Scandinavias leading exhibition February 2017. We look SO much forward to cover the exhibition. We have made this small teaser - we hope you like it.

Sign & Print is the leading exhibition in the Scandinavian countries, held in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This appetizer is for the Norwegian Sign & Print that is soon due. INKISH.TV will cover the exhibition and give an insight to both local and international viewers with interviews of interesting people in the printing industry. Stay Tuned!

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English Subtitles will be ready soon. Wat zijn de eerste indrukken van de organisator van de Sign&Print Expo 2023? We komen het te weten van Rowdy Van Nieuwenhuizen, Head of Event bij Easyfairs. Winnen de regionale en meer gefocuste vakbeurzen aan tractie en hoe staan de exposanten en bezoekers hier nu tegenover. Zijn fysieke events nog relevant? Ook deze editie blijkt weer een aantrekkelijke propositie die steeds meer bezoekers, niet enkel uit Nederland, maar ook steeds vaker uit Vlaanderen en zelfs Duitsland aantrekt. De combo met het erg geslaagde BOPE (Benelux Online Print Event) – door VIGC georganiseerd op dinsdag was alvast een extra stimulans en bracht heel wat extra volk mee naar de beursvloer. Goed bezig dus, volgende zitting mogelijks in een nieuw jasje in 2025!

English subtitles will soon be ready. Zijn achternaam verraadt het tegendeel van wat ze eigenlijk doen, met name Hotfoil veredeling. Een warm gesprek dus over het initiatief van 3 spelers in de drukwerkveredeling met het gezamenlijke doel om het “foilen” weer wat meer onder de aandacht van de druksector te brengen. INKISH eigen Jacques Michiels bracht een bezoek aan het Folie Expertise plein dat centraal gevestigd is op deze Sign & Print Expo.

English Subtitles will soon be ready. Op Sign&PrintExpo23 werkt de Nederlandse integrator GrafiStore “samen” met verschillende standhouders (Omikai – Enfocus – Canon – GrafiStore). Aan de hand van een real life bestel- en productieproces (met een posterprint als uitvoer op de Canon stand) willen zij de nieuwe mogelijkheden van API-koppelingen duidelijk maken. Productieprocessen hoeven niet over over-gecompliceerd te zijn als ze maar van in het begin duidelijk en transparant worden uitgetekend. Vaak goede redenen om een bekwame integrator onder de arm te nemen. Gerlen verteld er ons meer over en wat ze in de Be-ne(lux) markt neerzetten.

English Subtitles will be ready soon. Jacques Michiels in gesprek met de dealer en Nederlandse importeur van Plockmatic – Morgana, vooral bekend van de auto-creaser en rilmachines voor digitaal drukwerk. SSD is van origine constructeur en toeleverancier bij bekende Printermerken zoals Canon, Konica Minolta en Kyocera, maar brengen expertise in zowel online als offlineoplossingen voor de (digitale) print- en drukkerijbedrijven in de Benelux. Een kennismaking en kort overzicht.

Morten Reitoft and Shlomo Nimrodi discuss preparations and expectations for Drupa 2024. Nimrodi, who recently traveled from Seattle to New York, emphasizes balancing daily business operations with Drupa preparations. He notes that his recent US trip involves meeting with the sales team and potential clients, some of whom plan to attend Drupa, to finalize deals. Nimrodi reflects on the changes in Highcon's team since the last Drupa in 2016, highlighting the positive impact of new team members and their energy. He describes Highcon's strategic pivot towards industrial-scale packaging for corrugated and folding cartons, moving away from more niche markets. This shift aims to mainstream digital die-cutting and meet the market's needs more effectively. At Drupa, Highcon will showcase significant improvements, including a 50% increase in productivity through technological advancements and process changes. They will introduce the Beam 3, the Beam Writer (an offline device for faster job setup), and upgraded versions of their existing equipment. Highcon will focus on customer applications and their products' substantial productivity and efficiency gains. Nimrodi discusses the importance of customer feedback and involvement in product development, particularly with the new Vulcan model. This collaborative approach ensures that Highcon's innovations align with market needs and helps mitigate risks. He also highlights the success of the Beam Writer, which allows customers to increase productivity without the need for additional machines, offering a cost-effective solution. The conversation ends with Reitoft thanking Nimrodi for his participation and expressing mutual appreciation for their ongoing collaboration. Nimrodi acknowledges the value of Reitoft's contributions to the industry and looks forward to seeing him at Drupa.

