence - InfoTrends, talks about how workflow is often underfunded in a printing operation and how proper investment and strategy can increase profits.
Published December 5, 2017
When we think about the cloud, we think about benefits such as anytime, anywhere access, cost savings from the elimination of servers, and automatic updates. But there is one benefit that many people don’t think about—computer agnosticism.
Published December 4, 2017
Dean Durhak, Product Manager at SAi talks about their FlexiSign Software and also sign.com, a consumer facing application that drives sign making demand online and routes jobs directly to the nearest production facility.
Published November 30, 2017
Matt Swain, Group Director at Keypoint Intelligence - InfoTrends talks about the benefits for consumers and marketers of the USPS Informed Delivery program.
Published November 29, 2017
Whether it’s for administrative, production, or marketing initiatives, the cloud brings significant benefits to businesses of all sizes. One of those benefits, and one that is the easiest to implement, is collaboration. Let’s take a closer look at this low-hanging fruit from the cloud.
Published November 29, 2017
Matt Ellison, Senior Ink Chemist at Dart, talks about the importance of the ability to recycle and low migration ink given their focus on disposable packaging products. He also discusses the changing nature of inks in the print for packaging industry.
Published November 27, 2017
Todd Fayne Principal Engineer at PepsiCo talks about major trends affecting consumer packaged goods and the technical considerations required for next generation packaging that includes interactivity, functional advancements, and other consumer focused features.
Published November 22, 2017
Gavin Jordan-Smith Vice President, Industrial Print and Graphic Communications at Konica Minolta provides an update on Konica Minolta lastest advancements in inkjet head technology and new applications these advancements are enabling in industrial and commercial printing.
Published November 21, 2017
Darrell Moore, President at Modern Litho, talks about his printing business and how he's saving money through the Graphic Arts Alliance purchasing cooperative.
Published November 16, 2017
Mick Rowan (Director) and Adrian Fleming (Sales Director) at PrintIQ share their vision and approach to a cloud based management workflow system that goes beyond traditional MIS.
Published November 15, 2017
John Braceland of Graphic Arts Alliance talks about the member-run purchasing cooperative and how it helps printing companies increase buying power and save money on equipment and supplies.
Published November 13, 2017
Dan Johansen, Marketing Manager at Ricoh, talks about their new Ricoh Pro T7210 flatbed device shown at SGIA. With new ink development, this device is able to produce custom graphics with a large diversity of substrates.
Published November 9, 2017
Randy Paar, Marketing Manager for Large Format at Canon Solutions America, talks about flatbed printers and the ability to print on different substrates and opening up the possibilities to enter the packaging market as well. He also discusses their High Flow Vacuum configuration which allows printers to enter these new markets.
Published November 8, 2017
Lawrence Chou at San Diego-based MGX Copy LLC talks about the company's recent expansion into a East Coast facility, their approach to in-house print software development, and attracting tech workers to the printing industry.
Published November 7, 2017
Cloud production doesn’t have to be complicated. A simplified definition, along with three ways to use the cloud for business, change the conversation from “why should I?” to “what’s the big deal?”
Published November 7, 2017
Christian Unterberger, CMO & EVP of Production Printing Products at Océ talks about unification of product development and what that means for Canon's continous feed and sheetfed production printing products. Unterberger hints at the development of a packaging solution.
Published November 6, 2017
Lisa Fine, President of RadTech, joins us from their first Printing & Packaging Conference in Philadelphia to talk about the great interest generated along with a brief overview of some of the content offered to attendees of the event.
Published November 2, 2017
Mark Hicks, President at Copy Express in Lexington, Kentucky, joins us from a customer open house event to talk about his production environment and their acquisition of a new RMGT 9 offset press.
Published November 2, 2017
Copy Express President Mark Hicks and Prepress operator Allen Wallace talk to us from a recent open house about how they have invested in a new system from CRON-ECRM and the impact it is having on their business.
