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Volker Havel · Manager · Meinders & Elstermann · Shift

At SHIFT in Heidelberg, Morten B. Reitoft meets Volker from Meinders & Elstermann to talk about technology, automation, and why being among the first to adopt new solutions can create a real competitive advantage.

Meinders & Elstermann already operates digital printing technologies from HP and Canon, and has now added the Heidelberg Jetfire to its production setup. But the conversation quickly moves beyond hardware and into one of the most important challenges facing modern printing companies: how to manage an increasingly complex production environment with smaller jobs, faster turnaround times, and more equipment to coordinate.

Volker explains why Prinect Touch Free has become an important part of the company’s production strategy. By automating more decisions and allowing jobs to move between different production technologies even late in the process, the system helps reduce manual workload while increasing productivity.

The interview also touches on the challenges of introducing new software, the importance of analyzing new technology before implementation, and why working closely with suppliers such as Heidelberg through field testing can help shape better solutions.

And with AI becoming an increasingly important topic across the industry, Volker also shares what he hopes to gain from SHIFT — combining the discussions and presentations with the practical technology demonstrated at Heidelberg’s Home of Print.

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Bernd Zipper · Founder & CEO · Zipcon Consulting · Shift

At SHIFT in Heidelberg, Morten B. Reitoft sits down with Bernd Zipper for a conversation about UCP, MCP, Agentic Print, and why printers may have a much bigger opportunity in front of them than many currently realize.

Bernd argues that Agentic Print can bring small, medium, and large printing companies back into the game — but only if they understand how the new digital infrastructure works. The conversation explores how printers can make their capabilities visible to AI agents, how UCP can help structure what a company offers, and why MCP can become an important part of connecting print businesses to the emerging agentic economy.

The key point is that this future may not be driven only by price. Delivery speed, location, sustainability, substrate, production capabilities, and customer-specific requirements can all inform how an AI agent identifies the right supplier. For more complex print products, the process can also open the door to direct communication and quotation rather than simply comparing standard prices.

Bernd also stresses that printers do not need to become IT specialists themselves, but they do need the right IT partners, and they need to start now. His message is clear: understand MCP first, move into Agentic Print, prepare for UCP, and above all, keep learning.

The discussion ends with examples from companies such as Canva, Vista, Adobe, and Zazzle, showing how print is already being integrated directly into digital applications. For Bernd, that is precisely why printers must avoid becoming merely the final production link in someone else’s value chain — and instead make sure they remain visible, connected, and commercially relevant in an AI-driven future.

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Matthias Schmid · Managing Director · Schmid-Fehr · Shift

At SHIFT in Heidelberg, Morten B. Reitoft meets Matthias from Goldach in Switzerland — a printing company owner who has transformed a traditional print business into a broader communication and automation company.

Today, the company covers much more than print. Its activities include online and print services, B2B shops, software development, process automation, digital printing, inkjet printing, lettershop, and logistics. The goal is to manage as much of the communication chain as possible for its customers.

Matthias is also presenting at SHIFT, where he shares an important message for smaller printing companies: automation is no longer something reserved for the largest players. With 34 employees, his company has built highly automated workflows that allow jobs ordered through B2B shops to move through the system, into Prinect Touch Free, and all the way to production with almost no human intervention.

The first person involved may only see the job when it is ready to run on a Jetfire.

For Matthias, automation is not primarily about reducing staff. It is about producing faster, more efficiently, and with greater process security — while creating a better working environment for the people already in the company.

The conversation also touches on succession. Matthias’ son and daughter are expected to take over the business one day, and he sees automation and continued development as part of preparing the company for the next generation.

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Azael De La Cruz · Performance Service Manager · Heidelberg Mexico · Shift

Mexico is becoming an increasingly important market for the printing industry, and at the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event, we caught up with a colleague from HEIDELBERG Mexico to discuss how quickly the market is changing.

One of the key priorities in Mexico today is performance improvement. New presses and new software bring significantly more intelligence, automation, and production capabilities than equipment from twenty years ago, but the real value only appears when customers actually use those possibilities. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, Intellistart, and autonomous production features can help improve productivity and return on investment — but only if printing companies are prepared to change the way they work.

