Good to see Mikael Wennerberg again - and for those who don't recognize his surname - you are right, Mikael got married and got a new surname. But we are here to talk about Konica-Minolta and their exhibition at Sign, Print & Promotion in Helsinki. At the show, they show the most recent top-of-the-line toner machine Konica-Minolta AccurioPress C14000, capable of respective 120 and 140 pages per minute depending on what configuration you choose. As Mikael Wennerberg works with Industrial Print I also get a chance to talk to him about the KM-1e. But listen for yourself! Enjoy!

Head of Marketing Kevin O'Donnell from Xerox came to the Sign, Print & Promotion show in Helsinki to support the successful Xerox business in Finland - or did he come to meet with INKISH? Well - we got a chance to spend a good time together and learned a lot of good things about Xerox, CMYK+, XMPie, and, of course, the amazing Xerox Iridesse Digital Printer! Enjoy!

Jussi Heinämäki is the General Manager of Spandex in Finland - and in this interview from Sign, Print & Promotion, I get the opportunity to learn - actually a lot. I am not so skilled in the substrates and machines for the interior deco market, but whau it's amazing to see what can be done. Spandex operates in more than 20 countries and looking at their booth, and the samples they have brought along - I am blown away! Jussi Heinämäki, of course, has to focus on the business side of his business, but he still seems quite satisfied with both the booth, the products he represents, and the potential still in the market. Great talking with him! LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jussiheinamaki/

Signcom is a well-known subsidiary of Igepa Group, and yet well-known, your humble editor didn't do his homework before meeting with the Finish Managing Director Samuli Vuorenhela. But what you don't know, you can learn - and it was truly great both to meet Samuli, but also to learn more about Signcom. At shows like the Sign, Print & Promotion, you really get to see a lot of equipment, substrates, software, and applications - and you can compare. I talk to Samuli about competition in the market, but also about the company's history. Great meeting Samuli, and I am confident that we will meet again! LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuli-vuorenhela-32a4282/

At the Sign, Print & Promotion 22 event in Helsinki we get the chance to meet with CEO and Founder Ailar Arna, who represent Agfa and Kongsberg in Estonia and Finland. Estonia is a country with only 1.3 million people, so when Airlar Arna set his eyes on expansion Finland was the obvious choice - and so did Agfa and Kongsberg think. Hear more about how it is running a company across different cultures! LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ailar-arna-93603b5/

In this interview from Sign, Print & Promotion 22, Helsinki we get a chance to talk to Niels Arne Sletten, who is the Nordic Sales Manager & Nordic Branch Manager for Agfa. During the COVID Agfa appoint LexPlast as their distributor in Finland - already working together in the Baltics. Niels Arne Sletten and I, of course, also talk about the recent Inca Digital Printers acquisition - Interesting times for Agfa, who according to Niels Arne Sletten is in a very good position right now. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nils-arne-sletten-b1b1105/

Docus is the biggest exhibitor at this year's Sign, Print & Promotion exhibition in Helsinki, Finland. In this interview, I get the chance to talk to Jari Kunnas who is one of the owners - and besides the interesting products from Ricoh and MultiCam, I was surprised to learn how Docus is bringing Samsung displays through their resellers to market to enable both print and e-signage. Great to see when companies embrace technology and use their knowledge, skills, and network to enable continuing growth!

Oyama Fumiya with K.K. Irisu, a Japanese graphics supplier is in the DURST Demonstration Center for the first time. He explains his excitement as he has just sold his first DURST press and is looking to sell more into a hungry market. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fumiya-oyama-7469aa20b/

Daniel Sugg of Robos Labels in Germany is a long-time DURST user. His interest in the Expo was to learn directly from the DURST technicians about the new ink heads, color fidelity, and speed. Robos concentrates on the industrial label market and those features and capabilities are critical.

Sitha Sok with Italgrafica offers label printing and has had a great experience using DURST presses. She describes how important it is for them to serve their customer base with a variety of products for every label sector.

Frederik Parrein found great value in the DURST Expo because the access to the technical people allowed for one-on-one communication. He felt this is not possible at a larger show where there are thousands of attendees. Frederik also was pleased that the selected vendors were label market experts.

Pixart Printing, a CIMPRESS company, was represented at the DURST Expo by Marco Armentano a Research and Development expert. He is looking at how these label presses can improve existing products they offer and possibly introduce new products to their portfolio.

Christoph Gamper’s enthusiasm for producing the DURST EXPO 2022 Label event is evident in this brief interview. He describes the joy of speaking face-to-face with customers, watching the DURST technical experts go over both machines and technology one-on-one. Christoph ponders the future of trade shows and a bit of his vision for the future of print.

Serge gives us an overview of DURST’s software solution ecosystem, one of the best-kept secrets in print technology. From analytics to workflow to creative design to proofing options to eCommerce the goals of a more efficient production process, just about every pain point shop experiences can be addressed.

Michael describes the DURST suite of software applications that can create an ecosystem of total efficiency. Save costs, reduce waste, minimize manual process are all possible results. He explains how the professional services team makes sure the shop employees are properly trained on properly implemented solutions.

Robert provides insight into how sales teams must be brought into the loop when it comes to introducing new technologies to the shop. Explains the value of digital label printing while still offering flexo solutions. Educating sales so they can educate the client is crucial to success.

OMET of Italy has integrated DURST technology into the Hybrid label printer. Marco Panzeri describes the advantages of flexibility with both long and short run jobs. OMET machines with a ‘platform’ concept. It supports printing, finishing and converting any product in one pass.

Henry Greff from Avery Dennison explains some of the more unique types of products they support. Not only are there sustainable labels, but there are also green adhesives. The chain of custody is described as critical for the line of Vegan products, including the adhesives that are offered.

