Komori is celebrating its centennial this year—a monumental achievement! It's difficult for me to recall events from a decade ago, let alone a century. Many companies in the industry are marking their 100th anniversaries this year. Last year was significant, but this year stands out because many companies we discuss today, including Komori, are turning a century old. Despite this, our industry feels as vibrant as ever. Reporting live from Printing United at Komori's booth, there's a palpable blend of history and present-day innovation. Remember when MBO was acquired by Komori a few years ago? Here, you can witness the synergy of the post-press alliance—finishing partners coming together to offer comprehensive solutions. For instance, a setup combines MBO's folding capabilities with Hooner's stitching, topped off by the impressive CoboStack robot that perfectly arranges finished products on a pallet. Komori's Lithrone printing machines, used by thousands worldwide, remain at the forefront of technology, continually pushing the envelope in automation. A recurring theme at trade shows recently, including this year, is the emphasis on automation. It's about streamlining workflows, enhancing efficiency, and cutting costs. However, post-COVID, automation also addresses the challenge of finding skilled labor. It's fascinating how the narrative has shifted. As I ponder the future, I can only imagine what the 103rd edition of Printing United might showcase. Perhaps Komori will still be at the forefront? What will production look like then? The possibilities are thrilling. This is Morten Reitoft from INKISH TV, signing off from Printing United in Atlanta.

Screen has been a partner with Solimar for years - and both Solimar and Screen often emphasize the importance of the relationship. Fast printers require fast processing and optimized data - but listen to Peter Georges from Screen.

It's almost become one of the things we do when we meet with Pete Dolfis from Tecnau - having a walkthrough of the technology - and the PRINTING United 2023 edition is no exception. That gives you, dear viewer, a great understanding of the technology and also, in this case, a chat about having integration partners. Three solutions are presented - enjoy!

Mike Herold has been well-known in the US printing industry for years, working for Ricoh. At PRINTING United in Atlanta, we met Mike Herold at the EMT International booth. EMT International delivers binding various types of paper processing and finishing equipment, and as Herold said in our interview - the time when many are changing to digital isn't a bad time for the company - and also one of the reasons why he chose to have a new career with EMT International. Funny, btw, as we also met Mike Herold at the HP #PrintAhead event the day before the show - and that would have been impossible while Herold worked for Ricoh - but listen for yourself - super nice seeing Mike Herold and again!

WARNING - this is a LONG interview/walkthrough. It is a decision to edit or to cut interviews into shorter sections. Still, sometimes it also makes sense to learn about the business opportunity, learn the technology, see the samples, and understand the entire ecosystem. Michael Aumann from KURZ has been on INKISH before, but I believe it's the first time we've learned so much in one go - and you know - almost 25 minutes fly by in good company - enjoy!

Can you imagine how challenging it must be to produce a photobook? One thing is printing and binding a photo book, and yes, it is a high-margin product, but another is to produce each book simply, with a high margin, and with as few touch-points as possible. This is what Max Alewel does with his Marathon Press. Print, binding, spiced up with SpencerMetrics, and voila - that's what you've got. Enjoy the film.

In this interview, we speak with Marc Rannow from Elitron - and besides showing their cut-tables, Marc Rannow also talks about a collaboration Elitron have with Enfocus and Infigo - showing the online ordering of product. Finally, Rannow also talks about some of the productivity gains you have using their tables - but listen for yourself :-)

Our opening question to Maggie Curry is, "How important is it to have partners like Solimar?" - Of course, it's important. Though the answer isn't surprising, it's still something that some PSPs may not prioritize at the same level as investing in hardware. Maggie Curry from RISO gives you great insights in this interview, so listen and enjoy!

To learn is to live, and to live is to learn - and one of PRINTING United Alliance's member services is iLearn+. Joe Marin is responsible for the organization's member service. In this interview, we learn how the program is curated and how and why many of the courses and certification programs are translated into 30+ languages. One of the things we liked about how PRINTING United develops member services is the business approach. Member advantages for sure, but PRINTING United Alliance develops material based on demand instead of providing tons of courses nobody demands. It offers these services as paid-for-services at a very fair price level. But listen to Joe Marin and get your first lesson (ours) entirely for free :-)

Fujifilm was the biggest exhibitor at PRINTING United, and with about 100 Fujifilm people at work, it was a pleasure for us to meet with Jeffrey Nelson. In front of the JPress 750S, we talk about digital transformation and how Fujifilm, with their cut-sheet inkjet machine, combines speed and high quality with the needs offset printers have - and also about how successful Fujifilm is in the North American market - enjoy!

Fujifilm was the biggest exhibitor at PRINTING United and showed for the first time the entire range of graphics products from large format, toner to inkjet - and we, of course, took the opportunity when presented to talk to 'Toshi' - General Manager of Fujifilm North America - enjoy!