That transformation is particularly interesting in Mexico because the market is highly diverse. Some printing companies already operate at a technological and organizational level comparable with leading companies in Europe and the US, while others are still working in a much more traditional way. The challenge for HEIDELBERG is therefore not only to sell technology, but also to help customers move from what might traditionally have been seen as graphic arts production toward a more industrial and technology-driven approach.

We also talk about Mexico’s relationship with the US and the broader global market. While domestic opportunities are growing, Mexican printers are increasingly producing for international customers and therefore need to compete at the same quality, productivity, and technology level as companies elsewhere in the world.

That is also one of the reasons for traveling all the way from Mexico to SHIFT in Heidelberg. The objective is to learn how technology, automation, AI, and new production concepts are being used in Europe, and then bring that knowledge back to Mexican customers who are increasingly interested in the same developments.

Mexico may once have been viewed by some European suppliers primarily as a market for used equipment, but that picture is changing quickly. More companies are investing in new technology — and the ambition is clearly to compete on the same level as the rest of the world.

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Jürgen Grimm · Head of Prinect · Heiderlberger Druckmaschinen · Shift

Jürgen Grimm has spent more than 30 years with HEIDELBERG, moving through service, marketing, press business, management in the US, and now software. That broad experience gives him a rare perspective on how both HEIDELBERG and the printing industry have changed — and why the next transformation may be one of the most fundamental yet.

At the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event, we talk about software, AI, connectivity, cloud technology, and the enormous challenge of bringing increasingly fragmented production environments together. Jürgen describes HEIDELBERG Connect as the glue between systems, but also makes an important point: no printer operates only HEIDELBERG equipment. If software is going to serve customers properly, it has to become increasingly open and capable of connecting machines and systems across the entire production environment.

That matters when an average printing company can have more than 40 different software and machine systems in operation. Historically, technologies such as JDF helped establish common definitions and structures, but the future of connectivity will likely look very different. APIs, modern data models, cloud infrastructure, and new approaches such as MCP are making integration easier, while AI creates new possibilities for understanding and using the data already available.

HEIDELBERG has been collecting machine data for decades, initially with service and predictive monitoring in mind. Today, that same foundation can potentially support much broader applications. Jürgen distinguishes between the vertical view of individual equipment and the horizontal view a printer has across an entire production process — and it is precisely this horizontal integration that represents one of the industry's biggest opportunities and challenges.

We also discuss how quickly expectations are changing. People compare business software not only with other printing applications, but with the technology they use every day — Amazon, Canva, AI tools, and consumer applications that have fundamentally changed our perception of usability and speed.

For Jürgen, the role of a technology leader is therefore changing as well. It is no longer simply about defining a five-year development roadmap inside one central R&D department. It is about listening to customers, learning from other industries, identifying which technologies are real and which are hype, connecting hundreds of different experiences, and then turning those insights into scalable solutions.

In other words, leadership may increasingly be about connecting the dots — and finding a way to industrialize what those dots reveal.

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Elke Steinbach · Head of Global Marketing · Heidelberger Druckmaschinen · Shift

Events like HEIDELBERG SHIFT do not happen by accident. They require months of planning, conversations with customers, and a clear idea of what the event should actually achieve. At SHIFT in Heidelberg, we talk with Elke Steinbach from HEIDELBERG about how the concept developed and why the event has grown from around 200 participants last year to more than 300 this year. From the beginning, the ambition was to create something different from a traditional technology event. HEIDELBERG already organizes many events where products, solutions, and new developments naturally take center stage, but SHIFT was designed to leave more room for discussion, networking, and learning from others' experiences. That is also why customers play such an important role on stage. Hearing directly from people who are working with technology, workflows, automation, and transformation every day can often be more valuable than another corporate presentation. For HEIDELBERG, it also creates an opportunity to listen. Marketing, development, management, and sales may all have different perspectives, but being in the same room with customers creates a much more direct understanding of the challenges companies are actually facing. We also talk about the atmosphere around HEIDELBERG today. Following the company’s 175th anniversary and the arrival of a new management team, there is a clear sense of renewal. Elke describes it not so much as changing HEIDELBERG, but as evolving the company and making better use of its capabilities. That evolution can also be seen in HEIDELBERG’s increasingly open approach to partnerships. Becoming a system integrator and delivering true end-to-end solutions cannot always be achieved alone. Collaborations with other technology providers are therefore becoming an increasingly important part of the strategy, with the focus moving toward what customers actually need rather than keeping everything within one closed ecosystem. SHIFT reflects that philosophy very well. It is about presenting ideas, but just as importantly, it is about listening, connecting people, and creating an environment where customers can openly share what works, what does not, and what they need next.

