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Interviews with Industry Executives, Commentary & Analysis from WhatTheyThink Contributors and other video features.

Profiles in Print BJU Press
Profiles in Print
BJU Press

 

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Profiles in Print Thysse
Profiles in Print
Thysse

 

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Profiles in Print Colorchrome
Profiles in Print
Colorchrome

 

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Profiles in Print DCG ONE
Profiles in Print
DCG ONE

 

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Profiles in Print Premier Press
Profiles in Print
Premier Press

 

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TODO
Ricoh’s Early Entry into Production Inkjet

David Zwang talks with Mike Herold, Director of Global Marketing for Ricoh about the the company’s production inkjet journey. It started with IBM and drop-on-demand inkjet, and Ricoh has been working on innovation and upgrades to enhance the performance and quality. Watch Video

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Allied Printing’s Ben Fournier at thINK

David Zwang talks with Ben Fournier of Allied Printing, a 74-year-old, third-generation family-owned commercial and direct mail printer. The company operates a variety of offset equipment and has a large digital department, which includes production inkjet equipment, for its direct mail work. Watch Video

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Ferris State University Graphics Program Gets a Boost

The Ferris State University Graphics Program just received a huge donation that has allowed them to set up substantial endowments for both scholarships and student recruitment. In this interview, Patrick Klarecki, Professor and Program Champion, talks about the history of the program, its current state, how they came to benefit from this donation, and what it means for the future of the program. Watch Video

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(Un)Packaging Reality Report 2023

RRD has completed their second annual report on the state of the packaging market. Lisa Pruett is the President of the RRD Packaging and Labels Solution group and shares some interesting insights with David Zwang of where we were and where we are going. Watch Video

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Frank Goes Back to School

Frank has collected most of the textbooks used to teach printing. For decades, they did not change very much as they taught hand typesetting and letterpress printing. Offset lithography was also relatively standardized—but new printing technologies make it difficult for schools to cover them. Watch Video

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What's Up with WhatTheyThink Magazine Issue 4—The Leadership Issue

Join Eric Vessels, Richard Romano, and Jessica Taylor as they have a jam session on the latest magazine issue (Issue 4—Leadership). The crew talks about all the great content in the mag as well as the far out cover design that was inspired by our interview with Francis McMahon in this issue. Thanks to Canon Solutions America for being the Issue Sponsor this time around. We appreciate their support of the work we do! Watch Video

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DCG ONE on Marketing Supply Chains

In this video, sponsored by HP, Brad Clarke, President of DCG ONE, talks about how DCG ONE supports its customers’ marketing supply chain, including print, direct mail, fulfillment, as well as developing technologies that help customers. Digital printing plays a strong role in the company’s efforts. Watch Video

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SPESA Speaks: Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Sewn Products Industry

Michael McDonald, President of SPESA, chats with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne about the challenges and opportunities facing the sewn products industry, the importance of changing mindsets for brands and consumers and the progress the industry needs to make in automation. Watch Video

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Adhinflex Looks to Grow Through Digital Labels and Packaging

In this video sponsored by HP, David Zwang talks with Debbie Sylva, Creative Director for Adhinflex. Based in Ecuador, Adhinflex is a 32-year old family-owned label and packaging production business that supports virtually all vertical markets. The company operates flexo equipment has been adding digital capabilities, including an HP Indigo 6900 and a forthcoming HP Indigo 25K. Watch Video

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The Target Report Interview: Ironmark Acquires Millennium Marketing Solutions

In this three-part episode of The Target Report Interview, Janice Tippett, VP of Strategic Business Development at Ironmark, talks with Jules Van Sant about selling her business Millennium Marketing Solutions to Ironmark. In Part 3, Tippett identifies some potential potholes and disasters that were avoided during the acquisition process. Watch Video

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Knight Abbey Bets on Digital Printing

David Zwang talks with Tonya Spiers of Knight Abbey, a 40-year-old Biloxi, Miss.-based commercial printer that produces direct mail marketing, invitations, scratch-off cards, and other materials for the gaming industry. Once primarily an offset shop with some digital equipment, it has recently expanded into rollfed inkjet with a Canon Prostream. Watch Video

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Minuteman Press International Sees 21% Growth in 2022

In this interview, Minuteman President Nick Titus provides an overview of the network's performance in 2022, including achievement of the largest systemwide gross sales the network has ever seen at more than $536 million, 125+ centers with revenues over $1 million, and 24 net new centers over the past two years. The company is also focused on employee acquisition and retention, including cross-training and ensuring a career path for center employees and owners. Watch Video

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Franchise Services Delivers 20% Year-over-Year Growth in 2022

Rich Lowe, Chief Operating Officer at Franchise Services, is very bullish on the future of their business and offers great insight on the future of franchises in the industry as well as some of the things the company is doing to grow its talent base. This informative interview has something for everyone. Watch Video

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Alliance Franchise Brands Recoups Pandemic Losses in Both Print and Sign Businesses

Alliance Franchise Brands delivered 18% year-over-year revenue growth in print and 10% in signs in 2022, exceeding 2019 levels. Its new COO Ray Palmer notes that the sign business had already reached that level in 2021. The company also has effective recruitment programs in place, both for employees and new franchisees, with leadership training programs in place both to establish career paths for high-talent employees and to ensure new franchisees get off to a good start. Palmer explains these strategies in this interview with Sr. Editor Cary Sherburne. Watch Video

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AlphaGraphics Delivers its Best Year Ever in 2022

Not only did AlphaGraphics have a record year in 2022 revenue-wise, but the company also say 23% year-over-year growth, added 12 new centers and 17 new owners, and had an average store performance of $1.3 million. In this interview, CEO Ryan Farris also describes some of the programs in place to help alleviate the recruiting issues in a tight labor market. Watch Video

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Fortusis Makes Progress in 2022, Looking Ahead to Growth in 2023

While Fortusis ended up with two less centers in 2022, revenues overall were up by 11%. The company is investing in infrastructure, with all of its centers now using a new ecommerce enabled website and making good progress on developing content for its learning management system. Also high on the agenda is recruiting new owners who are interested in opening new centers. Watch Video

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Frank Goes Across America

Frank joins the chorus supporting Print Across America, a day celebrating print. Print Across America is the brainchild of Deborah Corn, who has done more to promote print than any other person. Mark your calendar for October 25, 2023. Get more information at www.printacrossamerica.com and join the party. Watch Video

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ITMA 2023 with Theo Van Bruggen of Optimum Digital

Debbie McKeegan, Texintel CEO and WhatTheyThink contributor, talks to Theo Van Bruggen of Optimum Digital to discover the latest developments for digitally printed textiles using pigment Inks. Watch Video

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Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer with Garry Gunter

This week, Warren catches up with Garry Gunter of Mitchell Press about the recent installation of a Landa Digital Nanographic Press and the growth applications the press has given the company. Watch Video

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The Target Report Interview: Ironmark Acquires Millennium Marketing Solutions

In this three-part episode of The Target Report Interview, Janice Tippett, VP of Strategic Business Development at Ironmark, talks with Jules Van Sant about selling her business Millennium Marketing Solutions to Ironmark. In Part 2, Tippett explains how Graphic Arts Advisors helped her navigate some of the challenges of the process. Watch Video