Published November 1, 2017
Pat Foley, Senior Vice President Operations at Merrill Corporation, talks about adopting production inkjet within its operations. Merrill has had 3 phases of inkjet implementations within its operations to address customer applications, offset-to-inkjet, and toner-to-inkjet.
Published October 30, 2017
Brian Dollard, Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development, at Ricoh talks about Ricoh's strategy with the company's newly formed organization that focuses on commercial and industrial printing.
Published October 26, 2017
Two printer case studies on speeding receivables show another way that cloud business can save print shops money.
Published October 25, 2017
NextPage CEO Gina Danner talks about recruiting the next generation of works to join the industry. As the industry continues its transformation there is a need for workers beyond traditional production jobs. Danner shares her insight on staffing at her company.
Published October 24, 2017
IMS Direct a provider of critical communications has started to transition from toner to production inkjet with an investment in the Canon Océ i300 sheetfed device. Productivity and uptime is critical factor to meet customer delivery schedules.
Published October 19, 2017
Colby Kibbe a PGSF scholarship recipient and now a Project Manager at EFI talks about what drew him to the industry. Scholarship and internship programs influenced his interest and growth in the industry.
Published October 18, 2017
Ken Fultz General Manager at Bookmasters talks about how production inkjet printing is changing book production. Bookmasters has gone through three transitions offset to digital toner to production inkjet. Hear their story.
Published October 17, 2017
Dr. Erica Walker an Assistant Professor in the Department of Graphic Communications at Clemson University talks about attracting students to the industry and helping them match career goals with different training and education levels.
Published October 16, 2017
Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano talk about the production of a special edition of their new book The Third Wave that included interactive print elements.
Published October 12, 2017
Cloud experts Slava Apel and Joseph W. Webb, Ph.D., debunk the top 10 myths about moving to cloud-based production and business workflow.
Published October 12, 2017
Earlier this year NPES announced a strategic business plan with an ambitious new direction. WhatTheyThink spoke with Thayer Long to talk about its implementation and some the initial programs coming from the plan. These include a new data analysis platform and a partnership with the CMO Council to create a resource for brand marketers call the Brand Inspiration Center.
Published October 12, 2017
Chicago-based Darwill will be the first US company to install the Océ ProStream 1000. The company selected the ProStream to fulfill customer demand for high quality color applications on coated stock. Mark Deboer talks about how critical it is to have networking and peer education at events like thINK have helped them get up to speed on the evolving production inkjet ecosystem.
Published October 12, 2017
Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Arcis Solutions talks about single pass document security that can be added to a production print white paper factory.
Published October 12, 2017
Wes Clayton at Lindenmeyr Munroe talks about paper for production inkjet and how inkjet device advancements are increasingly producing high quality output on both coated and uncoated stocks.
Published October 11, 2017
Ford Bowers, President of SGIA, talks to WhatTheyThink about the announcement that they'll retire the SGIA Expo brand after 2018 and launch a new show called Print United in 2019 in cooperation with NAPCO.
Published October 10, 2017
During the Océ ProStream US launch and thINK forum kickoff, Francis McMahon Senior Vice President at Canon Solutions America, shared recent management changes and the company’s product and market strategy. In 2018 the company will launch its B2+ production inkjet system as it continues to bring systems to market for the commercial printing segment of the industry.
Published October 5, 2017
WhatTheyThink spoke with Phil Riebel, President of Two Sides North America, about recent initiatives at the print advocacy organization. These include advertising outreach in consumer media and a recently completed survey of over 10,700 consumers on media preferences. The results reveal a strong preference for print when it comes to recreational reading with 72% of global respondents indicating they prefer printed books, compared to only 9% preferring e-books.
Published October 3, 2017
EFI's Nick Benkovich at talks about "The Journal of the Job" a narrative that explores the connected events and systems involved in print production.
Published October 2, 2017
WhatTheyThink spoke with Rob Daleman, VP Corporate Marketing at Quadient about the company's strategy and product portfolio after the integration of GMC Software, Human Inference and Satori Software is announced at the beginning of September.