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Fabio Sassi · Key Account Manager · COMPOS Center · Shift

At the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event in Heidelberg, we met Fabio from Italy — representing a printing company with around 25 employees, but with a surprisingly broad range of activities. The company is primarily focused on digital printing, but also works with offset, large format, small format, branded clothing, sporting events, and other related business areas. It is a good example of how smaller printing companies often survive and grow today: not by doing only one thing, but by combining different services, technologies, and opportunities around their customers. Business can still be difficult to predict. Some months are extremely busy, others less so, and that uncertainty makes efficiency and flexibility increasingly important. Fabio explains that the company has already started using AI and HEIDELBERG software in parts of its prepress workflow, while continuing to explore how new technology can improve production and make everyday processes more efficient. At SHIFT, much of the discussion is about digital transformation, AI, software, and how technologies such as Prinect can become increasingly integrated into production. For a smaller company, the challenge is not necessarily to implement everything at once, but to understand what is relevant, what creates real value, and how future investments can fit into the existing workflow. Fabio and his colleagues are currently evaluating further investments, including Scodix, and events such as SHIFT provide an opportunity to understand how hardware, software, AI, and workflow automation may work together in the future. And perhaps that is one of the most important reasons to attend: learn as much as possible, bring the knowledge back home, and decide what makes sense for the next step. #INKISH #HEIDELBERG #SHIFT #DigitalPrinting #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #WorkflowAutomation #Prinect #Scodix #PrintingIndustry #DigitalTransformation

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Brian Hansen · Sales Specialist PrePress Digital · Heidelberger Druckmaschinen · Shift

Brian has been with HEIDELBERG for around 11 years — and before that, he knew the company from the other side of the table as a customer. So when he talks about the changes HEIDELBERG has gone through, he has seen quite a bit of the journey firsthand. At the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event in Heidelberg, we discuss the current momentum in Denmark, where Brian sees strong activity across both offset and digital. We also discuss whether the company today feels different following its recent changes and the renewed energy around HEIDELBERG’s 175th anniversary. For Brian, SHIFT represents a different event format. It is less formal, less focused on HEIDELBERG simply presenting its own technology, and more about customers sharing experiences with other customers. That creates a setting where printers, IT specialists, technology people, and suppliers can meet around the same questions: what is changing, what can we learn from each other, and which technologies will actually matter in the years ahead? Brian has brought Rolf from PR Offset in Denmark to the event, and he explains that SHIFT is relevant to people who are genuinely interested in technology and the future of production — whether they come from IT, printing, management, or a combination of all three. And even after more than a decade at HEIDELBERG, Brian still sees plenty to learn. Customer presentations and sessions from companies outside the traditional printing industry bring new perspectives, and unsurprisingly, when participants were asked which topic interested them most, AI was high on the agenda. SHIFT is therefore not simply about presenting what HEIDELBERG already knows. It is also about listening, learning, and creating a space where customers and technology partners can help shape what comes next.

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Klaus Lammersiek · Head of Digital Transformation · W. Kohlhammer Druckerei · Shift