A week before our visit to Highcon in Israel, CEO Shlomo Nimrodi attended the official PreDrupa. He told us that it was on the same day as his injury 46 years ago—evidence that war is almost a constant in Israel. How much does that influence a company, how they recruit, how they develop go-to-market strategies, and more? We asked difficult questions to the CEO, and as usual, Shlomo Nimrodi openly answered—a must-see interview!

In this LONG (45 minutes) conversation between CEO Shlomo Nimrodi and Editor Morten B. Reitoft, you'll learn about Nimrodi's background, his visions, and how he believes Reitoft was wrong in his evaluation of what is needed for a successful Highcon. We talk about the IPO, the cash burn rate, and how Nimrodi sees the future of Highcon. It is a super personal, open, and honest conversation that we are certain you will enjoy!

What a day. The Bangalore-based printing company Imprint TechnoPack is now officially the first FOGRA-certified printing company in India, and in this interview that takes place minutes after the signing at FOGRA's booth, Managing Director Shekar Balakrishna explains why they chose to join FOGRA but even more important what it means to the company serving customers from abroad in India. India continues to be one of the strongest growing economies, and many Western companies are looking for opportunities - here is India's first FOGRA-certified printing company. A warm congratulations and best wishes from team INKISH.

Congratulations to Shawn Sundquist for his drupa-acquisition :-)

One of Drupa's more interesting product launches was Fujifilm's new ink, Aquafuze. Eight years ago, Fujifilm started developing a new ink that combines water-based ink with UV, enabling solvent-free technology. Shaun Holdom explains in the interview that it will offer a dry print when it hits the surface, enabling faster speeds and high quality. The technology is now developed for large-format printing but is expected to be used with other presses at some point! Super interesting!  

Got bottlenecks? Hiring more personnel? Building tech solutions vs. buying? There is a hidden cost associated with these, but end-to-end automation could help. Learn how to calculate these costs and then learn how end-to-end workflow automation could help your business.

In this "Over the Skype" session, we spoke with Sergio Castro, Country Manager of Agfa Mexico. In this episode, we talked about Sergio's beginnings in the industry, the services that the company has offered their clients during the pandemic, as well as the evolution of the industry towards new markets that have proven essential, as well as the potential of e commerce. En esta sesión "Over the Skype", hablamos con Sergio Castro, Director General de Agfa México. En este episodio, hablamos sobre los inicios de Sergio en la industria, los servicios que ha ofrecido la empresa a sus clientes durante la contingencia, así como la evolución de la industria hacia nuevos mercados que han demostrado ser esenciales, así como el potencial del comercio electrónico.

Interview in Dutch - subtitles in English. Igepa heeft op Drupa 2024 geen eigen beursstand, maar is samen met enkele partners op diverse locaties op de beurs vertegenwoordigd. Hun mensen zijn echter alomtegenwoordig, inclusief Serge de Crits uiteraard. We nemen hem even apart en hebben een gesprek over het belang en de kracht van de groothandel. De dagen dat ze enkel papierboer waren liggen al ver achter hen, ze hebben zich ontwikkeld tot een belangrijke partner en industriële aanbieder. -- EN -- Igepa does not have its own exhibition stand at Drupa 2024, but is represented at various locations at the exhibition together with a number of partners. However, their people are omnipresent, including Serge de Crits of course. We take him aside and have a conversation about the importance and power of wholesale. The days when they were just paper guys are long behind them, they have developed into an important partner and industrial supplier.

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.

