Beyond Prepress – ECO3 Wants to Connect Your Entire Print Factory · Erik Peeters · FLOW 2026
What if your MIS, ERP, prepress workflow, printing equipment, and production data could all communicate seamlessly — even when they come from completely different suppliers?
At FLOW 2026 in Bad Hersfeld, INKISH's Wayne Beckett meets Erik Peeters from ECO3 to explore how the company is moving beyond traditional prepress software toward a much broader vision of connected print manufacturing.
ECO3 has a long history in prepress, with solutions including Arkitex for newspapers and Apogee for commercial printing and packaging. But the company's latest development, Apogee IQ, takes a different approach.
Rather than focusing exclusively on PDF processing, imposition, and output, Apogee IQ is designed as an open integration platform connecting the entire printing business. From MIS and ERP systems to web-to-print, production workflows, and shop-floor equipment, the ambition is to create one connected environment where information flows in both directions.
And importantly, ECO3 doesn't expect printers to replace their existing technologies.
Through an API-first architecture and a growing ecosystem of predefined, certified connectors, Apogee IQ aims to simplify integration between systems from different manufacturers. Whether a printing company operates equipment from HP, Komori, or other suppliers, or combines workflow technologies from multiple vendors, the goal is to make those systems work together.
Erik also explains how production data, including OEE information, can become part of the equation. By connecting directly to equipment or integrating with solutions such as SpencerMetrics and OFS, printers can gain greater visibility into production performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
But technology alone isn't enough. Successful integration requires collaboration between software suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and the printing company itself.
With skilled labor increasingly difficult to find, reducing manual touchpoints and improving production efficiency are becoming essential competitive advantages.
An interesting conversation about open integration, connected manufacturing, and why the next generation of print automation may be less about adding new software and more about making existing technologies work together.
Recorded at FLOW 2026 · Bad Hersfeld, Germany · INKISH