Published September 26, 2017
The Printing Industries Alliance has launched a new initiative that aims to increase the market share of print. WhatTheyThink talked to Tim Freeman, president of the Printing Industries Alliance, and Marty Maloney, Executive Director of the Print Drives America Foundation about the goals of this initiative and how this effort is different from previous advocacy efforts.
Published September 25, 2017
Frank Romano talks to Dr. Joe Webb and Slava Apel about their new book on using the cloud in your print business.
Published September 21, 2017
The Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) has launched a new campaign that includes a poster and brochures that show students various career paths in graphic communications. Dr. Joe Webb talks with John Berthelsen, VP of Development about the campaign. Watch to learn more about how you can get involved.
Published September 18, 2017
WhatTheyThink sat down with NPES President Thayer Long at the end of Print 17 to talk about what worked with the changes to the Print show and the evolution of graphic communication trade shows in the US.
Published September 13, 2017
RMGT is running its 9 Series perfecting press live at PRINT 17. Chris Manley, President of Graphco, talks about bringing heavy iron to the show and recent customer placements.
Published September 12, 2017
Bob Barbera, Senior Manager Marketing at Canon USA, talks about the latest release of its PRISMAsync Color Print Server. The debut PRISMAsync Print Server v5.2 is at PRINT 17.
Published September 12, 2017
A time lapse of the show floor opening on day 2 of Print17 showing the buildup of people waiting to get on to the show floor and the release when the show opens at 10am.
Published September 12, 2017
Todd Zimmerman (Division President at Fujifilm) and Andrew Copley (Head of Graphic Communication at Xerox) discuss the details around the recently announced expansion of their reseller partnership.
Published September 11, 2017
Live at Print 17: Kevin Goeminne, CEO of CHILI Publish talks the latest products announcements, partnerships, and continued expansion in the US market.
Published September 11, 2017
Mal Baboyian of Canon U.S.A talks about the portfolio of products and solutions that Canon has on display at Print 17.
Published September 11, 2017
At Print 17 Canon announced the Océ VarioPrint 6000 TITAN. Jennifer Kolloczek, Senior Manager, Product Planning & Marketing; Production Solutions Division at Canon USA talks about the Océ VarioPrint 6000 TITAN and Canon toner-based digital print portfolio.
Published August 11, 2017
We are coming up on the 25th anniversary of the Xeikon roll-fed digital color printer. Frank shows some of the classic work done by this venerable machine, which is still helping printers worldwide to make money.
Published July 25, 2017
Ed Zumbiel shares his thoughts on Zumbiel Packaging's exciting new digital-flexo hybrid packaging press for folding carton production. The press includes the first installation of Kodak PROSPER 6000S production inkjet press for folding cartons production.
Published July 21, 2017
Frank opines about blank comic books going back to print, paper made from stone, and all the waste generated by online retail. These are not related, except in Frank’s warped mind.
Published June 12, 2017
Richard Romano talks to George Folockman, Diretor of Business Development at Esko, about advancements in POP display workflow and finishing.
Published June 7, 2017
Jeff Collins, National Color Solutions Manager at Konica Minolta, walks us through the G7 process. Idealliance and Konica Minolta recently teamed up with Spectrum Printing in Tucson, AZ to bring the G7 Master Facility Qualification to the printing company's offset and digital pressroom.
Published April 14, 2017
Frank uses a book authored by RIT student Akshat Pardiwala to demonstrate that the cover often makes the book. He shows two versions to make his case.
Published April 10, 2017
Steve Zweber, the Director of Manufacturing & Distribution Services at Thomson Reuters Core Publishing Solutions, talks about the company's diverse bindery operation and how its focus on continuous improvement has made much of its equipment short-run capable. That being said, the company is adding a new piece of equipment that can equally handle web offset and digital output. Hear the full story.
Published March 27, 2017
Martin Bailey, CTO of Global Graphics, shares information the initiatives the company has underway to better support manufacturers of inkjet presses during the development process, as well as the company's role in conducting interoperability events around the launch of PDF 2.0 to ease its entry into the market.
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