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In my last article, I covered what I felt were the key trends in digital printing at drupa. In this article I want to look at some of the trends and try to put them into context in the market. Read More
In this twelfth article of the series, David looks at MGI, its production inkjet offerings and applications. Read More
Within the great majority of companies today, the practice of sales as a business discipline has become at best ineffective - and in many cases flat-out obsolete. Read More
Looking for more information on workflow automation? This white paper will explode come common myths and fears. Please complete the brief form below to download this report. Read More
Coming off of a press conference extravaganza at drupa, WhatTheyThink’s Senior Editor Cary Sherburne challenges Graph Expo exhibitors to change the press conference game. (And feature more customers in their booths!) Read More
Last week was quite amazing for me, and it revolved around only four letters of our alphabet. Those letters are S, P, I. and A. Read More
Earlier in 2012, Mike Moniteiro published a book entitled Design is a Job. Although this book is targeted toward the design community, its lessons also resonate with organizations that are attempting to add marketing services to their offerings. In this article, Barb Pellow describes how service-oriented businesses can leverage the principles in this book to become marketing service providers. Read More
With drupa behind us, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne takes a retrospective look at this landmark drupa and dubs it the “Hybrid drupa.” What does she mean by that? It’s more than print engines! Read on … Read More
Inkjet printing will grow from a $33.4 billion market in 2011 to $67.3 billion in 2017, according to new research from Smithers Pira. Dr. Sean Smyth, consultant at Smithers Pira, provides an overview of the latest trends in inkjet printing, including developments from drupa. Read More
There is a debate that is going on in the publishing industry about sustainability that seems like it is mostly for the undereducated and terribly misinformed. If you really understand "green", which most of us don't, it is terribly wrong for the green wanna be's to insist that recycled paper be forced into all virgin pulp for a proper carbon footprint. Read More
Organizations have reduced staff due to a drop in sales and the recession. How is purchasing structured in your organization? Now is the time to review your structure, personnel and process for purchasing in your organization and set your objectives. Read More
How are women faring professionally in the printing, publishing and graphic communication industry today? That is a question Dr. Twyla Cummings, Associate Dean and Professor in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at RIT has studied over the past 11 years. Read More
With the technologies now available, book manufacturers can respond to critical market trends and support the increased need for digital book manufacturing. This article provides a brief overview of the changes that are occurring in the book printing/publishing market and explores how companies like Webcom are facilitating these changes. Read More
Looking back over what appears to be a very successful drupa one can see all the new announcements in both analog and digital printing and hopefully can put them into context. Read More
The vocabulary of print is changing. Our language in the printing industry is now beset with many new concepts and technologies. We need a common lexicon to help define and communicate. Read More
Since drupa members have written to get our thoughts on the which digital press is the best investment. Cary Sherburne has written up some recommendations. We share them here as a reference. Read More
“We need to be in the outcome business, not the output business,” said a printing executive at drupa. “They trust you,” said a senior spokesman for a vendor about the underlying strength of printer-customer relationships. Both presentations were rich in insights about the state of print markets and the prospects that printers will discover in them. Read More
Dr. Joe is frequently asked questions at conferences, webinars, and by e-mail from around the world that sometimes turn into columns. This week, as a result of some of those questions, he explains why confusion is good, misconceptions start with ourselves, not others; how digital natives affect the workforce; and other matters. And then, there are those seemingly innocent news items that he puts into a different context. That Dr. Joe... he makes your head hurt sometimes. Read More
Kodak lost a trade ruling in its patent case against Apple and Blackberry maker Research in Motion. Read More
Back home from drupa 2012 and preparing to write some insightful articles about the show, the announcements and what it means for our industry over the next four years, so watch for those. Hint of what’s to come: for me, this was the Hybrid drupa. But first I wanted to offer some special recognition from a journalist’s perspective. Read More
In 1985, Peter Drucker published a book entitled Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Although Drucker’s book is nearly 30 years old, its lessons remain relevant. In this article, Barb Pellow discusses how Tukaiz, a supplier of quality marketing communication products and services, is putting Drucker’s principles of Innovation and Entrepreneurship into practice. Read More
Inking the merger of two printing companies is the formality that signals the beginning of the hard part: implementation. Methodical planning and careful communication can go a long way toward smoothing the transition. Read More
As would be expected during an event of this kind, most of the media briefings at drupa were focused on product announcements and technology introductions. From time to time, though, speakers put the salesmanship aside and offered broader commentary on industry trends and print market conditions. Read More
You've heard it many times from many quarters: “Half of all workers don't pay taxes.” Dr. Joe has gotten tired of hearing this and offers a different perspective. He explores who actually pays taxes, why what you commonly hear about taxes is always out of context, and how the benefits of tax avoidance are immediate, predictable, and risk-free. That's exactly what the economy does not need. Everyone will find something to dislike in this column. Read More
Chicago-based InnerWorkings, a print procurement and management company, reported on May 3 record first quarter 2012 financial results. CEO Eric Belcher briefly talked with WhatTheyThink about his company, waste and duplication in printing, and offered some business advice. Read More
The cutting and creasing of carton board to create the physical form of a package has historically been a bottleneck. While the graphical elements of a package can be created, approved, and printed in hours or days, cutting and creasing can add weeks to the process. Highcon addressed this issue head-on with the introduction of its Euclid production-speed digital cutting and creasing machine at drupa 2012. Read More
In this article of the series, David shares some observations on drupa, a look at some of the inkjet announcements, potential implications, and offerings. Read More
It's better to label drupa 2012 “the _______ drupa” with the prefix of your choice, so try dipping into the Xerox “drupa visualizer.” This live infographic lets Xerox track and share the top trends being discussed in relation to drupa across the Twitterverse. Read More