English description below: Bei Kohlhammerdruck in Stuttgart beschäftigt sich Klaus intensiv mit der digitalen Transformation – zunächst in kaufmännischen Prozessen, zunehmend aber auch direkt in der Produktion. Beim HEIDELBERG SHIFT Event sprechen wir darüber, welche Rolle KI dabei tatsächlich spielen kann und warum es längst nicht nur darum geht, ein weiteres neues Tool einzuführen. Für Klaus liegt ein großer Nutzen von KI heute vor allem in der Analyse bestehender Prozesse. Aufgaben, für die früher Tage oder sogar Wochen notwendig waren, können heute teilweise innerhalb weniger Stunden vorbereitet, ausgewertet und in eine verständliche Form gebracht werden. Entscheidend ist für ihn jedoch, dass daraus stabile und nachvollziehbare Workflows entstehen. KI muss nicht jeden Prozess permanent steuern, sondern kann genau dort eingesetzt werden, wo Analyse, Interpretation oder Eskalation notwendig werden. Damit verändert Digitalisierung auch die Arbeit der Mitarbeiter. Das Ziel ist nicht einfach, Menschen durch Technologie zu ersetzen, sondern ihnen Werkzeuge zur Verfügung zu stellen, mit denen Entscheidungen besser vorbereitet werden können. Statt Zeit mit wiederkehrenden und administrativen Aufgaben zu verbringen, sollen sich die Kollegen stärker auf das konzentrieren können, was sie tatsächlich können und wo ihre Erfahrung einen Unterschied macht. Klaus begrüßt deshalb auch, dass HEIDELBERG mit SHIFT Verantwortung übernimmt und Themen wie Digitalisierung und künstliche Intelligenz gemeinsam mit der Druckindustrie diskutiert. Für einen der größten Technologieanbieter unserer Branche bedeutet Transformation eben nicht nur neue Maschinen zu entwickeln, sondern auch dabei zu helfen, neue Arbeitsweisen zu verstehen und in die Praxis zu überführen. --- At Kohlhammerdruck in Stuttgart, Klaus is deeply involved in the company’s digital transformation — initially focusing on commercial and administrative processes, but increasingly moving closer to production as well. At the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event, we talk about the role AI can realistically play in this transformation and why it is about much more than simply introducing another new tool. For Klaus, one of the most valuable applications of AI today is the ability to analyze existing processes. Tasks that previously required days or even weeks can now, in some cases, be prepared, analyzed, and translated into an understandable form within hours. The important part, however, is to turn these insights into stable and transparent workflows. AI does not necessarily have to control every process continuously; instead, it can be used where analysis, interpretation, or escalation is needed. Digital transformation also changes the way employees work. The objective is not simply to replace people with technology, but to provide colleagues with tools that allow them to make better-prepared decisions. Instead of spending valuable time on repetitive administrative tasks, employees can increasingly focus on what they are actually good at and where their experience and knowledge create real value. Klaus also welcomes HEIDELBERG taking responsibility by bringing topics such as digitalization and artificial intelligence into an industry-wide discussion through SHIFT. For one of the largest technology suppliers in the printing industry, transformation is not only about developing new machines. It is also about helping the industry understand new ways of working and turning new technology into practical applications.

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Matthias Heinz · Co-CEO · CTRL-S · Shift

At the HEIDELBERG SHIFT event in Heidelberg, we met with Matthias Heinz from Ctrl-S to talk about something that increasingly defines the future of our industry: the ability to learn, adapt, and turn new ideas into practical projects. For Ctrl-S, events like SHIFT are not only about presenting solutions. They are just as much about listening to other industries, understanding new approaches, and identifying ideas that can be applied to print. Topics such as structured data, specifications, Factory-X, and AI are becoming increasingly important, and Matthias points out that many of these developments require more than technology alone. They require the right mindset and an organization capable of moving quickly. That agility is one of the advantages of being a smaller company. With AI lowering some of the traditional barriers to development, speed is increasingly determined not by the number of employees, but by how quickly a company can make decisions, experiment, and turn knowledge into working solutions. We also talk about Ctrl-S projects with larger printing companies, where the challenge is often to transform complex systems in the background while keeping the user experience familiar and simple. In faster-growing companies, the expectation can be very different: bring the best ideas, best practices, and experience from previous projects and help them move forward as quickly as possible. For Matthias, the value of SHIFT is therefore found in the combination of learning, networking, and conversations that may eventually develop into new projects. And, of course, the conversation ends with another event already on the calendar: FLOW in Germany, November 3–5, where Ctrl-S will also be part of the discussion around software, automation, workflow, and the future of print. #INKISH #HEIDELBERG #SHIFT #CtrlS #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #WorkflowAutomation #DigitalTransformation #FactoryX #PrintingIndustry #FLOW

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Universitätsdruckerei Klampfer investiers in Heidelberg Jetfire 50 · Daniela & Robert Klampfer