At Printing United in Orlando, Morten Reitoft from INKISH meets Serge Clauss from Durst at one of the company’s several booths — this one dedicated entirely to software. Serge explains how Durst’s Smart Factory ecosystem has evolved and why the company decided to split its core software into two distinct but fully integrated products: Prepare and Produce. According to Serge, Smart Factory is an open, modular environment built on proven Durst technologies such as Lift ERP, Smart Shop, and PDF Editor, now expanded with the two new “babies.” Prepare handles file preparation, automation, preflighting, and bleed management, while Produce focuses on color management, ripping, and printer control. Both applications can operate independently or together, offering customers a seamless workflow and a clean, unified interface. “The most important thing,” Serge explains, “is flexibility. If a customer already uses another preflight or workflow solution, they don’t have to replace it. They can integrate ours. The same goes for production — you can choose what fits your setup.” This modularity is enabled by a new generation of open APIs, allowing Smart Factory to connect with almost any external system. Durst’s approach, Serge emphasizes, is to build an open ecosystem rather than a closed one. “We don’t want to be known as Durst-only software,” he says. “That’s why we’re showing an HP printer here on our booth — to demonstrate that our platform works with any device. Our goal is to give customers freedom of choice.” He also highlights a new image-tracking solution designed to eliminate paper job tickets and make production tracking completely digital. “Once you cut a job, you often lose the printed information,” Serge says. “Now, you can scan the printed piece with a phone or tablet, and immediately access the full job ticket and production data. It’s fully system-agnostic and can connect to any workflow.” Throughout the conversation, Serge returns to a central theme — integration over isolation. Durst isn’t trying to replace what printers already use; instead, it’s creating tools that connect everything together. “We’re not reinventing the wheel,” he says. “We’re giving customers a smarter, more connected way to use it.”

Head of Sales Ali Eranpurwala from Seiko talks with Jacques Michiels from INKISH.BENELUX about how they showcase their inkjet printheads, but, of course, also about the increasing demand.

We at INKISH, fully support Printing United, and we believe it's important that the entire industry back this event up. INKISH will cover the show extensively both with our upcoming INKISH.NEWS channel, as well with INKISH.TV. Daily INKISH will broadcast 'The Lunch-Break Hour" live show from 11 am to 1 pm. We will spice-up the show with interviews, demos, live-coverage from the show floor and on October 23rd even the Girlie Award 2019 ceremony. Who will be the winner in 2019? Well, tune into www.inkish.tv or facebook.com/inkishtv. If you are interested in joining us for our show, feel free to reach out to me at mre@inkish.tv.

As production moves from conventional offset to digital print the need for binding equipment that matches the qualities known is in demand. Italian vendor Meccanotecnica deliver solutions for both digital and offset. At Hunkeler Innovationdays 2019 in Luzerne, we got the chance to talk to Marketing Manager Stefano Formentini from Meccanotecnica. The solution they showed at the event consisted of an unwinder and a cutter from Hunkeler combined with Meccanotecnica's Universe Web solution that sections the cut sheets into a signature and delivers these for further processing. The quality is superior and the applications seamless. Watch, Like, and Share.

Pat McGrew from Inkish interviews Sebastiano Lonardi from Graphical at LabelExpo about their experience as a joint CERM and Esko customer. Sebastiano explains that while they already used Esko’s powerful software, they lacked the data needed to drive automation effectively. After seeing a demo of the CERM–Esko integration, they decided to invest in CERM’s MIS system because it seamlessly transfers information into Esko, enabling extensive automation and reporting. He says they had to learn some new things during implementation, but the CERM technicians understood their business well and guided them through the setup, so deep data expertise was not required. Graphical primarily produces labels but also has a sheetfed department for folding cartons, and they are now working on applying the same level of integration to folding cartons because it has worked so well for labels. Although the benefits are hard to quantify, he notes that with just six people handling 20,000 label files a year, the automation manages complex reporting and workflows almost entirely on its own, which he describes as “magic.”

Sebastian Stange works in the fantastic Koenig & Bauer demo center in Radebeul and was part of the panel with Sabine Geldermann (drupa), Stéphane Royère (KURZ), and Tim Sterbak (IST Metz) talking about one year to drupa among other things. Interesting chat with Sebastian Stange, and as always interesting to hear what's up with Koenig & Bauer!

In this interview, Sean Springett, CEO of manroland sheetfed USA & Canada, talks about growth for manroland and how their new Evolution series fit into packaging and general commercial print. Good to learn from!