Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

Articles by Marco Boer

Marco Boer, Vice President at I.T. Strategies, is recognized as a trusted consultant to the digital printing industry. He has a reputation for being able to put complex information and concepts into a context that is easily understood by his audience. With more than 25 years of experience in advising and guiding senior executives of Fortune 1000 and smaller innovative companies to successful business solutions in emerging digital printing markets, Mr. Boer has developed a deep understanding of ink jet printing technology and its applications.

Displaying 1-23 of 23 articles

The Road to drupa: ESG is Dead—Long Live Sustainability!

Published March 28, 2024

As part of our Road to drupa coverage, Marco Boer of IT Strategies looks at the possible implications of recent EU regulatory sustainability mandates on the printing industry.

Road to drupa: Digital Packaging Printing Trends 2024

Published March 20, 2024

As part of our “Road to drupa” coverage, Marco Boer of IT Strategies looks at the current status of digital printing of packaging, the benefits it can provide for converters, and what to look for in Düsseldorf.

Road to drupa Production Continuous Feed Inkjet Trends 2024

Published March 18, 2024

As part of our “Road to drupa” coverage, Marco Boer of IT Strategies looks at current trends impacting the continuous-feed production inkjet market, and what to look for in Düsseldorf.

Road to drupa: Cut-Sheet Production Inkjet Trends 2024

Published March 13, 2024

As part of our “Road to drupa” coverage, Marco Boer of IT Strategies looks at current trends impacting the cut-sheet production inkjet market, and what to look for in Düsseldorf at drupa 2024.

Digital Direct-To-Shape Market

Published December 12, 2017

Direct-To-Shape (DTS) has become a commonly used term in recent times. We want to try to clarify a little around the definition of DTS and to describe the state of this particular art. We are prompted to do this by our recent visit to the InPrint Europe Industrial Print show in Milan, Italy, where there was a lot of discussion of the potential of DTS as a market.

The Surprisingly Large Promotional and Personalized Goods Printing Market

Published October 10, 2017

Digital inkjet is driving promotional products—aka ad specialties—from mass-market to short-run personalized production. These items ared used to promote a product, service or company program, including advertising specialties, premiums, incentives, business gifts, awards, prizes, commemoratives, and other imprinted or decorated items—is a market highly dependent upon print.

drupa 2016: Inkjet Technology and Print Application Trends

Published June 30, 2016

Despite occasional clouds on the horizon, there is no better place than drupa to get a first hand sense of the continuing importance and scale of the printing industry. The baton has passed from the offset press manufacturers to the digital printer manufacturers, with HP having replaced Heidelberg as anchor tenant and champion of print at drupa 2016.

Transaction Statement In-Plant Printers: A Perspective on their Needs

Published December 18, 2013

The number of transaction statement in-plant printers has been in decline for some time, due mainly to a decline in print volumes caused by suppression and more recently the effect of electronic bill presentment, which has become a default option for many who open a new financial or insurance account.

SGIA Expo 2013 Review: Continuing Strong Display Graphics Demand, with a Focus on Production

Published November 8, 2013

The SGIA show held in Orlando this year gave evidence of continuing strong demand for inkjet printed display graphics, and increasingly also for production inkjet textile print and decorative output.

Digital Textile Inkjet Printing: On a Roll

Published October 8, 2013

Digital inkjet printing technology offers many advantages for soft signage and other types of textile printing—but the old supply chain is making further adoption difficult.

FESPA 2013 Show Review: Moving Beyond Wide-Format Inkjet

Published August 7, 2013

FESPA is the Federation of European Screen Print Associations. It started as an annual exhibition by Display Graphics, Textile, and Specialist Screen Print suppliers of products for their customers and over time came to include inkjet wide-format print offerings by their various vendors.

The Continuous-Feed Inkjet Production Market—2013

Published July 16, 2013

Now in its fifth full-year since its introduction, the continuous-feed inkjet printer market shows no signs of maturity. There are few other markets in either the printer segment or consumer electronic segments that continue to show growth after five years. This doesn’t mean that the path forward is lined with rose petals.

HP Continues on Journey to Capture Valuable Wide-Format Application Output

Published July 10, 2013

HP may have its share of problems in its overall business, but its maniacal focus on expanding its footprint among existing analog wide-format graphics print applications is not affected. At FESPA, it introduced two new high-volume wide-format printers, its most productive latex and UV-curable ink jet printers to date aimed at expanding HP’s footprint among wide-format analog graphics print applications.

Electronic Billboards in the U.S.: Profit Is the Main Motivator of Growth

Published June 5, 2013

Greater revenue utilization and lower labor costs will drive the slow but steady growth of electronic billboards—despite public and government opposition—but print billboards will still account for more than 96% of all billboards by 2015.

New Product Announcements at ISA 2013

Published May 8, 2013

Last month’s ISA show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center was a good opportunity to review the wide-format graphics market and some of the spinoff products in adjacent markets.

Marco Boer on the 2012 Economy and Expectations for 2013

Published April 11, 2013

Marco Boer of IT Strategies talks to Cary Sherburne about the 2012 economy and gives some insight into expectations for 2013. He explains what he calls "The Landa Effect" and it's impact on the industry.

Wide-Format Inkjet Printing: A Transition to Higher Utilization and Productivity

Published April 3, 2013

IT Strategies has just completed its 19th wide-format graphics inkjet forecast, wrapping up nearly two decades’ worth of experience into a single large Excel spreadsheet. The trends year-over-year aren’t surprising. Growth continues.

Latex-Ink Wide-Format Graphics Printers Drive Market Growth

Published March 6, 2013

HP introduced its first latex-ink wide-format printer in 2008, targeting replacement of aggressive solvent printers. Since that time, HP has introduced multiple versions and the market has taken off a growth rates reflecting the beginnings of the aqueous WF industry back in 1992.

Wide Format Graphics Printing: The Numbers Speak Loud and Clear for those with the First Mover Advantage

Published February 6, 2013

Wide format graphics ink jet printing is entering its second decade of commercialization and is belatedly being discovered by commercial print-service-providers. The ubiquitous availability of wide format output at the consumer level is opening the door to promote wide format graphics print as an alternative to traditional advertising for small businesses.

Is Print the True Green Technology?

Published January 9, 2013

In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, becoming more “green” is one resolution that few can find fault with. Unfortunately, green printing is difficult, if not impossible, to clearly define.

Wide Format Inkjet Graphics-Determining US Retail Pricing

Published December 14, 2012

I.T. Strategies surveyed Wide Format Print Converters and buyers in the US to gauge output-selling price for wide format printed output. They interviewed sellers and buyers of output produced on low-end, high-end, flat-bed and roll to roll printers, and all ink chemistries-UV, solvent, eco solvent, and latex to get a sense of current retail output prices.

Latex Ink Jet Technology Goes Mainstream

Published January 16, 2012

Latex ink jet ink technology was introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 2008 for wide format graphics printing applications, and after an extended period of beta-testing and an economic recession it went mainstream in 2010. During the last 18 months in particular unit placements have continued to gain strength, now totaling over 10,000 placements wordwide at the end of 2011.

SGIA: More Than Ink on Paper

Published December 3, 2011

SGIA was flooded with small ink, roller, blade, and other screen consumable suppliers: How do so many analog screen suppliers hang on? The simple reason: screen output remains cheap-and turnaround is fast enough.