Founded by Daniela Klampfer. grandfather in 1947, Klampfer Universitätsdruckerei has evolved from a traditional commercial printing company into a business in which offset, inkjet, packaging, finishing, and increasingly personalized print work together. In this Perspective, we hear how the company has changed with the market. Commercial print has become more challenging; run lengths are declining; customers expect faster turnaround and more individual products, while packaging and sophisticated finishing continue to grow. Investments in die-cutting, hot foil, embossing, folding carton production, and the HEIDELBERG Jetfire are therefore not isolated decisions but parts of a broader strategy to keep more value creation in-house and expand what Klampfer can offer its customers. The Jetfire also represents an interesting view of where print is heading. Klampfer does not see inkjet simply replacing offset. Instead, the twoX technologies increasingly complement each other: offset remains important for volume, while inkjet brings speed, shorter runs, personalization, and flexibility. And as print runs become smaller, the expectation for premium finishing certainly does not disappear. For Klampfer, technology matters — but so do relationships, service, and people. That applies to its customers, its employees, and its long-standing relationship with HEIDELBERG. Watch the Perspective from Klampfer Universitätsdruckerei and get an interesting view into how a family-owned printing company is adapting its production for the future.

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Automation, Inkjet and People — How Intermountain Health Produces Print · Dan Duersch & Simon Ortiz

Intermountain Health isn't a printing company. It's an integrated healthcare network operating across Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada — but within the organization sits a highly sophisticated print operation that produces everything from patient education materials to insurance, transactional, and member communications. With a team of just 17 caregivers, the operation combines high-volume inkjet, toner production, nearline finishing, redundancy, and increasingly automated workflows. But technology isn't the starting point. The team first asks what the organization needs, what should be produced internally, and only then decides which technology is the right tool for the job. And the economics are different. As an internal cost center, the objective isn't to maximize profit but to deliver the right quality, capacity, turnaround time, and cost while supporting an organization whose primary mission is treating patients. Investments are therefore measured by return, utilization, reliability, and the value they create for the wider healthcare system. After previously experiencing turnaround times of three to four weeks, investments in people, processes, inkjet, Tecnau finishing, and additional capacity have helped Intermountain Health bring production consistently down to just two to three days. In this INKISH film, we discuss automation, redundancy, equipment decisions, the importance of experienced operators, and why, even with increasingly advanced technology, the people running the equipment remain absolutely essential. And perhaps even more interestingly, Intermountain Health is now considering how its print infrastructure could potentially support other nonprofits and healthcare organizations — extending the value of its operation beyond its own network.

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Emballage Mega Packaging — The Risk Creating Capacity for Growth · Marco Macri & Marcus Guilding

Emballage Mega Packaging was founded in Montreal in 1991 by a family — and more than three decades later, that family feeling still defines the company. Specializing almost entirely in folding cartons, Emballage Mega Packaging handles printing, die-cutting, gluing, window patching, laminating, and more in-house. But the owners believe that sustainable growth depends on more than equipment. Great employees, great customers, and great suppliers are the three pillars they believe make a successful business. That philosophy also influences which customers they work with. Rather than chasing growth at any cost, Emballage Mega Packaging looks for customers with similar values and grows alongside them — protecting the service and relationships that have been built over many years. The same thinking played an important role when Emballage Mega Packaging made one of the biggest investment decisions in its history. After working with the same press manufacturer for 32 years, moving to Koenig & Bauer was not an obvious decision. It meant leaving behind something familiar and taking a significant financial risk. But after studying the new press's technology, productivity, service, and capabilities, Emballage Mega Packaging decided it was the right move. The result came quickly. Previously, two presses produced around 120–130 hours per week, and Emballage Mega Packaging was consistently operating close to capacity. With the new Koenig & Bauer press, production initially dropped to around 100 hours, and today sits at around 80 hours per week — despite increased business. The six-color hybrid press with coating, UV capabilities, and extended delivery also means work can move faster from printing directly into die-cutting and finishing. But growth doesn't stop with the press. Emballage Mega Packaging is adding die-cutting and gluing capacity and implementing a new ERP system to improve traceability, organization, and productivity throughout the company. In this INKISH film, we meet Emballage Mega Packaging and hear a very personal story about family, employees, customers, suppliers, technology, and why sometimes growth requires leaving behind what you've known for decades and taking a calculated risk. Because in business, not every investment works from day one. But sometimes — it actually does.