Doron Lerner is an Israeli printer offering extensive label services. From Flexo jobs to short run digital S.Lerner printing services every major sector in the label market from food to household to packaging. He describes the complexity of supporting manny product lines and explains how they work with the clients for the best result.

Andre Soterio of ACTEGA describes their range of adhesives and coatings for the Label and packaging sectors of print. Their global footprint for production allows country-specific products to meet local regulations. Any printer in this space needs to have the right solutions for the variety of substrates their printing presses can manufacture.

A last-minute cancellation of LabelExpo in Brussels kickstarted a lot of activities at DURST in Brixen. According to Thomas Macina, the decision to organize the DURST Expo Label event was taken the same day. In this interview, we talk about the event, the products, and also where Thomas Macina sees the future of digital label production. We liked this interview a lot... hope you like it too!

At DURST Expo Label 2022 we got the chance to meet with Matt Burton from ABG. ABG is one of the most recognized suppliers of finishing equipment, embellishment, laser cutting, and software. Hard work, clever innovations, and close and trustful relationships are part of the secret sauce. For Burton, who is now the 4th generation, the growth is something to be proud of, but nothing is taken for a given, and we would be surprised if AGB wouldn't continue to see growth. Watch the interview yourself - it's a good one! LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-burton-58928485/

INKISH loves to hear about opinions and strategies from industry leaders. In this too short interview with Benoit Chatelard, President of Flint group Digital & Xeikon CEO we get to hear about the importance and relevance of the different printing technologies they bring to the market and why they are doing a show like Xeikon Café. A great interview in an open spirit and I feel confident that we will have more interesting stories and initiatives from XEIKON to report on in the future! Enjoy!

A state-of-the-art Workflow and easy integration with multiple partners as part of the print value chain are key to conquering the Print industry 4.0 arena. INKISH gets the unfiltered answers to very important building blocks in the strategy Xeikon is betting on. Our own Jacques Michiels conducts this really interesting talk with Jeroen Van Bauwel, Director Product Management of Xeikon.

Xeikon’s Vice President Marketing in conversation with Jacques Michiels, proudly showing (off) the new TITON digital printing press and explaining the all-new and unique Dry Toner technology for unique paper-based applications. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filip-weymans-4279101/

Interview with Tom Allum, Owner &Chairman of Abbey Labels (UK). Abbey Labels have been working in the digital label printing business for more than 10 years and are an important user of Xeikon digital equipment. Tom among other things explains the great importance of seamless color matching between flexo printing technology and Xeikon’s Digital Dry toner technology and why it is of the utmost importance when dealing with brand owners and food packaging in particular. Abbey Labels as an important player in the label business is constantly looking to improve and invest in the best and most suitable innovations to go forward. Tom shares some of their plans for the near future. SO important to hear about how technology and the right choice of solutions can drive one's success.

Gerald Glaas talks to us about innovation in the development, design, and manufacturing of rotary tools, modules, and specialty machines widely used in film, foil, packaging, nonwovens, and paper converting industries.

Lemorau, a family-owned company, develops and manufactures finishing equipment for the worldwide label industry. Jacques Michiels got the opportunity to talk to Susanna Teixera and learn more about their heritage and how they came to grow and now are exporting to 77 countries across the 5 continents. A lively encounter with an enthusiastic player in the label converting manufacturing space.

Nick Khatri from Lake Image Systems is a world leader in variable data integrity and print quality inspection for the security, labels, packaging, and commercial print industries. By reading and processing the variable data on many printed items, they provide solutions to inspect, verify, track and report on billions of secure documents, labels, plastic cards, and packages daily.

Established in August 2001, Kangdexin Composite Material Group (KDX) is a material technology firm mainly engaged in the development, production, and sale of high polymer materials. KDX is represented in more than 80 countries in the world and has subsequently established itself as a recognized laminating film brand. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-diruy-b6028935/

Rob Mayerson, on a quest to conquer more of Europe’s fine Label and Packaging PSPs. We learn about Label Traxx an MIS designed specifically for the Labels and Flexible Packaging sectors. Label Traxx and Batched also demonstrate their automated planning and scheduling extension. This powerful tool features a blend of artificial intelligence and machine learning with human engagement. Siteline, Label Traxx’s Customer Engagement Module, offers new features to further simplify the product management and reordering processes. It now includes a simple yet advanced artwork approvals process to help get jobs on press faster.

Jacques Michiels in conversation with Konstantinos Spyropoulos finding out about the expansion strategies they have in mind for Overprint MIS. Bel develops and delivers Overprint, an end-to-end modular print MIS, featuring open architecture, seamless connectivity, product customization, and user-intuitive workflow.

Jacques Michiels in conversation with Rainer Simon, General Manager Meech Int. Getting the grips on web cleaning to be able to prepare for quality print runs. Meech International is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of static control, compressed air technology, and web cleaning systems, both contact and non-contact. Meech has specialized in industrial electrostatic control for over 50 years and pioneered the industrial use of pulsed DC technology for static control and now has thousands of systems installed in the plastics, converting, printing, and packaging industries.

Phil Gaskin gets into the key features of the XMPie software. They provide powerful, variable data printing and web-to-print software that brings together customer databases and creative content. Working on top of Adobe creative suite, they help printers and businesses leverage their customer data and create personalized omnichannel experiences across print and digital channels.

Morten Toksvaerd from Grafotronic serving label industry customers worldwide since 2004. Grafotronic is best known for ultra-modular finishing machines. Each module is completely independent, and a new module can be retrofitted in an existing machine, on-site, in less than 8 hours. The truly modular concept is based on the latest technology available.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andres-mulero-cucala-8637b721/

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedhondt/

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuzanna-kokot-30331566/