An article published in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is getting a lot of buzz at drupa this morning. The paper published comments from an internal memo Kodak co-President Philip Faraci sent company-wide on the company’s success at drupa. Read More
What were the principal take-aways from drupa 2012? What was new and exciting in the exhibit halls? Where is the industry headed? We’re sifting our notebooks for the answers. In the meantime, here are some broad observations about the character and “feel” of the show. Read More
Regular readers of WhatTheyThink need no reminder of who Andy Tribute is or of how much value he has added to the WhatTheyThink editorial space. Admirers of his writing probably will not be surprised to learn that his peers hold him in as much personal affection as they do in professional esteem. Read More
While most of the attention at drupa has been concentrated on the subject of B2 sheet fed inkjet presses, and also on the impact of Benny Landa’s new Nanographic Printing Process, there has been another major development that has stayed somewhat under the radar. Read More
Catch up on the latest information, videos and exclusive reports about Landa's nanographic printing platform. Read More
One of the key themes of drupa is the B2 format digital press, where both inkjet and electrophotographic technologies are used. Looking back we first saw sheet fed B2 presses previewed at drupa 2008 by both Fujifilm and Screen. Read More
UV curing technology is seeing increased use in the printing industry, primarily for inks and coatings. UV lamps are a high performance component of the drying system. Proper maintenance as well as shopping around for sources can help you get the most from these systems. Read More
In this article of the series, David takes an initial look at some of inkjet announcements, potential implications, and offerings??? Read More
The opening day of drupa had the press conferences from two of the industry' leaders, these being Kodak and Xerox, two companies from Rochester NY. Read More
Originally founded as a traditional offset printer, Prime Group has evolved into a provider of value-added items such as personalized products and cross-media marketing services. This article provides an overview of how Prime Group transformed itself into one of the U.K.’s leading providers of customized and personalized specialty items. Read More
WhatTheyThink received some information about the Xeikon liquid toner technology that we wanted to pass along to our readers. If more detail is forthcoming at their upcoming press conference, we will pass that along as well. In earlier reports, we referenced the name of this technology as Quantum, but now we learn that Xeikon will be using the name Trillium. Read More
Much of the activity at KBA’s stand in Hall 16 at drupa will center upon packaging, an application in which the company has always claimed a competitive edge. At drupa, KBA will reassert the claim with systems it describes as engineered to meet today’s highest-priority requirements in packaging production. Read More
As we rapidly approach drupa 2012, WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talked with Jeff Jacobson, president, Xerox Global Graphic Communications, to find out what Xerox is up to and what we can expect to see at drupa and beyond. Read More
Pricing for standard printing jobs is typically a cost plus scenario, however when you are selling solutions you have the option to price based on value and then get your fair share of the value you create. You just need a way to figure out what the value is to your client we'll show you a simple tool for making that calculation. Read More
As drupa prepares to open its doors to the public, I am wondering if two announcements in the past week may indicate a major change in the printing industry, and also a new lease of life for two of the leading offset press vendors. Read More
Following the mid-April announcement by Mohawk about its reinvention plans, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Thomas D. O’Connor, Jr., the company’s Chairman & CEO, to dig deeper. Read More
There is no question that drupa 2012 will be an inkjet drupa, where inkjet technologies really begin to come into their own. But it will also be a “cloud computing” drupa. We have already seen a major announcement from Adobe, and many more companies are moving in that direction, including Xerox. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talks with Xerox’s Deb Cantabene to find out more about the company’s cloud strategy. Read More
We were invited as the guest of Océ to participate in their recent Direct Mail Summit in Boca Raton, Florida. The agenda was focused on understanding how to generate more direct mail business and included both Océ executives and industry experts. Read More
KBA’s venture into digital printing with its new RotaJET 76 inkjet web press has origins in a market that the company knows well: high-volume offset web production. Read More
In today’s economy, getting the most out of your marketing dollars requires a smarter and more creative approach. With a little bit of creativity, wide format providers can leverage public relations, innovative Websites, networking, customer education, and social media to reach customers and grow their businesses. This analysis provides five key strategies for promoting your business. Read More
These days when print is so competitive, printers need to be able to utilize technology to make them stand out from their competition. Andy looks at a new screening technology that may save money, improve productivity and enhance quality. Read More
I was curious what customer reaction has been to the HP announcements delivered to the press in late March in Tel-Aviv, and who better to answer those questions that the general manager of the HP Indigo business, Alon Bar-Shany. I caught up with him while he was waiting at baggage claim in Mexico City. Bar-Shany has been on a global road show following the briefings held in Tel-Aviv and a very successful Dscoop event in Washington D.C. Read More
Dr. Joe tells us what drupa and other trade shows mean to the new capital investment patterns of our industry. He thinks capital investments are becoming more tactical than strategic, more continuous than discrete. This is a problem, because “capex” often locks in a vision of media markets, making it harder to adjust to market changes. Just what we need: Dr. Joe having visions again. Read More
When Xerox exhibits at drupa, its presence won’t be limited to stand A62 in hall 8b. Throughout the show, the company intends to maintain an equally high profile in the realm of social media as it attempts to viralize not just its own drupa experience but the pulse and the intelligence of the event as a whole. Read More
This announcement is quite an interesting business model change for Adobe and could be a game-changer. The company was very clear that it is not abandoning its desktop licensing model for Creative Suite, but the ability for users to access the full range of Adobe publishing solutions, including Creative Suite 6 and Digital Publishing Single Edition, for as little as $50 a month (for a one-year commitment), will be a significant boon, especially for the growing force of freelance designers. Read More
In this WhatTheyThink exclusive, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne tells the story of DX Imaging, a DuPont/Xerox joint venture founded in 1987, that might have changed printing history. Read More