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The Bernard Group — Technology Should Make People Better, Not Replace Them

The Bernard Group is far more than a printing company. From large-format and online print to design, engineering, prototyping, plastics, millwork, assembly, fulfillment, and distribution, the employee-owned company has built an operation around one fundamental idea: serve the customer — and give people the tools and authority to do it exceptionally well. Technology and automation play an increasingly important role, but not as replacements for people. At The Bernard Group, the objective is to remove repetitive tasks and complexity so skilled employees can spend more time doing what they do best. That philosophy also extends to the company's relationships with suppliers. Rather than simply buying equipment, The Bernard Group seeks strategic partnerships in which both parties can learn, develop, and solve problems together. A great example is its relationship with AGFA. When changing customer requirements exposed limitations in color reproduction, the teams didn't simply accept what the machines could deliver. The Bernard Group analyzed actual ink consumption, questioned the existing ink configuration, and worked directly with AGFA's engineers to develop a new configuration — replacing part of the cyan capacity with light magenta while simultaneously improving other aspects of print quality. It's a fascinating example of what happens when a printer, its operators, color specialists, management, and an OEM work together around the same problem. And improvement never really stops. With four high-volume systems running up to 24 hours a day, The Bernard Group continually follows the bottleneck — from prepress to printing, cutting, kitting, and shipping — using technology, data, and experience to dynamically increase capacity where it's needed. In this INKISH film, we visit The Bernard Group and talk about employee ownership, culture, automation, color, continuous improvement, strategic vendor relationships, and why the smartest technology investments are ultimately about getting more from the people who use them.

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Print Is Dead? Only If You Stop Reinventing Yourself · Primary Color · Dan Hirt – President

Friends still ask Primary Color CEO Dan Hirt whether he is really still in printing. After all, haven't we been hearing for decades that print is dead? For Hirt, the answer is much more interesting than simply yes or no. Printing runs deep in his family. His father's uncle worked in stone lithography in Nice, France, producing those wonderfully colorful tourist postcards made from black-and-white photographs and hand-coloring. His parents later moved from Switzerland to South Africa, where they established a successful printing company. Dan and his brother returned to Switzerland to complete apprenticeships in the graphic industry before the family eventually reunited in California. Primary Color started in prepress, at a time when prepress could be an extremely profitable business. But Hirt could see what had happened to typesetters and realized that prepress alone wouldn't last forever. So the company moved into printing. Then print changed. The dot-com boom shifted marketing budgets online. Run lengths became shorter. Traditional print volumes declined. And rather than waiting for everything to return to what it had once been, Primary Color continued changing with its customers. Today, Hirt says they hardly describe themselves simply as a printing company. Primary Color works with design, structural engineering, wood and metal fabrication, temporary and permanent displays, retail, events, and much more — with print becoming one component of a much larger solution. Technology follows the same philosophy. A Heidelberg perfecting press addresses longer-run offset work, while the Landa covers the range from one to the thousands. In large format, Primary Color has worked extensively with Agfa technology and continues investing as quality, productivity, automation, and customer requirements evolve. Operating in California also means that efficiency isn't optional. Equipment has to deliver more output in less space and, increasingly, with fewer people — particularly as experienced offset operators retire and become harder to replace. But perhaps the most important message in this INKISH film isn't about any particular machine. It's about accepting that yesterday isn't coming back. Customers probably aren't suddenly going to start ordering all those brochures again. Markets change. Marketing changes. Technology changes. And Hirt believes the job of a CEO is to keep a finger on the customer's pulse, understand what's happening inside the factory, know what technology is becoming available — and constantly connect those three things. Because print isn't dead. But waiting for the past to return might be.

