RT Media supported by Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Institute brings issues and vision to OEMs and aftermarket producers

Approximately 130 attendees from the Americas, Europe and Asia addressed the latest issues and developments facing OEMs and aftermarket producers in the digital printing industry at RT Media’s Imaging Summit & Expo at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to David Gibbons, RT Media Director, this is a 15 percent increase over last year’s Summit. “I am delighted with the strong support received by the Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly (GrCI),” he said. “They brought digital printing OEMs and commercial printers into the forum as presenters and attendees.” The GrCI is the arm of Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department focusing on industry research, testing, product evaluations, training, seminars, workshops, conferences, publishing, and literature searches.

An “all star cast” of leaders representing OEMs, aftermarket producers, print providers, and legal experts covered topics including: material science development, legal issues and intellectual property cases, fending off patent trolls, creative approaches to developing printing cartridge chips, organic photoconductor issues, recycling plastic into environmentally friendly powdered toners, aftermarket color, trends impacting print consumables in North America, the upside to the decline in printed pages, the new information age, technology growth in Asia, digital printing technologies, mergers and acquisitions in the imaging industry, and OEM and aftermarket challenges.

Art Diamond said, “I offer my congratulations to RT Media and Cal Poly on their joint organization, planning and implementation of another world class event. Once again, industry leaders, experts and analysts met, mingled and matched views on the marketing, legal and technical issues facing the future of the imaging components, and consumables business. Those who did attend took away a clear view of the major issues that are now driving this industry.”

Summit’s keynote speaker, Daniel Burmeister, Director of Sales for Eastman Kodak’s Extended Materials Business and a former Redskins Super Bowl player, provided analogies between building a Super Bowl winning team and building a successful business.

The Summit included tutorials on patent issues facing the imaging industry and the displacement of offset lithography by inkjet and toner-based presses.

Harvey Levenson, Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly and former head of the university’s Graphic Communication Department, said, “This Summit dealt with some of the most contemporary and pressing issues facing the imaging industry with presentations by those in the know; on the ‘front lines’ of impacting change. Attendees walked away with a plethora of vital information to help move their companies forward.”

The Summit included an expo providing the opportunity for Summit attendees to meet with company representatives to discuss specific business interests and to learn of new developments and initiatives of the exhibiting companies. Exhibitors included Chinamate Technology Co., Ltd., Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly, Eastman Kodak, Locator Magazine, Nature Toner Co., Ltd., Retech Technology International Limited, Ultrex Business Systems, Zhuhai Altman Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Jialianxin Imaging Products Co. Ltd., Zhuhai Polytoner Image Co., Ltd., Zixingshi Heshun Technology Printing Materials Co., Ltd. , Zhono, LMI, Telatemp, Konica Minolta, and Huiatech, MSE.

The Imaging Summit & Expo sponsors included Diamond Research Corporation, Eastman Kodak, Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly, Konica Minolta, and Ultrex Business Systems.

Next year’s RT Media Imaging Summit & Expo will take place in Cancun, Mexico on May 19-20, 2016 to provide value to the growing Hispanic Spanish-speaking markets in Mexico, Central, and South America, as well as for the North American markets.

For sponsorship, exhibiting, presenting, or attending information at the Cancun, Mexico Summit, contact RT Media Director David Gibbons ([email protected]).