Operating a printing facility handling highly personal financial data requires the right people, software, and, broadly speaking, security around your facilities, and that's exactly the story of FSSI. Financial Statement Service, or FSSI, is a security printer relying on Solimar software hardware from Screen, Canon, and more. In this interview with Henry Perez, we understand the challenges and opportunities of operating a security print facility. It is a fascinating story, and also a very engaging story. It's nice to get to know Henry Perez better. Enjoy!

Ford Bowers is a happy man. Not only will PRINTING United Atlanta 2023 be bigger than any of the previous shows, but the PRINTING United Alliance will have success. New members are signing up daily, and the size and importance of the Alliance, and recently the establishment of the first print industry congressional caucus - giving the US printing industry access to - as Ford Bowers said, 'maybe not favorable legislation, but at least influencing negative legislation for the industry.' Member services and a commercially driven not-for-profit organization are facts, and PRINTING United Expo is the evidence.

Errol Moebius is a relatively new President and CEO of IST America - and what an opportunity IST offers its customers - and in this interview, you get an idea of why this is important to dig into. Enjoy!

Erik Norman is the President of SwissQprint America, and besides that, he is also a VERY nice guy to talk to, which you can hear in this interview we did with him at PRINTING United. At the show, we spoke about technology, quality, ROI, repayment time, and how important it is to work with trustworthy people. We really like the SwissQprint technology - and combining all of the above with excellent technology - is absolutely worth exploring, right?

Listening to Eric Hollingsworth is nothing but impressive. RevSpring is a well-known company, but more than 1 billion pages annually are part of what they do - listen to Eric Hollingsworth and learn - how he uses Solimar to secure his workflow best!

Eagle Systems IS, in many ways, Mike King, but for years, Ellen Manning has also been the (prettier, sorry pal) face of Eagle Systems. In this interview, Ellen Manning speaks about cold-foil, the Eagle Systems technology, and all the wonderful applications that take advantage of metalization. Nice to talk to Ellen Manning, and we hope you will enjoy the interview as well :-)

Elias Jo is the CEO of Entourage Yearbooks, and we actually had the pleasure of filming him back at the very first PRINTING United in 2019, Dallas. Now we meet again, and in this film, we talk about how SpencerMetrics helps Entourage Yearbooks with a much better overview of the production and how employees perform differently, so SpencerMetrics will also be used as an asset in compensation plans, etc. Learning how software like SpencerMetrics can support different objectives is super interesting. In the film's first 4-5 minutes, Elias Jo and editor Morten B. Reitoft talk about the yearbook market, and Elias Jo says that he has about 20-30% of the 1 billion USD market - needs to clarify that he talks about 20-30% of the digital printed yearbook market - just to be aligned!

There was much fun at Infigo's booth as we got a visit by Santa Claus, North Pole · Chris Minn, Infigo, and State Representative Soo Hong 103rd district. Infigo donated many gifts for kids in Soo Hong's district - and we certainly had fun at the booth.

PRINTING United is about technology, business, and networking. Often, gatherings are organized at the booth when the show nears the closing hours, and people are invited to join for a party. That is exactly what happened at AGFA's booth on the second day of PRINTING United. We suggested Deborah Hutcheson from AGFA invite some of the AGFA customers we filmed for the past years for a 'reunion,' and five super nice people agreed to join us. Here is our first guest, David Dey, from ColorDynamics in Allen, near Dallas, TX. Link to film from ColorDynamics:

Dan Deveau owns Camad in Toronto, and INKISH filmed at his company a little more than a year ago. Meeting Dan Deveau again was super. Before we started, he said, 'It's impossible to tell my company's story short' - but we made an attempt, and one of the conclusions is that shifting from screen printing to digital saved the company - but listen for yourself. PRINTING United is about technology, business, and networking. Often, gatherings are organized at the booth when the show nears the closing hours, and people are invited to join for a party. That is exactly what happened at AGFA's booth on the second day of PRINTING United. We suggested Deborah Hutcheson from AGFA invite some of the AGFA customers we filmed for the past years for a 'reunion,' and five super nice people agreed to join us.

At our great friends from Tecnau''s booth, we met with Chris Raney, VP of Heidelberg USA - and he is telling us about the collaboration between Tecnau and Heidelberg - and demonstrated at the booth with an integrated Stahlfolder. Raney, however, explains that the integration now can be with pretty much any Stahl product. It is interesting to see how partnerships in the industry keep developing.

At Graphco's booth, we meet on the first morning of PRINTING United: Chris Manley, owner of Graphco and distributor of RMGT in 17 states (I believe) - and as we start the interview, the new 9-series at the stand - and by the way the only offset machine at PRINTING United, has a beautiful plague that has a super cool history - actually involving Heidelberg. That story you, however, have to get listening to Chris Manley here on INKISH. Enjoy!

We passed their booths at previous North American print shows and always wanted to meet them, and suddenly, an invite to a party on Wednesday evening gave us an opportunity. Chris Harrington is the VP of sales, and as you may already know, Graphic Whizard does things differently than most. Two times a year, they do road trips showing customers, offering training, and well - as Editor Morten B. Reitoft says - if Mohammed doesn't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed. Nice concept, and well - listen to what Chris Harrington has to say!