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Andrea Albanese · From One Copy to Thousands — Automation Driving Production · Pixartprinting

Books and magazines are an important part of Pixartprinting’s business, and with around 1,000 different orders moving through production every day, automation isn’t simply an advantage — it’s essential. At Pixartprinting, production starts from just one copy, putting enormous demands on workflow integration, reliability, changeover times, and waste reduction. Two Canon ProStream presses form part of the production setup, combined with Müller Martini finishing solutions in both nearline and inline configurations. The latest GEN8 roll-to-stack solution can process a wide variety of formats and substrates at speeds of up to 160 meters per minute, while an inline installation connected to a ProStream 3000 uses buffering to enable automatic changeovers without stopping production. The flexibility is impressive. Pixartprinting can change between seven or eight different substrates every day, covering weights from around 100 to 250 gsm, while keeping production efficient and predictable. But the machines are only part of the story. Pixartprinting has built a highly automated digital workflow connecting its production equipment and enabling thousands of individual jobs to move through the factory with minimal manual intervention. Being part of the Cimpress family also creates opportunities for production sharing between plants and brands when products and capabilities overlap. Sustainability plays an equally important role. Since 2018, Pixartprinting has operated using renewable energy sources and recycles almost 90% of its production waste. When producing single-copy products, avoiding waste becomes both an economic and environmental necessity. In this film, we take a closer look at the thinking behind Pixartprinting’s book and magazine production, its partnership with Müller Martini, and why increasing product complexity will make automation, digitalization, and inline production even more important in the years ahead. Enjoy!

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You Have to Jump the River — Prima IP Goes All-In on Digital Print · Primož Štrumbelj · CEO

Sometimes transformation requires more than taking small steps. As Primož Štrumbelj from Prima IP puts it: if you want to cross a river, you have to jump all the way to the other side. That philosophy says a lot about Prima IP. Located just outside Ljubljana, Slovenia, the family-owned company has undergone dramatic transformation over the years. What started with traditional screen and offset printing has today become an almost entirely digital operation, covering dye-sublimation, textile printing, large-format — and now industrial digital book production. Primož describes himself as a technology enthusiast, and that curiosity has clearly influenced the company's development. But as he emphasizes in our conversation, technology alone doesn't create success. The people who operate it, develop the business, and work with customers are equally important. The latest major step was Prima IP's investment in an HP PageWide Advantage 2200, along with automated Hunkeler and Müller Martini finishing technology. Going from cut-sheet digital production to a high-capacity roll-fed inkjet platform wasn't simply another equipment purchase — it represented an entirely new production philosophy. And there was no halfway solution. With the investment, Prima IP can address the growing demand from Slovenian publishers for shorter and medium-sized book runs, while producing everything from softcover and wire-bound products to sewn and hardcover books. For many publishers, Primož explains, seeing the production environment changes their perception of digital print. What was once considered a compromise compared with offset has developed into highly automated industrial production capable of delivering excellent quality, short runs, variable products and increasingly personalized applications. And personalization is exactly where Primož sees some of the biggest opportunities ahead. Combining data, AI, digital printing and automated finishing could enable everything from personalized books and notebooks to highly targeted printed communication. At the same time, Prima IP is developing its own products while serving as a white-label production partner. The river was big. Prima IP jumped. And the journey has only just started.

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The Machines Are the Easy Part — People Make the Difference at Prima IP · Alenka Volk

Ten years ago, Alenka Volk joined Prima IP with a background that had very little to do with printing. She was a lawyer. Today, she is a Managing Director and co-owner of the Ljubljana-based printing company - and can comfortably discuss workflows, drying technology, digital printing, and the daily challenges of running a modern print operation. But her primary responsibility remains people, HR, contracts and the organizational side of the business, complementing Primož Štrumbelj’s commercial and technology focus. And people are particularly important at Prima IP. The company has official status as an invalidsko podjetje — a Slovenian company employing people with disabilities — and Alenka explains that around half of its employees have this status. But rather than separating people into simple or repetitive jobs, Prima IP integrates employees throughout the workflow and production environment. For Alenka, that is fundamental to the company's success. Buying technology is relatively easy. It is the people who operate it, solve problems, develop products, and take responsibility who ultimately make the difference. In our conversation, we also discuss Prima IP's decision to move strongly into digital book production. The company saw an increasingly familiar development in publishing: print runs getting shorter while the number of individual orders continued to increase. For Prima IP, industrial digital printing became the logical response. But identifying an opportunity is only the beginning. Major investments require technology decisions, financing, convincing banks that the business case works in a relatively small Slovenian market — and convincing the people inside the company that the direction is right. Today, those investments are on the production floor, Prima IP is growing its position in digital book production, and Alenka has a very clear ambition for what comes next: When you think about books in Slovenia, she wants you to think Prima Book.